JUST TO REMIND THAT WERE ALL JAVANESE AT HEART PRACTICES AND NARRATIVES OF JAVANESENESS IN JAVANESE SINGAPOREAN FAMILIES

1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Finding Javanese(ness) in Singapore I want to start this thesis by presenting two snapshots of JavaneseSingaporeans. The first one is of a Singaporean of Javanese descent who started a project in his work place with the intention of fostering appreciation for Javanese culture. Soon, he brought his project to the attention of the wider public. He created an online community at an internet-based social networking website Facebook. He named his online group Orang Jawa di Singapura. 1 This online assemblage soon attracted the attention of other Singaporeans of Javanese descent. In 2008, this group merged with Javanese Singaporeans, another online community for Javanese descendents of Singapore also hosted by Facebook. The merger between these two groups created the present day Javanese Singaporeans. In their webpage, the creators write the aims of their association, which is promoting the presence of Javanese in Singapore who have been on the island “since over a century ago”. 2 They also aim to make “younger generation Malays of Javanese descent to be more aware of their [Javanese] roots”. Related to these objectives, the site Javanese Singaporeans has been quite active in promoting Javanese culture in Singapore. The members of this group pursue this objective by sharing information related to Javaneseness, such as language, ritual, music, and philosophy, amongst themselves. 1 Orang Jawa di Singapura literally means “Javanese people in Singapore”. All information on “Javanese Singaporean” is retrieved at 19 April 2010 from their webpage: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=10025599475 2 2 The second snapshot is about a Javanese dance and music troupe in Singapore named Kesenian Tedja Timur, or simply Tedja Timur. This troupe is active in promoting traditional Javanese dance and music, such as kuda kepang and gamelan music. 3 For commemorating their anniversary 60th anniversary, Tedja Timur chose to perform something special, a Javanese shadow puppet show titled “Ngawur”. 4 Soon after they ended it, their extraordinary show invited comments from experts. 5 Apparently, this group performed a Javanese wayang kulit with “a local taste”. One audience member who is knowledgeable about Javanese shadow puppets opined that this group did not know how to perform Javanese shadow puppetry in “the right way”. He added that they just “played around” with this refined traditional art. Yet, another audience member made more sympathetic comment. He reckoned that this performance was not something about authentic Javaneseness but rather about producing “authentic Javaneseness that is uniquely Singaporean”. This thesis is about the Javanese-Singaporeans and their narratives of Javaneseness in present day Singapore. 6 In particular, I will discuss the practices of Javaneseness in the everyday life of Javanese-Singaporean families by examining their family and personal narratives. Thus, I outline my research around some interconnected questions. What kinds of practices of Javaneseness do JavaneseSingaporean families have in their everyday life? What kinds of practices do these 3 Kuda kepang is Javanese horse dance performance. The dancers are dancing by holding horse (kuda) dolls and accompanied by gamelan music. 4 Ngawur is a Javanese word for “wrong” but it also means “nonsense”. 5 Unfortunately, I did not have the chance to see the performance by myself. But I managed to talk to some people who went to see the show that night. 6 Here I use the term “Javanese-Singaporeans” to denote Singaporean of Javanese ancestries. In his study, Miyazaki uses the similar term, “Javanese-Malay”, to refer to “Malaysian with legal status as Malay-Malaysian but have retained a strong consciousness of their Javanese origin.” See Miyazaki (2000: 76-7). 3 families no longer have? What kinds of narratives on these practices do they produce? How do their other identities in the present day influence their practices of Javaneseness? By answering these questions, I argue that Javanese-Singaporean families still maintain and/or negotiate their Javaneseness in present day Singapore. However, their Javaneseness is not always similar to the one promoted by their predecessors nor their cousins from Java and yet, it is also not necessarily inauthentic. Although sharing a similar identity and traditions with their fellow Javanese in Java, the current generation of Javanese-Singaporeans were born and grew up in Singapore. Thus, their daily life activities are more or less similar with their fellow Singaporeans (Abdul Aziz Johari 1960; Julina Khusaini 1988). Yet, this does not mean that the sense of being Javanese is no longer important to them. On the contrary, the present generation of Javanese-Singaporeans are quite active in preserving their forefather's heritage as well as appreciating their ancestral culture. But these practices are neither idyllic nor nostalgic in nature (c.f. Chua 1994). They are not simply longing for their long lost ‘homeland’ or ‘motherland’ (c.f. Safran 1991). On the contrary, they distance themselves from or even deny some aspect of their Javanese culture that they do not see as fit with their current status as members of Singaporean society. The practices of appreciating Javanese heritage and culture among JavaneseSingaporeans can indeed be seen as a unique one, guided by the light of their past as well as their present condition. 4 Background of the Study When I arrived in Singapore for the first time, I thought that I had disconnected myself with my previous life in a small town between the two old capital cities of the two remaining Javanese kingdoms, Yogyakarta and Surakarta. Before I left my hometown, I imagined Singapore to be a global-multicultural city, where various populaces lived side by side with each other. Thus, I was expecting to meet people who came from many places in the world with diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. I, however, never had the slightest idea that I would meet people of Javanese descent who had lived for generations in Singapore. I did know about the Javanese in Suriname from my school history books but I never read or learned about Javanese in Singapore. I first learned about Javanese in Singapore quite indirectly. A friend, knowing that I came from Central Java, told me that a few of our fellow students are of Javanese descent. I was quite surprised to learn this because I could not see any distinctive sign of Javaneseness among them. Nevertheless, a non JavaneseSingaporean friend informed me that she knew a lot of Javanese around. She added that many of her Malay friends confessed to her that they are Javanese. Another friend, a Malay-Singaporean, also informed me of this. He knew a lot of Javanese descendents among the Malay population in Singapore. But when I asked him what their distinctive features were and how to identify them among Malay-Singaporeans, he could not give me a straight answer. “I just know that they’re Javanese,” he said. Thus, I got the impression that Javanese-Singaporeans are a relatively invisible community in Singapore. 5 Due to their invisibility, Javanese-Singaporeans are hardly distinguishable for someone who does not belong to the (Malay) Singaporean society. There are at least two reasons behind their virtual invisibility. First, the number of Javanese people is relatively small compared to the whole population of Singapore. According to Census 2000, the number of Javanese is 80,339 people, or 2.45 per cent of the whole population of Singapore (Leow 2001). Second, a scholar studying Javanese in Malaysia has attributed the invisibility of Javanese migrant in their host society to “the omnipresence of their “Malay” status” (Miyazaki 2000: 77). The Javanese, due to their same religion and similar custom, is perceived as closer or even belong as subethnic of the Malay race in the colonial racial constellation which is still preserved in Singapore and Malaysia until today. Thus, the Javanese do not have their own place in the official racial discourse in both nation-states. Perhaps also because of their invisibility, Javanese are an understudied subject in Southeast Asian Studies. Compared with the study on other migrant groups in Southeast Asia, mainly Chinese and Indian, the study on Javanese migrant is relatively thin. Only a few studies documented the history of their migration to Malaya (Roff 1967; Tunku Shamsul Bahrin 1965, 1967a, 1967b; Lockard 1971; Khazin Mohd Tamrin 1984). The lack is even more apparent for the study of Javanese in Singapore. Although there have been several passing remarks in books on Malayan history on the role of Singapore as the main entreport for Javanese migration to Malaya (Roff 1967), there are no single publication dedicated to discuss the presence of Javanese community in Singapore. 6 Currently, there are only a few unpublished academic exercises on JavaneseSingaporeans (e.g. Abdul Aziz Johari 1960; Julina Khusaini 1988; Chia 1994). These studies look at the sociological aspect of Javanese migrant’s lives in Singapore, such as their social structure, social organization, history of migration, and relations with other ethnic groups. For example, Abdul Aziz Johari (1960) study dwells with the issue of Javanese “integration” into the Malay community. The similar theme of Javanese migrant “integration” can be found in Julina Khusaini (1988). Yet, she goes deeper by looking at the ways the Javanese maintain their “ethnic boundary” in a multicultural society like Singapore. Meanwhile, Chia (1994) research is more focused on the historical picture of Javanese migration to Singapore. Migration Studies and Narratives Approach The foci of the available studies on Javanese-Singaporeans mentioned above – especially Abdul Aziz Johari (1960) and Julina Khusaini (1988) – are more or less in line with the one of the mainstream theoretical outlook on migration studies, namely the assimilation perspective. Assimilation is one of the oldest as well as the most long lasting theoretical outlook on migration studies (Heisler 2000). This perspective basically sees that the process of human migration will end after the migrant settle in their new place of residence. The settlement process will be followed by assimilation process which incorporates the migrant into the host society culture. Thus, this perspective perceives assimilation as the eventual result of human migration. Regardless, human migration and its outcome are never as simple as the assimilation theorists would like to believe. The persistence of ethnic identity and the 7 celebration of ties to the old homeland among the members of migrant communities are some of the phenomena that show the complexities of human migration (Lewellen 2002). The desire to reconnect with the place of origins, which is commonly found among the migrant’s descendants, only points out the flaw of assimilation theorists. Instead of becoming fully integrated into the host culture, many migrant communities have built their own social imaginations which often challenge that of the host (Appadurai 1996). Thanks to the advances in communication and transportation technologies, many migrants around the world today are becoming more connected with their faraway homeland culture while at the same time remain associated with their host society (Sun 2002; Georgiou 2006). Therefore, in the increasingly globalized world, the migrants find themselves more often than not living between two (or even more) worlds and this makes them constantly in the situation of cultural hybridity (Werbner 1997) and hyphenated identities (Caglar 1997). All of these conditions build an inherent complexity that is always present in migrant’s lives. Perhaps, nobody but migrants themselves, really understand the complexities of their own lives. Because these complexities are often overlooked by macro sociological studies on migrant communities, some migration studies scholars have resorted to narrative approach in order to capture the complexities of migrants’ lives (e.g. DeRoche 1996; Chamberlain 1997, 1998; Brettell 2003; Olwig 2007; Besson and Olwig 2005). Scholars argue that the conventional approach to migration could only offer large-scale pictures of migration and thus do not provide the means to capture the subjective side of migrants’ everyday life (Brettel and Hollifield 2000). Studying migrant narratives, on the other hand, provides the necessary means for scholars to 8 look deeper into their everyday lives as well as their subjective stories which are often left undocumented by conventional historiography (Thomson 1999). Early scholarships on migration looked at migrant narratives with the aim to enrich the studies relying more on conventional sources such as written documents. As has been pointed out by some scholars, their role is limited to gather “empirical data” and “unrecorded and undocumented raw experience” on migrant’s lives (Chamberlain and Leydesdorff 2004: 228). Thus, narratives studies are mostly employed only when there are no available records and documents on the history of migrant communities. However, the potencies of narratives studies are not limited for collecting empirical data on migrant communities. Narrative approach is also adept for capturing the subjective feeling experienced by the migrant. It lets us to get “glimpses into the lived interior of migration processes” (Benmayor and Skotnes 1994: 14). Scholars nowadays start to see the importance of migrant’s subjective experience, beside objective historical records, for gaining a better insight into migrants’ lives. A look into the migrants’ subjectivities may permit us to know better on the issue of migrant’s culture and identity (Chamberlain and Leydesdorff 2004). In her study on the Barbadian migrant, Chamberlain (1997) shows how the narrative approach on migration studies may uncover a subjective motive for migration that is often overlooked by the macro approaches. She argues that for a Barbadian, becoming a migrant is not necessarily motivated by pure economic reasons; it may also be motivated by historical reason or tradition pertaining to Barbadian migrant families since long time ago (Ibid). In one of the Barbadian migrant narratives that she collected, we can find a statement which says that their 9 family “love to travel” (Chamberlain 1997: 8). These ‘love to travel’ is commonly found in these Barbadian family narratives. This narrative has been living in the family for several generations and therefore defines the unique culture and identity of Barbadian migrant. In applying personal narrative approach to study migration, we may also uncover the tension that often underlies migrants’ lives. Scholars studying migrants’ narratives have looked at changes and alteration in what they have termed as the “migrant mentalities” (Chamberlain and Leydesdorff 2004: 228). Both scholars argue that change in migrant mentalities can be observed from migrants’ narratives which reveal “the tensions … between the old and the new” often surrounding their migration process (Ibid: 233). Migrants, unlike their fellow who do not migrate, experience life in two (or more) different places. This experience, most of the times, creates tension between ‘the old and the new’: old place and new place; old home and new home; old tradition and new host culture. A similar tension between the past and the present can also be observed, albeit subtly, from the memoir of a fourth generation of Javanese migrant in Singapore, Hidayah Amin (2010). In her book, she recounts the history of her family, started with her great grandfather – a Javanese from Surakarta who moved to Singapore to set up his family business, and later became a successful businessman and a prominent figure in Malay community. In her book, it is obvious that she never denounced her Javanese root and heritage. Indeed, her childhood memoir contains many stories of her family practices of Javaneseness related to language, ritual and beliefs. Nevertheless, Hidayah today is not just a Javanese descent but also, just like her great 10 grandfather, a prominent figure among the Malay population. She also seems to identify herself more with her Malayness rather Javaneseness as evidenced from the subtitle of her book, “Memories of a Malay Childhood”. The Significance of the Study Against the above mentioned, this study on Javanese-Singaporeans has several contributions. First, this study will contribute to the thin academic discourse on Javanese migrant and migration, especially the ones in Singapore. As has been mentioned before, there are only a handful of literatures on Javanese migrants and their descendants in Singapore. Yet, these academic exercises do not offer us with a clear picture of the life of Javanese-Singaporeans. Thus, this thesis will not just add more information on this relatively understudied topic, it will offer a new way to look at the life of Javanese-Singaporeans by using the personal narrative approach. Second, the implementation of a narrative approach in this study will add contribution to the developing field of migration studies in general. Personal narrative approach offers a fresh way to study the life of migrants and their descendants by presenting migration stories from the point of view of the migrants themselves. As has been argued by Mary Chamberlain and Selma Leydessdorf (2004: 228), this approach enables scholars to “examine migrant behavior and attitudes, subjectivities and identities, in other words they can explore migrant mentalities and their shift over time”. 11 Third, this study will, for the first time, analyze the personal narratives of Javanese-Singaporeans. No other academic exercises on Javanese-Singaporeans have ever taken this approach. Personally, this narrative study has opened up my horizon to complex lives of Javanese-Singaporeans as well as to their feelings, dreams and imaginations to me. Thus, I humbly hope that this study will contribute in opening up a new terrain of narrative studies, not just on Javanese-Singaporeans but also on other ethnic minority groups in Singapore. Methodology, Fieldwork, and Limitation of the Study I conducted almost five months of fieldwork for my research from September 2009 until January 2010 in Singapore. In the first two months of my fieldwork (September – October 2009), I conducted research on the history of Javanese migration to Singapore. This was done by looking at the available historical records and academic literatures, visiting public museums, and reading local newspapers and oral history transcriptions. In the last three months (November 2009 – January 2010), my fieldwork activities consisted mainly of in-depth interviews on JavaneseSingaporeans, which I carried out in many different places in Singapore. Besides indepth interviews, my fieldwork activities also consisted of several observations on the performance of Javanese Kuda Kepang troupe in Geylang Serai. In this thesis, I defined Javanese-Singaporean as Singapore citizen who have or claim to have Javanese ancestry. As long as falling into these categories, I 12 disregarded my informants’ ethnicity/race in their Identity Card. 7 Yet, even with this relatively relaxed definition of Javanese-Singaporeans, I still found difficulty in identifying them. As has been mentioned above, it is difficult to recognize JavaneseSingaporeans because of their cultural proximities and physical resemblances with the Malay. Thus, in order to identify my informants, I used snowball sampling method. Initially, I selected my informants from the contact that I have developed. From here, I asked my informants to suggest other suitable candidates for interview. With this method, I was able to interview 11 Javanese-Singaporeans from six different families, consisted of 9 females and 2 males, with age ranged from 24 to 78 years old. In term of generation, my informants fall into the category of second, third, and fourth generations of Javanese-Singaporeans. 8 All of the in-depth interviews were conducted in the language which my informants felt most comfortable with, such as English, Malay, Bahasa Indonesia, and Javanese. I am aware that my position as male, Javanese, Indonesian researcher brought out different responses from my informants than researcher with dissimilar background. I rarely started with telling my informants of my background other than introducing myself as Master student at National University of Singapore. Nevertheless, they always asked my personal background, such as if I came from Indonesia (because they recognized my accent) and if I am a Javanese. Some of my 7 Some of my informants have “Malay” as ethnicity/race in their Identity Card. Other than this, they have “Javanese” and “Eurasian”. This is because the ethnicity/race of a newly born Singaporean commonly follows her/his father. Many of Javanese migrants and their descendants in Singapore have intermarried with people with different ethnic/race group. 8 Here, I defined the first generation as the migrant, regardless of their naturalization status. Second generation will be the children of the first generation; the third will be the children of the second generation, and so on. 13 informants even perceived me as “asli Jawa” (the original Javanese). 9 Yet, my status as Javanese from Java gave me advantage as well as disadvantage in conducting interviews. The advantage is the warm response that I got from some of my informants, when they learned that I came from Java. Probably they perceived me as their distance relative or friend. This is clear at least on one occasion when one of my informants found out that I came from the same city with his grandfather, he called me “tangga dhewe” (my own neighbor). Meanwhile, my status as Javanese might have given me some disadvantages during my fieldwork. For example, upon knowing that I am Javanese, one of my informants seemed to look down upon the practice of Javaneseness among JavaneseSingaporeans. She disclosed not much information that I requested by saying that I know much better about Javanese culture because I am “asli”. Perhaps, the very same reason had made some informants to suspect my motive for conducting this research. On some occasions, some potential informants subtly declined to be interviewed by eluding my request. Yet, status as Javanese did not always lead to suspicion. Many times, it invited curiosity amongst my informants. Since it is my personal conviction that interview does not have to be conducted in one-way communication, I always tried my best to satisfy their curiosities by answering their questions on my background. Their curiosities, sometimes, granted me with surprising questions which often caught me unguarded. For example, one of my informants abruptly asked me if I am a Hindu, once she learned that I came from Java. Others asked me unexpected questions, such 9 This often happened after they learned that I am Javanese from Java and I spoke Javanese. Most of my informants asked me if I could speak Javanese after they knew that I came from Java. 14 as asking the recipe for making fried tempe in Javanese style (which is rather different from Malay one). When this happened, the interview, sometimes, took longer than expected since we exchanged any kind of information regarding anything related to Java and Javanese culture. Whenever possible, I always asked my informants to tell me their stories, about themselves and their family. Sometimes, I did not fully succeed in inducing them to do this. There are several reasons behind this. First, some of my informants were quite shy and not open enough. This is because most of the interviews were conducted at the first day I met them. The use of snowball sampling method and the relatively short period of fieldwork do not provide me with ample time to build my relationship with my informants prior to the interviews. Second, quite the opposite of the first point, some of my informants showered me with excessive information. On one occasion, one informant told me stories about her job and working place. Another occasion, another informant gave me abundant life-related advices. Neither of this information related directly to my questions nor my research in general. Yet, as it was my intention to get as many stories as I could, I did not try to stop, and thus discourage, them from doing this. The consequence of these difficulties to my thesis is clear: I could not present a fully-unabridged narrative of my informants. The narratives that I present in this thesis, despite extracted from the interviews, were the result of some (re)organization or putting together of scattered information in order to make them coherent for readers. During all of my interviews, I, whenever feasible, always tried to use a tape recorder so as to best capture my informants’ narratives. Most of my informants were 15 willing to be recorded and only a few of them declined to be so. Consequently, for those who declined to be taped, I wrote down their accounts on my field notes to the best of my ability and memory. During the writing of this thesis, I have tried my best to write down and present, as correctly as possible, my informants’ narratives. I also put my informants’ identities under pseudonyms with the intention of protecting their privacies, unless they stated that it was their wish to be mentioned under their real names. I do not have the slightest intention to make any generalization from my research finding nor to draw a generic explanation on Javanese migrants. I understand the subjective nature of the migrants’ narratives that I present in my thesis. Therefore, in agreement with what Battisti and Portelli (1994: 37-8) said on their narrative approach, my thesis “do not attempt to generalize from a broader sample but focus on the meanings and implications of a few significant narratives.” Thus, what I want to highlight from my thesis is indeed the subjective meaning from each individual stories about self and family that my informants have so willingly shared with me. Chapters Organization This thesis is divided into six chapters. This introduction serves as Chapter 1 of this thesis. Here, I have outlined the background of my study on JavaneseSingaporeans. I have also discussed the previous literatures on this topic and review it against the recent development on the larger field of migration studies. In the final section of this chapter, I have given the outline of my research methodology, my brief report on fieldwork, and on the limitation of my study. 16 Chapter 2 will revolve around the question of who are the JavaneseSingaporeans. I start this chapter by exploring the historical narratives of Javanese migration to Singapore, then part of the British Malaya, since the early nineteenth century up to the mid twentieth century. Next, my discussion moves to position of Javanese people in the newly formed Republic of Singapore. Here, I also discuss several public policies of the new government which affected the live of JavaneseSingaporeans. In Chapter 3, I introduce the family narratives of six Javanese-Singaporean families that I studied. Here, I give broad sociological picture of JavaneseSingaporean families by examining family histories from the six families. My discussion on the family histories of the six families focuses on several important dimensions of their family histories, such as their places of origin, migration, livelihood, settlement, and marriage. The background information that I present in this chapter also serves as context for the narratives of Javaneseness discussed in the following chapter. Chapter 4 presents the narratives about practices of Javaneseness from the members of six Javanese-Singaporean families. Through their narratives, I show how these Javanese-Singaporean families continue to carry out their practices of Javaneseness in Singapore today. In examining their narratives, I focus my discussion on several significant practices of Javaneseness which I found in the studied families. These practices are visiting Java, speaking Javanese, and carrying out a Javanese wedding. 17 In Chapter 5, I demonstrate the intricacy of the constructions of Javaneseness in Singapore today around the themes of Malayness and Islam. Specifically, I show how Javanese-Singaporean families modify, alter, and shift their practice of Javaneseness under the influence of Malayness and Islam. In this chapter, I focus my discussion on two important issues. First, the complex relation between Javaneseness and Malayness among the Javanese-Singaporean families studied. Second, the practice of Javaneseness in the wake of rising religiosity among the Muslim of Singapore, with the case of kuda kepang dance. Chapter 6 serves as the summary and conclusion of this thesis. 18 CHAPTER 2: THE HISTORY OF JAVANESE IN SINGAPORE This chapter presents the historical narratives of Javanese people in Singapore. In particular, I demonstrate how the Javanese migrants came to Singapore and gradually became an integral part of their host society. In gathering my data for this chapter, I mainly draw information from the available historical sources as well as oral history records. This chapter aims to provide socio-historical context on the presence of Javanese in Singapore. It basically explores, albeit in general examination, the history of Javanese-Singaporeans. The discussion on the history of Javanese in Singapore focuses on several important aspects, such as their origin, their reasons for leaving their homeland, their migration, as well as their settlement, and their community in Singapore. Such background information will be indispensable in better understanding the narratives of present day Javanese-Singaporeans in the following chapter. Since this thesis focuses on present day Javanese-Singaporeans – whom mostly descended from Javanese migrants who moved to Singapore since the foundation of the first British’s settlement in Singapore up until the enactment of tighter immigration rules in 1960s – my historical discussion focus, therefore, is limited to this time period. 19 The Javanese Migrants Javanese migrants in Singapore traced their ancestries back to Java Island. Their grandparent migrated to Singapore from this major island of Indonesia, formerly known as the Netherland East Indies. Although all of them came from the same island, Javanese migrants in Singapore did not come from the same region or part of Java. The Javanese mainly inhabits the central and eastern part of the island of Java, roughly around present day Indonesian provinces of Central Java, Yogyakarta, and East Java. These three regions were once under the control of the Javanese Kingdom of Mataram and thus it is commonly associated as the homeland of Javanese people. But despite being a single kingdom in the past, the Javanese is by no means a homogenous ethnic group. Javanese culture differs according to the regional variety in their homeland (Koentjaraningrat 1990: 21). For example, the Yogyakarta and Surakarta region is known as the centre of the Javanese court culture, while northern coast of central and east Java are the domain of pasisir, or coastal culture. Meanwhile, the western most part of central Java is in the realm of Banyumas culture. Therefore, different regions have different characteristics, such as their own language dialect and beliefs. The Javanese speaks Javanese language, with some local variations. Around the court cities of Yogyakarta and Surakarta, the Javanese language has speech levels which reflected their paternalistic and hierarchical social system. The pasisir Javanese speaks the similar language with those from the interior part of Java, albeit with “the speech level is less involuted” (ibid: 20). Meanwhile, the Javanese from Banyumas 20 area speaks a distinctive Banyumas dialect. Despite this variety, only the dialect which comes from Yogyakarta-Surakarta area is often considered as the ‘standard’ Javanese. Javanese belief system, in general, is a mix of Islam with Hindu-Buddhist influences although the average Javanese would only regard Islam as their religion. Javanese Islam, however, is the only one of its kind because of its pre-Islamic influences. Javanese Islam has two manifestations: agami jawi, a syncretism of Islam with a complex of Hindu-Buddhist beliefs; and agami Islam jawi, which leaning toward formal Islamic teachings though not entirely lost its Hindu-Buddhist components (ibid: 317). The syncretistic religion mostly dominates the interior region of Java while puritan Islam on its coastal areas (c.f. Geertz 1976). Finding a Better Life in Singapore The Javanese migrated to Singapore for various different reasons. One of the prominent reasons is the condition and problems at their homeland. Java is only the fifth largest island in Indonesian archipelago, yet it is by far the most populous one. Java population rapidly grew during the nineteenth and early twentieth century (Pelzer 1946). In 1795, Java’s population was only 3.5 million but by 1895, it was more than 25 million. In 1930, Java’s population was more than 40 million with density as high as 316.1 per square kilometers (Widjojo Nitisastro 1970: 75). Thus, Java became one of the regions in the world with the highest population density (Holland 1936: 309). 21 This huge population created many social problems for Java inhabitants because the population increase created pressure on cultivable land. This, in turn, resulted in the creation of “dwarf holdings” which created “growth in the number of landless agricultural laborers, widespread indebtedness, growth of tenancy, decline in rural incomes, widespread poverty and malnutrition, and in many districts serious seasonal food shortages” (Pelzer 1946: 134). Thus, it was not surprising to find that economic factors, such as the lack of employment opportunities and low income, and its contingencies, such as poverty and famine, became the main driving force of Javanese emigration. On the other hand, the abundant economic opportunities in the thriving port of Singapore encouraged Javanese migration. Some of the available opportunities for Javanese migrants were clothes and spices trading, metal and leather crafting, peddling food, gardening, and other kind of laboring jobs (Li 1989: 94). Some traveler also mentioned Javanese migrants who became servants, sailors, and gardener in Singapore (Wallace 1986: 32; Bird 1990: 115; Lockhart 1936: 156). The opening of plantation estates around Singapore provided even wider opportunities for Javanese migrants since they required many laborers to run. Indeed, some scholars believed that rubber plantations in Malaya were one of the most important factors that attracted large Javanese migration to Singapore (e.g. Marriott 1991: 353). Yet, economy was not the only reason for Javanese migration to Singapore. Sometimes, the impetus for migration came from major social or historical events. For many Javanese in Singapore, the Second World War was a major factor which affecting their migration. During 1942 – 1945, the Japanese brought and displaced 22 thousands of Javanese forced laborers in Singapore (see below). War apparently also drove some Javanese to leave their homeland because they feared their personal or family safety. Other times, the Javanese migrated to Singapore because of personal reasons. One of the examples was marrying Singaporean (see Chapter 3). The Traders, the Laborers, and the Slaves The Javanese has been migrating to Singapore since a few years after the founding of the settlement by the British. One of the earliest accounts which indicated the presence of Javanese migrants in Singapore dated back in 1822 (Marriot 1991: 345). The same account also mentioned that the Javanese population numbered 38 persons in 1825 (ibid: 341). However, beside some statistical data, there was not enough information on how the Javanese migrated to Singapore in these early years. Based on the means of migration, Javanese migration to Singapore may be roughly divided into three categories: the free migration; the indentured migration; and the forced migration (Abdul Aziz Johari 1960). Free migration basically happens when the migrants decide to move to their destination country out of their own free will. Indentured migration happens when the migrants enter into an agreement which compels them leave for the destination country. Forced migration happens when the migrants are forced to move into the destination country. 23 Free Migration Unlike the other two type of migration, Javanese free migration may have started since the early days of Singapore. However, historical records show that Javanese free migration became the dominant mode of migration in two time periods: prior to the introduction of indentured labor system in the early twentieth century and the post-war years of Singapore. In early nineteenth century, the main mode of Javanese migration to Singapore was trough trade. A scholar reported that the earliest Javanese migrants in Singapore were mainly merchants and traders (Saw 1970: 24). These Javanese traders were attracted to come for business in Singapore because of its thriving commerce and free port. Meanwhile, another scholar notes that some Javanese craftsmen and merchants founded a trading centre in the Kampong Java area around 1850 (Li 1989: 94). These people produced metal and leather works as well as dealt with trading of clothes, spices and religious text (ibid). Another way for Javanese migration to Singapore was through the help of the middlemen, such as the syaikh haji or pilgrim brokers in Singapore (Span 1994). It was reported that some middlemen were involved in helping Javanese migrants, mostly male bachelor, who came to find jobs in Singapore (Li 1989: 94). These bachelors would usually stay in these middlemen’s residences until they could secure themselves jobs. Sometimes, the middlemen were their own comrades and relatives. A report mentioned that some Javanese migrated by using their networks of family members and friends: they came to Singapore by following their family members or friends who had successfully made a living in this city (Saw and Cheng 1971: 58). 24 Pilgrimage is another means for Javanese to migrate to Singapore. Since the opening of Suez Canal in 1869 up until the 1930s, Singapore was a transportation hub for Muslim pilgrim from the archipelago (Vredenbregt 1962: 126). The pilgrims travelled to Singapore first and then board the steamships to Hejaz from there. In Singapore, the pilgrim temporarily stayed in Kampong Khaji, near the present day Kampong Glam. Some would stay longer and work in Singapore with the intention of earning more money for their trip (Roff 1967: 39). After they conducted their pilgrimage, some of these Javanese pilgrims decided to abandon their trip back to their homeland and instead stayed in Singapore and Malaya because they found these two places to be more prosperous than their homeland (Khazin Mohd Tamrin 1984: 50). In immediate post-war years, there was large-scale Javanese free migration from Malaysia to Singapore. Since the beginning of twentieth century, the Malaya peninsula was already a home to thousands of Javanese migrants and their families whom worked for rubber plantation estates. Immediately after the war ended, many “Malaysians” were reported to move to Singapore, presumably with the intention of making a better living (Chua 1964: 45). Although there was no record on the ethnic composition of these Malaysian migrants, Li (1989: 95) argued that “a very large proportion of these post-war migrants were young men or whole families of Javanese descent.” These people were former Javanese settlers who failed in claiming land for themselves and thus, they migrated, mostly from Johore, to Singapore in order to find a better living in this city (ibid). 25 The large Javanese migration above marked the end of the boon period of Javanese migration to Singapore. The post-war immigration policy in Singapore was stricter to new immigration. The Immigration Ordinance of 1953 limited new immigration to those who possessed the required skills and qualifications (Saw and Cheng 1971: 59). This ordinance was amended in 1959 to make immigration policy even tighter. The amended regulation put more restriction on new migration to Singapore by imposing minimum monthly salary (ibid). The Immigration Ordinance of 1953 was still effective when Singapore separated from Malaysia in 1965. Javanese migration to Singapore from 1960s onward was rather small. According to the census, there were only 4,694 people of Indonesian born who moved to Singapore between 1961 and 1970 (Arumainathan 1973). Almost half of these migrants were women. There was no information on the number of Javanese among these Indonesian migrants. Regardless, this information gave an indication that the majority of free migration that happened in this time period was through marriage. Indentured Migration Javanese indentured migration started, de facto, with the opening of plantations estates throughout Malaya in the 1870s. However, the Javanese indentured labor system officially started in 1900s and lasted until 1930s. This time period also witnessed large scale Javanese migration to Singapore and Malaya. Most of these people were indentured laborers working in Malayan rubber plantations. The opening up of rubber plantation in Malaya was regarded by some scholars, such as Marriott 26 (1991: 353), as one of the most important factor behind large migration of Javanese to Singapore. One of the initial accounts on Javanese laborers on Malayan plantation was reported by Earl in 1861 (Tunku Shamsul Bahrin 1965: 53). He wrote that Javanese worked in tapioca plantation in Province Wellesley. Meanwhile, travel writers, such as Bird (1990: 358), mentioned that some Javanese were working as coolie for clearing the jungle for sugar plantation in Perak in 1883. Meanwhile, the earliest statistics on Javanese laborers recorded their presence in Malaya as early as 1886 (Jackson 1961: 127). Nevertheless, the number of Javanese laborers in Malaya at this time remained very small. It was not until the beginning of the twentieth century that the plantation owners in Malaya started to bring in more Javanese laborers. Prompted by the lack of local labor force and the insecurity of labor supplies from India, the attempt to import Javanese laborers for plantation had started as early as 1902 (Parmer 1960). Nevertheless, Javanese laborers only started to flood Malaya only after the introduction of indentured labor system trough the Netherlands Indian Labourers Protection Enactment 1909 (Saw and Cheng 1971: 58). This law regulated and guaranteed the rights of Javanese indentured labor in Malaya. This legislation, however, lasted only for a couple of decades because the British abolished the indentured labor system in 1932 (Parmer 1960: 110-11). Despite its brief time, the indentured labor system had brought thousands of Javanese indentured laborers to Malaya. After its closure, many former Javanese indentured laborers decided to settle down in Malaya. They did this because of the 27 relatively better living condition in Malaya than their homeland. However, not all of these laborers wanted to work back in the plantations. Some of these Javanese chose to become settlers and open up smallholding around their former plantation (Tunku Shamsul Bahrin 1967b: 236). Others decided to leave the plantations and moved to Singapore to find new, and perhaps even better, jobs (Roff 1967: 38). These former plantations laborers joined their Javanese kinsman who already lived in Singapore. Forced Migration The Javanese forced migration to Singapore happened mainly during the Second World War or between 1942 and 1945. During this time period, the Japanese army recruited and shipped Javanese people to work as slave laborers in Singapore and Malaya. Some of these slave laborers were women who were forced to become comfort women for the Japanese army. In order to support their war effort, the Japanese military mobilized hundreds of thousands of Southeast Asian. Due to its large population, Java became one of the main centers for labor mobilization (Kurasawa 1988). During their rule for three and a half years, the Japanese sent thousands of Javanese to work as slave laborers in Southeast Asia. Malaya received the largest number, with 31,000 Javanese slave laborers (Raben 2005: 209). Within Malaya, Singapore alone hosted the largest number of them. According to some estimation, the Japanese army brought in around 10.000 Javanese slave laborers to Singapore (Turnbull 2009: 219). This high figure came from the fact that Singapore was a hub for transportation in Malaya as well as Southeast Asia. 28 The majority of Javanese slave laborers in Singapore and Malaya were men. Most of these men worked in cultivating rice, tending rubber, or constructing military facilities for the Japanese army (Kratoska 2005). Besides men, the Japanese army also enlisted Javanese women. A lot of Javanese women were promised to work as nurses for the Japanese military. However, many of them, if not most of them, ended up becoming “comfort women” or sex laborers for the Japanese soldiers in Singapore (Lee 1984). After the war ended, the British and the Dutch authorities conducted efforts to repatriate the Javanese slave laborers. Singapore was designated as a hub for their repatriation from different parts of Southeast Asia. However, only a few of the surviving Javanese forced laborers could be repatriated. From the total of 70,000 in Southeast Asia, only around 10,000 survivors were sent back to Java (Lockard 1971: 43). There were no records as to what happened to the rest of them. However, some of the former Javanese forced laborers in Singapore chose to settle down in this city (Abdul Aziz Johari 1960: 27; Chia 1994: 26-7) and increased the number of Javanese population in Singapore in the post-war years (Li 1989: 95). From Kampong to HDB Due to the early British settlement policy, every ethnic group in Singapore lived within their own ethnic enclaves. The early Javanese migrants in Singapore also built their own living quarter. One of the main Javanese settlements was Kampong Jawa. Javanese settlements started to grow and diversify in the immediate post-war years of Singapore. However, the establishment of Housing Development Board 29 (HDB) in the early years of Republic Singapore had practically ended the days of Javanese settlements in Singapore. The period from early nineteenth century to the first half of twentieth century represented the growth period for Javanese community in Singapore. During this time period, Javanese settlement in Singapore also steadily grew. A record which indicated the earliest Javanese settlement in Singapore dated back to near the beginning of Singapore. Marriott (1991: 345) report showed that a Javanese representative was appointed as member of “a Committee … for appropriating and marking out the quarters or departments of the several classes of the population” of Singapore in October 1822. The same report also showed that there were 38 Javanese living in the island in 1825 (ibid: 341). Yet, this report did not mention the location of this quarter. Most of Javanese migrants in the nineteenth century would live among their own kind in an ethnic enclave, known locally as kampong. Raffles’ early settlement policy divided Singapore into various living quarters for each ethnic group (Turnbull 2009: 39). The primary Javanese settlement in Singapore was Kampong Java, or Jawa, which was established in 1836 on the west of Rochore River (Lockard 1971: 44), behind the old race course (Savage and Yeoh 2003: 211). 10 However, Javanese were also reported to live in Kampong Glam, the Malay ethnic group quarter in Singapore (Roff 1967). According to Abdul Aziz Johari (1960: 28), Kampong Jawa continued to serve as the main Javanese settlement in Singapore until around the middle of twentieth century. 10 Part of Kampong Java still exists today but as a road and a park name in Singapore. 30 Kampong Jawa was the centre of Javanese economic and cultural activities in Singapore. A report mentioned that in Kampong Java, there were many eating houses, coffee shops, as well as flower shops operated by Javanese women (Roff 1967: 179). Another report mentioned that it was the location for Javanese activities in trading as well as metal and leather crafting (Li 1989: 94). Javanese migrants also brought their own arts and entertainments to Singapore (Chia 1994: 22). Some of these were musical instruments, such as the gamelan, wayang kulit (shadow puppets) and wayang wong (drama) performances, and also their traditional amusement dance, such as the kuda kepang. Javanese migrants usually would perform their arts and entertainment around their settlements. In the immediate post-war Singapore, Javanese settlements in Singapore started to grow due to the increasing number of Javanese population. A study recorded the emergence of new kampongs, such as Kampong Pachitan, near Bedok area; as well as some dispersed Javanese settlements along the Bukit Timah Road, such as Kampong Tempe and Kampong Chantek (Abdul Aziz Johari 1960: 29). 11 Some residents of these kampongs still related to the inhabitants of Kampong Jawa. For instance, the residents of Kampong Pachitan were initially living in Kampong Jawa before they moved and opened up their own kampong (ibid). Years toward Singapore independence witnessed another change in Javanese settlements in Singapore. The establishment of Housing Development Board (HDB) 11 The name “Pachitan” suggested that the founder or the first inhabitants of this kampong were Javanese from Pacitan area in East Java. Meanwhile, tempe is a popular Javanese food which was brought to Singapore by Javanese migrants. More on Kampong Tempe, see: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=198758194973, accessed at 8 October 2010. 31 in 1960 marked the beginning of major population resettlement program in Singapore. The HDB was founded with the intention of providing public housing, clearing slum, and resettling the population (Turnbull 2009: 284). However, HDB goal behind this resettlement project was not limited to provide adequate housing for the population, but also to create a “multiethnic living through public housing” and this was part of “the state’s policy of nation-building based on multiracialism … implemented through the Housing Development Board” (Lai 1995: 18). The establishment of HDB had significant impact on the existing Javanese settlements in Singapore. Before the 1960s, most Javanese, like other ethnic groups in Singapore, was living in an ethnic enclave inhabited by their own kinsmen. This picture, however, rapidly changed after the establishment of HDB. The HDB relocated Singapore population into high-rise building, locally know as HDB. The HDB also imposed a quota system for each ethnic group on every HDB block as a means to enforce their policy of “multiethnic living”. After they were relocated to HDB buildings, the Javanese could no longer live exclusively among other Javanese. Instead, they had to live together with different ethnic groups. Thus, the establishment of HDB practically ended the days of Javanese settlements in Singapore. An Inclusive Community The Javanese are not an exclusive migrant group in Singapore. Indeed, Javanese migrants has showed a high degree of flexibility and adaptability to local situations throughout their history in Singapore. Their inclusiveness and adaptability can be seen from the presence of Javanese organization in Singapore, the 32 cosmopolitan nature of Javanese kampongs, their association with their Malay neighbor and their pragmatic adoption of Malay identity. Unlike the Chinese and the Arab, the Javanese do not have any clan or familial organizations which championed their clan members’ causes. Compared to other ethnic groups, Javanese in Singapore are not very active in organizing themselves. There is only one registered Javanese association in Singapore: Persekutuan Jawa Al Masakin (lit. the Poor Javanese Association) or PJM. PJM was established in 1901 with the primary aim to help its members’ families by giving death alms when their members departed. Nonetheless, PJM membership was inclusive. Although it was initially founded to serve Javanese community’s interests, PJM accepted memberships from every Muslim Singaporean (Chia 1994: 21). Javanese kampongs were also not exclusively Javanese. Chia (1994: 28) noted the nature of Javanese Kampongs which grew to be more cosmopolitan since 1940s. Although they were initially built and populated by Javanese migrants, Javanese kampongs were also inhabited by other ethnic groups, such as Malay and even Chinese. The Javanese themselves were also becoming more cosmopolite in their outlook. Some Javanese started to speak more Malay and limited to speak Javanese only to their kinsmen and relatives (ibid 29-30). In addition, some Javanese also started to wear Malay baju kurung when they attended their neighbor’s special occasion, such as wedding (ibid: 30). When the government of Singapore resettled the kampongs dwellers to HDB building (see previous section), the Javanese showed another instance of their inclusiveness and adaptability. As they were bracketed together with the local ethnic 33 Malay under the “Malay” race, the Javanese often found themselves living in HDB flats with the Malays rather than with their fellow kinfolks. Instead of isolating them, this condition resulted in the Javanese’s growing interaction and association with the Malays. Riaz Hassan (1977: 179), in his study on low-income families in HDB, mentioned a Java-born Javanese couple who invited their Malay neighbors into their slametan (traditional Javanese ceremony). Another example of Javanese inclusiveness and adaptability can be found from their adoption of ‘Malay’ as their official ethnic identity. As mandated by constitution, education system in Singapore gave special treatment to Malay population, such as relieving education fee for Malay-Singaporean (Sharom Ahmat 1971). This policy, however, stirred concern and fear among the migrant groups from archipelago because there was no clear characterization of who belong to this “Malay” category in the Constitution (Athsani Karni and Ridzwan Dzafir 1971: 15). Yet, the Javanese, again, proved their inclusiveness and adaptability to the local situation. Some Javanese parents voluntarily adopted Malay as their official racial identity in order to gain benefit from subsidized education (Julina Khusaini 1988: 4950). Conclusion The Javanese started to move to Singapore since a few years after the foundation of British settlement on the island. They mainly migrated because of the poor living condition in their homeland. They chose Singapore because this city provided them with many economic opportunities, especially after the opening of 34 plantations in Malaya. Nevertheless, some Javanese, particularly during the Second World War, moved to Singapore because they were forced to do so. Many of them could not return to Java and thus they had to settle down in Singapore. In Singapore, the Javanese mainly lived in ethnic enclaves such as Kampong Jawa. Prior to the Second World War, Kampong Jawa was the centre of Javanese activities in Singapore. Many economic activities, such as trading, crafting, food peddling and gardening, were conducted here. Moreover, kampong Jawa was also the point of departure for Javanese migrants as well as point of embarkation for Javanese pilgrims. Lastly, kampong Jawa was also the center for Javanese cultural activities. Many Javanese arts and entertainment was staged in this place. In the post-war years, Javanese community in Singapore experienced a significant change in their way of life. Javanese settlements in Singapore began to grow in numbers and dispersed around the island. Not only that, their settlements started to become more cosmopolitan in nature. The use of Javanese language among the Javanese was also become more limited and some Javanese changed their dress code and wore Malay baju kurung for attending social occasions. These facts indicated the inclusiveness and adaptability of Javanese community in Singapore. The Javanese community had further proven their inclusiveness and adaptability in the wake of Republic of Singapore’s independence. The government public housing resettlement program ended many of their former social and cultural practices which were centered on their kampongs. Yet, in their new living environment, the Javanese aligned themselves toward the more dominant Malay community. In addition, some Javanese adopted Malay as their official racial identity 35 to gain access to education subsidies from the government which was reserved only to the Malays. 36 CHAPTER 3 INTRODUCING THE JAVANESE-SINGAPOREAN FAMILIES This chapter gives a broad sociological picture of Javanese-Singaporean families through an examination of their family histories. In presenting the family histories of the six families, I demonstrate how the historical experiences of the families were shaped not just by the families’ origin in Java and their history of migration but also by social and political forces in Singaporean society. Although the focus of this chapter is on the family history of the six families, my discussion will relate their histories to the larger history of Javanese community in Singapore by drawing from available secondary sources. The aim of this chapter is to provide background information on the six Javanese-Singaporean families studied in this thesis as well as to provide context for the narratives of Javaneseness discussed in the next chapter. The discussion focuses on several important dimensions, such as the six families’ places of origin, migration, livelihood, settlement, and marriage. I focus on these dimensions because they are significant to an understanding of how Javanese migrant families are situated within Singaporean society as well as the narratives of Javaneseness which are produced in this context. In order to easily differentiate them, I identify the six Javanese-Singaporean families studied with an alphabet from A to F. Family A has been living in Singapore for five generations. The first-generation of this family moved to Singapore in the 37 early twentieth century. My main respondents from this family are Aminah and her daughter, Latifah. Similarly, the first-generation of Family B moved to Singapore in the early twentieth century. This family has been in Singapore for at least four generations. I collected data on Family B from four informants: Yayah; her daughter, Nita; her grandson, Reza; and Reza’s wife, Izzah. Unlike Families A and B, Family C moved to Singapore a few years before the Second World War started in Singapore. Thus, this family has been living in Singapore for three generations. My main informant from this family is Safina. Family D also migrated to Singapore around the same time with Family C. But unlike them, Family D has been in Singapore for four generations. I collected data on this family from my informant, Aini. Family E moved to Singapore not long after Families C and D, exactly during the Second World War. This family has been in Singapore for three generations. One of the family members, Johan, provided me with information for this research. Among the six families studied, only Family F migrated to Singapore several years after the Second World War ended. Despite their later time of migration, this family has been living in Singapore for three generations. For this research, I interviewed two family members: Lily; and her daughter, Nadia. 38 Table 1. The Six Javanese-Singaporean Families Studied Family Informant Name Family A Aminah Latifah Age Relation Generation 70’s 3rd generation 39 4th generation Aminah’s daughter Yayah 78 2nd generation Nita 40’s 3rd generation Yayah’s daughter Reza 26 4th generation Yayah’s grandson Izzah 26 4th generation Reza’s wife Safina 24 3rd generation Family D Aini 42 3rd generation Family E Johan 30’s 3rd generation Family F Lily 56 2nd generation Nadia 26 3rd generation Family B Family C Lily’s daughter Origin In this section, I discuss the place of origin of the six Javanese-Singaporean families and the social characteristics of their ancestors who came from these places. 39 However, my findings suggest that these different attributes no longer applies to the current generation of Javanese-Singaporeans who became my informants. The Javanese ancestors of the six Javanese Singaporean families that I studied came exclusively from the central region of Java. 12 The grandfather of Aminah from Family A originated from a village called Purwodadi, near a small town of Purworejo. Purworejo is located about 40 km from Yogyakarta, one of the major cities in Central Java. Around 100 km west of Purworejo, there is a small city of Purwokerto. Family B traced their ancestry back to a village near this city. However, my informant from this family, Yayah, reckoned no one in her family knows the whereabouts of their ancestral village since her parents never told them the location. Two of the families studied, Families C and E came from two different villages but around the same city of Yogyakarta. My informant from Family C, Safina, did not know the exact location of her ancestral village since she has never been there before. She just knew that the village where her grandfather came from is around Yogyakarta. Meanwhile, Family E’s village is located in the south of Yogyakarta. My informant from this family, Johan, mentioned that his family still has a legacy left in their ancestral village: a mosque named after his great-grandfather. 12 Although the Javanese in Indonesia commonly inhabited the central and eastern part of Java, none of the six Javanese-Singaporean families or their relatives had ever traced their ancestry to the eastern part of Java. However, this does not mean that the Javanese from east Java did not migrate to Singapore. Quite on the contrary, historical records show that there were population movements from east Java to Singapore. One of the best examples is the Boyanese people in Singapore who traced their ancestry back to Bawean Island, a few kilometers offshore from Surabaya (Vredenbregt 1990). Moreover, there is an indication that many Javanese people from east Java lived in Singapore. This can be seen from the presence of Kampong Pacitan, near the present day Kembangan area. The name Pacitan suggested that this kampong was named after its founder: Javanese migrants from Pacitan, a small city in east Java (c.f. Hadijah Rahmat 2005: 72). 40 The rest, Families D and F came from two cities in the north coast of Central Java. Aini from Family D reckoned that her grandparents came from a village near the small city of Kendal. However, she did not know the name or the location of the village since she has not visited her ancestral village yet. Among the six JavaneseSingaporean families studied, only Family F did not originate from a village. Lily’s grandfather, who worked as chief prosecutor in the Dutch colonial government, came from Semarang, the capital city of Central Java province. Figure 1. Map of Central Java Province and Yogyakarta Special Region As we can see from the figure above, four Javanese-Singaporean families, Families A, B, C, and E, originated from the interior part of central Java while the rest, Families D and F came from the northern coast of central Java. According to Koentjaraningrat (1990), these two regions have their own variety of Javanese culture which is manifest in the local dialect and beliefs. For example, the north coast people, 41 often associated with the pasisir culture, practice a more puritanical version of Islam, while their brethren in the hinterland practices a more syncretistic kind of Islam (Geertz 1976; Koentjaraningrat 1990). However, throughout the fieldwork period, this regional difference could no longer be observed from the six Javanese-Singaporean families studied. Rather, I found that all of my informants from these families claimed to follow pristine Islamic teachings, clean from any pre-Islamic influences commonly found among Javanese families from the interior parts of central Java. This absence of difference may be explained from the level of assimilation of the Javanese in Singapore into the Malay social group as well as the wave of Islamization which hit Singapore in 1980s (Mutalib 1990). Despite their claims of Islamic purity, some Javanese Singaporean families, consciously or unconsciously, still retain some of their ancestor pre-Islamic beliefs until today, as we shall see further in the following chapters. Migration In this section, I describe the timeline and reasons of migration of the firstgeneration from the six Javanese-Singaporean families studied. My findings show that most of the first-generation of the families studied migrated around the first half of twentieth century. My examination of the six family histories suggests that there is a connection between their time and their reason of migration to Singapore. From the table 2 below, we can observe that the first-generation of the six Javanese-Singaporean families came to Singapore at different time periods during the 42 twentieth century. Most first-generation of the six families came to Singapore in the first half of the century. The first-generation of Families A and B migrated roughly around the beginning of the twentieth century. Several years before the Japanese invaded Southeast Asia the first-generation of Families C and D migrated to Singapore, while the first-generation of Family E came during Japanese occupation period. Only the first-generation of Family F moved to Singapore on the latter half of the century, long after the War ended. Table 2. Time and Reason of Migration of the First-Generation of the Javanese-Singaporean Families Studied Family Time of Migration Reason of Migration Family A Early 1900s Economy Family B 1920s Economy Family C 1940s Economy (Before Second World War) Family D 1940s Conflict (Before Second World War) Family E Family F 1942-1945 Conflict (During Second World War) (Slave laborer) 1950s Marriage 43 In relation to what drove the first-generation of the six Javanese-Singaporean families to migrate to Singapore, my research findings suggest diverse reasons. The most significant drive for most of this first-generation Javanese’s migration was economy. The early twentieth century was a boon period for Javanese migration to Malaya (Shamsul Bahrin 1967: 273). The main pull factor of their migration during this period was the opening of (rubber) plantations in Malaya which demanded a large pool of laborers (Parmer 1960; Jackson 1961). Some scholars (e.g. Marriott 1991: 353), believe that these rubber plantations is one of the most important factors behind large Javanese migration to Singapore. The migration history of Families A, B, and C show the connection between their migratory drive and the plantation economy in Malaya in the beginning of twentieth century (see further below). Yet, economy was not the only reason for the Javanese to leave their homeland. The first-generation of Families D and E moved to Singapore because of non-economic reason, such as conflicts and wars. The growing consciousness among the Indonesian nationalist since the turn to the twentieth century led to more frequent clash with the Dutch authority, especially in the last years of the colonial state (e.g. Ricklefs 2001). In the case of Family D, Aini’s grandparents left their village because of the ongoing conflicts between the Dutch and the locals near their residence. Since they wanted to live far away from the violence, they decided to sail off to Malaya. A similar story happened in Family E. Johan’s grandmother moved to Singapore with her younger siblings when she was only a young teenager. They ran away from their village because their parents were killed by the Dutch. They arrived in Singapore during the Japanese occupation period. Johan’s grandmother never told 44 her family how she reached and ended up living in Singapore during the war. Instead, she claimed that she fought her way to get to Singapore. I found Johan’s grandmother story as rather amazing. Free migration to Singapore during the war was highly unlikely unless it was organized by the Japanese army for the purpose of supporting their war effort. From historical records (e.g. Kurasawa 1988, Raben 2005, Turnbull 2009), we know that the Japanese army brought thousands of Javanese forced laborers, also known as romusha, to Singapore. Some of these people were young Javanese women whom ended up as sex slaves for the Japanese army. The fact that Johan’s grandmother ended up in occupied Singapore suggests that she might have been a victim of this atrocious activity but she chose to remain silent about her traumatic experience. Another reason for Javanese migration to Singapore is marriage. This happened to Family F. Lily’s mother who moved to Singapore in 1950s after she married a Javanese-Singaporean man. She was fortunate to be able to do this because after the enactment of The Immigration Ordinance of 1952, only skilled foreigner or foreign spouse were allowed to migrate to Singapore (Chua 1964). Perhaps, after the passing of this regulation, the subsequent Javanese migration to Singapore was mostly due to reasons of marriage. From the table 2 above, we can see that none of the first-generation of the six families studied migrated to Singapore in the nineteenth century. This is rather surprising because the Javanese has been migrating to Singapore since 1820s. The absence of Javanese Singaporean respondents whose ancestors came before the twentieth century indicates that most of the descendants of Javanese migrants who 45 came during this period may have already been assimilated into the Malay ethnic group and therefore may no longer identify themselves distinctively as Javanese. 13 Livelihood In this section, I discuss the livelihoods of Javanese Singaporean families. I describe how the prewar generation of Javanese migrants, like other groups of migrants to Malaya at this time, found themselves working in ethnic-specific niches. However, post-war Javanese-Singaporean migrants, that is, those who arrived after Singapore’s independence, as well as descendents of Javanese-Singaporean migrants have a different experience: They do not find themselves confined to occupations based on their ethnicity. During the colonial time, most of the migrant groups were associated with distinctive occupations in the Malayan economy. One of the reasons for this occupation pattern to occur is because many newly arriving migrants found their first jobs with help from their fellow migrants who came earlier. Therefore, it is not surprising that after several years, a distinctive pattern of occupation occur among the migrant communities. The same thing also happened to Javanese migrants. The Javanese in colonial Singapore were reported to take typical jobs such as gardeners, food peddlers, and mainly plantation laborers (Roff 1967, Li 1989). 13 One such person from outside the six families studied is Hidayah Amin, a fifth generation of Javanese descent, who now identifies herself more as Malay than Javanese. See Chapter 1. 46 My research findings show that none of the Javanese-Singaporean families studied claimed to have any of their ancestors working as plantation laborers. However, I found that the occupations of the first generation of the Javanese Singaporean families are related in some way to the plantation economy at that time. One family might have been involved in recruiting Javanese to work on Malayan plantation estates. Others established businesses which had Javanese plantation workers as their primary clientele. This situation is reflected from the histories of Families A, B, and C. The history of Family A started with Aminah’s grandfather who came to Singapore in the early 1900s. With the capital that he brought from Java, he became a travel agent for pilgrims, also known in Singapore at that time as sheikh haji. The main occupation of a sheikh haji was to arrange transportation for Muslim pilgrims from their hometown to the holy city of Mecca. However, some sheikh hajis, as we have seen in the previous chapter, were also involved in importing and distributing Javanese laborers to plantations in Singapore and Malaya. Family B has a similar story with Family A. Yayah’s parents came to Singapore already with some capital on their hand because they came from a batik maker family in Java. In the beginning, they ran a trading business in batik clothes, presumably serving the demand for batik clothing by the Javanese community in Singapore. When their trade thrived, Yayah’s father expanded his business into an electric generator renting business, catering to locals who wanted to have ceremonies at their home at night. Their family business made Family B quite affluent when compared to other Javanese migrants in Singapore. 47 Unlike Families A and D, Family C’s story began from the bottom. Safina’s grandfather moved to Singapore during the period when the Javanese population in pre-war Singapore was at its highest. Perhaps after seeing many of them living there, he decided to open his own food business to cater to the needs of the Javanese migrants in Singapore. He started his business from the bottom up by becoming Javanese food hawker in Bussorah Street, Kampong Glam. 14 After the end of food hawking in Singapore, Safina’s grandfather opened up his own food stall in one of the hawker centers in Singapore, not far from Bussorah Street. Meanwhile, the livelihood of the Javanese-Singaporean families who came to Singapore during and after the war period started to diversify when compared to those who came before the war. This diversification can be seen from the history of Families D, E, and F. For instance, in Family D, Aini’s grandfather who took refuge in Selangor during the war, returned back to post-war Singapore and got a job as a soldier in the Singaporean army. Family F also has a similar story. Lily’s father, a Singaporean of Javanese descent, was also in the Singaporean army. Indeed, post-war Singapore saw the increasing presence of British military. Many local Malays found jobs by joining the rank of British soldiers (Murfett et.al. 1999: 301). The occupations of the present generation of Javanese Singaporeans differ significantly, both in terms of variety as well as social status, from the first generation of Javanese-migrants in Singapore. Indeed, the occupations of the present generation are not much different from other Singaporeans thanks to mass (and subsidized) 14 food. Bussorah Street was famous as a place where Javanese hawker congregated and sold their 48 education which became available from 1960s. Since this period, JavaneseSingaporeans who adopted Malay as their official identity enjoyed education subsidy which was not available to their predecessors (Sharom Ahmat 1971; Athsani Karni and Ridzwan Dzafir 1971). With this advantage, the subsequent generations of Javanese-Singaporeans have a much better chance to live different lives from their parents’ and grandparents’ generations. This situation can be observed from the six Javanese-Singaporeans below. Aminah from Family A is now a homemaker while her husband is a teacher retiree. She used to run a small restaurant selling Javanese food. But since her husband fell sick, she stopped her business. In contrast to her mother, Latifah is a university graduate who works at a government’s institution. Similar with Aminah, Yayah from Family B also works as a homemaker. Since the passing away of her husband, the position of the family breadwinner fell to Nita, his bachelorette youngest daughter. Nita is a university graduate and works as a business professional. Similarly, Yayah’s grandson, Reza, is also highly educated. His wife, Izzah, is also a graduate. They work respectively as airplane engineer and teacher. Safina from Family C has just finished her higher education. She currently works for a local bank. Quite the opposite, her father does not have any degree. Her father still works in the same profession as her grandfather, that is, as food seller. Aini from Family D also has a higher education degree and works as an executive secretary in an international company. Her two eldest children have university degree while the two youngest ones are still in their schooling years. In contrast, Aini’s grandfather was an army man. 49 Johan from Family E has a university degree from abroad and a job at government’s museum in Singapore. His social status is in contrast to his mother who only has a secondary school degree. Meanwhile, Lily from Family F has a higher education degree and works as insurance agent. Her eldest daughter, Nadia, has just recently graduated. Their social standings look in contrast to Lily’s elderly mother who is a homemaker for her whole life. Settlement In this section I discuss the settlement pattern of the six Javanese Singaporeans families. Here, I delineate the movement from living in ethnic-specific kampongs to high-rise buildings or HDB (Housing Development Board) buildings. My findings show that most of the Javanese Singaporean families that I studied live in the eastern part of Singapore, a region with much history to Singapore’s Malay community. The settlement pattern of the first generation of the six Javanese Singaporean families shows an interesting pattern. As has been pointed out by several previous studies on this community (e.g. Abdul Aziz Johari 1960; Chia 1994), Javanese migrants in nineteenth century Singapore had a tendency to live among themselves. According to some scholars (e.g. Abdul Aziz Johari 1960; Lockard 1971; Li 1989; Chia 1994), the main settlement for Javanese in Singapore was Kampong Jawa. Kampong Jawa was located on the west of Rochore River (Lockard 1971; Savage and Yeoh 2003: 211). However, as their numbers expanded in the early twentieth century, many Javanese people lived side by side with other ethnic groups, such as the Malays (Abdul Aziz Johari 1960; Chia 1994). 50 The settlement pattern mentioned above is found amongst the first generation of the families studied. The first-generation of Families A, C, and E came to Singapore before and during the Second World War and they all lived in Kampong Glam. Meanwhile, the first-generation of Families D and F who moved to Singapore after the Second World War lived in Geylang. Although the grandparents of Family D arrived in Singapore before the war, they fled Singapore during the war and only came back after the war ended. Only the first-generation of Family B, who lived in Telok Blangah, did not stay within the conventional settlements of Kampong Glam and Geylang (See figure 3 below). Figure 2. The Settlement of the First-Generation from the Six Javanese-Singaporean Families 51 Since the 1960s, the settlement of the Javanese in Singapore has changed dramatically. Government policies of resettling urban population from kampongs and slums to HDB buildings have ended the days of ethnic enclaves in Singapore (Turnbull 2009; Chua 1997). Each ethnic group, including the Javanese, was no longer allowed to live among their own kind. Because of this reason, some Javanese who live in HDB began to associate themselves with the larger Malay ethnic group (Riaz Hassan 1977) since they share the similar culture and religion. Nowadays, the six Javanese-Singaporean families studied live in HDB buildings, different from their first-generation who lived in kampongs. Most of my informants from the six families studied live in the eastern part of Singapore, a region with strong history of the Malay community in Singapore. Aminah and Latifah from Family A stay in an HDB building in Eunos. Yayah and Nita from Family B live in a flat in Pasir Ris. Safina from Family C also lives in Pasir Ris neighborhood. Aini from Family D just moved from the western part of Singapore to Changi area. Johan from Family E resides in Kaki Bukit, also in the eastern part of Singapore. Lily and Nadia from Family F live in two different buildings but both in Tampines area. Only, Reza and Izzah from Family B stay in their own flat in Yishun, in northeast Singapore. (See figure 4 below). 52 Figure 3. The Current Residences of the Six Javanese Singaporean Families Marriage This section discusses the marriage pattern of the six Javanese-Singaporean families studied. Intermarriage between the Javanese and other ethnic groups in Singapore, especially with the Malays, is common. My findings show that intermarriage with the Malays had begun since the second generation and is getting more common among the younger generations (i.e. the third and fourth generations). Marriage within the same ethnic group or endogamy among the members of the six Javanese families was quite common in the past, especially among the earlier 53 generations. However such marriages were often with other Javanese migrants in Singapore. Such a scenario is found in all of the families studied. For example, the second-generation of Family A married a woman of Javanese descent whose family came from Medan, North Sumatra while the first-generation of family F married a local man with Javanese ancestry. 15 Yet, exogamy is also quite common among members of the six Javanese Singaporean families, especially among the younger generation. Intermarriage with the every major ethnic group in Singapore (i.e. Chinese, Malay, and Indian) can be found in the families studied. However, the most common trend is intermarriage with the Malays. Intermarriage with the Malays is common perhaps because of religious and cultural similarities between the Javanese and the Malays (Saw 1970). Intermarriage with the Malays can be found in Families A, B, D, and F. For instance, in Family B, Yayah married a Malay man from Malaysia. A case of intermarriage with Indian-Singaporean can be found in Family E. Johan’s mother married an Indian-Muslim Singaporean, facilitated perhaps by religious affinity. Another similar case can be observed from Families C and D. In Family C, Safina’s father married a Muslim Chinese woman who was adopted and raised by a JavaneseSingaporean family. In the case of family D, Aini married a convert ChineseSingaporean man. I also found one Javanese Singaporean family who inter-marry with non-Singaporean ethnic group. Lily from Family F married a Filipino Muslim convert. 15 Many Javanese descents in Singapore did not come directly from Java. Some of them came from the neighboring regions, such as Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia. 54 Conclusion In this chapter, I have discussed the origins, migration, livelihood, settlement, and marriage patterns of the six Javanese-Singaporean families studied. The discussion on these dimensions is important in understanding how Javanese Singaporean families are situated within the larger Singaporean society. The family histories of migration and settlement into Singaporean society presented in this chapter will help provide contexts to the narratives of Javanese ancestry and identity in contemporary Singaporean society which will be discussed in the subsequent chapters. From the background of the Javanese-Singaporean families studied, a general picture of the gradual assimilation of Javanese migrants and their families into (Malay) Singaporean society emerges. The Javanese-Singaporeans have moved from ethnic settlement, occupation niches and endogamy to dispersed settlement, occupations and exogamy. This transformation can be observed since the end of the Second World War and it becomes even more apparent after the creation of the independent Republic of Singapore in 1965. However, just because Javanese Singaporeans have largely become assimilated into (Malay) Singaporean society, it does not mean that Javaneseness has 55 lost salience for this community. In the next chapter, I will explore narratives of Javaneseness in contemporary Singapore. CHAPTER 4 PRESERVING JAVANESENESS IN THE FAMILY This chapter presents narratives about practices of Javaneseness from the members of six Javanese-Singaporean families. In presenting the narratives, I demonstrate how Javanese-Singaporean families maintain and perform their practices of Javaneseness in the present day of Singapore. Although the focus of this chapter is on the narratives given by my informants, I also use data from my observations as well as informal conversation from non-informants to support my arguments. The aim of this chapter is to demonstrate the enduring practices of Javaneseness in the Javanese-Singaporean families studied despite their relative assimilation into the Malay community as described in the previous chapter. The discussion in this chapter focuses on several important practices of Javaneseness found in the studied families, such as visiting Java, speaking Javanese, and carrying out a Javanese wedding. I focus on these three practices because they demonstrate how Javaneseness has been maintained within the six studied families through several generations. 56 A Visit to the Family's Roots In her seventies, Aminah looks like a fragile elderly woman. Yet, she still dares to fly to Yogyakarta by herself to visit the birth place of her grandfather. Aminah has been visiting her ancestral village in Purworejo since 1980s. Whenever she could, she would make this kind of journey every year. Sometimes her youngest daughter would join her on her trip. Aminah would then tell her the history of each place they visited and introduce her to the family’s relatives, friends and neighbors which have been sustaining their family rootedness in Java for so long. Aminah’s family is not the only Javanese-Singaporean family who makes the journey to Java. Five out of the six families studied make regular trip to their ancestral villages in Central Java. The members of Families A, C, D, E, and F seek to make a trip to Java at least once a year or biannually. Only Family B does not make any trip to visit their ancestral village. This is because the family no longer has any knowledge of its whereabouts in Java. An attempt to find their ancestral village by one of the senior family member turned out without any clues. The prevalence of the journey to ancestral villages amongst JavaneseSingaporean families studied is not surprising. Migration studies literatures are replete with descriptions of the long journey made by migrants and their descendants to their ‘homeland’ (e.g. Chamberlain 1997; Olwig 2007). This idea of visiting one’s place of origin is not foreign for migrants from the Malay world. The people from this region are already familiar with the concept of merantau (lit. going abroad) and its pair, pulang kampung (lit. going back to village) (e.g. Mochtar Naim 1973). The tradition of pulang kampung is often associated with Hari Raya since Muslims from this region 57 often celebrate this holiday together with their family, relatives, and neighbors in their place of origin. This annual occasion often provided a reason for migrants to make a long journey to visit their old kampong or villages each year. One of the Javanese-Singaporean families who make regular journeys to their ancestral village is Family E. This family still has many relatives and acquaintances that are living in Java. Some of them still live in the family ancestral village near Yogyakarta. The elderly members of this family, especially the grandmother, strive to maintain close affiliations with them. Every year, she makes a journey to her ancestral village to visit them. In addition, she also visits other relatives who live in different cities across Java, such as Jakarta and Semarang. My informant from Family E, Johan, made his first travel to Java in the 2000s. At that time, his grandmother wanted to take him to see their ancestral village near Yogyakarta as well as to meet other relatives who live in Jakarta. Unfortunately, Johan and his grandmother had to cancel the trip to their ancestral village in Yogyakarta because they spent too much time staying and visiting relatives in Jakarta. Although he failed to visit his ancestral village, Johan still feels the meaningfulness of his first journey to Java. “It’s my grandma who tried to make an effort to reconnect me with our relatives in Java. I went there [Java] when I was young, but not to the kampong [his ancestral village] … my grandma was on sort of a mission to reconnect us with the lost family members, the cousins, second and third cousins, the aunties that in a way we lost contact of. She introduced me to a lot of family roots in Java. 58 That part I know very well. [That] my whole family is Javanese and I am also Javanese.” Realizing the emotional values of his first trip to Java, Johan puts a journey to his ancestral village as his next top agenda. He had planned to go there with his grandmother this year but due to the preparation of his coming wedding, he decided to postpone it to the next year. “This time, I will bring my future wife with me to visit the kampong,” Johan exclaimed. Most of Javanese-Singaporean families studied could afford a journey to Java with minimum repercussion. The significantly higher exchange rate for Singaporean currency against the Indonesian one makes it easier for Javanese-Singaporean families to fund their journey. An average Javanese-Singaporeans family could easily afford a plane ticket to Java. Moreover, the relatively close proximity between Singapore and Java makes travel time relatively short. An air trip to any major cities in Java from Singapore takes less than 2-3 hours. Yet, not all of Javanese-Singaporeans are so eager to visit their ancestral village like Johan. One of them is Aini from Family D. Aini wanted to introduce her young children to their family root by bringing them in a visit to Java. Initially, she chose to bring her children to visit their family ancestral village in Kendal, Central Java. However, Aini began to reconsider her plan to visit her ancestral village when she heard about her uncles’ difficult journey to reach their ancestral village. As a mother, Aini’s main concern is the safety and comfort of her family. “I really want to visit [sic] my village. I already made a plan to go there with my children, to find our family root there. But when I 59 heard the story when they [her uncles] go back there, it’s so scary leh. So now I don’t know whether I wanna go there or not. They said, they lived in this [village] in Kendal. When they sleep they have kambing (goat) right. So at night, they all put the kambing inside. And they have to sleep in the house where the kambing are. When they wake up they can smell the kambing. And then they have the other villagers to protect their house because they said that if people know that they are outsiders in that house, they’ll try to attack you and rob you or something like that.” For Javanese-Singaporeans who already familiar with a comfortable lifestyle in Singapore, a journey to their ancestral village in the hinterland of Java may pose considerable challenge. Java, despite being the centre of the Indonesian economy and polity for decades, still has many undeveloped corners. Traveling outside the major cities in Java brings many difficulties, especially for foreigners. Personal safety, food hygiene, transportation availability, and language barrier are some of the possible difficulties that Javanese-Singaporeans may face on their journey to their ancestral villages. Eventually, Aini decided to choose a less risky destination: Yogyakarta, a major tourist destination in central Java. She chose this city because she wanted to bring her children to visit the royal palace of the old Javanese Sultanate, also popularly known as Kraton. Although the Javanese Sultanate no longer holds any political power in the modern day Indonesia, Kraton continues to hold its significance as the centre of Javanese cosmos as well as Javanese cultural reservoir until today. 60 Here, visitor can enjoy all kind of the Javanese cultural performance which otherwise difficult to find in other places. Because of its status as the centre of Javanese culture, Kraton is widely known and esteemed by Javanese-Singaporeans. During my fieldwork, I found the appeal of Kraton as a must-see-destination was quite widespread among my Javanese-Singaporeans acquaintances. It attracts not just Javanese-Singaporeans whose ancestors came from Yogyakarta but also from different cities and villages in all over central Java. The ancestor of our protagonist above, Aini, came from a village which is located more than a hundred kilometers away from Kraton. Perhaps, for Javanese-Singaporeans who, like Aini, could not visit their ancestral village for one reason and another, a trip to Kraton may serve as an alternative destination for them to reconnect with their cultural heritage and provide a means for them to be a part of a larger Javanese world. A True Javanese Can Speak Javanese An informant from Family B, Yayah, explained her view of what makes one truly Javanese: “An asli (real) and tulen (authentic) Javanese can speak Javanese. If you want to find an asli and tulen Javanese nowadays, it’s difficult. They’re all gone [passed away]. But I can still speak Javanese. So [my Javaneseness] it’s not gone. But most of kids nowadays, they don’t understand Javanese. My children know a bit of Javanese because when I spoke to them, I mix Malay with 61 Javanese. But the rest [most younger generation] do not understand Javanese.” Yayah’s definition of a Javanese person is quite straightforward: if you are truly Javanese, then you can speak Javanese. This kind of logic exists everywhere. The idea that someone has to be able to speak the language of the ethnicity which she is perceived as belonging to is quite taken for granted. But there is one problem with this common sense logic: if a person could not speak the ethnic language with which she is associated, then she would be considered by others as an anomaly, or in this case as ‘not Javanese enough’. To some extent, this view is quite pervasive amongst the Javanese in Singapore. Previous studies on Javanese migrant communities in Malaya show that the Javanese language has been an important mark of Javaneseness for this community, despite their ability to speak the local language (English or Malay) (Abdul Aziz Johari 1960; Chia 1994). In a more recent study on Javanese descendents, Miyazaki (2000) noted that the Javanese in Johor speaks Javanese not only to reinforce their sense of Javaneseness but also to distinct them from local Malay people. Perhaps for the same reason, the Javanese language in Singapore has not been wiped out by changing lifestyle and has continued to exist until today. Indeed, the recent trend shows a rising interest in learning and speaking Javanese, especially among the younger generation of Javanese-Singaporeans. This phenomenon can be observed from the virtual community Javanese Singaporean in the popular social network, Facebook. Many member of this community wrote their messages in 62 Javanese as a means to teach Javanese to other members. One of the members made a “Kamus Jawa Ngoko-Melayu” (Javanese Ngoko-Melayu Dictionary) by listing a series of low form Javanese words (Ngoko) – commonly spoken among JavaneseSingaporeans – and its translation in Malay. 16 The dictionary received much attention and feedback from other members of Javanese Singaporeans. Some members added more words to the list while other simply expressed their relief and gratitude for the rare dictionary. This rising interest in learning and speaking Javanese among the younger generation of Javanese-Singaporeans is a rather interesting phenomenon. 17 For this generation, Javanese may have lost much of its former relevance. Many of them were born in a family with mix parentage which in most cases chose to opt out Javanese as their main family language. Moreover, many of the younger generation of JavaneseSingaporeans learned Malay and English in school, making Javanese somewhat less useful for them. Due to the fact that Javanese has becoming socially less relevant, the continuing and even rising interest in learning and speaking Javanese is a notable event. My interviews with member of Javanese-Singaporean families show that the value of learning and speaking Javanese has shifted from a socially relevant duty into a personally rewarding task. At least, this is what happened to Safina, my young informant from Family C, who is currently learning Javanese. She was born in the 1980s and grew up with a father who sometimes spoke Javanese to his children. 16 https://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=10025599475&topic=7074, accessed at 6 October 2010. 17 Here, I define the younger generation as those who were born and grown up after 1960s as opposed to the elderly generation who were born and grown up before 1960s. 63 Despite this, the family's main language for daily conversation was English. But once in a while, Safina’s father would insert various Javanese words when he spoke to her and her other two siblings. When she was just a little girl, Safina did not understand nor paid much attention to the ‘strange’ language that her father had spoken of. However, her attitude toward the language gradually changed as she got older. When she befriended more Javanese descents like herself, Safina began to gain more interest in her ancestral language, especially the unfamiliar words that her father kept repeating when she was young. As she gained more revelation and awareness about her own Javaneseness, Safina decided to learn Javanese from her father. Safina knew that learning Javanese as her second language would not give her many benefits in Singapore. The number of Javanese speakers in this country today is relatively small and thus it limits her usage of this language only to her family and a small circle of friends. Yet, Safina had her own reason to keep learning Javanese. “Initially you don’t really care. But then when you’re older, gradually you will start to appreciate more ... then I have more friends who are Javanese also who then they would talk about it and about their families. And then I know some people who can speak Javanese. Wow, really cool! Then after that I just start to think like maybe I should learn more about my own culture. So then I try to read up a bit more … Like that lah. It’s just like, I supposed, don’t forget your root, this is who you are. So appreciate that you are one.” 64 From Safina story, we can see her desire to learn Javanese entangles with her childhood memory as well as with her effort to remember her Javanese root. Through learning Javanese from her father and her Javanese peer, she affirms her own Javaneseness. But what if a Javanese-Singaporean could not speak Javanese? The opposite situation may hold true: she could not affirm her Javaneseness, at least through the language that she speaks. My research data provides a case that may answer the question above. Among the six Javanese-Singaporean families studied, only Family E no longer used Javanese in any of the conversations within family. My informant from this family, Johan, noted that his grandmother, the first migrant in his family, hardly spoke Javanese to other family members, even to her own siblings. He suggested that her grandmother refused to speak in Javanese because of her traumatic experience when she was forced to move out of her village in Java (see Chapter 3). I found the fact that no member of Family E, including their elderly, speaks Javanese rather unusual since findings from the other families show the opposite. Although Javanese is no longer frequently spoken in these families, it is still spoken by the elder generation in the families, especially when they are gathering together for celebrating special event (e.g. Hari Raya or wedding). On these occasions, the elderly family members, such as grandparents, parents, uncles, and aunts, often took the opportunity for conversing in Javanese with their cohort. It seems Johan also apprehends the fact that the absence of Javanese from his family makes his family looks peculiar among other Javanese-Singaporean families. In the interview, Johan did not try to assert his family’s Javaneseness through 65 language that they speak, unlike informants from other families. Instead, he likened his non-Javanese-speaking grandmother to ordinary Malay-Singaporean: “My grandma never speaks Javanese, although she does know some Javanese words. I remember when I was a kid, she uttered some Javanese words. But now she never speaks Javanese. Not even to her siblings. She speaks just like any other MalaySingaporean. Even then, my grandma has been assimilated into the local Malay culture so much.” The narratives of Safina and Johan on speaking and not speaking Javanese in a way conform to the quote from Yayah presented in the beginning of this section; that a true Javanese speaks Javanese. Yayah’s statement seems to be understood well by both Javanese and non-Javanese speakers as we can see from Safina and Johan’s narratives. If this is the case for other Javanese-Singaporeans, we may explain that one of the reasons behind the rising interest in learning Javanese is the desire of younger generation of Javanese-Singaporeans to become a true Javanese. Celebrating Javaneseness in Weddings During my fieldwork, I was often told by Javanese-Singaporeans and nonJavanese-Singaporeans alike that a easily noticeable indicator of Javaneseness in Singapore today is wedding. By observing a wedding, they could have a good guess whether a person is a Javanese descent or not. They believe that a Javanese descent would prefer to have a Javanese wedding and they would wear a Javanese wedding 66 costume. Some Javanese wedding would also have Javanese dance and musical performance to entertain the guests. Indeed, Javanese wedding might as well the only remaining visible sign of Javaneseness left in Singapore today. Javanese and non-Javanese alike still recognized and distinguished Javanese wedding from other kind of wedding from its visible qualities. For instance, Javanese wedding costumes are based more on batik clothes while the typical Javanese wedding entertainments includes gamelan ensemble. Although nowadays some have been stripped from its more elaborated rituals, Javanese wedding in Singapore still retains its distinctiveness and significance through other symbols used in the wedding itself, such as the costumes and the entertainment. The majority of the Javanese-Singaporean families studied has hosted a Javanese wedding in the past. These are Families A, C, D, E and F. Their families threw a Javanese wedding especially when one of the family members married another Javanese descent. Only Family B never hosted a Javanese wedding because their family members have inter-married with non-Javanese descents for the three last generations. Despite this difference, most of my informants agreed and underlined the significance of having a Javanese wedding for Javanese descents like themselves. In Javanese culture, marriage is considered as one of the most important milestones in an individual life (Koentjaraningrat 1990). Accordingly, marriage has always been lavishly celebrated in grandeur by the Javanese and both the bride and the bride-groom would be treated like a king and a queen for a day (c.f. Pemberton 1994). Apparently, the similar tradition is still carried out by Javanese descents in 67 Singapore. Previous studies on Javanese-Singaporeans (e.g. Abdul Aziz Johari 1960) have devoted an extensive discussion on Javanese wedding and its symbolic importance for the Javanese descents in Singapore. Perhaps because of its symbolic importance for them, many JavaneseSingaporeans nowadays still choose to have their wedding conducted according to Javanese tradition. One of Javanese-Singaporeans who recently had a Javanese wedding is Nadia from Family F. A few years ago, Nadia married a Singaporean of Arabic descent. Despite they came from different ethnic background, the couple chose to have a traditional Javanese wedding. This was also in accordance to Nadia’s own wish. Eventually, Nadia’s family hosted a lavish traditional Javanese wedding for them. For Nadia’s wedding, her family performed a series of elaborate Javanese rituals which mostly meant to bless the bride and the bride-groom with safety and prosperity. These rituals included siraman (bathing), dodol cendol (selling drinks), wiji dadi (breaking eggs), balangan suruh (throwing betel leaves), timbang (sitting on the bride’s father’s lap), and sungkeman (honoring parents). To guide and supervise the whole rituals procession, Nadia’s family flown her great aunt who had profession as wedding make-up artist from Jakarta. 18 Because there were so many processions to follow, Nadia’s wedding took three days to finish. To host a Javanese wedding ceremony like Nadia’s in Singapore takes a lot of time and money. Nevertheless, Nadia justified her choice and her family decision to 18 In Indonesia, Javanese wedding make-up artist like Nadia’s aunt also proficient in supervising the performance of rituals in the wedding. 68 host a lavish Javanese wedding by stressing how important it is for her to have her wedding conducted according to Javanese tradition. “I wanted to have a Javanese wedding because it’s the tradition that I feel close to. When I was living in Jakarta, I used to be a dancer. I was a Javanese dancer for quite a while … [And] my aunt [the make-up artist], always hired me to be a kipas (fan) girl for wedding [that she supervised]. So, you know, I went into a lot of Javanese wedding. Whether it’s like West Java or Central Java weddings. So I knew that I really wanted to have a Javanese wedding for myself. Like from young I knew that I wanted it … I am very close to that tradition. It’s the closest tradition that I have.” Not all of Javanese-Singaporeans are willing and able to host a lavish Javanese wedding and endure its time-consuming procession. Nadia’s own cousin is one of them. He recently married a Singaporean woman of Javanese descent. However, the couple’s families could not afford the resources for hosting three days wedding like Nadia’s. Thus, they stripped many of the nonessential procession from their wedding but maintained the Javanese wedding costumes for the bride and the bride-groom and the Javanese wedding decorations. Beside finance and time, there is another important factor which refrains Javanese-Singaporean families from having traditional Javanese wedding like Nadia’s. During my fieldwork period, I observed a Javanese style wedding in the West Coast area. The bride and the bride-groom wore Javanese wedding outfits but 69 the wedding procession was simple and less elaborate than the wedding that Nadia had. There were no rituals like siraman, timbangan and sungkeman. The absence of these rituals may be attributed to the lack of knowledge on Javanese wedding ritual in this family. Unlike Nadia’s family, this family may not be able to find somebody knowledgeable enough about Javanese wedding rituals to guide their wedding. Due to years of assimilation and intermarriage, there are not many persons who have the knowledge about Javanese wedding rituals left in Singapore. 19 A similar situation happened to one of the families studied. When he decided to get married, Johan from Family E wanted to have a “Javanese theme wedding”. However, no one in his family had knowledge on Javanese wedding rituals. He also found difficulty in finding someone knowledgeable enough to guide his wedding. Thus, Johan opted to have a simple one-day wedding ceremony but yet still reflects his identity as a Javanese descent. Johan would not have many elaborate Javanese rituals in his wedding day. Yet, he still wanted his wedding to be “as Javanese as possible.” For this reason, Johan planned to invite a gamelan musical ensemble to entertain the wedding guests. Gamelan musical ensemble is often found in typical Javanese wedding in Singapore. In addition, Johan planned to wear Javanese wedding outfit in his wedding. He made arrangement for his would-be wife and himself to be dressed in Javanese bride and bride-groom costumes. Johan’s family members would also wear Javanese outfits for the occasion. 19 Indeed, Nadia did try to find a Javanese wedding make-up artist from Singapore for her wedding but there are not many who are knowledgeable about Javanese wedding left in Singapore. Not to mention the high cost of hiring one. 70 Obviously, Johan always has the option for choosing a simpler wedding plan just like any other Singaporean. Besides, it may fit more with his modern lifestyle which dictates practicality. Yet, he insisted on having a Javanese wedding because it is part of his family effort to keep Javaneseness alive. “We don’t have to wear the Javanese clothes. But we try to remind the family, just to keep in touch [with the tradition], just to remind also that we are all Javanese at heart. So for my wedding, I pick up some blangkon and my future one [wears] kebaya and batik and everything. So one of the outfits. We try to at least to keep that alive within our family.” Indeed, Johan’s family case may be the norm rather than the exception when it comes to Javanese wedding in Singapore. Just like them, many JavaneseSingaporeans did not have the resources or the knowledge for hosting a proper traditional Javanese wedding. Yet many of them still made an effort to maintain and celebrate their Javaneseness in the most important day of their lives, which in Johan’s family case, by having Javanese musical entertainment and donning Javanese wedding costumes. Conclusion In this chapter, I have discussed the enduring practices of Javaneseness within Javanese-Singaporean families studied through the examination of their narratives. These practices, such as traveling to ancestral village and royal city in Java, learning 71 Javanese among the younger generation, and delivering Javanese wedding, have given or reinforced a sense of being a Javanese to these Javanese descents. From the narrative presented in this chapter, we have seen how the practices of Javaneseness continue to hold significance for the six Javanese-Singaporean families until today. We also see some practices of Javaneseness have become incongruous and irrelevant with their Singaporean way of life. Yet, despite this predicament, Javanese-Singaporean families studied still found a way and an alternative means for keeping their Javaneseness alive within their family. Lastly, regardless of the enduring significance and performance of these practices, it does not mean that the practices of Javaneseness carried out by JavaneseSingaporean families today free from any form of ‘interference’. Indeed, as I will show in the following chapter, many practices of Javaneseness has been modified or altered due to the dominance of Islam in Singapore. 72 CHAPTER 5: JAVANESENESS, MALAYNESS AND ISLAM IN SINGAPORE This chapter presents the complexity of the construction of Javaneseness in Singapore around the themes of Malayness and Islam. Specifically, I demonstrate how Javaneseness in Singapore has been modified, altered, and shifted by JavaneseSingaporean families due to the influence of Malayness and Islam. Here, my analysis will draw from the narratives of my informants from the six Javanese-Singaporean families studied. Yet, although the main data of this chapter is from the information given by my informants, I also use data from my field observation and interviews with informants from outside the six families studied to support my arguments. The aim of this chapter is to examine the dialogue between Javaneseness, Malayness and Islam within the six Javanese-Singaporean families studied by inspecting two important issues. First, the tension between Javaneseness and Malayness among the Javanese-Singaporean families studied. Second, the role of Islamic revivalism in influencing the practice of Javaneseness, with the example of kuda kepang dance. I focus on these two issues because they are significant in understanding how Javaneseness has been negotiated by different generations within the six Javanese-Singaporean families studied. 73 Emerging Malayness, Fading Javaneseness One of my informants from Family B, Nita, expressed her surprise when I asked her consent to be interviewed on her view of Javaneseness for this research project. “It’s like a faded thing, you see. We know each other that we are Javanese and we go to wedding and that kind of thing, right. Yeah, we know. But we don’t talk about it anymore, you see. It’s something like we become more Malay, Singapore Malay, than being Javanese. It’s lesser. Because like even the actual [Javanese] language, they [her siblings] probably can’t even speak in two sentences … It’s become so saturated. So we don’t talk about it. So when you came asking us, we started to ask like: ok where do we start?” Nita may not be the only Javanese-Singaporeans who were surprised to receive question about her Javanese background. She also may not be the only Javanese-Singaporean who feels that they have increasingly become more like local Malays as their Javaneseness slowly faded. Indeed, as I have been discussed in Chapter 3, a picture of gradual assimilation into Malay-Singaporean society emerged over each generation among the six Javanese-Singaporean families that I studied. During my fieldwork, I found the similar pictures from other JavaneseSingaporean families that I studied. In many aspects of their daily lives, such as the main language spoken at home, these families are not so much different from ordinary Malay-Singaporeans families. Some Javanese-Singaporean families even went further 74 than just adopting the Malay way of life. They changed their official ‘racial’ category in their national identity card into Malay. These phenomena warrant an inquiry into the relationships between Javaneseness and Malayness within these JavaneseSingaporean families. The case of Family A may provide an illustration to the complex relationship between Javaneseness and Malayness in Singapore. In Family A, Javanese is still spoken among the family members and connections with their relatives in Java are still maintained through regular visits. Despite this, the third generation of the family has adopted Malay, instead of Javanese, as their racial identity in their Singaporean Identity Card. Latifah, 39 years old, knew that her parents are not the only JavaneseSingaporeans who had changed their racial identity from Javanese to Malay. Some of her friends’ parents from the same generation had also changed their official racial category to Malay. Latifah believed the reasons behind her parents generation’s racial identity conversion is because of their political aspiration to be closer to the Malays rather than other racial groups in Singapore (i.e. Chinese and Indian). Moreover, there is another incentive for being Malay in Singapore. Due to their special status as indigenous of Singapore, Malays enjoy some special incentives, such as free education, when compared to other racial groups in Singapore. “In terms of political identity, I will have to put myself under Malay because it’s a political identification. Also because I think other ethnic groups apart from Melayu will not be considered as 75 being bumiputera 20 in Singapore … If you put yourself as Javanese, you may not get the same privilege of those who put themselves as Malay. Because they don’t recognize Javanese as being an ethnic group of the Malay world … Education is still free for us. We only pay supplementary fees in school. So if you don’t put yourself as Malay but instead you put yourself as Javanese, you won’t get that privilege. You have to pay school fees. That’s what happened to some people who have put themselves as the ethnic group [Javanese] that they belong to.” A similar but not exactly the same case with Family A can be found in Family E. Family E adopted Malay as their racial identity not because they wanted to get the special status as indigenous but because of intermarriage. My informant from this family, Johan, explained that the first generation in his family, his grandmother, married a Malay man. As in many other similar cases of intermarriage, Johan’s grandmother had the choice to keep Javanese as her racial identifier. Nonetheless, she chose to adopt Malay as her racial identity, following her husband. Not surprisingly, Johan, the third generation in Family E, has Malay as his official racial identity. This is despite the fact that Johan’s father is of Pakistani descent which in Singapore would officially put him within the Indian racial category. Apparently, Johan adopted his mother’s racial identity instead of his father. In Singapore, a person’s racial identity usually follows the father’s. However, they could 20 Bumiputera (lit. son of the soil) refers to the special status and positions enjoyed by the Malays as indigenous people in the constitution of Malaysia and Singapore. 76 file a petition to change their racial identity into either their father’s or mother’s official racial group. In his case, Johan felt himself more as Malay person; thus, he chose to adopt his mother’s race. Despite the fact that he chose Malay as his official race, Johan still felt that his family is a Javanese family. As Johan himself puts it, “In my IC [identity card] I’m a Malay. But I know that I have Javanese blood. My grandmother would never let me forget that.” Indeed, from Johan’s story I get the impression that his family is still very proud of their Javanese heritage. Although none of the family members speaks Javanese anymore, Johan’s family has maintained their Javaneseness through several practices that they kept alive within their family, such as visiting their relatives and ancestral village in Central Java and celebrating their family members’ weddings according to Javanese tradition. I found that Johan’s identification as a Malay rather interesting since he also described his family as still Javanese with their own practices of Javaneseness at the same time. Regardless, I discovered that Johan’s identification with Malayness came less from his family way of life than from the fact that he is a devout Muslim. Here, Johan explained what it meant for him to be Malay: “I think all Malays have the same common modality … all that is immaterial, whatever in this life is immaterial. Because what is important [to us] is what happens in the afterlife. Everything we do should be [directed] towards the afterlife. So ibadah [worships], ugama [religion] is a very very precious part of the every life of a Malay-Singaporean. So, if you asked me if I see 77 myself more as Javanese than Malay Singaporean, I will say no. I just consider myself as Malay Singaporean. It doesn’t really matter whether I’m Javanese or Bugis. Because we [Malay] are all equal. All Malay’s like this.” Johan’s self-identification with Malayness through Islam is not surprising. Many scholars have elaborated elsewhere on the intertwining complex between Islam and Malayness in the Malay world (e.g. Nagata 1974; Reid 2006; Andaya 2008). Non-Malays, such as Javanese, may be considered as Malay (masuk Melayu) when they converted to Islam. Thus, Malayness and Islam becomes closely entwined and inseparable, at least in Malaysia and Singapore today (Lian 2001). Due to this reason, many Javanese-Singaporeans who identify themselves more with their Muslim identity may also identify themselves more as Malays than Javanese, just like Johan. Latifah and Johan are not the only Javanese-Singaporeans who identify themselves and their families as both Javanese and Malay. I found that many of my Javanese-Singaporeans informants have a complex, if not ambiguous, sense of identity. Just like Latifah and Johan, they officially identify themselves in their identity card as Malay. Nonetheless, many of them still engage and perpetuate the practice of Javaneseness in their everyday life. This finding is not surprising since previous studies on Javanese in Singapore (e.g. Julina Khusaini 1988) also show that this group conducted multiple levels of identification to deal with different situations in their life. Nevertheless, I found that not all of the Javanese-Singaporean families that I studied have adopted Malay as their new racial identity. Family D is among the few 78 Javanese-Singaporean families who by their own choice have maintained their Javanese identity. My informant from this family, Aini, has ‘Javanese’ written as her race in her identity card. Aini is able to keep Javanese as her race because both of her parents also kept Javanese as their official race on their identity cards. She believed her parents did this because they were proud of their Javanese ancestries. Indeed, Aini’s family is among few Javanese-Singaporean families who still maintain relatively close relationships with their relatives back in their ancestral village in Central Java. Aini herself is also proud of her Javanese identity. When I talked to her for the first time, she was quick to point out her parents’ Javanese identity. In the interview, she expressed pride in the fact that both of her parents still maintained their Javanese identity. “My mom is Javanese and my dad is Javanese too. So I am like a true bred Javanese you know. Yeah, because of my mom, even her IC [identity card] is Javanese and even my dad’s IC is Javanese. So I am a true bred [Javanese]. This blood, its asli [pure blooded] Javanese! So I am a true blue Javanese blood … So when people asked me, so you orang apa [what’s your race?]. Even like my colleagues, some of my colleagues thought that I’m an Arab. So you are an Arab? I said no, excuse me, I’m orang Jawa [Javanese]. I always said that I am a Jawa asli [pure blooded Javanese] because both my parents are Javanese.” 79 Nonetheless, the number of Singaporeans who identified themselves as Javanese in their identity cards like Aini and her family remains small. According to the population census 2000, there were 80,339 people who identified themselves as Javanese (Leow 2001). The Javanese constituted roughly less than a fifth of the total ‘Malay’ population of Singapore. Their small number seems to be rather surprising since a scholar estimating that fifty or sixty per cent of the Malay Singaporean population had Javanese ancestries (Li 1989: 94). The findings above provide us with a hint that the majority of JavaneseSingaporeans today still officially identify themselves more as Malays rather than Javanese. Just like Nita whom I quoted at the beginning of this section, many Javanese-Singaporeans felt that they have become more Malay in many aspects of their daily lives, although they maintain that they are still Javanese in their hearts. Purging the Horse Demon Dance Perhaps, there are no other Javanese performances that enjoy high popularity in Singapore today than the kuda kepang dance. Kuda kepang, or also known as horse dance, is a variety of Javanese folk dance that was brought in by Javanese migrants into Singapore around the 1940s. The dance itself is distinguished by the horse (kuda) dolls and the accompanying gamelan music. In the past, the kuda kepang dance has become an integral part of Javanese family ceremonies, such as weddings and circumcision ceremonies. Because of this, the kuda kepang dance has attracted a wide spectrum of audience, not only from the Javanese but also the local Malays. 80 In Singapore, one of the troupes which champions the kuda kepang dance is Kesenian Tedja Timur, or simply known as Tedja Timur. Founded in 1948 by Javanese migrants from Central Java, Tedja Timur is one of the oldest troupes in Singapore that mainly performs Javanese music and dances. In the beginning, they only performed in front of Javanese migrants in Kampong Glam. Over time, their regular stage moved to family functions amongst the local Javanese and Malay communities. Their highest accomplishments as an entertainment group happened when they were invited to perform for a nationwide audience, such as in the Singapore National Day celebrations and National Arts Festivals. Nowadays, Tedja Timur memberships includes local Malays and no longer confines to Javanese descents. Nonetheless, Tedja Timur still maintains a strong Javanese flavor in their arts. Their main attractions consist almost of half-a-dozen traditional Javanese art performances, such as gamelan musical ensemble, wayang kulit (shadow puppet), wayang orang (theatrical dance), kuda kepang dance, and other kinds of traditional Javanese dances. But above all, Tedja Timur is most well known amongst its Singaporean audiences for its kuda kepang dance. As one of the few Javanese art troupes left in Singapore, Tedja Timur is determined to keep the kuda kepang dance as a living Javanese heritage in Singapore. Their fortitude can be seen not only from their long-term efforts in introducing and promoting traditional Javanese music and dance to the Singaporean audience but also from their mission statement. On their website, Tedja Timur notes their mission as “convey[ing] messages through works of art. Beginning with art forms descended 81 from their forefathers … [and] preserving and keeping these ancient art forms alive and flourishing for the next generation.” 21 Surprisingly, not all Javanese-Singaporeans share the same love and affection to the kuda kepang dance like Tedja Timur. During my fieldwork, I found that discussions on this Javanese folk dance with my informants often evoked strong reactions from them. Although all of them recognized its Javanese origin and its embeddedness in Javanese family ceremonies in the past, some of my informants believed that the kuda kepang dance should be avoided because it contains elements which are deemed unacceptable (syirik) by their Islamic religious teachings. These dissimilar sentiments on the kuda kepang dance reflect tensions between Javaneseness and Islam in Singapore today. The tension surrounding the kuda kepang dance could be traced back to the wave of Islamic revivalism in the Southeast Asian region. Just like other countries in Southeast Asia, Singapore experienced a rising religiosity among its Muslim population in 1980s (Mutalib 1990; Stauth 2002). One of the manifestations of this trend is the rising da’wah or missionary activities among the Muslim. The content of da’wah often consisted of the persuasion to live one’s life according to Islamic teachings. Thus, everything that is not in accordance to Islamic teachings must be abandoned and forbidden. This situation led the kuda kepang dance to come under scrutiny by the Muslim community. 21 http://ktt1948.multiply.com/, accessed at 8 October 2010. 82 In general, the Muslim attention on the kuda kepang dance focuses mostly on its trance element. The trance act, arguably, is the climax of the kuda kepang dance since it attracts the most attention from its audience. Indeed, it may be the primary reason for people to go and watch the kuda kepang dance. The trance act itself is often the culmination of the kuda kepang dance. It is at the end of the performance that the kuda kepang dancers – while in trance-state – perform actions that are deemed unthinkable by normal persons, such as eating glasses and walking on fire embers. Ironically, the trance act which brings much attraction to the kuda kepang is also the one which brings negative perceptions on it. Many Muslims believe that kuda kepang dancers receive help and blessings from the devil or evil spirit in order to be able to carry out the extraordinary acts during the trance-state. The inability of most dancers to remember anything during their trance-state only emboldens the perception that they are possessed by evil spirits. Due to these reasons, the kuda kepang dance has received much outcry and scrutiny, especially from the Muslim community. Kuda kepang is often accused as un-Islamic at best and syirik (sin of idolatry) at worst. One of the Javanese-Singaporean families studied, Family D, views the kuda kepang performance like the majority of Muslims in Singapore. My informant from this family, Aini, has watched several kuda kepang performances. Indeed, Aini’s aunt hosted a kuda kepang dance to entertain the guest at one of her children’s wedding celebrations. As someone who took lessons on traditional Javanese dance, Aini could appreciate the beauty of the kuda kepang dance. Yet, her faith in Islam dictates her to view the trance element in kuda kepang performance as unsettling. 83 “I’ve seen some kuda kepang performance, and I’ve seen some at the wedding of one of the children of my aunty. Instead of kompang music, they have gamelan. And then there’s kuda kepang dance. Personally, I don’t really like the kuda kepang dance. If you look at the art, it’s beautiful. But then when they go into extreme, you know like you go into hypnotize, and then they eat the glasses, it becomes syirik. Only that part that I don’t like.” Family D is not the only family who deemed the trance acts in the kuda kepang dance as not suitable with Islam. My fieldwork data show that my informants from Family E and Family F also objected to the trance acts of kuda kepang performance. However, this does not mean that the other families studied viewed the kuda kepang dance in favorable light or treated it as unproblematic. Rather most of the times, I found my informants stand point on the kuda kepang dance to be ambiguous than clear-cut. An ambiguous outlook on the kuda kepang dance can be found in Reza, a young informant from Family B. Raised by his pious Malay grandparents, Reza predictably subscribed to the official Muslim view on the kuda kepang dance in Singapore. Reza was aware that the trance element in the kuda kepang dance is unacceptable to Islam. As a Muslim, he could understand why his fellow Muslims associated the trance in the kuda kepang dance with “black arts” and “black magic.” Yet, he personally found that the same trance element in kuda kepang to be rather “fascinating” and “entertaining”. Reza added that the trance act also made “a very interesting conversation topic” for him and his friends. They like to share their 84 experience watching the kuda kepang dancers “getting possessed” and doing “crazy stuff”, like eating glass, walking in embers, and chasing the audiences. Reza’s wife, Izzah, had a rather different opinion. She believed that the Muslim fears and accusations on the kuda kepang dance were blown up and exaggerated. She contended that most people hear more stories of, rather than watch, the extraordinary actions performed by the trance dancers. In the end, people belief in these hearsays and gossips created more layers of mystical and magical shrouds around the kuda kepang dance. “When you were a kid, you only heard gossip about Kuda kepang performances. You only heard about them. You know, it’s a bit funny, something that you’ve never seen nor experienced, the kind of thing that you’ve only heard about often gets a bit exaggerated right? So some of the stories that I heard about kuda kepang performances, they make it seems really mystic and really dark and really irreligious and all that. Like stuff like oh, people got possessed, oh syirik, get possessed by evil demons. And for a while, I heard about the horse demon from hell, something like that. And then they trance around and then they do like amazing feats, like eating glass and walking on glass. Of course, you know, if you’ve never seen before, you never thought about it enough. Obviously like, hah, eating glass, these are not things that normal person can do right? So obviously [they believe] there’s some form of mystic evilness that do this superhuman stuff, right.” 85 Izzah’s careful and analytical opinions on kuda kepang dance may be due to the virtue of her high educational background. But obviously, not all of JavaneseSingaporeans were well educated and open minded like Izzah. Thus, it is not surprising if some of them still subscribe to myths and gossips on the kuda kepang dance. During my fieldwork, I found that members of kuda kepang groups were aware of the myths and gossips around the kuda kepang dance in Singapore. The grandson of the founder of Tedja Timur who is the current group leader, Iswandi, knew that some of these myths and gossips made people view the kuda kepang dance as an un-Islamic form of arts. Surprisingly, he did not put all the blame on to conservative Muslim clerics who propagate these negative views on the kuda kepang dance in Singapore. Instead, he faulted the elderly generation for perpetuating the old myths and gossips on kuda kepang. “The elderly Muslim perspective on the kuda kepang is the same with the one in 1970s, it is black magic. Whereas the kuda kepang nowadays is different. When the dancer get possessed, ask them to stop, they will stop! Unlike before 1970s, kuda kepang nowadays is just arts, performing arts! So now we want to change the Muslim mindset about kuda kepang. So look now, kuda kepang is not against religion, it’s only a form of performing arts.” Iswandi admitted that before 1970s, the kuda kepang dance may have various elements which are deemed objectionable by Islam, such as the meditation and offering ceremony. Indeed, he admitted that his grandparents and parents generation 86 may have done these rituals. Regardless, Iswandi insisted that his generation is different from the earlier generation. He pointed out the kuda kepang dance that he performed is clean from these kind of practices. He also built his credential as a professional dancer cum choreographer by studying kuda kepang arts in Central Java. The effort of the younger generation of Javanese-Singaporeans like Iswandi in making the kuda kepang dance acceptable again to the Singapore public, especially among the Muslim community, deserves commendation. Yet, their efforts also highlight not just lasting tensions but also the continuing negotiations between Javaneseness and Islam in Singapore today. Conclusion In this chapter, I have discussed the influences of Malayness and Islam on Javaneseness in Singapore through the examination of narratives from JavaneseSingaporean families. From the findings, we can see how the Singapore government’s affirmative policy on the Malays provides incentives for some Javanese to embrace Malayness. Moreover, the fluid and flexible definition of Malay identity has provided much leeway for Javanese to enter Malayness. Thus, as we have seen from the narratives presented above, Malayness has become an unavoidable part of life for many Javanese-Singaporean families. Meanwhile, the role of Islam as a religion which is shared by the Javanese and the Malays has enabled the former to be assimilated and accepted as part of the later. Yet, Islam itself also plays a great influence on the construction of Javaneseness in 87 Singapore. With rising religiosity among Muslims in Singapore during 1980s and 1990s, we see an increasing pressure and scrutiny on Javanese practices which do not conform to sanctioned Islamic teachings. The case of the kuda kepang dance in Singapore only serves as one amongst many examples but is perhaps the most contested practice of Javaneseness today. CHAPTER 6: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION This thesis studies Javanese-Singaporeans and their everyday life practices and narratives of Javaneseness in the present day of Singapore. In discussing their practices and narratives of Javaneseness in this thesis, I have examined the history of Javanese migration to Singapore, the gradual assimilation of Javanese into MalaySingaporean society, the continuation of some practice of Javaneseness, and the complex relationship between Javaneseness, Malayness, and Islam in Singapore. I started my thesis with discussion on the history of Javanese migration to Singapore which started in the early eighteenth century and reached its peak in the early twentieth century. Wars, famines, and poor living conditions were some of the main reasons that drove the Javanese to leave their homeland. Singapore was one of their major destinations because this flourishing port city offered them many chances to build a better livelihood. Nonetheless, some Javanese was forced to move to Singapore to become slave laborers, particularly during the Second World War. In the 88 end of the War, many of these people could not find their way back to Java and thus settled down in Singapore. I have shown that these Javanese migrants in Singapore initially lived mostly among their own kinsmen in ethnic enclaves called kampong. One of the earliest and also the most famous Javanese settlements in Singapore is Kampong Jawa. During its heyday, Kampong Java became the centre of Javanese economic and cultural activities. Many occupations associated with Javanese people, such as gardening, trading, food peddling and crafting, could be found in this kampong. Despite this, Javanese community in Singapore remained an inclusive and adaptable one. They readily accepted the culture of their host society when the needs to adapt arise. In this thesis, I have examined the major changes in the lives of Javanese migrants in Singapore which was started since the post-war Singapore and became more obvious after the independence of Republic of Singapore. The multiculturalism based policies introduced in 1960s positioned the Javanese in the new racial order of Singapore as merely a sub ethnic group under the umbrella category of Malay. Moreover, the government affirmative policy toward the Malay, such as free education, provided many incentives for Javanese to embrace the Malay identity. Finally, the government public housing policies in closing down the old ethnic enclaves in Singapore and relocating its inhabitants into high rise building inhabited by various ethnic groups ended the exclusiveness of Javanese way of life in Singapore. The family history of the six Javanese-Singaporean families that I studied recorded the above mentioned major changes. My informants’ narratives on their 89 family histories painted a larger story of Javanese-Singaporean families’ mobility from ethnic settlement, occupation niches and endogamy to dispersed settlement, occupations and exogamy. This transformation began in the end of the Second World War and it gradually turned obvious in the 1960s when Singapore achieved its independence. In the end, this transformation created a landscape of ongoing assimilation of Javanese migrants and their families into Malay-Singaporean society. Regardless, I found that the six Javanese-Singaporean families studied still maintain some practices of Javaneseness, such as traveling to ancestral village and royal city in Java, learning Javanese among the younger generation, and delivering Javanese wedding. From their narratives, I learned that these practices have given or strengthened a sense of being Javanese to the Javanese-Singaporean families studied. Thus, for the same reason, the Javanese-Singaporeans that I studied are still keeping these practices of Javaneseness alive within their families although some of these practices have become incongruous and irrelevant with their Singaporean way of life. Yet, the persistence of some practices of Javaneseness within the JavaneseSingaporean families does not necessarily mean that these practices are static and immune to changes. Quite on the contrary, this study found that many practices of Javaneseness in Singapore now were unique and no longer the same with the ones that their forefather practiced. During my fieldwork, I observed that the influences and pressures from discourses of Malayness and Islam in Singapore has persuaded or forced Javanese-Singaporean families to alter, modify or even abandon altogether their practices of Javaneseness. 90 The main contribution of this study is to offer a complex picture of the life of Javanese-Singaporeans in Singapore today. As has been mentioned in the beginning of this thesis, the available academic discourse on Javanese migrants in Singapore focused more on the broad sociological aspect of Javanese people in Singapore and did not provide much insight into the practice of Javaneseness that are still maintained in the everyday life of Javanese-Singaporean families. By using the personal narratives approach, this study has shown the significance of maintaining these practices of Javaneseness for Javanese-Singaporeans in the families studied. Yet, through same examination of their personal narratives, this study also has found the tension between the discourses of Javaneseness, Malayness and Islam which eventually lead to the negotiation and alteration of some practice of Javaneseness within the families studied. 91 BIBLIOGRAPHY Abdul Aziz Johari (1960) The Javanese People of Singapore, Unpublished Honors Thesis in Department of Social Studies, University of Singapore. 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Websites Facebook (2010) “Javanese Singaporeans”, accessed 19 April 2010, (2010) “Kampong Tempe (Singapore)”, accessed 8 October 2010, (2010) “Kamus Jawa Ngoko–Melayu”, accessed 8 October 2010, Multiply (2010) “Kesenian Tedja Timur 1948 (Singapura)”, accessed 8 October 2010, [...]... discussed in the following chapter Chapter 4 presents the narratives about practices of Javaneseness from the members of six Javanese- Singaporean families Through their narratives, I show how these Javanese- Singaporean families continue to carry out their practices of Javaneseness in Singapore today In examining their narratives, I focus my discussion on several significant practices of Javaneseness. .. found in the studied families These practices are visiting Java, speaking Javanese, and carrying out a Javanese wedding 17 In Chapter 5, I demonstrate the intricacy of the constructions of Javaneseness in Singapore today around the themes of Malayness and Islam Specifically, I show how Javanese- Singaporean families modify, alter, and shift their practice of Javaneseness under the influence of Malayness... candidates for interview With this method, I was able to interview 11 Javanese- Singaporeans from six different families, consisted of 9 females and 2 males, with age ranged from 24 to 78 years old In term of generation, my informants fall into the category of second, third, and fourth generations of Javanese- Singaporeans 8 All of the in- depth interviews were conducted in the language which my informants... personal narratives of Javanese- Singaporeans No other academic exercises on Javanese- Singaporeans have ever taken this approach Personally, this narrative study has opened up my horizon to complex lives of Javanese- Singaporeans as well as to their feelings, dreams and imaginations to me Thus, I humbly hope that this study will contribute in opening up a new terrain of narrative studies, not just on Javanese- Singaporeans... HISTORY OF JAVANESE IN SINGAPORE This chapter presents the historical narratives of Javanese people in Singapore In particular, I demonstrate how the Javanese migrants came to Singapore and gradually became an integral part of their host society In gathering my data for this chapter, I mainly draw information from the available historical sources as well as oral history records This chapter aims to. .. migration to Singapore from 1960s onward was rather small According to the census, there were only 4,694 people of Indonesian born who moved to Singapore between 1961 and 1970 (Arumainathan 1973) Almost half of these migrants were women There was no information on the number of Javanese among these Indonesian migrants Regardless, this information gave an indication that the majority of free migration that. .. settlement in Singapore dated back to near the beginning of Singapore Marriott (1991: 345) report showed that a Javanese representative was appointed as member of “a Committee … for appropriating and marking out the quarters or departments of the several classes of the population” of Singapore in October 1822 The same report also showed that there were 38 Javanese living in the island in 1825 (ibid: 341)... income, and its contingencies, such as poverty and famine, became the main driving force of Javanese emigration On the other hand, the abundant economic opportunities in the thriving port of Singapore encouraged Javanese migration Some of the available opportunities for Javanese migrants were clothes and spices trading, metal and leather crafting, peddling food, gardening, and other kind of laboring jobs... labor system in the early twentieth century and the post-war years of Singapore In early nineteenth century, the main mode of Javanese migration to Singapore was trough trade A scholar reported that the earliest Javanese migrants in Singapore were mainly merchants and traders (Saw 1970: 24) These Javanese traders were attracted to come for business in Singapore because of its thriving commerce and free... were former Javanese settlers who failed in claiming land for themselves and thus, they migrated, mostly from Johore, to Singapore in order to find a better living in this city (ibid) 25 The large Javanese migration above marked the end of the boon period of Javanese migration to Singapore The post-war immigration policy in Singapore was stricter to new immigration The Immigration Ordinance of 1953 limited ... authentic Javaneseness but rather about producing “authentic Javaneseness that is uniquely Singaporean This thesis is about the Javanese- Singaporeans and their narratives of Javaneseness in present... generation, my informants fall into the category of second, third, and fourth generations of Javanese- Singaporeans All of the in- depth interviews were conducted in the language which my informants... live of JavaneseSingaporeans In Chapter 3, I introduce the family narratives of six Javanese- Singaporean families that I studied Here, I give broad sociological picture of JavaneseSingaporean families