| dc.description.abstract | This research investigates the immigration of Meizhou Hakkas to Indonesia in the 1930’s. It also touches the
history of anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia and how the riots forced the ethnic Chinese to relocate. The author
focuses his study mainly on the immigration process of how the Hakkas moved from Meizhou, Guangdong,
China to Indonesia, what kind of struggle they experienced in Indonesia, what roles and functions the Overseas
Chinese Associations and related community organizations in Indonesia played to assist Meizhou Hakka
immigrants, and how the anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia impacted the Hakka Overseas Chinese and forced them
to relocate collectively in batches.
In this research, the author has firstly traced back to Meizhou in Guangdong, the hometown of Hakkas. He has
then explored how they moved to Indonesia to make a living, how badly they were hit by anti-Chinese riots, and
how they were forced to move back to Taiwan or mainland China. The timelines of this research range from the
Dutch colonial period to the Japanese occupation period to the Indonesian independence as a country.
Interviewed are many people, including the folks living in Meizhou, overseas Chinese returning from Indonesia,
and Chinese Indonesians. Purposes of this research are to understand (1) how the local overseas Chinese
Association and related community organizations helped the Meizhou Hakkasto settle down after they had
immigrated to Indonesia and (2) how the Indonesian government and native Indonesians persecuted overseas
Chinese during the anti-Chinese riots and forced many of them to flee into exile.
Conflict and hatred between Chinese Indonesians and native Indonesians have long been recorded in
history. This research attempts to explain the situations from the historical origins, to explore the relationships
between Chinese Indonesians and native Indonesians in a macroscopic way, and to understand the problems
existing in the communities of Chinese Indonesians. In addition to literature reviews, the author has also
interviewed a few people who have experienced the anti-Chinese riots in person. It is hoped that oral history can
make up for the gaps in history and help explore the truth of the facts. | en_US |