Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 173 (2017) 53–82 bki brill.com/bki Legacy of the Past Chinese Indonesian Sporting Achievements During the Sukarno Era Taufiq Tanasaldy* School of Humanities, University of Tasmania
[email protected] Abstract In contemporary times, Chinese Indonesian participation in sport is primarily associ- ated with badminton. Less well known, however, is the prominent role Chinese Indone- sians played—before the advent of the New Order—on the wider Indonesian sports scene. For many years they maintained an almost absolute domination in weightlifting and basketball, while enjoying prominence in water sports, lawn tennis, table tennis, and further sports disciplines. This article aims to investigate the determinants influ- encing their prominent role on the Indonesian sports scene during those periods. It will examine the colonial roots—the prevailing economic and socio-political system inherent to the Dutch East Indies—that might have provided a foundational basis for their significant performance in later years. The article will also investigate the political environment manifest during the Sukarno era—one that facilitated Chinese Indone- sians’ enthusiastic participation and achievement in sport.The study is based primarily on official documentation, the print media, as well as the testimonies and insights of more than a dozen former Chinese sports champions—now mostly in their seven- ties. Keywords sports history – Chinese Indonesians – colonial legacy – Sukarno era * The author would like to acknowledge the financial support provided by pt Inti Cakra Anugrah (Jakarta). © taufiq tanasaldy, 2017 | doi: 10.1163/22134379-17301003 This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Public License (cc-by-nc 4.0).