People of Yemeni origin play full role in Indonesia's development
Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya
Sewu wolungatus paetung puluhantahune
Nduk kampong Arab papan panggone
Gedhe dhukur njenggeret cakrike
Klumpukane wong ngendoni ati sumpege
Cikar Mandheg mapine manut
Landa ireng capital putih
Wong Arab turune hadramaut
Gremeng-Gremeng aras-arasen mulih.
This is how poet Trinil Sri Setyowati of Surabaya, born on July 27, 1965, describes Ampel village in Surabaya, an area that is home to locals whose forefathers came from Hadramaut, a province of the Republic of Yemen, a state formed when North Yemen (with Sana'a as its capital) and South Yemen (with Aden) united as a single republic on May 21, 1990.
The village, which is located in the northern part of Surabaya, is also known as Ampel village because it is located near the grave of Sunan Ampel, who came from Campa, southern Thailand, and was one of the nine pious leaders who first spread Islam in Java.
According to locals of Yemeni origin, Hadramaut is derived from the name of a descendant of Ya'rub, one of the Prophet Hud's grandsons. Ya'rub was believed to have undertaken the clearing of the dry and barren southern area of the Arab peninsula.
In the poem by Trinil, which is written in the Surabaya dialect, locals of Yemeni origin are described as immigrants with a knack for business.
After the initial introduction of Islam into what is today Indonesia via Aceh many hundreds of years ago, followed later by its spread in Java through Banten, the Yemeni people from Hadramaut, who were very fond of chewing khat, a plant with reputed aphrodisiac properties, came to Indonesia to do business and propagate Islam. They had left their barren, impoverished homeland to migrate overseas for a better life.
According to Van den Berg, a researcher who studied the people from Hadramaut in Indonesia from 1884 until 1886, there was in Batavia (as Jakarta was known during colonial times) quite a popular imam from Hadramaut called Sayid Hussein bin Babubakar Al Aidrus.
He preached in Batavia and was buried in Luar Batang when he died in 1798. Another preacher from Hadramaut, for example, was Salim bin Abdullah Somir.
Assimilation
In Surabaya, the immigrants from Hadramaut started up businesses, married local women and raised families here. Hence the presence of thousands of people of Hadramaut origin in Ampel village, Surabaya.
Just like the communities of Hadramaut origin in Solo and Jakarta, most of these people have continued the businesses that have been passed down to them from earlier generations.
Some have joined the bureaucracy or become journalists and academics, including Toriq Hadad, an editor of Tempo weekly, Alwi Shihab, now coordinating minister for people's welfare, Ali Alatas, a foreign minister from the Soeharto era and Munir, a human rights activist who died after being poisoned on a flight to The Netherlands.
Mohammad Anis Baraja, who is of Hadramaut origin and a senior journalist in Surabaya, as well as being one of the founders of the Alliance of Indonesian Journalists (AJI), said that Indonesians of Hadramaut origin are better known as Indonesians of Arab descent as they have a sharp, well-formed noses and enjoy a higher standard of living than the people in Yemen.
Most of them are traders, moneylenders, owners of land that is leased out or religious teachers. Some used to enjoy a degree of clout over the former princely rulers, or sultans, in Indonesia as they could claim to be descended from a prophet.
In Sumenep, Madura, for example, an imam from Hadramaut, Syid Abdurrahman Al Baiti, served as an adviser to Sultan Paku Natadiningrat. The sultan, who ruled over Sumenep between 1812 and 1854, hired him to teach his children and relatives.
Opting for politics
Today, Indonesians of Hadramaut origin usually opt to become politicians rather than traders. Many of them have joined the National Awakening Party (PKB) or other Islam-based political parties affiliated to Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). Those who do not believe that they are descended from a prophet usually join Muhammadiyah, the National Mandate Party (PAN) or the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).
Some people of Hadramaut origin in Surabaya still maintain their family names but, increasingly, younger people are abandoning them.
Mohammad Anis, for example, no longer uses Baraja -- his family name -- on his identity card. He is part of Surabaya and is proud to be known as an Arek Suroboyo (Surabayan), he says.
"The bonds of family and clan are still maintained, though," said Anis, who was born in Solo and was formerly the executive editor of Detik, a tabloid that was banned during the Soeharto era.
The bonds of family and clan, he said, were something that did not have to be clung to absolutely. A family name is only a label, showing that someone is of Hadramaut origin in Indonesia, he added.
"I'd give my name as Baraja only if someone asked me about it," he said.
Abdullah Abdulkadir Alaydrus, who sells sarongs in Ampel village, Surabaya, said that despite his use of his family name, he was proud to be a Surabaya resident.
However, he regretted the discrimination still experienced today by people of Hadramaut origin in Surabaya, all of whom were born and bred in Surabaya. The government still considers them citizens of foreign origin, not indigenous people.
"Once the administrative procedures in a hospital were made difficult for me just because I was of foreign origin," he said.
Discrimination against people of Hadramaut origin in Indonesia has been going on for quite a long time. In 1990, for example, a local student of Hadramaut origin went to Yemen to study Arabic for a few years and became a naturalized Yemeni. When he wanted to return to Indonesia -- his birthplace -- he found it difficult to get a visa to visit.
"Today, there is no longer a problem in obtaining such visas. I hope the government does not discriminate against Indonesians of Hadramaut origin because they, too, participate in advancing the development of the places where they live," Abddillah said.