Advance Praise for Yearning to Belong This book presents — for the first time in a single volume — fascinating historical and ethnographic details of five hybrid ethnic minorities in Peninsula Malaysia. Written with sensitivity and insight towards both minorities and the larger communities, this book is an outstanding contribution to inter-ethnic understanding, to ethnic studies in general, and minority studies in particular. For Malaysian Studies enthusiasts this is a must read. Professor Shamsul A.B. Founding Director, Institute of Ethnic Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, and Member, International Advisory Board, ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore Once I started reading this book I didn’t want to stop! It’s a lovely book. Pillai’s skills of story-telling and clarity of expression make the book accessible to a broad popular audience, while the facts and insights from interviews and local documents are an original contribution to scholarship. The five case-studies also make this publication distinctive. Charles Hirschman Boeing International Professor of Sociology, University of Washington, and Fulbright Visiting Professor, University of Malaya, 2012–13 For decades — beginning long before Independence in 1957 — governments and academic analysts have tended to configure Malaya/Malaysia in terms of a simplistic race paradigm: Malay/Chinese/Indian. This very readable book reaches beyond that paradigm, demonstrating how it has distorted reality. In one perceptive and sensitive chapter after another Pillai discloses the ethnic complexity of Malaysia, and in doing so makes the country all the more interesting to the general reader as well as the professional sociologist. Anthony Milner Tun Hussein Onn Chair, ISIS Malaysia (2014–15); Co-editor, Transforming Malaysia: Dominant and Competing Paradigms (ISEAS, 2014); Basham Professor of Asian History, The Australian National University 15-00404 00 Yearning to Belong.indd 2 25/9/15 8:40 am This is a work that came from the heart and that is why it carries the colour and warmth of its birth place. Relying on history and narratives, Patrick Pillai paints a beautiful picture of the many cultural streams that contributed to Malaysia’s dazzling diversity. But his work is not just a nostalgic yearning for a more harmonious society as in the past. There is a powerful message for greater understanding of our unacknowledged commonalities and more tolerance and acceptance of our differences. Professor Dr Shad Saleem Faruqi Emeritus Professor of Law, UiTM (Malaysia) 15-00404 00 Yearning to Belong.indd 3 25/9/15 8:40 am The ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute (formerly Institute of Southeast Asian Studies) was established as an autonomous organization in 1968. It is a regional centre dedicated to the study of socio-political, security and economic trends and developments in Southeast Asia and its wider geostrategic and economic environment. The Institute’s research programmes are the Regional Economic Studies (RES, including ASEAN and APEC), Regional Strategic and Political Studies (RSPS), and Regional Social and Cultural Studies (RSCS). ISEAS Publishing, an established academic press, has issued more than 2,000 books and journals. It is the largest scholarly publisher of research about Southeast Asia from within the region. ISEAS Publishing works with many other academic and trade publishers and distributors to disseminate important research and analyses from and about Southeast Asia to the rest of the world. 15-00404 00 Yearning to Belong.indd 4 25/9/15 8:40 am First published in Singapore in 2015 by ISEAS Publishing 30 Heng Mui Keng Terrace Singapore 119614 E-mail: [email protected] Website: <http://bookshop.iseas.edu.sg> All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute. © 2015 ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore The responsibility for facts and opinions in this publication rests exclusively with the author and his interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views or the policy of the publisher or its supporters. ISEAS Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Pillai, Patrick. Yearning to Belong : Malaysia’s Indian Muslims, Chitties, Portuguese Eurasians, Peranakan Chinese and Baweanese. 1. Ethnology—Malaysia. 2. Ethnicity—Malaysia. 3. Malaysia—Social life and customs. 4. Indians (Asian people)—Malaysia—Religion. 5. Indians (Asian people)—Malaysia—Ethnic identity. 6. Portuguese—Malaysia—Ethnic identity. 7. Chinese—Malaysia—Ethnic identity. 8. Chinese—Malaysia. 9. Boyanese (Indonesian people)—Malaysia—Cultural assimilation. I. Title. DS595 P65 2015 ISBN 978-981-4519-67-0 (soft cover) ISBN 978-981-4519-68-7 (e-book, PDF) Photo credits: Cover photographs are from the author’s collection. Typeset by Superskill Graphics Pte Ltd Printed in Singapore by Markono Print Media Pte Ltd 15-00404 00 Yearning to Belong.indd 6 25/9/15 8:40 am For K K 15-00404 00 Yearning to Belong.indd 7 25/9/15 8:40 am 15-00404 00 Yearning to Belong.indd 8 25/9/15 8:40 am CONTENTS List of Figures and Tables xii Foreword by Professor Shamsul A.B. xiii Preface xv Acknowledgements xxi Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Discerning Diversity: What Their Stories Tell Us 4 1. “Mamak” and Malaysian: The Indian Muslim Quest for Identity 6 Introduction 6 Shared Histories: Factors Facilitating Acculturation and Assimilation 8 Culture and Identity: Indian Muslim Impact and Influence 13 State-Defined Categories: Divisions and Dilemmas 21 The Indian Muslim “Identity Crisis” 27 Overcoming the “Identity Crisis”: Ethnic, Political and Social Routes 30 Conclusion: The Indian Muslim Quest for Identity 33 Appendix 1.1: Mohideen, A Kadayanallur Trader 36 Appendix 1.2: Fazal Mohd Bros: Providing for the Pilgrim’s Passage 37 Appendix 1.3: Shops To Superstores: Barkath, Habib and Mydin 38 Appendix 1.4: List of Interviews/Field Visits 39 Notes 40 15-00404 00 Yearning to Belong.indd 9 25/9/15 8:40 am x Yearning to Belong 2. The Chitty of Malacca: An Epitome of Cross-Cultural Influences 42 Introduction: Kampung Chitty, Malacca 42 Shared Histories: Factors Facilitating Acculturation 43 Culture and Identity: Manifestations of Acculturation 49 Ethnic Space: People and Place 56 Seeking Bumiputera Status 64 Conclusion 65 Appendix 2.1: Chitty or Peranakan Indian? 68 Appendix 2.2: Parchu Ponggal: Chitty Ancestor Worship 69 Appendix 2.3: Interviews of Chitties 71 Notes 76 3. Bumiquest: Malacca’s Portuguese Eurasians and the Search for Identity 78 Introduction: A Village by the Sea 78 Shared Histories: Factors Facilitating Acculturation 83 Shared Cultures and Identities: Manifestations of Acculturation 88 Securing Ethnic Space and Political Place: Portuguese and Bumiputera Routes 98 Conclusion 110 Appendix 3.1: The Portuguese Eurasian Catholic Heritage 112 Appendix 3.2: Key Portuguese Eurasian Religious Events 114 Notes 117 4. Between “Cina-Kampung” and “Cheng-Ho” Chinese: Terengganu’s Peranakans 119 Introduction: Glimpses of a Fast-Disappearing Hybrid World 119 Shared Histories: Factors Influencing Chinese Acculturation and Identity in Terengganu 123 Shared Spaces: Factors Facilitating Acculturation in Kampung Tirok 130 Identities and Cultures: Manifestations of Acculturation in Terengganu 135 Harnessing Multiple Identities: Between “Cina-Kampung” and “Cheng Ho” Chinese 141 Conclusion 144 Appendix 4.1: Kuala Terengganu’s Chinatown 146 Appendix 4.2: Terengganu Peranakan Chinese Food 148 Notes 149 15-00404 00 Yearning to Belong.indd 10 25/9/15 8:40 am Contents xi 5. “Mereka Sayang Kita”: The Malay Journey of the Baweanese 152 Introduction: Bawean and the Cultural Reproduction of Malay Ethnicity 152 Flow and Flux: Pre-colonial and Colonial Migration to the Peninsula 155 Sailors and Tappers: Colonial Baweanese Immigration, 1850–1957 156 Poverty and Piety: Factors Facilitating Baweanese Immigration 160 Helpful “Malay” Neighbours: Factors Facilitating Acculturation and Assimilation 166 From Baweanese to Malay: The Long Journey 173 Conclusion 178 Appendix 5.1: Sources of Indonesian Immigration, Colonial Period 1850–1957 181 Appendix 5.2: Baweanese Life-Histories 183 Notes 202 6. Conclusion 203 Hybrid Groups and Harmony: Lessons from the Past 203 Yearning to Belong: Harnessing Multiple Identities 204 Living Together, Apart: Ethnic Polarization Today 206 Embracing Diversity through More Inclusive Policies 208 Overcoming Fear, Building Trust: Inter-ethnic Dialogue 209 Appendix “Towards a Shared Malaysian Destiny” by Professor Shad Saleem Faruqi 211 Bibliography 223 Glossary 239 Index 245 About the Author 259 15-00404 00 Yearning to Belong.indd 11 25/9/15 8:40 am LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 2.1 Location of Chitty Village and Its Temples and Shrines, Malacca 59 Figure 2.2 Layout of the Chitty Village 60 Figure 3.1 Location of Portuguese Settlement and Related Landmarks 81 Figure 3.2 Layout of the Portuguese Settlement, Malacca 82 Figure 4.1 Terengganu: Towns and Villages Where Peranakan-type Chinese Live 121 Figure 4.2 Kampung Tirok and Surrounding Villages on Terengganu River Banks 122 Table 2.1 Chitty Population, Malaysia, September 2009 57 Table 2.2 Chitty Population, Malaysia, 1976 57 Table 3.1 Some Malacca Portuguese-Eurasian Family Names 89 Table 3.2 Bahasa Malaysia Words Derived from Portuguese 94 Table 5.1 Malaya: Percentage of Indonesians in Total Malayan Population, 1911–57 157 Table 5.2 The Baweanese Population in Singapore, 1849–1957 159 Table 5.3 Indonesians by Ethnics Sub-Group, Malaya, 1911–47 159 Table 6.1 Multiple Identities of Ethnic Minorities 205 15-00404 00 Yearning to Belong.indd 12 25/9/15 8:40 am FOREWORD This book presents — for the first time in a single volume — fascinating historical and ethnographic details of five hybrid ethnic minorities in Peninsula Malaysia. They comprise Penang’s Indian Muslims, Malacca’s Chitties and Portuguese Eurasians, Trengganu’s Peranakan Chinese, and the Baweanese, who are of Indonesian origin. The Baweanese chapter, in particular, stands out as a significant contribution to the literature on Peranakan-types in the Malay world.