The history of the Khek Chinese in Bangka

The history of the Khek Chinese in Bangka

The history of the Chinese on the island, which is famous for its rich tin deposits, dates back hundreds of years.

The Dutch came to the island to mine the tin and sell it in Europe. Kui Fong said the Dutch, about three centuries ago, brought Chinese migrants from China to Bangka to work in the tin mines.

However, few of the Chinese-Indonesians of Bangka today know anything about their ancestral villages in China.

"I do not know where my ancestral village in China is as my parents never told me about it," 45-year-old Heri, or Asiong, head of Gedong village, told the Post.

The residents of Gedong believe that they are the 15th generation of villagers. Khek Kui Fong said the village was given the name Gedong, which means mansion, because their houses and yards are very large.

"In the old days, the indigenous islanders referred to the houses of the Chinese as gedong. That's why the village became known as Gedong village. Today, we live a much poorer life than previous generations. We earn just enough to make ends meet," said Kui Fong.

The economic situation of the ethnic Chinese here suffered a downturn following Indonesia's independence. Tin mining came under the control of PT Timah, a state-owned enterprise, and output began to decline after centuries of tin mining by the Dutch.

The Dutch colonial rulers intentionally prevented Chinese migrants on Bangka island from mingling with the indigenous locals, going so far as to provide special school for these migrants. The teachers were brought to the island from mainland China.

Understandably, these migrants spoke only Hakka in their everyday lives and hardly ever spoke Indonesian.

It was not until 1970s, several years after an aborted coup allegedly staged by the now banned Indonesian Communist Party on Sept. 30, 1965, that the Chinese schools on the island were closed.

In place of these schools, the government set up an elementary school close to Gedong.

"We used to go to Chinese schools. The Dutch brought the teachers here from China. We cannot speak Indonesian because we only spoke our Hakka language," Kui Fong said.

Today, many of the younger Chinese-Indonesians from the village complete their secondary schooling and then move to Jakarta or Palembang to find work.

All of the Gedong villagers are Confucianists so the village will turn festive and merry during the two week-long Chinese New Year celebration, which this year will commence on Jan. 22. Family members and relatives from far and wide will gather in the village to ring in the new year.