Matakuliah : E1052 / Penelitian China Perantauan
Tahun
: 2007
Hubungan China Perantauan dengan non-Chinese
Pertemuan 7
Overseas Chinese Experience
1. Assimilation
Bina Nusantara
2. Discrimination
Assimilation
What is assimilation?
Assimilation is also the state of change. This occurs often with immigration.
When new immigrants enter a country, the surrounding people try to change the
immigrants into what their culture or society expects.
Sooner or later the immigrants will no longer seem to be immigrants, they will
seem to be similar to every one else because of assimilation.
Cultural assimilation (often called merely assimilation)
is an intense process of consistent integration whereby members of an ethnocultural group, typically immigrants, or other minority groups, are "absorbed"
into an established, generally larger community.
This presumes a loss of many characteristics which make the newcomers
different.
A region or society where assimilation is occurring is sometimes referred to as a
melting pot.
Bina Nusantara
Assimilation for the individual
• While it is widely held that a given ethnic group may assimilate to its host culture
over a period of time, rhetoric espoused by the host culture rarely takes into
account the difficulties for the individuals involved. In fact, the question may be
asked "is it possible for an individual to assimilate at all, and if so, till what age is
it impossible?"
• In host countries, ethnic minority parents' children who have regular association
with non-ethnic minority people are successful at assimilating.
• It may be argued that past occurrences of assimilation are really only
occurrences of compatibility of cultures. It is hard to distinguish between
situations where a given ethnic group has assimilated and situations where said
group has merely become a contributing sector of society.
• Some contemporary scholars of immigration, such as George De Vos, Celia Jaes
Falicov, Takeyuki Tsuda, Min Zhou, and Carl L. Bankston III, argue
that immigrants and children of immigrants often fit into host societies through
adaptation, more selectively than assimilation: they retain or re-shape elements
of their ethnic culture depending on how the culture meets their needs in the host
society.
Bina Nusantara
Overseas Chinese Assimilation
• The Chinese usually identify a person by ethnic origin instead of nationality. As long as
the person is of Chinese descent, that person is considered Chinese, and if that person
lives outside of China, that person is overseas Chinese.
The majority of PRC Chinese do not understand the overseas Chinese experience of
being a minority, as ethnic Han Chinese comprise approximately 92% of the
population.
• Overseas Chinese vary widely as to their degree of assimilation, their interactions
with the surrounding communities and their relationship with China.
The areas tend to have strong Chinese communities, due to large Chinese populations
and continuing immigration from Chinese speaking countries, allowing the
overseas chinese to maintain stronger connection with Chinese culture.
The areas where Chinese communities are more sporadic, the overseas chinese
assimilate into the mainstream more quickly
Bina Nusantara
In Thailand, overseas Chinese have largely intermarried and assimilated with their
compatriots.
In Myanmar, the Chinese rarely intermarry (even amongst different Chinese linguistic
groups), but have largely adopted the Burmese culture whilst maintaining Chinese
culture affinities.
Indonesia and Myanmar were among the countries that do not allow birth names to be
registered in foreign languages, including Chinese.
But since 2003, Indonesia government allowed overseas chinese to use their
chinese name or using their chinese family name on their birth certificate.
In Vietnam, foreign language names are transliterated into Vietnamese.
For example, 胡锦涛 ( Hú Jǐntāo) would become "Hồ Cẩm Đào".
Very often, there is no distinct number of the Chinese population in these
countries.
In western countries, the overseas Chinese generally use romanised versions of their
Chinese names, and the use of local first names is also common.
Bina Nusantara
On the other hand, in Malaysia and Singapore, overseas Chinese have maintained a
distinct communal identity, though the rate and state of being assimilated to the
local, in this case a multicultural society, is currently en par with that of other
Chinese communities
In the Philippines, many younger Overseas Chinese are well assimilated, whereas the
older ones tend to be considered as 'foreigners'.
More recent overseas Chinese immigrants have been despised by many Filipinos
due to incidences of some selling illegal drugs, as well as being high profile
smugglers.
The Chinese have also brought a cultural influence to some other countries such as
Vietnam, where many Chinese customs have been adopted by native Vietnamese.
A large number of Chinese people stayed in Vietnam and never returned to China.
Bina Nusantara
American Born Chinese (ABCs) were found to assimilate as
rapidly into the American culture as other previous generation
immigrants, such as the Irish and the Italians.
• They also were less likely to speak Chinese. In some first-generation
households, ABCs may be able to speak the Chinese dialect of their
parents, but may not know how to read or write Chinese.
• The majority of American-born Chinese are native English speakers,
with some bilingual to varying degrees with Chinese.
• Usually, only the children of immigrants speak Chinese daily at
home. Some parents have taken steps to ensure their children
retain ties to their heritage, such as sending them to Chinese school
Bina Nusantara
Overseas Chinese Discrimination
• Overseas Chinese have sometimes experienced hostility and discrimination
(Sinophobia).
• Whether such treatment is reasonable, is a frequent point of contention between
Overseas Chinese and nativist elements of their host societies.
• A major point of friction is the often disproportionate economic influence of the
Overseas Chinese (who dominate the economies of Southeast Asia), and their
tendency to segregate themselves into a subculture.
For example, the anti-Chinese Jakarta Riots of May 1998 and Kuala Lumpur Racial
Riots of 13 May 1969 seem to have been motivated by these perceptions.
Bina Nusantara
The overseas Chinese have suffered from de jure institutionalized discrimination by
several governments and local populations, particularly in Cambodia under the
Khmer Rouge, Indonesia under President Suharto and the previously communist
government of Vietnam.
They have been called the analogous "Jews of the East", a phrase coined by
Thailand's King Rama VI many decades ago.
Indeed, for many years, Indonesia banned any expression of Chinese culture and
heritage in the country.
In Vietnam, ethnic Chinese suffered equally under Ho Chi Minh and Ngo Dinh Diem.
Under the President Park Chung Hee of South Korea, anyone considered a foreigner including the multi-generation Korean-born Chinese Korean - could not own land.
In the 1960s, there were anti-Chinese riots in Myanmar. As a result of such policies
and anti-Chinese sentiment, many overseas Chinese - especially those living in
Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia - usually fled their adopted country, either
voluntarily as refugees or involuntarily as exiles
Bina Nusantara
However, in Malaysia and Singapore, ethnic Chinese are not known to have suffered any
maltreatment or abuse, which was in line with the national practice of racial unity with
the Malays and Indians
Many of the overseas Chinese who worked on railways in North America in the 19th century
suffered from racial discrimination in Canada and the United States.
Although most discriminatory laws have been repealed or are no longer enforced today,
both countries had at one time introduced statutes that barred Chinese from entering
the country, for the example the Chinese Exclusion Act in the United States or the
Canadian Chinese Immigration Act, 1923
With the establishment of ties between apartheid South Africa and the Republic of China
(Taiwan), Taiwanese Chinese started migrating to South Africa from the late 1970s
onwards. This created an odd situation whereby South African mainland Chinese
continued to be classified as coloureds, whereas the Taiwanese were considered
"honorary whites".
Bina Nusantara
•
•
Bina Nusantara
In 1997, the Asian financial crisis loomed over Asia and caused political turmoil, especially in
Indonesia. Although several Southeast Asian leaders such as Malaysia's Prime Minister
blamed the Western-dominated International Monetary Fund for the economic problems,
many Indonesians took to the streets and blamed Chinese Indonesians who dominated the
Indonesian economy for their economic woes.
May 1998 Angry Indonesian rioters destroyed Jakarta's Chinatown area, businesses run by
ethnic Chinese, and homes throughout in the country.