The Riau Malay of Sumatra People Profile

A majority of rural Riau Malay are farmers Who are the Riau Malay? and active fishermen. About 62% are farmers The Riau Malay are the largest and most growing and harvesting products from rub- dominant ethnic group in the Riau province ber, oil palm, fruit, and gambir trees. of Indonesia. The Riau province includes part Two of the most advanced Riau islands are Riau Malay of southern Sumatra, the Lingga archipelago Batam and Bintan, currently the focus of Sumatra and the Riau islands, altogether a huge land- multi-million dollar investment opportunities. mass of 3,214 islands and covering more than In 1989, the Singapore government proposed 94,000 sq km. the linkage of Singapore, the Riau Islands and The Riau Malay have Johor (peninsular Malaysia’s southernmost Population: 2.2 million historically assimi- state) in a synergistic “Growth Triangle,” a free- Location: Sumatra, Indonesia lated large numbers trade economic zone that would benefit all Languages: Riau Malay, of nomadic and three areas. As Batam and Bintan continue to Bahasa Indonesia migrating peoples, develop, industrial workers and employees in including people of large tourist resorts are expected to out- Banjar, Minangkabau, pace the number of farmers and fishermen. Javanese, Mandailing The greatest need at present is meaning- Prayer Points and Bugis ethnic- ful vocational training or work activities for ity. Today, there is an youth, because a vast number of them are estimated 2.2 million unemployed. Pray for indigenous fellowships of Jesus- Riau Malay people (including these assimi- followers to spring up among the Riau lated groups). Some 1.6 million Riau Malay Culture Malay. May a movement sweep through live on the Sumatra mainland, primarily in this people group. settlements along the Indragiri, Kampar and The Riau Malay people are proud of their Siak rivers. Another 600,000 live on the Riau historic role in the development of Malay cul- Pray that God will islands between Sumatra and Malaysia. ture. Most see themselves as open, friendly raise up leaders from and accepting of newcomers. They feel this among the Riau has been an important part of their historical Malay, who will be key Languages tradition, as for centuries they have lived in ‘insiders’, bringing the cordial proximity to Bugis, Makasar, Chinese light of Jesus to their There are six dialects of the Riau Malay own people. language. These are used primarily for oral and Javanese peoples. communication. Most Riau Malay are able Pray for God to reveal himself in dreams to speak, read and write Bahasa Indonesia, Beliefs and visions. which is the national trade language used in educational institutions, government, and 99.9% of the Almost 20,000 non-Riau followers of business. Riau Malay are Jesus live in this province. Pray that local Muslim. They believers would have a vision to reach have been out to the Riau Malay. Livelihood taught from The Riau province exhibits many of the fea- childhood that Pray for followers of Jesus from other tures of a “dual” economy. On the one hand Islam is the only ethnic groups who have moved to the there is a high technology, capital-intensive true religion for their people. towns of Batam, Bengkalis, Tembilahan, Rengat, Kampar, Pekanbaru, Tanjung oil sector, and on the other a traditional low Very few local churches have any specific Pinang and the surrounding areas, that technology agricultural sector. focus on reaching out to the Riau Malay. they will find opportunities to show No books about Jesus are available in the The Riau God’s love to the Riau Malay. province Riau Malay language. There are fewer than contains the 60 known followers of Jesus among the 2.2 Pray that followers of Jesus who serve most produc- million Riau Malay people. Most of these among the Riau Malay will have wisdom tive oil fields in few believers have been assimilated into to develop an effective contextualized Indonesia and traditional churches. There are currently no strategy for sharing Good News. pumps half the indigenous fellowships of followers of Jesus nation’s crude among the Riau Malay. Pray for the literature that has been oil each day. Over 85% of the province’s GDP and will be produced for the Riau Malay. is generated by petroleum and natural gas May both readers and writers under- production. Pekanbaru, the capital of Riau For more information about the Riau Malay, stand the requirements of Jesus. province, is the administrative center of the visit: www.apeopleloved.com/riau-malay regional oil industry. Rev. 01/11

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