Imperial Alchemy: Nationalism and Political Identity in Southeast Asia

263 Pages·2009·4.48 MB·English

by  Anthony Reid

Imperial Alchemy
The mid twentieth century marked one of the greatest watersheds of
Asianhistory,whenarangeofimperialconstructsweredeclaredtobe
nation-states,eitherbyrevolutionorbydecolonisation.Nationalismwas
the great alchemist, turning the base metal of empire into the gold of
nations.Toachievesuchatransformationfromtheimmensediversity
oftheseAsianempiresrequiredadifferentsetofforcesfromthosethat
Europeanshadneededintheirtransitionsfrommulti-ethnicempiresto
culturallyhomogeneousnations.InthisbookAnthonyReid,oneofthe
premier scholars of Southeast Asia, explores the mysterious alchemy
by which new political identities have been formed. Taking Southeast
Asiaashisexample,Reidtestscontemporarytheoryabouttherelation
between modernity, nationalism and ethnic identity. Grappling with
concepts emanating from a very different European experience of
nationalism,Reiddevelopshisowntypologytobetterfittheformation
ofpoliticalidentitiessuchastheIndonesian,Malay,Chinese,Acehnese,
BatakandKadazan.
anthony reid is a Southeast Asian Historian now again based
at the Australian National University, Canberra, but previously at the
National University of Singapore (2002–9), where he established the
Asia Research Institute, and University of California, Los Angeles
(1999–2002).HisotherrecentbooksincludeSoutheastAsiaintheAge
of Commerce (2 vols, 1988–93), Charting the Shape of Early Modern
Southeast Asia (1999), An Indonesian Frontier: Acehnese and Other
Histories of Sumatra (2004), and, as [co]editor, Islamic Legitimacy in a
PluralAsia(2007),ChineseDiasporainthePacific(2008)andNegotiating
Asymmetry:China’sPlaceinAsia(2009).

Imperial Alchemy
Nationalism and Political Identity
in Southeast Asia
Anthony Reid
cambridge university press
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Sa˜oPaulo,Delhi
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Firstpublished2010
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AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Reid,Anthony,1939–
Imperialalchemy:nationalismandpoliticalidentityinSoutheastAsia/
AnthonyReid.
p. cm.
ISBN978-0-521-87237-9(hardback)–ISBN978-0-521-69412-4(pbk.)
1. Ethnicity–SoutheastAsia. 2. Nationalism–SoutheastAsia.
3. SoutheastAsia–Ethnicrelations. 4. SoutheastAsia–History–1945–
I. Title.
DS523.3.R442009
320.540959–dc22
2009034656
ISBN978-0-521-87237-9hardback
ISBN978-0-521-69412-4paperback
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Contents
List of maps pagevi
List of figures vii
List of tables viii
Acknowledgements ix
Abbreviations xi
1 Nationalism and Asia 1
2 Understanding SoutheastAsiannationalisms 25
3 Chinese asa SoutheastAsian ‘other’ 49
4 Malay(Melayu)and its descendants: multiple
meanings of aporouscategory 81
5 Aceh: memories of monarchy 115
6 Sumatran Bataks: from statelessness to
Indonesian diaspora 145
7 Lateforming ethnie in Malaysia:Kadazan or Dusun 187
8 Imperial alchemy–revolutionarydreams 210
Glossary 219
References 221
Index 238
v
Maps
1 SoutheastAsia, colonial and contemporary page24
2 Northern Sumatra 150
3 Sabah, showingKadazan and Dusun concentrations 189
vi
Figures
3.1 & 3.2 Aftermathof Mayriots in KualaLumpur,
1969 (3.1, top) and Jakarta, 1998
(3.2, bottom) page73
5.1 Aceh government banner celebratescessation
of hostilities between the IndonesianRepublic
and GAM, 2002 140
5.2 Debris of the tsunamisurrounds the
miraculously intact main mosque of the
Aceh capital, December2004 142
6.1 Statue of Singamangaraja XII erected in Medan
to celebrate his national hero status, 1961 148
6.2 Modern Toba Batakmonument (tugu), erected
by the Manihuruk lineage, near Pangururang
(Samosir), toreburythe ancestors 179
6.3 Modern Church of GBKP with signature Karo
roof, Medan2008 182
6.4 The North Sumatra provincialmuseumdeals
with ethnic claimswith aToba–Batak designed
roof style,Malayentrance andhorizontal
bands of decoration torepresent sevendifferent
ethnicities 184
7.1 DonaldStephens proclaims Sabah’sentry
to Malaysia,1963, with Tun Mustapha
seated centre 195
vii
Tables
6.1 Batakmigrants in Medan page169
6.2 Growthof Batak church membership in Jakarta 170
6.3 HKBP membership figures in major cities 170
6.4 Destination of children of Gunung,Tiga Binanga,
Tanah Karo,1995 172
7.1 Ethnic percentages in Sabah censuses 188
7.2 Sabahpopulationbyethnicity and religion 206
7.3 Mean income of ethnic groups in Malaysian
Ringgit, 2004 208
viii
Acknowledgements
The foundation of this book was laid in four lectures I delivered at the
University of Hawai’i in 1996 as John A. Burns Distinguished Visiting
Professor in the History Department. The prior seed was planted in
a period of field work in Sumatra and East Malaysia in 1995, made
possiblebymysupportivethenemployer,theResearchSchoolofPacific
and Asian Studies at the Australian National University. The final
writing became possible only through the generosity of the National
University of Singapore (NUS) in allowing first a period of leave in
Cambridge and later release from administrative responsibilities. The
leavewasspentasaVisitingFellowatKing’sCollege,Cambridge.Iam
grateful to all of these institutions, and the individuals who animated
them, for those wonderful opportunities.
During the times in the field in 1995 and subsequently, I acquired
many debts, only the heaviest of which can be mentioned here. Two
formercolleaguesandfriends,bothnowsadlymissed,introducedmeto
their beloved homelands in Karoland and Sabah respectively—the late
DrMasriSingarimbunandDrJamesOngkili.SikapSembayang,Nismah
Tarigan and Manis Tarigan greatly facilitated research in Gunung, while
inadditionJuaraGinting,YasinKaro-KaroandMarySteedlyconstituted
invaluable guides on the Karo; Fr Philippus Manala and his Capucin
colleagues, Fr Tony Scerri, J. B. Simbolon, Professor A. Pasaribu and
Ben Pasaribu with the Toba. Yasin also helped with questionnaires in
Medan.InSabahJacquelineKitingan, BenedictTopin, Penelope Husin,
Herman Luping, Joanna Kissey and Rita Lasimbang were particularly
helpful.Inthepreparationofthismanuscript,andparticularlythemaps,
JoyceZaideandHenryKwanWaiHungwereindispensable.Inallthings
IamindebttoHelenReid—muse,mentorandgentlecritic.
During the long maturation since the 1995 fieldwork, each chapter
passed through extensive and constant revision, and various forms of
presentation. For chapters 1 and 2 these included a Kaplan Lecture,
given at the University of Pennsylvania on 30 March 2000, several
lecturesinSingaporeandMalaysia,andanarticle,‘NationalandEthnic
ix