In the Melaka Strait
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Symbiotic Dynamics of an rnsular Community in the Melaka Strait
Narifumi Maeda TACHIMOTO)*
mutually beneficial. Following this deffinition I I. Introduction here use the term figuratively to mean a mutually advantageous relationship between two or more This paper explores the complex interplay be- groupings of people, specific ally, ethnic groups. tween culture and ecology in the process of rapid Fieldwork was carried out in 1993 and 1994 in sociocultural transformation. This is achieved the village of Penuba, Lingga District, in the through a comparative study of the images of archipelagic part of Riau Province, on the west of life-world structure held by peoples living on the Sumatera Island, Indonesia (Figure l).t) This coasts of islands and depending on the sea for insular community is inhabited by three main resources and communication lines. The central ethnic groups, Malays, Chinese and sea people, focus is directed toward the differences and simi- intermixed. It was selected mainly because of the larities in life-world structure between various harmonious coexistence that is found between the ethnic groups or ethnies coping with changes in various social divisions. Also its strategic loca- maritime ecology and social transformations. tion for a researcher was taken for consideration. Symbiosis originally means "living together" It has easy access by regular boat line from Tan- and in biology it denotes the interaction between jungpin zng, but at the same time it is relatively two different organisms living in close physical isolated, &s indicated by the village slogan: association, especially when this association is "Penuba is isloated, but not left behind" (Penuba
BU
Figure 1. The Melaka Strait. * Professor of Cultural Dynamics, Center for Southeast Asian Studies of Kyoto University, Kyoto.
l- Regional Views No. 11 1997 terpencil namun tidak tercecer). In addition, it Moro, Kundur, Karimun and smaller islands. has continued to play an important role as an The Riau-Lingga archipelago forms part of an interlocal port in the straits; and it is peaceful, archipelagic chain running through the South clean and safe, and the people are friendly to- China Sea. To its west are the islands off the east wards strangers. coast of Sum atera; to its south are Bangka and In short, Penuba provides a readily studiable Belitung; and to its northeast are the Pulau Tujuh case of symbiotic dynamics between ethnic groups, i.e., the Great Natuna archipelago, the groups. South Natuna archipelago, the Tambelan archi- pelago, and the Anambas archipelago. Except for II. Settings Bangka and Belitung, these archipelagoes are in- cluded in the present Riau Province of Indonesia. 1. Geography and History in the Malay World Chinese and Arab historical documents men- Situated at O" 20' S and 104o 28' E, Penuba oc- tion various islands in the Melaka Strait, includ- cupies a strategic point in the sea communication ing Lin EEa, whose 1,200-meter peak, the highest routes of the Lingga archipelago. It has a good in the Strait, is a distinctive landmark that may port as a base for fishing or temporary anchorage, well have attracted passing traders' attention to protected from the winds by a small islet, Pulau the island from the earliest days of east-west Lipan (Figure 2). trade. Lingga and the nearby island of Singkep lie The Lingga archipelago is located at the south- between the Malay Peninsula and Sumatera, ern exit of the Melaka Strait. To its north lies the nearer to Jambi on the east coast of Sum ateta, Riau archipelago with which it is usually associat- divided by the Berhala or Lingga Strait, than to ed as the Riau-Lingga archipelago. The 383 the peninsula. islands that make up the Lingga archipelago in- There are many passages in the Melaka Strait, clude the two major islands of Lingga and Sing- but many of them are shallow and dangerous for kep,and srnaller ones like Temiang, Sebangka, big vessels. One of the few larger passages is and Bakong. The Riau archipelago stretches through the Singapore Strait and another is from west to east and consists of Bintan, Batam, through the Berhala Strait or the Lingga Strait Bulan, Rempang, Galang, Sugi, Cumbul, Durian, between Sumatera and the Lin gga archipelago.
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Map2 Lingga Archipelago
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Figure 2. Lingga Archipelago.
2 Symbiotic Dynamics of an Insular Community in the Melaka Strait (Tachimoto)
Srivijaya, whether situated in Jambi or in right bank the Chinese campong with the fish- Palemb&trg, in its heyday influenced the Lin gga market, and small shops for the sale of cloth archipelago. Then Melaka became a prosperous and provisions. As at Rhio [Riau], these are trade center in the Strait, and during the reign of placed under a covered verandah. The floors of Sultan Ala'uddin ( 1477-88) Melaka acquired these houses, consisting of split nibong [a kind Lingga. Lingga thereafter became one of the of palm], are raised about two feet above the nuclei of the Malay World created by the Melaka- ground. A little further up we find on both Johor-Riau- Lin gga kingdoms. sides some Bugis houses, recognisable by their Around 1700 Captain Alexander Hamilton greater ornamentation with carved and festoon described Lingga as follows work, and from the high roofs, which with The Island Lingen [Lingga] lies under the intervals, lie over each other. After these we aequator, about 20 leagues [96 km] from have the Malay campong, mostly in a miserable Jambee [Jambi], and as far from the River of and dilapidated condition, surrounded by co- Johore, and is a part of the Johore dominions. coanut [coconut] trees and raised about six It is about twenty leagues long, and ten broad. feet from the ground on posts. . . . The dalam It is very mountainous within, and very low [palace] of the Sultan is further up on the right towards the sea. Its product is some pepper bank. A large space, partly surrounded by a and canes, and it abounds in porcupines, which wall, is covered with numerous dwellings, some affords them the valuable porcupine beazoar of them of stone but mostly of wood, . . . In lbezoar stone]. Some of them I have seen as front of the Sultan's own residence there is a big as a wall-nut, and of the same shape, and spacious balei lbalai, pavilion] of wood, with a pretty near in colour, valued at 600 pieces of double verandah round it, one lower than the eight [i.e., 4800 reals]. Between Lingga and other. . . . With the exception of some of the Sumatra are the Straits of Drians [Durian], houses of the nobles and chiefs, all the dwell- where generally ships pass that go from Malac- ings are of wood covered with attap, and sur- ca to Batavia. [Hamilton 1930: 65-6] rounded by groups of cocoanut trees. The He also mentions that the last Sultan of Melaka greatest traffic is on the river. . . . was murdered in 1699, and that an English facto- On Lingga, Sinkep [Singkep] and other is- ry on the Island of Berhala off the coast of Jambi lands, we find campongs here and there, which withdrew in 168G-81, while a Dutch settlement however in most respects are like those already was founded at Jambi in 1670. described. A collection of houses, generally In the 17th to 19th centuries, sultans moved placed near each other, without regularity, is their capitals in Johor and in the Riau-Lingga sometimes surrounded by paggar [fence]. If archipelago. On Lin EEa, the capital was located the head is a man of consequence he has a balei in Daik, in the southern part of the island. in front of his house, if not, it is only an While the sultans' powers declined markedly ordinary native house. Wherever practicable after the Anglo-Dutch Treaty had divided the the campongs are built on the rivers. [1855: Malay realm in 1824, even in 1848 the Sultan of ee-r001 Lingga was still regarded by Malays in the penin- Daik does not seem to have changed much sula as the ruler of Johor [Wolters l97O: 179]. In since this time, but many kampung have grown the middle of the 19th century, G. F. de Bruyn cosiderably in terms of the number of houses. Kops (a Dutch naval lieutenant, later, Resident De Bruyn Kops also mentions the people in the of Riau in 1911) describes the Berhala Island as a Riau-Lingga archipelago, whom he divides into hiding place for pirates [1854: 390]. He left a "aboriginal" and "foreign." The foreigners were description of conditions in the villages in Daik. Europeans, Chinese, Arabs, Bugis, and Javanese. The campong fkampung, village or settle- The Chinese, "Canton or Amoyr" who were by mentl Dai [Daik], the present capital of the far the most numerous, were traders and cultiva- kingdom, lies on the island Lingga, a little tors, principally of gambier and pepper. He notes within the mouth of the river, also called Dai, their religious festivals, such as the "Loga, Sam- . . . .It is a large scattered campong extending bayang, Berbut" and so on. Of the Malays he on both sides of the small river. Close to the distinguishes "land people" (orang darat) with mouth of the river, are about ten miserable huts "sea people" (orang laut, orang tambus, orang belonging to fishermen. A little higher up the rayat). The sea people resided in "prahus" campong commences. We have first on the (boats). "These prahus are to be found in num-
3 Regional Views No。 11 1997
bers in the river at Lingga, as well as at Bintang empa, four "quarter-masters" and a number of [Bintan] and other islands" [1885: 108]. They thaulo (taolo). The Chinese were engaged in were mostly fishermen and "were formerly trade, shippin g, agriculture (mainly gambier and pirates" but not Muslims. He recognizes some pepper) and fishery. The Malays and others lived peculiarities in their langauge and manner of by fishing, collecting firewoods, and extracting speaking, but still treats them as Malays. He also sago and agar-agar. reports on "a peculiar wild-living race" who "live The Lingga division of the Riau Residency in the forests and in huts of branches and leaves consisted of the total of 383 islands stretching on the trees" [1885: 108]. between 0o and 0" 20' S and between 104" 26' and In the twentieth century the Dutch colonized l05o E. At first the seat of Dutch administration the whole of Indonesia and abolished the sultan- was in Daik, then it moved to Tanjung Buton, ates. In 191 1 the Sultan of Riau was dethroned, also on Lingga; but in 1905 it moved to Tanjung and the sultanate was annexed in 1913. The Tunngara on Selayar Island. The station was Dutch created a province consisting of: (a) under named Penuba after a nearby kampung. With the direct control, the former sultanate of Lingga- advent of Dutch administration, a district chief Riau and its dependencies, i.e., Riau-Lingga- (amir) was stationed in Daik and subdistrict Pulau Tujuh archipelagoes and Reteh, Mandah- chiefs at Dabo and Senayang. Penuba became the Gaung and Kateman on the east coast of Suma- residency of the cotroleur, and a harbor, govern- tera, with additional stretches of land in Rengat ment buildings, and police station were built. and Cinako; and (b) as native self-governments, Chinese shops also increased from 2 in 1910 to 14 Indragiri and Kuantan districts. The province in 1918. One third of the population was Chinese, was divided into five divisions (afdeelingen): most of them being Teochiu or Hakka, and the ( 1) Indragiri, with Rengat as capital, and two two third were "inlanders." "Orang Lautr" either subdivisions, Kuantan (controleur at Taluk) and "Mantang" or "Baruk," numbered at most 500. Indragiri Hilir (controleur at Tembilahan); (2) Chinese "luitenants" were placed at Penuba and Tanjung Pinang, including Bintan, Batam, Bulan, Dabo. Kampung chiefs were called batin, juru, Rempang, Galang, and Tambelan; (3) Lingga, jenang and so on. The head of the orang laut was together with Singkep (controleur at Penuba); (a) Datu Kaya at Senayang, although he formerly Karimon, including Karimun, Kundur, Sugi, lived in Mepar near Daik[Graaff & Stibbe 1918, Cumbul, Kateman (controleur at Tanjung Balai); vol. 2: 584-85]. and (5) Pulau Tujuh (controleur at Tanjung Be- During the Japanese occupation, Japanese litung, Bunguran). troops were stationed in Penuba. A number of Subdivisions were set up in Indragiri and Pulau heihos were still living in Penuba in 1993. Tujuh, but the other divisions were divided into After Independence, Tanjungpinang became districts, subdistricts and then kampung. Local the capital of Riau Province, and economic ties chiefs of these administrative units were known as with Singapore were maintained. Later, however, amir; waktl amir or datu kaya; and penghulu, the capital was moved inland to Pekanbaru, and batin or kepala, respectively. following the confrontation with Malaysia in In 1915 the population of the province was t963, connections with Singapore were severed. estimated at 109,000 "natives," 17,000 Chinese, The circulation of Singapore dollars in Riau 230 Europeans and 32O others. The natives ceased, although recently many Singaporeans (inlanders) were mostly Malays, with smaller have started bringing their dollars with them to numbers of Bugis, Minangkabau (from Kuan- Batam, Tanjungpinang, Tanjungbalai and so on. tan), Javanese, natives of Bangka and Palem- Daik and Dabo retained the status of district bang, and also sea people (Orang Laut, Barut, (kecamatan), but Penuba was demoted to the Mantang, Kuala) and forest people (Orang tftan, status of village (desa), or kampung in the Dutch Benuwa, Darat) [Stibbe 1919, vol. 3: 609]. The terminology. Chinese were from Hokkien, Canton (Kwang- tong) and Hainan (Hailam), but the majority 2. Kota Desa Penuba were Teochiu (Tee Tjioe) numbering 9,7OO Penuba is situated on a cove in the southeast of people. The Chinese had their own chiefs under the island of Selayar (Figure 2). Desa Penuba the Dutch: a"kapitein" at Tanjung Pinan g, "luite- occupies the estern half of Selayar. Desa nants" at Tanjung Pinang, Senggarang, Boyan, Penuba's territory measures 40 km2, but of this Tanjung Balai, Penuba, Dabo, Rengat, and Ter- only 19 km2 is on land. In 1993, its population
-4- Symbiotic Dynamics of an Insular Community in the Melaka Strait (Tachimoto)
Table 1. Population of Kecamatan Lingga by Sex
Year Male Female Total Households
1984 10,410 9,988 20,398 1985 10,576 10,006 20,582 1986 10,668 10,080 20,748 1987 10,742 10,072 20,814 1988 10,933 10,218 21,151 1989 11,600 11,087 22,687 4,833 1990 11,690 11,157 22,847 4,925 1991 11,780 11,242 23,022 4,939 1992 11,879 11,326 23,205 4,947 1993 11,936 11,386 23,322 4,926
Source: Kantor Kecamatan Lingga. was 2,082 and the number of households 495 smith, a cinema house, and an ice factory. In [Desa Penuba Monografi 1993]. No data is addition to a clinic and administrative offices, available on ethnic composition for either the there are a kindergarten, an elementary school, a kecamatan or the desa. However, the religious high school, a community hall, a main mosque, a statistics indic ate, to a certain degree, its ethnic Pentecostalist church and a Chinese worship composition; in the desa, there are I ,620 Muslims, place. There are two sawmills in Tanjung Botak 67 Christians and 396 Buddhists. Tbe majority of and Teluk Angus, and one charcoal kiln and a people are thus Malays. Kecamatan Lingga, of sago processing factory in Pulau Lipan. which Penuba is a part, consists of 2l villages and For my own census, three parts were chosen: A its total area is 892.72l
-5- Regional Vie¬ 「s No。 11 1997
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-6- Symbiotic Dynamics of an Insular Community in the Melaka Strait (Tachimoto)
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Figttre 6。 RT12(Penuba Kota). Figure 7. Pulau Lipan. Symbiotic Dynamics of an Insular Community in the Melaka Strait (Tachimoto)
Table 2. Population by Settlements, Penuba (as of January 1994)
A B C
Age M F TM F T M F T
0-4 5 12 17 12 11 23 22 19 41 5-9 11 8 19 17 16 33 21 20 41 10-14 9 13 22 25 11 36 19 19 38 15-19 14 14 28 12 15 27 20 17 37 20-24 12 11 23 19 11 30 23 15 38 25-29 5 2 7 13 12 25 11 12 23 30-34 2 4 6 21 8 29 14 11 25 35-39 3 7 10 16 14 30 14 12 26 40-44 6 7 13 4 7 11 6 7 13 45-49 9 5 14 5 6 11 4 4 8 50-54 4 2 6 14 9 23 3 4 7
55-59 1 2 3 9 7 16 2 3 5 60- 6 11 17 11 6 17 10 5 15
Total 87 98 185 178 169 148
Table 3. Population by]Ethnicity,Penuba (as of January 1994) SUKU LAUT MALAYS CHINESE TOTAL
Age M FT MF TM F TM F T
0-4 16 13 29 15 26 41 8 3 11 39 42 81 5-9 10 12 22 31 21 52 8 11 19 49 44 93 10-14 11 9 20 26 27 53 16 7 23 53 43 96 15-19 14 14 28 25 27 52 7 5 12 46 46 92 20-24 16 13 29 31 20 51 7 4 11 54 37 91 25-29 10 7 17 15 12 27 4 7 11 29 26 55 30-34 8 7 15 19 10 29 10 6 16 37 23 60 35-39 10 8 18 14 16 30 9 9 18 33 33 66 40-44 3 4 7 10 9 19 3 8 11 16 21 37 45-49 3 4 7 8 5 13 7 6 13 18 15 33 50-54 2 2 4 7 6 13 12 7 19 21 15 36 55-59 2 3 5 5 4 9 5 5 10 12 12 24 60- 5 5 10 14 10 24 8 7 15 27 22 49
Total 220 193 413 104 85 189 434 379 813
Households 40 87 44 171 75) (Average No. of Members) (5.28) (4.75) (4。 30) (4。 village administration offices and teachers' resi- around the office buildings of the Dutch quarters dences. Penuba was equipped with a hospital, a near Tanjung Tung gal, or Tanjung Tunggara in customs house, police officers' residences, an the Dutch literature, which name originated from opium trading house, a quay, nine wells and so ketumbar (Coriandrum sativum). The center of on. Some wells dug by the Dutch are still used by the community was in the present Penuba Lama villagers. An open space for ceremonies in the (old Penuba), where most Chinese resided. Gra- center known as Teluk Rapang, or the "Gulf of dually the Chinese moved their shops to Teluk rapang (or belanak, Mungil bleekeri) fish" is land Rapang. In the nineteenth century, Chinese farm- originally reclaimed by the Dutch. ers had originally settled far inland to build gam- It is said there were no Chinese and shops mbier and pepper plantations. Their original
-9- Regional Views No. 11 1997
shrine is still visited annually by Penuba Chinese Penuba, the second in Sembuang in the eastern as described later. pafi and the third in Penuba Lama. In that year After the Japanese occupation and the inde-' three villages or kampung were combined under pendence struggles, Penuba prospered as a junc- one head in Penuba. The term penghulu, a com- tion port between Singapore and Sumatera. In moner title for a Malay village head, is also used the 1960s, it is said, shops were open until 9 in documents, but the first headman is always o'clock in the evening and the smell of opium referred to as Batin tlmar (born in 1877, village pervaided the air. More than ten customs officers head from 1926 to 1942, died in 1976) by villag- were stationed at Penuba. The turning point was ers. It is said that he had a very good relationship the period of thekonfrontasi, following the launch- with Chinese heads (taulo). His descendants live itrg of Indonesia's policy of confrontation with in Beringin, Penuba Kota. The second penghulu Malaysia in 1963. Penuba became a strategic reigned from 1942 to 1966, died in 1969. The naval base in this region and headquarters were set third (1966-1970) and the fourth (197f1977) up at Beringin. The severance from Singapore are still alive in the village. All of the four are brought economic decline to Penuba in the 1970s somehow related. The present penghulu, 5., is the and early 80s. It is said Penuba suffered depres- fifth and, unlike his predecessors, who were local sion with muddy and miserable town conditions Malays, a Javanese. in those days. The town became cleaner with Penghulu S. started his career as a naval cemented roads and its economy revived perhaps seaman (angkatan laut) in this area in 1963. owing to the resumption of fish exports to Singa- During the konfrontasi (confrontation) with Ma- pore. laysia, Penuba played an important role as a naval The Suku Laut formerly roamed around the surveillance base. In 197 6 he was stationed there. Lingga and Singkep Islands as mentioned in the By then he had married an adopted daughter of a Dutch literature and told by elder villagers. Per- clinic attendant in Penuba, a Malay from Sing- manent housing was provided for them by the kep. In 1978 he was appointed as caretaker of the government in the late 1980s on Pulau Lipan, village by the bupati after the former penghulu which was formerly called Pulau Penuba. Pulau resigned. He acted as caretaker from the age of Lipan is situated in front of Penuba Kota, pro- 36 until he was officially elected as kepala desa tecting it from the northwest wind. (village head) for the eight-year term in Novem- Penuba Kota was an administrative center for ber, 1991. Contenders in the election were a the Dutch and it remains so for the local govern- relative of the former headmer, & Chinese and a ment of Indonesia. It is a business center for the Minangkabau. According to a Chinese observer, Chinese with their residential shops along the who is presumbaly objective, the penghulu shore. All the houses along the shore are built on worked hard to develop the village. The village stilts. For the Malays there is a Friday mosque. won first prize in 1983, 1986 and 1993 in the For the Suku Laut it is a 'money' center where provincial competition of villages (Lomba Desa). they can earn cash and spend it on daily necessi- It obtained the status of swasenbada (self- ties. Physically, Penuba Kota can be identified by sufficient) village in 1986. symbolic things like shops, official buildings and The village is divided into three dusun (sub- residences, an open space for ceremonial events, villages), which are further subdivided into RW paved roads with a srnall median strip, a clock (rukun warga, wards) and RT (rukun tetangga, tower, a guay, a lighthouse, a village-managed neighborhoods) (Table 4). Local geographic or residence for visitors (mes),3) and a gate showing kampung names are added. the village name. Dusun I's head is a local man of Chinese descent, Dusun 2's a Malay, and Dusun 3's a III. Political Economy in the Community Malay from Selat Panjang off the eastern coast of Sumatera. Heads of dusun, RW and RT ate 1. Village appointed by the village head and are essentially Formerly, Malay village heads were called an apparatus for mobilization and for reporting batin in this area. The Suku Laut do not use this from the bottom up. Dusun and RW heads word to designate their heads. Before 1926 the receive a tiny honorarium. RT heads on Pulau present Desa Penuba was divided into three, each Lipan are Suku Laut. of which had its own Malay head: one in Pangkalan Officials in the desa administration are locally- Danam in the western part of the present Desa born Malays. They receive a nominal allowance
t0 Symbiotic Dynamics of an Insular Community in the Melaka Strait (Tachimoto)
Table 4. Administrative Divisions and Kampung Names in Penuba, 1994
Dusun I RW l RT l Beringin RT 2 Teluk Rapang
RW 2 RT 3 Tanjung Tunggal RT 4 Air Bugis
Dusun 2 RW 3 RT 5 Pangkalan Danam, Sungai Tumu RT 6 Teluk Lanjut
RW 4 RT 7 Mengserai RT 8 Teluk Mengkerang
Dusun 3 RW 5 RT 9 Penuba Lama (Teluk Keling) RT 10 Teluk Empuk, Sembuang RT ll Suak Kunting
RW 6 RT 12,13&14 Pulau Lipan
Source: Kantor Desa. from the village budget (APPKD, anggaran pen- been one of the most important factors in devel- erimaan dan pengeluaran kewangan desa) like the opment. His term is long while the camat, his village head. They have to rely on their own superior, is often transferred to othet kecamatan, business for a living. The secretarY, D., acts as although he has governmental authority as a dupty village head. He is a stepson of the second functionary of the administrative structure. The penghulu and was a contender of S. in the most penghulu is popular because he is paternalistic recent village election. toward his followers, protecting their interests The village council (LMD, Lembaga Musyarva- even from a higher authority. He initiates many rah Desa ) consists of thirteen members, of whom economic projects that profit at least some villag- four are of Chinese descent but none are Suku ers. His reputation is bolstered by his connections Laut. Its chairman is the village head, and its with outside powers, provincial and central. This secretary is the village secretary. The LKMD is mainly owing to his business ability: €.9., he is (Lembaga Ketahanan Masyarakat Desa, village in charge of cengke (clove) trading at the provin- social activities council) is headed by the village cial level. So villagers, whether they like him head, assisted by two other heads: one is a Minang- personally or not, trust him with the economic kabau ex-syahbandar and another is S.'s wife. It prosperity of the village. has ten sections, responsible for religion, health, environment, development, welfare, family pros- 2. Village Cooperatives (KUD) perity (PKK, Pembinaan Kesejahteraan Kelua- Village cooperatives (KUD, Koperasi Unit rga) and so on. One section head is of Chinese Desa, village unit cooperatives), dating from the descent. early 1970s, are state-sponsored multipurpose Other officers appointed are non-local people: a rural cooperatives [Hoadley & Hoadley 1996]. Minangkabau sy ahbandar (harbormaster), a J av a' In this village KUD was established in 1979 with nese policeman, a Javanese army lieutenant (bab- 20 members (three of whom were of Chinese insa, bintara pembina desa, law enforcement descents), at the urging of BUTSI (Badan Usaha officer), a Minangkabau naval seaman, a Selat Tani Seluruh Indonesia, all Indonesian agricultur- Panjang Malay forestery officer, a Daik Malay al work body) volunteers. The KUD covered the clinic assistant; and all teachers are outsiders. All area of Penuba, Selayar, Mentuda, Kelume, and of them earn salaries from the government. Their Kelombok. The number of members increased to influences on villagers depend more on their per- 97 in 1984, 166 in 1987 [Desa Penuba Profil sonality than their functions. For example, the 19931, and 7t4 in 1993 [Laporan KUD 1996], army officer, who has been quite a long time in the and the area coverd expanded to include Meraw- village and is popular among villagers, takes re- ing (Pulau Medong), Daik, Dabo, Sebung, Rejai, sponsibility for villagers' obligatory labor service Pulau Buluk, Beka Padan, Meral (Karimun), in the village head's absence. Pulau Mas, and Senayang outside Kecamatan In this village the penghulu's leadership has Lingga. The sudden increase of membership has
―H一 Regional Views No. l l 1997
been achieved as the KUD was given the autono- breeders, craftsmen, or factory workers. Only mous status of mandiri in May, 1990. The KUD household heads are counted in the figures. How- was nominated as the best cooperative at the ever, 84 percent of village incomes was reported national level in 1992. to come from fisheries in 1993. From the beginning the village head has served It is true to say that most of villagers are concurrently as chainnan of the board of direc- engaged in fishing: the Suku Laut in angling tors of the KUD. Under the board there is a (mancing), spearing (tombak, turah, serampang, full-time manager. He coordinates activities of tempuling); the Malays in fishing-line (rawai), eight units: fuel-oil, industry, loan, service quota- big tunnel-net trap (kelong), square fish trap tion, contract undertaking, fishery, general stores, (bubu) made formerly from rattan but from wire and labor. Three of unit-heads are of chinese since around 1970, angling, conical basket descent. Most of the necessary funds and man- (serkap), towing for squid (tunda nos), and pro- agement are provided by chinese entrepreneurs, cessing fish; the Chinese as owners of kelong, except for the contract undertakings, which seem dragnet Qtukar) ships, rawai boats, traders in sea to be under the direction of the chairman himself. products and fish breeders, especially of grouper The board of directors consists of a chairm an, a (kerapu). The marine product industry in vice-chairman, two secretaries, a cashier, a book- Penuba may be oulined as follows: the Chinese keeper and eight unit-heads, all of whom receive are owner of or capital investors in fishing or salaries from the KUD. The manager, a Dabo processing equipment, and Malay and Suku Laut college-graduate hired since 1993, earns a sub- work for them as laborers as well as engaging in stantial income from surcharges from each unit. small-scale fishing. This situation is reflected in Revenues mainly come from fisheries, charcoal the ownership of boats and fishing equipment. kilns, and shops. It can be said that business Most Suku Laut and Malay households have a operators pay a kind of tax to the KUD to smooth small boat (sampan) without an engine. Some their business. The KUD has become big because Malays and Chinese own sampan with an engine its members benefit more than the members of ' Qterahu bermotor). All bigger boats (kapal other KUDs non-members. or motor) with more than 20hp G)k, paardekracht), The structure of the KUD, at the beginning, mostly from 24 pk to 60 pk, and one 100 pk, coincided almost exactly with the village adminis- belong to people of Chinese descent. Dragnets tration. As its memberships expanded, its ac- and kelong require a certain amount of capital, tivities overtook the village's, with much more which is mainly provided by local Chinese. In funds available and business outside the village. October 1994, 25 dragnets Qtukat lamparan KUD members have to pay annual membership dasar) were in operation by Penuba Chinese. fees and to save money in the KUD. The main A sampan alone costs 40,000 Rp, but a mesin merits for members are protection from unneces- pompong (semidiesel engine) may be priced at sary taxes and unlawful collections by authorities, 1,200,000 Rp. A kapal of 12 tons with communi- and the availability of loans for business. It is cation equipemnt and the necessary documents much easier and less costly to get necessary li- may cost 11,800,000 Rp. Adding a second-hand censes for fishing and business under the auspices motor engine (6,000,000 Rp) and a dragnet of of the KUD. In the annual meeting held in 1994, lamparan dasar type (3,200,000 Rp), the total some one hundred members, including Suku cost may rise to 21,000,000 Rp. In three years the Laut, gathered together with guests from the net must be replaced. A kelong net set along the provincial cooperatives office. Participants were coast (kelong pantai) needs some 200,000 to given meals and T-shirts. 500,000 Rp in addition to a sampan. Arawai line costs about 1,000,000 Rp to purchase and fit out 3. Fisheries as Common Concerns equipemnt and also requires a pompong boat. In In Penuba, 90 percent of village household contrast to these rather costly types of fishing heads are said to be fishermen in the sense they equipment, angling may cost 750 Rp for one time are engaged in, or related to, some kind of fishing or more, and to make a bubu cage you have to activities. In the desa statistics, there are about 30 buy wire, wood, and nails, costing less than percent of fishertnen, 27 percent of agricultur- 20,000 Rp. alists, 15 percent of forest producers, 9 percent of The monthly expenditure of well-off house- retail traders and entrepreneurs, 8 percent of holds is reported to be 300,000 to 400,000 Rp, laborers, and others like government employees, while many poorer people live on an income of
T2 Symbiotic Dynamics of an Insular Community in the Melaka Strait (Tachimoto) less than 100,000 Rp per month. One third of the fishermen from a wide area. That may be another total number of households pay PBB @aiak bumi reason why the membership of the Penuba KUD dan bangunan, land and construction taxes). drastically increased. Some 90 boats have lampa- The following are some examples of incomes, ran dasar licences under the Penuba KUD. Ac- cited in order to conjecture the standards of living cording to the Fisheries Department (Dinas Per- in the village. School teachers start at 90,000 Rp ikanan) at Tanjungpinang, the name lamparan per month and the head of a school gets a dasar first appeared in official statistics in 1990.4) salary of 300,000-400,000 Rp. Other government Conditions have been bid down for use of these employees' salaries are 150,00f3m,000 Rp. Do- nets: they should not have sinkers and otter mestic servants' earnings range from 15,000 to boards; motorised ships should not be used, but 50,000 Rp. Crews may get monthly salary of ships belonging to KUD can use an engine below 50,000 Rp plus a supplementary allowance for 36 pk; and it should be used beyond six mil (nau- each fishing trip, for example, 50,000 for a trip of tical miles) from the coast. It catches shrimps one week. Other crews are paid by the trip more than one meter above the sea bed. The without salary. The crew of a trading ship to introduction of this dragnet urged many tauke to Singapore may get 400,000 Rp per month. A be engaged in shrimp fishing instead of angling Chinese skipper, who lost his capital because of and netting, and entrepreneurs obtained bigger ship wreckages and sickness, worked in a coffee boats. Other external factors in the development shop in Singapore to earn capital. A Suku Laut of fishing are increased demand for fresh fish, may earn 8,000 Rp a day for collecting man- especially in Singapore, and the availability of ice groves or 10,00f20,000 Rp by selling a day's in Penuba and Sungai Buluh. catch to a tauke. One tauke reported a net profit Seemingly drastic changes in fishing com- of some 1.5 million Rp in a month in 1993. munities appears often to depend on the availabil- According to a Bangkinang goldsmith whose ity of marine resources, which is often determined customers are mostly Malays, he sold ornaments by fishing techniques and equipment, and sup- for some 6.5 million Rp and purchased gold orna- porting capital and infrastructures. Lamparan ments for 3.6 million Rp from customers in No- dasar fishing is one case; and another is rawai vember 1993. fishing, which suddenly became popular in Although the present Penuba is essentially a August 1994 but then declined almost as rapidly. local fishing center, in the 1950s it was a trading A third is evident in a disused storehouse which center exporting copra, rubber and salted fish was built for processing jellyfish a few years ago. from this region. The most profitable goods in the The demand for roed dengkis (whitespotted spine- old days were rubber and dried anchovies (ikan foot, Siganus canaliculatus) for the Chinese new teri). Cloves have also been introduced onto the year also created a boom to build kelong pantai rn island, and most tauke own clove gardens. But every January recently. Kerapu (grouper) raising the trees have become diseased and the decline in also started very recently as its price of live fish is price has kept many owners from harvesting. All steadly rising. the produce, if any, goes to KUD at a fixed price The fishing area is limited to part of the Strait which they say is set under price. At present very of Melaka near the village. Fishing boats with few people tap rubber trees, owing to the decline engines usually go out to sea for two days to a in price. Only one tauke deals in rubber sheet. week. They come back with the catch packed in The dried anchovy industry, which produces ikan ice. There are ten ship-owners in Penuba. A teri of good quality, is still operating in nearby small ice factory operates in Penuba, but its pro- regions like Desa Tanjung Dua in the western duction is not enough for fish packing. Ship- part of Selayar Island. Mechanrzation of fishing owners buy more ice in Sungai Buluh. Most boats came in the 1980s in Penuba. In 1984, the catches are brought back to Penuba and weighed KUD started to sell refined fuel-oil (BBM, bahan at a fish broker's. Marine products are bought in bakar minyak). Around this period the KUD's bulk by fish dealers in Penuba. Five boat-owners members started to ase lamparan dasar dragnets, buy fish from any fisherman. Fish of above a which had been used by an enterprise in Sungai certain quality are then packed again into 100 kg Buluh. In 1980, the use of trawl nets had been boxes with ice. They forward the accumulated prohibited in Indonesia west to l31oE. This lam- products on ice in boxes to Batam, Tanjungpi- paran dasar is a modified dragnet that is used in nang, and Singapore. Recently, catches have place of the trawl net, and it has attracted many been taken directly to Singapore markets twice a
一- 13 - Regional Views No。 11 1997
week. Two boats, one owned by a Penuba man inland areas. The Minangkabau, Bangkinang, and another by an outsider sponsored by Medan Batak, Javanese, Buton, Minahasa and Malay capital, engage in the operation. Certain type of residents of Telok Rapang are all recent arrivals fish and small shrimps are processed in several as merchants or official personnel. Malays are a tauke houses and used to make fish balls and chips minority in the kota. In Block B of my census (kentpuk). Teripang (sea slug) is also dried. there are some Malay households in Beringin in Sometimes it is difficult to get fish for daily con- the north and Tajung Tunggal in the south. Of 70 sumption in Penuba, &s most fish are exported. households in Block B, 38 are Chinese, 17 Malay, Most shops in Penuba are owned by people of and 13 other ethnic households. No Suku Laut Chinese descent called tauke. They are also reside in Block B, except one presumably assimi- owners of boats and fishing equipment. Their lated household or two and a mixedblood. All of children often go away for education or employ- them live in Block C, where some Bangkinang, ment, but some of them help their parents in their Minangkabau, Javanese, Buton and Chinese shops or engage in fishing or navigation. Some people also live. The latter people stay there to Chinese work for tauke and a few of them serve get a house, not because of marriage. Two Chi- as laborers. Others are sago and charcoal pro- nese households built stilted houses on the coast ducers. of Pulau Lipan. Of 62 houses on Pulau Lipan, The Malays in PenubaLama mostly engage in Suku Laut occupy 54. In Block A, Suak Kunting small-scale fishing by boat or by netting or trap- is a totally Malay kampung, and four households ping, or work in Penuba Kota as laborers. The of Chinese descent live in Penuba Lama. Malays in Suak Kunting both cultivate gardens The Suku Laut, presumably having wandered and fish in the sea or work as wage laborers in around the wider area for a long time, began to factories or ships. have houses on Pulau Lipan since the project of The Suku Laut go out fishing in dugout boats, the Social Department began in the mid-1980s. alone or with family, on good days. Some become Some of them had been living in stilted houses on crews on fishing boats. Others work collecting the island's seashore since 1953. These people, rattan and wood for Chinese tauke. A few girls sometimes called as Orang Mantang, are now work as assistants in shops in Penuba Kota. The Muslims and Christians. Another group moved Suku Laut each own a hectare or so of agricultur- in from Sungai Buluh. Called Baruk, they are al land that was given by the government, but it now Muslims. Formerly the Mantang group seems not to be well cultivated, except for those moved seasonally around the seas south to Lingga parts that were handed over to newcomers from and north to Singkep, while the other Baruk outside. group is said to have been inclined to a sedentary The Chinese were interested in gambier and lifestyle. There is a resettlement of the Baruk pepper in the 19th century when they settled in people in Sungai Buluh, which was resettled ear- Penuba, then in rubber in the z}th century, in lier than Pulau Lipan. The Mantang group has salted fish when the population of surrounding many relatives in Kelume. It is also said that the areas increased, in clove in its boom period, and Baruk originally came from Palembang and that in fresh fish nowadays. The economy has been the Mantang from Jambi. The terms Mantang or closely connected with the market situation in Baruk are regarded as derogative names for the Singapore. This Chinese-oriented economy seems Suku Laut, although it seems the term Suku Laut to have dominated other ethnic economies too, itself is not necessarily their own coinage. although the Indonesian government has politi- Settlement patterns appear to separate the cally increased its influence on villagers through ethnic groups. However, they converge daily on taxation, auth orization and license. the shopping area, where many ethnic groups live together. The Malays and the Suku Laut, who 4. The Community as a Communitas are rather excluded from the arena in a sense, also Penuba Kota is a town-like village where the participate in symbiotic dynamics through inter- majority of people are relatively recent arrivals. actions. It is the arena where different ethnic A few native families have lived for generations in groups interact with each other to earn money. this community, of which the central part, Teluk If we follow a quite common-sense classifica- Rapang, is situated on land reclaimed in the early tion based mainly on the folk categories of ethni- z0th century. The Chinese household heads are city, we can summarise the situation as follows. third-generation descendants of the first settlers in In the lowest category are the Suku Laut who
- 14- Symbiotic Dynamics of an Insular Community in the Melaka Strait (Tachimoto) settled on Pulau Lipan since the mid-1980s. None community can be regarded as a type of com- of them owns a motorized perahu. Sampan are munitas from the persppective of heterogenous their means of transportation and fishing which is components. Perhaps you may argue that the mainly traditional spear-fishing. In most cases bond between them all is not ethnically rooted they seek occasional jobs collecting mangrove, or but, more radically, based on "ecological iden- other wood, or participating in a group angling tity" or "eco-identity" as communitas. expedition in a motor boat rented from a Chinese trader. A few of them work as regular crew on IV. Social Relations fishing boats for a daily wage. The native Malays seem to be more independ- 1. Family Bonds ent in their means of livelihood than the Suku The basic units of livelihood are elementary Laut. Some of them own a motoized perahu or family households for every ethnic group. How- boat. The arrivals from Sumatera manage to rent ever, reliance on family bonds seem to be situa- premises to open a goldsmith's, coffee shop, or tional. Seen from household compositions, which clothing shop. They do not engage in fishing or may show a pattern of relations in a situation at a fish-trading. certain point of time, the Chinese and the Malays Shops are dominantly owned by people of Chi- have a similar tendency to live in elementary nese descent of the Teochiu dialect group. Many family types but they differ in compositions of shop-owners are also fish-traders with their own additional members. The percentage of plural ships. In addition, a number of fish traders elementary families, which emphasize filiation, is owning their own fishing equipment. They buy highest among the Chinese, while the Malays marine products either from independent fisher- incorporate more collateral relatives from among men or from specially contracted fishermen who sibling (Table 5). The tendency of the Suku Laut may utilize the traders' equipment or who are seems to be to accommodate various relatives indebted to them. The traders regularly send outside elementary family members. This could their products to inter-island trading ports or to be because they are still in a transitional stage of Singapore. But not all Chinese are tauke or settled life, sometimes accepting migrant rela- traders. Some are laborer, machine-repairer, tives. fish-net mender, and shop-keeper. Generally speaking, the dispersion or separa- It appears that ethnic status is delineated by tion in different places of siblings is more conspic- ethnic categories which are closely connected uous among the Chinese than among the Malays. with ethnic characteristics. However, in reality, The Chinese, intentionally or unintentionally, mi- we should draw a picture of more intersecting grate to bigger centers and metropoles for jobs ethnic images from the viewpoints of ownership and usually have siblings in different parts of the of fishing equipment, types of fishing boats, region. The Malays move out by marriage or by volume of capital or gross incomes. transfer of government office and often their The important thing is that kota desa is a nexus siblings or in-laws come to them seeking help. or hub connecting production space and market. It is popularly believed that sibling solidarity is It is not merely a base for fisheries but also a stronger among Chinese than Malays. The Chi- focal point for exporting and exchange. The nese themselves, however, complain about the
Table 5. Household Types by Ethnicity, Penuba (as of January 1994) SUKU LAUT MALAYS CHINESE TOTAL
Single 4( r0.o%) 17 ( re.s%) 10( 22.7%) 31( r8.r%) Couple r( 2.s%) 3( 3.4%) 2( 4.5%) 6( 3.s%) E. F. 18( 45.o%) 46( sz.e%) 23( s2.3%) 87( so.e%) E. F. *a 11( 27.s%) 16( r8.4%) 4( e.r%) 31( r8.r%) E. F. +E. F. 6( r5.0%\ s( s.8%) 5( rr.4%) 16( e.4%) Total 4o(roo.o%) 87 (rm.o%) 44(rffi.o%> 17 r(roo.o%) Note: E. F. : Elementary Family. a - Other relatives.
l5 Regional Views No. 11 1997 weakness of sibling solidarity in Penuba in com- Law and Order Organization) like Hansip (Perta- parison with other Chinese communities. Chinese hanan Sipil, civil defence units) , Wanra (Perla- sibling solidarity seems to be more dependent on wanan Rakyat, people's militia). A security stand individual concerns and conditions in Penuba. (Pos Kamling, Keamanan Lingkungan, law and Impressionistically speaking, the Malays em- order of the neighborhood) has been built near phasize the bond between mother and children, the village office and the above units are given being child-focussed, the Suku Laut cherish the regular patrol tasks at night. unity of a couple and their children, being couple- Each neighborhood is officially organized as an focussed, and the Chinese seem to be individualis- RT (Rz kun Tetanga, neighborhood association). tic, respecting relationships between Fa-Ch, This is the lowest administrative unit, although in Mo-Ch, GrPa-GrCh, or siblings. The Chinese general it lacks a sense of unity. In the govern- have a refined traditional system of kinship, but ment-sponsored activities mentioned above, how- the people of Penuba seem to be less attentive to ever, it is always the RT which becomes the unit the traditional rules of marriage prohibition and of sanction. so on. Ritual associations are centered around a In daily interactions, familial rclationship pre- mosque, a shrine, and a church. Muslims have a dominates. Thus it is natural that ethnic bound- mosque committee which organizes religious aries are more emphasized in family bonds. Each gatherings around the fasting month or the Pro- ethnic group has its own cemetry separate from phet's birthday. A mosque and surau (chapel) others in different style. construction committee discusses the maintenance and building of mosques or surau. A surau has 2. Associations been built on Pulau Lipan. Weddings, including There are many associations institutionalized religious solemnization, and memorial gatherings by government agencies. We have already men- (kenduri arwah) are organized by a personal tioned LMD, LKMD, PKK and KUD. The network of kin and friendship circles depending word lembaga indicates a body, or institution on the family history of exchanges on similar or organization in Indonesian. It also means occasions. At memorial or other religious gather- "origin" or "model." ings, the Chinese are usually not invited. At Voluntary labor service is categorrzed as mu- weddings, more interactions are observed among tual-help lembaga (lembaga gotong royong). ethnic groups. Nonetheless some rich families Twice a month, each household dispatches an might hold a reception in two sections, with one adult member to carry out two hours of such specifically arranged for the Chinese. No Chinese collective works as cleaning roads and com- attended a poor Malay wedding held in Suak pounds of public buildings. This is done by order Kunting. of the village head or, in his absence, the babinsa. The Chinese have seasonal festivals and regular Chinese tauke and Suku Laut work together side worship communally and individually according by side, but a unit of work follows RT divisions. to the lunar calendar. Villagers are familiar with During my stay some 50 to 100 villagers par- such Chinese festivals as xin iie (itt February), ticipated. qing ming jie (in April) , duan wu iie (in MaY), or Local government agencies are also called lem- chong yang (in October). At the Chinese New baga. They are theoretically self-sufficient organs Year, shops are closed for several days. On the first in carrying out their functions, but they often call and fifteenth days of every lunar month, family for informal assistance and information from the members visit a shrine locally called pekong or villagers. Penuba has a police station (kantor klenteng, or more formally Tekchankongyah polisi), a law enforcement office (kantor babinsa), Kan (Dai jian jun ye miao). This shrine was a navy post (kantor pos unit Kamla) with a naval originally located near the central square, then ship, a customs station (kantor pos Bea dan moved to its present site, Cerenteng, outside the Cukai) which is manned by a villager as no kota twenty years ago. Another big communal officers are stationed in Penuba, a harbormaster festival is for Dai bo gong (Big Sir Uncle) in office (kantor syahbandar), a forest survey station Mandarin in the beginning of lunar November.s) (kantor Juru Ukur Kehutanan), and a clinic The ceremony is nowadays held for three days. (Puskesmas, Pusat Kesehatan Masyarakat). Firstly, villagers go to the original shrine far from A community-guard system is provided Penuba Kota, on the upper reach of the Snake through Lembaga Keamanan Rakyat (People's River (Sungai Ular). This is where the ancestral
16 Symbiotic Dynamics of an Insular Community in the Melaka Strait (Tachimoto)
settlers lived and cultivated pepper and gambier. mainly by the Chinese and in the daytime mainly Villagers go there by boat and on foot to worship by pegawai (official). None appears to be favored and invite the Dai bo gong and the gods to come by one particular ethnic group but you may to Penuba Kota. In Cerenteng by the side of the observe subtle segregation. They are important shrine, they build two tents for the invited deities social places to settle business matters and to Dai bo gong and Yu Huang Shang Huang (or Ge exchange information. Often a person, especially Huang Shang Ti, Tian In Kong, a Taoist Heaven a Chinese, will treat others at the same table. God) as well as ancestors. Fund-raising auctions Of the various Chinese dialect groups, as noted are conducted there, in the first night since 1991 . above, Teochiu speakers are dominant in this kota. The people from Daik and Rejai participate in Some outsider Chinese who speak other dialects auctions because this ceremony is also held in the may be treated a little differently. Generally, shrines and temples of Daik and Rejai. A com- villagers say that the Teochiu were regarded as mittee is responsible for org anizing this festival, being of lower status than the Cantonese, as a annually raising the necessary funds in the form Teochiu man had difficulty in marrying a Can- of donations and negotiating with local au- tonese girl. In Penuba, Kho, Go and Chan clan thorities for permission6). As the authorities do names are dominant. As in other places, marriage not regard this ceremony as religious perform- with someone of the same surname is avoided. In ance, the committee has to explain its object. addition, it is believed that marriage among Kho, one reason, which was explained to the desa office Chan and Lu is not advisable. Also, generation in t994, is that the ceremony is essentailly the order is considered in a marriage alliance, &s, same as the Malay kampung-protecting (bela properly speaking, a man should not marry a kampung). woman of different generation order. The Pentecostal Church, newly rebuilt in 1994, Credit rotation (arisan) groups are org anized is situated in Beringin. The land was donated by among the well-off people. The PKK also has a a Chinese. The pastor, who originally came from section for arisan. An example of Chines e arisan Menado, has worked here with his wife since consists of 14 members, held once a month. A 1985. In Penuba his congregation consists of member receives 200 Singapore dollars in rota- three Chinese families and all of the RT 3 in tion. Pulau Lipan, i.e., the Mantang group of Suku One of the biggest festivals is held around Laut. According to the pastor, the church has 80 Independence Day. In 1995, the 50th anniversary members in Pulau Lipan,60 in Kelume and 10 in of Independence, for the period of one month Pulon. All are suku Laut. They gather together before and after Independence Duy, August 17, weekly and on special occasions like the christ- many sports tournaments were held, to which mas and New Year. Formerly a chapel was built teams were invited from surrounding villages. on Pulau Lipan but it is not used anymore. There were also festivities like Malay dancing villagers of different religions visit each other Qoget), which troupes visited from other regions, at chinese New Year and Muslim Fast-breaking and open-air stalls from nearby villages or from ceremony (lebaran). But they rarely visit each Dabo. other's places of worship. Sometimes a birthday party for a child may be 3. Domination and Appropriation held among the well-off. In the previous section it was pointed out that Play groups are organized ad hoc. There is a although economic prosperity may cut across football ground near the high school, just outside ethnic boundaries, people often talk about it in the kota area. some chinese may join in, but it is terms of an ethnic group as a whole. mainly Malays who play. A badminton court However, we can see divisions within each with a cement floor occupies part of the cen tral ethnic category. The Suku Laut always occupies square. It has flourescent lighting for night play. a peripheral position in the village, but there is a Kota people who can afford a racket or shoes division between wage-earners and non-wage- play often there. Mah-jong is palyed at home earners. The former earn money by building a among the Chinese. Dominoes, using tiles, is a boat, becoming a crew member of a fishing boat, favorite among everybody around the kota. one a worker for a fishery belonging to a tauke, a coffee shop provides a place to play until rate at servant in a tauke's house, a kuli on the quay, by night. collecting mangrove for charcoal kilns and vari- Coffeehops are frequented in the early morning ous kinds of wood for construction, or by selling
t7 Regional Views No. 11 1997 his own catch to a tauke. Many tauke seem to rated by a Hokkien from Dabo. It seems that the prefer Suku Laut laborers to Malays because, Chinese here do not have particularly tight links they s&y, the former work hard. or connections with wider Chinese business net- Wage-earners who have contact with other works. Some Chinese work as shop clerks, super- groups have more chance to be assimilated into visors at factories and skippers. Poorer ones may other categories, while the non-wage-earners have be mechanical technicians, manual laborers like more freedom but are obliged to stick to tradi- ordinary crew, or even water-carriers. Some tional ways of life. Children of a mixed marriage widows make a living on sowing and cake-selling. may have a greater chance to be assimilated into Administratively, the Chinese are concentrated other categories if they could manipulate their in RT 2 of RW l, which belongs to Dusun 1. identities to benefit them. Some Suku Laut at- Dusun I consists of 1,171 people according to the tended the elementary school in the kota in the desa statistics. Buddhists account for 34%, early years. They become the core of interaction Christians 4%, and Muslims 62%. The Dusun with other ethnic groups. A branch of the ele- head is a Chinese resident of RT 2. Those who mentary school was built in Pulau Lipan and now are nominated as Dusun or RW heads may not be Suku Laut children attend the classes which tea' the richest or most influencial among the Chinese cher is a Javanese. No pupil goes to the high community, like the kongsu (representative or school in the kota. luitenant [Stibbe ibid.]) or taulo (toulao) in the Suku Laut houses in the settlement are not former days. Descendants of the rich who have markedly different in house utensils and other stayed in this village are no longer so well off, and equipment, except that non-Suku Laut residents are pitied by others. furnish their houses with chairs, desks and so on. The Chinese designate the Malays as Hankia The Suku Laut do not have motorized boats. Qfan zai) distinguishing them from Minang- Their houses and land were provided by the kabau, Batak or Javanese. The Suku Laut are government, which initially rendered substantial called Haihankia (hai fan zai) or Haitonkia (hai help for them to settle. No hierarchical distinc- di zai), hai meaning sea. Native Malays were tions are made among them. under a batin in the former days, at least during Administratively, i.e., nominally, there ate the Dutch period. Now they are under a kepala three RT heads who are Suku Laut and one RW desa and lack their own ethnic head. There are head who is a Malay on Pulau Lipan. The latter distinctions among pegawal (civil servants or full- is often called penghulu. At the beginning of time employees), non-pegawai businessmen and resettlement project, LA officer was dispatched peasants in terms of regular income. All of them from the Department of Social Affairs. A tradi- may be engaged in fishing or in selling candies and tional leader is calle d a kepala suku (tribal head) daily necessities at a small space in a house or at for all the Suku Laut on the island. Now a stalls on special occasions. In a sense, they could Christian of the Mantang group holds this posi- be called polybians [Kearney 19961. No local tion. He will be consulted about matters relating Malays have a shop in the kota. to the whole of the community and presides over Chinese tauke may have domestic helpers, the settlement of internal conflicts. He also acts Malay or Suku Laut. Crews are recruited from as medicine man (dukun). He does not have any among local people. Loans are rampant. But jurisdiction over the Mantang or Baruk or Suku these relationships of employment and debt are Laut in other areas. usually ephemeral, the parties involved changing There are much deeper divisions among the quite often. Chinese in terms of wealth. The tauke are propri- The village square is a symbol of domination etors of shops, employers of crews and shop [cf. Lefebre 1991]. Around the square are shops, clerks, traders, or entrepreneurs of charcoal, a former Chinese school, official residences and a sago, timber and so on. According to their own mosque. The Chinese school was established in evaluation, the Chinese in Penuba today are not 1931, and closed in 1958 owing to the government as prosperous as those in other areas like Pancur ban on Chinese education. A market was situated in Lingga, let alone the Chinese in big cities. nearby but it was demolished to make way for a Most of the tauke in Penuba, it is said, are in debt new KUD building and shops. Formerly, the to Singaporean traders. One of the two boats Chinese festival of Dai bo kong was held in this involved in export to Singapore belongs to a square, with troupes of entertainers invited from Medan Chinese, as mentioned above, and is ope- as far away as Singapore. The festival place was
18 Symbiotic Dynamics of an Insular Community in the Melaka Strait (Tachimoto)
moved to Beringin several years &go, then to the cultural identity present location, Cerenteng, in 1992. The shrine was also located near the square, as mentioned above. Official government ceremonies are car- ried out in the square, which is now fenced on genetic three sides. identity The quay (dermaga) was made during the Dutch period and reconstructed recently with a new lighthouse. Regular line ships and other large ships moor here. Fishing boats and other eco-idenity small boats have their own moorings behind Figure 8. Ecodynamic Model of Identity houses, whose plank floors Qtelantar) extend toward the sea. To a certain extent, the corridors ny in its political economy, and at least villagers inside such houses become public domain con- share the feeling of eco-identity [cf. Imanishi necting moorings and the main road, just like a 1990; Thomashow 19961in spite of their ethnic or shopping space. cultural differences. The eco-identity, site- The fishing grounds are open to everybody, consciousness or proto-identity, is related to a although trawlers must operate beyond six miles sense of place or topopholia and a feeling of from the coast. Even in the off-shore waters of dissociative togertherness against uncertain life- other villages it is possible to set a kelong net if chances that are perceived to be shared. The notification is given. radicalness of the eco-identity could be shown as Male dominance is prevalent in many public an ecodynamic model of identities as above [see domains. flowever, females participate in some also Shore 1996] (Figure 8). public activities and dominate in domestic In the management of identities, I surmise, the spheres. Home industry like processing fish and concept of the Malays as polybians plays the role shrimps or making keropok (chips) is done by of a mediating symbol to absorb elements housewives and female helpers. squeezed from the Chinese and Suku Laut or even from other pribumi. V. Conclusions Uncertain life-chances are a function of avail- able resources and capital, existing infrastruc- Even in this tiny community, a kind of ethnic tures, willingness to take risks, and the struggle fluidity can be seen in the ambivalence towards for recognition. The availability of marine children of ethnic interm arriage and interethnic resources is quite uncertain. Firstly, the kind of adoption. Chinese girls by blood become Malay resources they seek is determined by outside de- by adoption. Suku Laut can claim to be Malay if mands from Singapore, Tanjungpinang, Medan, they live in a Malay quarter as a Muslim. The Jambi or Jakarta. The demand for fresh fish is a division between Muslims and non-Muslims is very recent phenomenon. The villagers are aware rather strict, but Muslims include various ethnic of the decrease in their catch in recent decades. groups of pribumi, part of the Suku Laut and Shipwrecks are not so uncommon. The prices of Chinese converts. Christians include the Suku fish suddenly change in the markets. Willingness Laut and a few Chinese. Buddhists are exclusive- to take risks is a matter of personality and culture. ly Chinese, but not all Chinese are Buddhists. Sea-faring is not such a risk except bad weather, Economic strata also cut across ethnic categories but economic risks are another matter. if examined closely. Macroscopically, life-styles are similar, life- Nonetheless, everybody seems to have a kind of cources are limited and life-strategies are restrict- intraethnic affinity with other members of the ed, although microscopic differences in life-world same ethnic group, provided other considerations are observed. Different life-worlds are mediated do not impinge. Language barriers do not exist, by the eco-identity. as everybody is fluent in spoken Malay or Indo- Pluralism without indifference is a proper term nesian, yet native languages are still spoken in to describe the situation [cf. Rescher 1993]. private. This internal affinity and external unin- Pluralism does not mean mearly the existence of telligibility create feelings of interethnic ambiva- multiple choices. It should involve creative ac- lence. tivities of synergetic cooperation between self and However, the community has a common desti- other against emerging new situations and events.
19 Regional Views No. 11 1997
Newell translates the name as Big Sir Uncle Notes and notes that in Teochiu it is pronounced Dwa-bei-gong. According to Friedman, it is 1) The fieldwork was conducted in 1993 and 1994 pronounced Toa-peh-kong in Hokkien. for a total period of about three months (from In Penuba, the Newell's Teochiu is not December 1993 to February 1994 and from known and To-peh-kong is a common pronun- October 1994 to November 1994) with a grant ciation. Wang Tai Peng takes an interpreta- for overseas research from the Ministry of tion that To-po-kong (Dai bo gong) represents Education, Science, Sports and Culture. the great founder of a Chinese settlement or Some data are rechecked in short visits in brotherhood. "Ta-po-kung had been a Chinese August 1995 and December 1996. I would deification of great mariners in origin, . . . it like to express my gratitude to Professor evolved into the enshrined memory of the Yoshimi Komoguchi of Komazawa Universi- great founders of Chinese settlements ty who was the head of the research project overseas." [Wang 1994: 73] for the grant. In Riau, Professor Mochtar 6) Four influential family heads were responsible Ahmad of Riau University helped me as a for the ceremony until 1990. One of them had sponsor of my research. His student, Mr been responsible for the execution of each Muhammad Ansharuddin, spent one month year's ceremony in turn. From 1991 a com- with me during my second trip to Penuba, mittee has been organized by election. Its gathering data on economic conditions. I members, with five-year term, consist of one would like to extend my gratitude to Professor chairman, two vice-chairmen, a bursar, and a Mohd Daud Kadir of Riau University and Mr secretary. Auction was done on the fourth Imran Nor of Tanjungpinang for information day before 1990. on Penuba. LIPI and local government agencies were very helpful in conducting Reference fieldwork. Mr Peter Hawks corrected my English in the first version of the paper. Andaya, Leonard Y. 197 5. The Kingdom of Johor 2) Kota desa should not be confused with 1641-1728: Economic and Political Develop- desakota, urban village. The latter concept is ments. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University developed in McGee & Robinson [ 1996]. The Press. map in Figure 3 is based on a plan provided by De Bruyn Kops, G. F. 1854. Sketch of the Rhio- the village office. Lingga Archipelago. Journal of the Indian 3) The mes, accommodation for visitors, was Archipelago and Eastern Asia, vol. 8: 386-402. formerly a Dutch opium trading house. The De Bruyn Kops, G. F. 1855. Sketch of the Rhio- visitors are required to register their names in Lingga Archipelago. Journal of the Indian a book. From 1988 to 1993 there were 146 Archipelago and Eastern Asia, vol. 9: 96-108. Indonesians, many of them on official mis- Desa Penuba Monografi. 1986. Laporan Kegiatan sions, 22 vrsitors each from Singapore and the Pembangunan dan Monografi Desa Penuba Netherlands, 15 Americans, 14 British, I 1 Tahun 1986. from Germany and Switzerland, 10 Austral- Desa Penuba Monografi. 1993 . Laporan Kegiatan ians, 8 Canadians, 5 Danish, 3 each from Penbangunan dan Monografi Desa Penuba, Belgium, Norway and Italy, 2 each from Tahun 1992/ 1993. Japan and Austria, and I each from New Desa Penuba Profil. 1993. Profil Desa Penuba Zealand, Spain, and France. Kecamatan Lingga Kabupaten Dati II Kepul- 4) Interviews with officers at Dinas Perikanan at auan Riau Tahun 1993. Tanjungpinang in 1993. De Graaff, S. and Stibbe, D. G. 1918. Encylopae- 5) According to a knowledgable Chinese respon- dia van Nederlandsch-Indie. Tweede Deel. sible for the festival, Dai bo gong may have s'-Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhotr been an earth deity. Friedman noted that the Hamidy, U. U. 1991. Masyarakat Terasing Malayan Chinese version of the deity is Daerah Riau di Gerbang Abad XXI. Pekan- known otherwise as Hok-tek-cheng-sin and baru: Zamrad. Tho-ti-kong, the god of the earth and wealth Hamilton, Alexander. 1930. A New Account of [ 1970: 44]. He also mentions a different the East Indies. Vol. 2. Edited by William interpretation in a note on pages 197-8. Foster. London: The Argonaut Press.
20 Symbiotic Dynamics of an Insular Community in the Melaka Strait (Tachimoto)
Hoadley, Mason C. and Gunarsson, Christer couver: UBC Press. (eds.) 1996. The Village Concept in the Trans- Newell, William H. 1962. Treacherous River: A formation of Rural Southeast Asia. Richmond: Study of Rural Chinese in North Malaya. Curzon. Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya Press. Hoadley, Anna-Greta Nilsson and Hoadley, Rescher, Nicholas. 1993. Pluralism against the Mason C. 1996. Developing Indonesia's Vil- Demand for Consensus. Oxford: Clarendon. lage Co-operative. In Hoadlet & Gunarson, Shore, Bradd. 1996. Culture in Mind: Cognition, pp. 183-201. Culture, and the Problem of Meaning. New Imanishi, Kinji. 1990. Shizengaku no Tenkai York: Oxford University Press. [Development of Natural Studies]. Tokyo: Stibbe, D. G. 1919. Encylopaedia van Neder- Kodansha. landsch-Indie. Derde Deel. s'-Gravenhage: Kerney, Michael. 1996. Reconceptualizing the Martinus Nijhoff. Peasantry: Anthropology in Global Perspective. Thomashow, Mitchell. 1996. Ecological ldentity: Colorado: Westview. Becoming a Reflective Environmentalist. Cam- Lefevre, Henri. 199I. The Production of Space. bridge: MIT Press. Oxford: Blackwell. lLa production de Wang Tai Peng. 1994. The Origins of Chinese I'espace. editions Anthropos. 1974.] Tr. by Kongsi. Petalin g Jaya: Pelanduk Publications. Donald Nicholson-Smith. Wolters, O. G. 1970. The Fall of Srivfiaya in McGee, T. G. and Robinson, Ira M. 1995. The Malay History. Reprinted in L975 by Oxford Mega-Urban Regions of Southeast Asia. Van- University Press, Kuala Lumpur.
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