Panel
2. From Oceanic Crossroads: Empires, Networks and Histories
This research will discuss about the dynamic of daily life of the Chinese community and how they position themselves during the turbulent revolution period in West Sumatra. The Chinese with experience in the colonial period put them in a difficult position during the revolution period in West Sumatra. The arrival of Dutch troops had placed the Chinese as an ethnicity that needed to be questioned as the Dutch authority saw them to have had active role of Chinese politics. Nefis sources, diaries of fighters in the West Sumatra Regional Daily Council, minutes of meetings of Chinese associations, and documents of the Republic of Indonesia will be used as primary sources for writing this paper. The position of the Chinese during the turbulent period of the revolution in West Sumatra was very difficult due to the uncertain situation. On the one hand, the Chinese were required to prove their loyalty and love for the Indonesian nation by providing support to the fighters, but on the other hand, the Chinese were suspected of being Dutch accomplices and were still oriented towards China. The vacillation of some Chinese and the attitude of not siding with the Republic caused the status and position of ethnic Chinese as part of the Indonesian nation to be questioned until now, although several Chinese figures contributed to the struggle for independence of the Indonesian nation.
Erniwati Erniwati
Universitas Negeri Padang, Indonesia