This page intentionally left blank Imperial Alchemy The mid twentieth century marked one of the greatest watersheds of Asian history, when a range of imperial constructs were declared to be nation-states, either by revolution or by decolonisation. Nationalism was the great alchemist, turning the base metal of empire into the gold of nations. To achieve such a transformation from the immense diversity of these Asian empires required a different set of forces from those that Europeans had needed in their transitions from multi-ethnic empires to culturally homogeneous nations. In this book Anthony Reid, one of the premier scholars of Southeast Asia, explores the mysterious alchemy by which new political identities have been formed. Taking Southeast Asia as his example, Reid tests contemporary theory about the relation between modernity, nationalism and ethnic identity. Grappling with concepts emanating from a very different European experience of nationalism, Reid develops his own typology to better fit the formation of political identities such as the Indonesian, Malay, Chinese, Acehnese, Batak and Kadazan. anthony reid is a Southeast Asian Historian now again based at the Australian National University, Canberra, but previously at the National University of Singapore (2002–9), where he established the Asia Research Institute, and University of California, Los Angeles (1999–2002). His other recent books include Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce (2 vols, 1988–93), Charting the Shape of Early Modern Southeast Asia (1999), An Indonesian Frontier: Acehnese and Other Histories of Sumatra (2004), and, as [co]editor, Islamic Legitimacy in a Plural Asia (2007), Chinese Diaspora in the Pacific (2008) and Negotiating Asymmetry: China’s Place in Asia (2009). Imperial Alchemy Nationalism and Political Identity in Southeast Asia Anthony Reid CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Dubai, Tokyo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521872379 © Anthony Reid 2010 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published in print format 2009 ISBN-13 978-0-511-69056-3 eBook (Dawsonera) ISBN-13 978-0-521-87237-9 Hardback ISBN-13 978-0-521-69412-4 Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Contents List of maps page vi List of figures vii List of tables viii Acknowledgements ix Abbreviations xi 1 Nationalism and Asia 1 2 Understanding Southeast Asian nationalisms 25 3 Chinese as a Southeast Asian ‘other’ 49 4 Malay (Melayu) and its descendants: multiple meanings of a porous category 81 5 Aceh: memories of monarchy 115 6 Sumatran Bataks: from statelessness to Indonesian diaspora 145 7 Lateforming ethnie in Malaysia: Kadazan or Dusun 187 8 Imperial alchemy–revolutionary dreams 210 Glossary 219 References 221 Index 238 v Maps 1 Southeast Asia, colonial and contemporary page 24 2 Northern Sumatra 150 3 Sabah, showing Kadazan and Dusun concentrations 189 vi Figures 3.1 & 3.2 Aftermath of May riots in Kuala Lumpur, 1969 (3.1, top) and Jakarta, 1998 (3.2, bottom) page 73 5.1 Aceh government banner celebrates cessation of hostilities between the Indonesian Republic and GAM, 2002 140 5.2 Debris of the tsunami surrounds the miraculously intact main mosque of the Aceh capital, December 2004 142 6.1 Statue of Singamangaraja XII erected in Medan to celebrate his national hero status, 1961 148 6.2 Modern Toba Batak monument (tugu), erected by the Manihuruk lineage, near Pangururang (Samosir), to rebury the ancestors 179 6.3 Modern Church of GBKP with signature Karo roof, Medan 2008 182 6.4 The North Sumatra provincial museum deals with ethnic claims with a Toba–Batak designed roof style, Malay entrance and horizontal bands of decoration to represent seven different ethnicities 184 7.1 Donald Stephens proclaims Sabah’s entry to Malaysia, 1963, with Tun Mustapha seated centre 195 vii Tables 6.1 Batak migrants in Medan page 169 6.2 Growth of Batak church membership in Jakarta 170 6.3 HKBP membership figures in major cities 170 6.4 Destination of children of Gunung, Tiga Binanga, Tanah Karo, 1995 172 7.1 Ethnic percentages in Sabah censuses 188 7.2 Sabah population by ethnicity and religion 206 7.3 Mean income of ethnic groups in Malaysian Ringgit, 2004 208 viii Acknowledgements The foundation of this book was laid in four lectures I delivered at the University of Hawai’i in 1996 as John A. Burns Distinguished Visiting Professor in the History Department. The prior seed was planted in a period of field work in Sumatra and East Malaysia in 1995, made possible by my supportive then employer, the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian National University. The final writing became possible only through the generosity of the National University of Singapore (NUS) in allowing first a period of leave in Cambridge and later release from administrative responsibilities. The leave was spent as a Visiting Fellow at King’s College, Cambridge. I am grateful to all of these institutions, and the individuals who animated them, for those wonderful opportunities. During the times in the field in 1995 and subsequently, I acquired many debts, only the heaviest of which can be mentioned here. Two former colleagues and friends, both now sadly missed, introduced me to their beloved homelands in Karoland and Sabah respectively—the late Dr Masri Singarimbun and Dr James Ongkili. Sikap Sembayang, Nismah Tarigan and Manis Tarigan greatly facilitated research in Gunung, while in addition Juara Ginting, Yasin Karo-Karo and Mary Steedly constituted invaluable guides on the Karo; Fr Philippus Manala and his Capucin colleagues, Fr Tony Scerri, J. B. Simbolon, Professor A. Pasaribu and Ben Pasaribu with the Toba. Yasin also helped with questionnaires in Medan. In Sabah Jacqueline Kitingan, Benedict Topin, Penelope Husin, Herman Luping, Joanna Kissey and Rita Lasimbang were particularly helpful. In the preparation of this manuscript, and particularly the maps, Joyce Zaide and Henry Kwan Wai Hung were indispensable. In all things I am in debt to Helen Reid—muse, mentor and gentle critic. During the long maturation since the 1995 fieldwork, each chapter passed through extensive and constant revision, and various forms of presentation. For chapters 1 and 2 these included a Kaplan Lecture, given at the University of Pennsylvania on 30 March 2000, several lectures in Singapore and Malaysia, and an article, ‘National and Ethnic ix x Acknowledgements Identities in a Democratic Age: Some Thoughts of a Southeast Asian Historian’, in Oh Myung-Seok and Kim Hyung-jun (ed), Religion, Ethnicity and Modernity in Southeast Asia, Seoul, Seoul National Univer- sity Press, 1998, 11–43. Chapter 3 has evolved as the situation of Chinese Southeast Asians changed, including an International Society for the Study of the Chinese Overseas (ISSCO) conference paper in 1998, a published lecture at the Academia Sinica in Taipei and presen- tations in Canberra and Singapore. The genesis of chapter 3 was a paper presented at the 15th Conference of the International Association of Historians of Asia, held in Jakarta in August 1998. A later version was published in Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 32: 3 (2001). Chapter 5 also had diverse incarnations, including an article in Asian Ethnicity 15, 3 (Oct 2004). An earlier version of chapter 7 was published in Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 28, 1 (March 1997) 120–36. All these were milestones on the way to this book, and I acknowledge and thank all the editors and outlets involved. My final group of critics and long- suffering collaborators were my NUS graduate class in 2008, who taught as they learned. Abbreviations AKAR Angkatan Keadilan Rakyat, People’s Justice Movement ASA Association of Southeast Asia ASAA Asian Studies Association of Australia ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations BKI Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land-, en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsche Indie¨, published by the KITLV (see below) BN Barisan National, National Front (ruling party in Malaysia) BP Borneo Post (Kota Kinabalu) BPS Biro Pusat Statistik, Central Statistical Bureau CIA Central Intelligence Agency DAP Democratic Action Party (Malaysia) DE Daily Express (Kota Kinabalu) EPU The Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister’s Department, Malaysia FEER Far Eastern Economic Review FMS Federated Malay States GAM Gerakan Acheh Merdeka, Aceh Independence Movement GBKP Gereja Batak Karo Protestan, Karo Batak Protestant Church GKPI Gereja Kristen Protestan Indonesia, Indonesian Protestant Christian Church HKB Hatopan Kristen Batak, Batak Christian Association HKBP Huria Kristen Batak Protestan, Batak Protestant Christian Church HKI Huria Kristen Indonesia, Indonesian (formerly Batak) Christian Church HUDA Himpunan Ulama Daya Aceh, Association of Ulama of [traditional] Aceh Religious Schools IAIN Institute Agama Islam Negeri, State Islamic Institute ISEAS Institute for Southeast Asian Studies (Singapore) JAS Journal