On the last few days, I have been busy reading a lot articles about mixed heritage which more popularly known as Indo. It’s interesting to note that Indo people (people with mixed European and Indonesian heritage and/or other blood such as Chinese, Arabic) identify themselves as unique ethnicity. (Indonesian version below)
Indo people is classified as Eurasian. They share similarity which is presence of Indonesian blood in their vein.
Revival of Indo culture in Netherlands and Chinese culture in Indonesia
I was surprised after reading that there are 3rd generation Indo people in netherlands who particularly proud of their Indonesian connection. These 3rd generations may never have gone to Indonesia at all. But they actually revives the eurasian culture in Netherlands. They established the Eurasian community of Indo people, and making annual events such as “pasar malam besar”
A similar phenomena actually happening in Indonesia as well
Third generation of Chinese Indonesians started to feel proud of their chinese descent, regardless their capability of speaking Chinese language. They started to use their Chinese name and do not conceal the fact they are Chinese Indonesians
It’s phenomena that should be celebrated. Most of Chinese Indonesians I met, both 2nd and 3rd generations are reluctant of admitting their Chinese Indonesians identity.
This is of course, result of decades of racial discrimination. Chinese Indonesians were “Indonesiasized” under Soeharto’s regime to make them integrate with indigenous people. They were forbid to practice their custom, language, and even converting their name into Indonesia-sounding name. Decades later, the decision makers should regret consequence of this policy. We are all talking about rise of Chinese, yet many Chinese Indonesians lost their supposed-to-be mother language which is necessary to conduct business with the monoglot Chinese in mainland. We are forced to import foreign mandarin teacher from mainland when we could have been polyglot country.
Many Indonesian Chinese must learn their ancestor language as second language. The Irony is too great. The Chinese Indonesians even feel more inferior to the Chinese people who capable of speaking Chinese language.
Under Abdurrahman Wahid’s policy and increase of ethnic toleration in Indonesia, Chinese Indonesians found their space again. The third generation also investigating their root and their history. They started learning mandarin and do not feel ashamed using Chinese name, Chinese attributes, etc. This is a positive development which should be appreciated.
Indo people in Indonesia: Lost Generations?
In contrary, such cultural renaissance doesn’t occur to the 3rd generations of indo people in Indonesia. Most of people with mixed heritage do not see the importance to preserve the Eurasian culture in their family
This could be happening because discriminations they suffered during Dutch’s colonialism in Dutch East Indie which placed Indo people lower then the lowest caste.
I am Eurasian, consisting of Chinese, Dutch and Javanese descent. I have been living with mixed culture of Chinese-Makassarese culture. We celebrated Chinese lunar year during Soeharto’s regime as well (which I never thought considered as illegal during that time), and I use hokkien honorifics to address people in my family.
Most of my Chinese family (from father’s side, the Shi) capable of speaking makassarese language and having a strong makassarese dialect. Whenever I went home to Makassar, I feel a bit alienated because I have lost my makassarese language and accent. I moved to Jakarta when I was three years old and virtually grow only with Indonesia as my mother language. Whenever people speaking with makassarese, I only could guess what they are all talking about.
How about the practice of Dutch-Javanese in my family? Virtually, we do not practice anything except that we like Dutch cuisine.
My Oma (from maternal side) is a Dutch-Chinese-Javanese descent. She is capable of speaking Dutch, Indonesian, and Javanese and keep her family surname till her last day, de Wilde.
Oma was an expert of cooking dutch cuisines. The culture of cooking dutch cuisines is still practiced by our family.
It was pretty amusing when I saw her children. My oma has 3 daughters and a son. All of them have different feel. One looked like a Chinese-Javanese, one looked like a Chinese, and another looked like Indo.
Similar things occurred when I saw photos of my cousins and their children in Netherlands. They all have different faces. One looked like Ambon-Dutch, one looked like Dutch, and another looked like Chinese-Javanese. Their children looked even more diverse. One looked like Hispanic, one looked like a dutch, but generally it’s hard to tell their ethnicity due to nature of their mixed heritage.
Being mixed heritage gives another problem. I found it disturbing that mass media glorifying mixed heritage and Eurasian in general, saying Eurasians are associated with “good looking” or “looked exotic”. The industry these days hunting for people of Eurasian descents because they looked balanced. They are not too asia, and not looked to Europe either.
The media is poisoning the public and glorifying story of mixed heritage celebrity. They troll and mindf*cking people with prince and princess story of being born from wealthy expat family. Media usually portrays Eurasian as some fabulous oriental being. This is as bad as selling dream of white skin beauty to country where the natives are tan by nature.
Such stereotype is an acute oversimplification and should be deconstructed, it made people of mixed heritage treated as object instead of human being. The technical term is sexual objectification.
I wont be surprised if there are people of mixed heritage feeling depressed being called “exotic”. They are regarded as object, not as human being. They have prejudice toward other people because they could only attract other people by their physique.
Is it necessary that mixed heritage should be “handsome?” “beautiful?” “exotic”? Then what should one do if she/he looked to asian, or too Caucasian? Should one lost confidence only because he/she doesn’t look “exotic”?
If people from mixed heritage started to think that way, maybe it’s a sign that media has successfully twisted our mind. We see ourselves as object before we seeing ourselves as human. We are too concerned about what other people think of our physical attributes.
The Skin dilemma
I know there are lot of people felt alienated because their mixed heritage. They feel they are just different from community
They probably confused why their brother looked different to them. They may wondering why their big brother looked Caucasian, but they probably have slant-eyes or tanned skin. When they are entering a society of dominant culture, they are forced to reject their own culture and adopting the local, and most probably forced to alter their appearance to be accepted.
One of my family member told me that she was originally red-haired. To prevent any possible of discrimination, her mom routinely apply blackening substance to her hair so she didn’t stand out in the crowd.
I am fortunately, never experienced such discrimination. I was enrolled to private school which majority consists of Chinese Indonesians, and I never encounter serious discrimination. I was lucky, but I’m sure many other people have experienced worse case.
After reading a lot articles and discussion of people from various mixed heritage. I realized these feelings are always felt by people from mixed heritage. They always just feel “being different” from their friend, but to shy to ask what’s wrong with them because they might ended standing out in the crowd.
It’s hard to feel proud and admitting what running in our vein, but I think we should conform the fact we are mixed heritage. We didn’t choose to be born as gray.
We have freedom to choose either we are black or white. But in my opinion, it’s rejecting the essence of ourself, it’s inevitable that mixed heritage will always be labeled as gray. They will always be confused about their identity unless they accept the fact they are mixed heritage. They are neither black nor white, but mixed.
Are you still concealing your mixed heritage?
It needs guts and courage to feel proud of the blood running in my vein. I am Eurasian of Chinese-Dutch-Javanese descent. But that’s it.
I don’t really know about Chinese, I couldn’t speak mandarin (I know Japanese and german better). I don’t speak dutch at all, let alone Javanese. My face looks more Chinese than being Dutch or even Javanese. Simply, I’m afraid people would never believe me if I told them I am descent of dutch-javanese heritage because my look is not too “Indische”. It’s all about physical attributes. How I despise the eurasian beauty myth.
But the more I reject myself and cultural identity, the more I become tormented about my full self. It makes me uncomfortable, and I feel I’m rejecting my true self.
But now I could establish truce with these ambivalent feelings of my identity. I now could be proud of myself being mixed heritage. It made me feel as part of global community and made me appreciate other culture better.
I am sure I am not alone in this case. If we are mixed heritage, then why reject it? Don’t be afraid if you looked not too “indsiche”, it’s a myth and a sexual objectification. It’s part of uniqueness and being human. With the presence of mixed heritage, we could fo everywhere, appreciate other people better.
Good Readings
Indo People (Wikipedia)
Darah Ketiga (Indo Youth organization. I just recently joined, but the dutch language has alienated me)
The Rise of a New Generation: The Dutch-Indonesian Cultural Renaissance in the Netherlands. (a very good article about rise of indo culture in Netherlands)
Dutch-Indonesian Community @ facebook (I joined this group as well)
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Beberapa hari ini saya disibukkan membaca artikel soal keturunan darah campur, yang lebih kita kenal sebagai “Indo”. Hal yang cukup menarik, orang Indo (yang diidentikkan sebagai orang hasil percampuran orang Indonesia dengan ras lain seperti eropa diikuti dengan tambahan lain seperti arab, chinese) ternyata dianggap sebagai suku etnis unik.
Orang-orang keturunan Indo masuk ke klasifikasi etnis Eurasian. Mereka merasa memiliki kesamaan, yakni memiliki darah Indonesia, terlepas mereka tercampur darah apa selain darah belanda.
Kebangkitan Budaya Indo di Belanda dan Tionghoa di Indonesia
Unik sekali, ternyata orang-orang keturunan Indo yang ada di Belanda sangat bangga dengan darah Indonesia mereka. Mereka generasi ketiga yang mungkin tidak pernah mengenal bahasa Indonesia membuat gerakan kebangkitan budaya eurasia di Belanda. Mereka membuat komunitas eurasia indo-belanda, membuat pesta kultur eurasia terbesar di dunia seperti “pasar malam besar”.
Hal serupa terjadi di Indonesia.
Generasi ketiga keturunan tionghoa mulai bangga akan darah tionghoa mengalir di tubuh mereka, terlepas mereka bisa bahasa mandarin atau tidak. Mereka mulai kembali menggunakan nama tionghoa mereka dan tidak malu mengakui diri mereka keturunan tionghoa di hadapan orang lain.
Hal seperti ini belum pernah terjadi di tahun-tahun sebelumnya.
Hampir sebagian besar orang tionghoa yang saya temui, baik generasi kedua dan ketiga, tidak mau mengakui diri mereka tionghoa.
Kenapa? Tentu saja karena sepanjang sejarah ada diskriminasi rasial. Orang tionghoa di Indonesia memang sengaja di-indonesia-kan agar lebih cepat terintegrasi dengan Indonesia dibawah rezim soeharto. beberapa puluh tahun kemudian pembuat keputusan rasis tersebut harus menyesal: negara ini kehilangan peluang ekonomi karena generasi ketiga tionghoa di negara ini nyaris sebagian besarnya tidak bisa bahasa mandarin. Akibatnya, mereka tidak bisa menikmati kebangkitan China dalam ekonomi dunia.
Mereka harus mempelajari bahasa nenek moyang mereka yang hilang sebagai bahasa kedua. Ironinya terlalu menyedihkan. Orang-orang Tionghoa sering merasa inferior pada orang chinese yang bisa masih bisa berbicara dengan dialek mereka, tanyakan kenapa.
Seiring dengan meningkatnya toleransi antar etnis di Indonesia, didukung dengan peraturan yang memperbolehkan penggunaan simbol-simbol Tionghoa, para generasi ketiga mulai berusaha menemukan identitas dan sejarah mereka sebagai seorang Tionghoa.
Mereka mempelajari bahasa mandarin, tidak malu menggunakan nama tionghoa, menggunakan atribut tionghoa, dan lain sebagainya. Ini tentu hal positif yang harus kita apresiasi, karena etnis Tionghoa adalah bagian dari kekayaan budaya Indonesia yang harus dilestarikan.
Orang Indo di Indonesia: Generasi Hilang?
Sebaliknya, gerakan kebangkitan kultur serupa tidak terjadi pada generasi ketiga orang-orang Indo yang ada di Indonesia. Sebagian besar warga keturunan campuran tidak merasa penting untuk melastartikan budaya eurasia dalam keluarga mereka.
Hal ini bisa terjadi karena berbagai sebab, salah satunya adalah diskriminasi yang terjadi pada golongan darah campur pada masa pemerintahan kolonial yang menempatkan mereka lebih rendah dari kasta terendah saat itu (pribumi).
Saya sendiri keturunan Tionghoa, Belanda, dan Jawa. Saya selama ini hidup dalam kutur Tionghoa-Makassar. Semasa jaman Soeharto keluarga kami selalu merayakan imlek (yang tidak pernah saya bayangkan ternyata ilegal semasa itu), panggilan kekerabatan yang saya pakai di keluarga adalah Hokkien.
Sebagian besar keluarga Tionghoa saya (dari pihak papa) fasih bahasa makassar dan logat makassar. Kalau saya pulang kampung ke makassar saya merasa agak udik, karena logat makassar saya sudah hilang sejak pindah ke Jakarta sewaktu umur tiga tahun. Kalau keluarga saya berbicara pakai bahasa makassar, saya cuma bisa melongo.
Bagaimana dengan kultur Belanda-Jawa di keluarga saya? Nyaris tidak ada kecuali makanan tampaknya.
Almahrum oma saya (dari pihak mama) adalah keturunan Belanda-Tionghoa-Jawa. Mukanya memang sangat londo, dia fasih bahasa belanda, Indonesia, dan jawa. Dia menggunakan nama de Wilde sampai akhir hayatnya.
Oma sangat mahir memasak masakan-masakan belanda. Kebiasaan menyukai dan memasak makanan Belanda ini sampai sekarang masih ada di keluarga kami.
Yang cukup lucu adalah, oma saya memiliki empat anak, dan muka mereka beda semua. Satu seperti Chinese-Jawa, dua seperti Chinese, dan satu seperti Chinese-Belanda.
Hal serupa saya temukan saat melihat sepupu dan keponakan saya di Belanda. Muka anaknya beda semua. Sepupu saya di Belanda, satu seperti ambon-belanda, satu seperti belanda, satu seperti chinese-jawa. Dan keponakan-keponakan saya mukanya lebih variatif lagi. Ada yang seperti hispanic, ada yang seperti belanda, tapi kebanyakan susah dideskripsikan, karena mereka adalah turunan campuran.
Keberadaan darah campur-campur ini memberikan persoalan sendiri. Jangan kira enak menjadi seorang keturunan darah campur. Salah satu stereotype paling mengganggu menjadi darah campur adalah orang turunan eropa atau lainnya biasanya cakep atau terlihat eksotis.
Ini dikarenakan glorifikasi media massa dan perfilman Indonesia (dan dunia secara umumnya) yang membutuhkan wajah yang bisa diterima secara internasional. Tidak terlalu asia, tidak terlalu eropa. Tengah.
Itulah yang menjadikan banyaknya orang-orang eurasia menjadi sangat laku di dunia entertainment. Menurut pendapat saya pribadi, ini tidak sehat.
Media massa menjual mimpi tentang artis sinetron A, artis sinetron B, yang ayahnya mungkin adalah orang barat, kaya, dan menjadikan si artis tersebut punya kesan yang “wah”: sudah cakep, kaya, keturunan barat pula (karena orang asia tampaknya memang memiliki inferiority complex pada orang barat). Ini tidak kalah buruk dengan menjual mimpi tentang kecantikan kulit putih di negara yang mayoritasnya berkulit sawo matang.
Stereotype tersebut adalah sebuah simplifikasi sangat parah, karena fakta tidak seindah itu. Stereotype ini harus didekonstruksi, karena ini membuat orang berdarah campur seperti dianggap obyek. Istilah kerennya adalah sexual objectification.
Jangan heran kalau orang-orang berdarah campur mungkin merasa depresi karena mereka dianggap “eksotis”. Mereka dianggap seperti sebuah obyek, bukannya manusia, sehingga mereka menjadi lebih cepat prejudice pada orang lain yang mendekati mereka.
Apakah seorang keturunan campur harus ganteng? Cantik? terlihat eksotis? Lalu bagaimana kalau dia terlihat terlalu asia? terlalu barat? Lantas apakah dia harus kehilangan kepercayaan diri karena dia tidak terlihat “eksotis”?
Jika ada yang berdarah campuran mulai berpikir ke arah itu, mungkin ini pertanda media massa sudah berhasil meracuni otak kita, karena kita sudah menganggap diri kita obyek sebelum menganggap diri kita manusia. Kita terlalu dipusingkan oleh apa yang melekat di diri kita.
Dilema Warna Kulit
Saya tahu banyak orang-orang turunan campuran merasa minder karena ada darah campuran. Mereka dari kecil merasa berbeda dengan lingkungan mereka.
Mereka mungkin heran kenapa wajah saudara mereka berbeda dengan wajah mereka. Mereka mungkin heran kenapa kakak mereka berwajah agak bule, tapi wajah mereka agak lebih sawo matang, atau sipit. Saat masuk ke masyarakat yang memiliki kultur dominan, mereka harus melepaskan segala kultur yang sebenarnya melekat pada mereka, dan mungkin harus mengubah penampilan fisik mereka agar diterima masyarakat.
Seorang famili saya menceritakan bahwa sewaktu kecil rambutnya berwarna merah. Untuk mencegah diskriminasi sewaktu di sekolah, mama si pihak yang bersangkutan secara rutin memberikan kemiri pada rambutnya, agar rambutnya jadi hitam dan tidak dianggap berbeda dengan anak-anak lain. Ternyata ini menjadi persoalan serius.
Saya untungnya tidak pernah mengalami masalah serupa. Saya dari dulu bersekolah di sekolah swasta yang kebanyakan siswanya adalah Tionghoa jadi saya tidak pernah mengalami rasisme serius. Saya beruntung, tapi saya yakin beberapa orang lain mungin tidak demikian.
Setelah browsing di Internet tanpa henti, membaca berbagai diskusi orang-orang keturunan darah campur (saya menggunakan kata kunci seperti “eurasia” atau “mixed heritage”), ternyata memang persoalan identitas darah campur dialami oleh sebagian besar orang-orang tersebut.
Ada yang susah untuk berbangga atas darah yang mengalir di tubuh mereka, tapi banyak yang mengatakan, justru, kita harus berbangga akan darah itu, karena kita tidak memilih untuk lahir sebagai abu-abu.
Kita sendiri yang memutuskan mengaku hitam atau putih. Tapi itu menyangkal kebenaran: pada faktanya, keturunan darah campur adalah abu-abu. Mereka akan selalu berada dalam posisi kebingungan akan jati diri kalau mereka tidak mau menerima fakta bahwa mereka memang campuran. Tidak hitam, tidak putih. Tapi campur.
Masih Malu Mengakui Darah Campur?
Butuh keberanian bagi saya pribadi untuk merasa bangga dengan darah yang mengalir di tubuh saya. Saya seorang generasi ketiga Chinese-Belanda-Jawa.
Saya tidak terlalu mengenal kultur Chinese, saya tidak bisa mandarin. Saya tidak bisa bahasa belanda. boro-boro bahasa jawa. Muka saya apalagi. Lebih condong ke Chinese. Tidak ada sedikitpun pertanda ada Belanda-Jawa-nya.
Tapi semakin saya ingin mengatakan saya bukan orang Chinese-Belanda-Jawa, saya makin menyangkal identitas diri sendiri dan itu membuat saya merasa tidak nyaman dan seolah menyangkal diri saya yang sesungguhnya.
Saya akhirnya bisa berdamai dengan segala perasaan ambivalen pada identitas ini. Saya merasa lega karena bisa mengatakan dengan bangga bahwa saya darah campur. Ini membuat saya merasa bagian dari masyarakat global dan membuat saya merasa senang mempelajari kultur yang berbeda.
Saya yakin saya tidak sendiri. Jika kita memang berdarah campur, lalu kenapa menolaknya? Itu adalah bagian dari diri keunikan diri kita. Justru dengan adanya darah campur ini, kita bisa kemana saja dan lebih mudah mengapresiasi budaya dan perbedaan orang lain.
Bacaan Referensi:
Indo People (Wikipedia)
Ooooh jadi ini hasil dari lo nanya2 tentang keluarga gue kmrn malem..dan sayang skali gue ga berdarah campur…
orang2 yang menyangkal darah campur pasti karena tidak menikmati hasil percampuran kebudayaan ras nya…
padahal klo menurut gue itu menarik lhoo, dan eksotis..
tapi emang dasar manusia aja vin, ga pernah merasa puas..
si darah murni ingin terlihat blasteran, sedangkan si campuran pengen pure 1ras saja…
yup, manusia emang ga pernah puas yah. rumput tetangga selalu terlihat lebih hijau.
tp emang kuakui ktika kita brada dlm suatu lingk yg sukunya mjd dominan di wilayah itu, sadar atau ga sadar kita mrasa spt alien krn beda sndr dg manusia2 di lingk kita..btul ga??
hahahaa..
salam,ririn
hummm keren yah bs campuran dari 3 ras, seru jg bs campuran dari seluruh ras didunia ya ^^ kira2 seperti apa yah hasilnya?
s sendiri jg campuran, tp campuran apa ga tau,
mungkin setengah dedemit dengan setengah manusia lols kidding)
saya sendiri juga darah campuran, tetapi baru tau 2 ras saja, cina – indo, tetapi mungkin moyangnya ada lagi campuran yg lain yg tidak diketahui :p
wajah saya sendiri tidak terlalu mirip ke rasa salah satunya, mungkin agak mirip org manado.
kalo di indo dianggap cina atau manado,
kalau di negara2 cina seperti singapore, lucunya saya malah tidak dianggapa cina, melayupun tidak.
sedikit sharing,
dulu ketika berjalan bertiga bersama mama dan kaka perempuan saya di singapore, seorang SPG perhiasan menawarkan kepada kaka saya dengan bahasa mandarin, bhs melayu ke mama, dan menggunakan bahasa inggris kepada saya , LOLS XD
kadang2 hidup itu lucu, yah dinikmati saja, krn saya tidak bangga, juga tidak minder, hanya bginilah saya apa adanya.
salam,
kim
It’s a teaser. The start of your article is very interesting and intriguing. I’m very curious about the rest. But..
Maybe it’s something I did wrong but this was the last sentence which could be translated in English: “They have the feel of the same, ie, have the blood of Indonesia, despite their tercampur darah apa selain darah belanda.” The rest remained Bahassa Indonesia – which is still beyong my comprehension..
colson, I have translated it. I thought it wont be interesting topic, so I decided to write in indonesian language first. There is not much article about mixed heritage written in Indonesia.
I think it’s a bit ironic how we feel the rage of being seen as this sexual object, but at the same time we also loathe the idea that we might not be one.
In my humble yet brutally honest opinion, Human are vain. We are also drawn to it. That’s why the media sells stories about mixed heritage because the demand for it is, sadly, high.
One might claim that the inferiority complex the Asians are feeling towards the Westerns is related to the history of colonialism. But as the both of us studied International Relations, Vin, I am sure we understand that it is far more complex than that.
As for the Indonesians, I think it would take forever to kill the idea that people with mixed heritage are more attractive here. And in fact, ideas don’t die. And attractiveness, really, is relevant. Just like drinks; some like it hot, some like it cold, some like it in between.
So my point is, if we don’t like the idea, then don’t buy it. Don’t give in to stereotypes.
And I absolutely agree with your closing. We should be proud of who we are. I’m half Batak and half Javanese and I tell people that.
Entah kenapa selama di Indo gak pernah ngerasa malu dan gak pernah didiskriminasi sama sekali.
Bokap batak, nyokap stengah padang stengah ceko.
Untuk alasan praktis, gw lebih sering bilang gw batak aja. Cukup. Keuntungannya, satu, gak usah capek2 jelasin “kok bisa nyampur2 gitu?” dan, dua, suku batak punya keistimewaan tersendiri. Kita selalu ngerasa sebagai satu keluarga, sebodo amat gak ada pertalian darah. Sepanjang lo batak, lo keluarga gw. Ini yang gw suka dari orang batak.
Gw di Tokyo secara de facto gak ada keluarga, tapi begitu gw mengidentifikasiin diri sebagai batak, tiba2 gw ngerasa gw punya keluarga dan diperlakukan sebagai keluarga. Masalah gw gak murni batak gak pernah dipermasalahin, malah menjadi keunikan tersendiri dan gw bangga karenya.
@jo
well said jo, kata2 loe ada benarnya. blame the media and the cinderella dream of white (caucasian) man marrying asian woman resulting an offspring of exotic prince/princess who turned out into famous celeb and has a jetset life style. Would take forever to break this myth, I have read the eurasian history in indo, and it’s terrible, it’s a non-stop discrimination.
The amerasian in phillipine suffers worse fate, it’s common that the us military father left the wife and the children, leaving the family poor and doesnt receive proper education. media should spot more about these instead mindf*cking the crowd with glamorous artist life =_=.
@sherwin
ah that’s a nice share sherwin, glad you didnt experience one. If I think it again, I have some sort of experience indirectly caused because of this. but it’s too shameful to be shared here though, so I will just keep it myself
Fascinating article on identity. There is a lot to think about. Most of what you say seems to be very convincing to me. Have to think about.
This moment I can can only think of this:
There are many ways to define one’s identity. In very hierarchical societies, like a feudal one, everyone will have the inclination to put a lot of emphasis on the status of parents and family. In a very stratified society like the Indian one, it will be the own caste. In racial societies, say South Africa during the Apartheids regime, it is the colour of your skin.
In most modern societies however one’s identity usually depends primarily on one’s personality and accomplishments. But status, class, education and race keep playing a role also.
In this context being of mixed heritage can only play a relative minor role. At least on my personal level it has not been a real issue. I married a Eurasian woman, we have a slightly coloured, beautiful daughter, a real “Indische” son and a very white one, all of them are genuinely interested in Indonesia (where there mother has been born), but their identities do’nt depend on it. Only, yes, maybe having Indonesian blood in their veins makes them feel slightly exotic, mysterious and attractive – but what’s wrong with that?
Still, I have to think it over ….
hmmm…artikel yang menarik.secara gw sering ketemu masalah gara2 mixed heritage ini.jadi pengen ksi comment.cmpran gw lebih ruwet dari lo vin soalnya…gw chinese-dutch-sundanese(bokap)-ambonese-manado(nyokap)-(yang setau gw masih turunan jerman dan ternyata family treenya masih ada ditulis pake bahasa belanda yang gw juga enggak ngerti).
kenapa gw blg bawa masalah itu karena:
-masih inget gak waktu daftar smp/sma itu ada kolom lo orang mana?sumpah gw bingung banget tulis apa…karena walau pun bokap gw chinese, dia gak ada surat wni.nah klo lo bilang lo chinese dia minta surat itu.jadi option gw bilang chinese pastinya gw coret karena bakal panjang urusannya.(bahkan kadang2 gw iri ama temen2 gw yang setidaknya punya itu surat,setidaknya jelas orang apa).Jadi, ujung2nya antara gw tulis Manado (yang cuma 1/4 darah gw mana dari nyokapnya nyokap pula)ato gw tulis Jawa yang padahal gak ada darahnya sama sekali hanya dengan alasan biar gak repot.kasusnya bakal beda lagi buat kakak kandung gw yang fisiknya lebih mirip india.hahaha…
-masalah nama.nama buat mixed heritage tentunya lebih beragam daripada nama orang pure.gw pernah di depan idung gw diketawain ama guru smp gw karena nama gw yang gak biasa.nama itu juga masih sering dijadiin mainan ama orang2 nyebelin yang gak mikirin perasaan orang.padahal ortu ngasih nama itu maksudnya baik.pelafalan juga suka jadi masalah.nama gw christy orang masih bisa ucapin bener.kakak gw namanya mark,nama panggilan:marek/mak.lol.duh kakak gw….
-ini bakal mulai merasis nih.pertanyaan yang sering muncul pasti adalah apakah gw cina?apakah gw belanda?ato apakah gw yang lain2?kadang saat orang lain rasis lo akan bingung.apakah gw masuk dalam kelompok yang dihina itu?klo menurut orang chinese gw bukan bagian dari mereka karena gw gak pure.tapi klo menurut orang non chinese lo masuk karena lo masih ada darah chinesenya.Jadinya bingung…apakah lo harus merasa se-identitas dengan orang2 yang mixed heritage juga?padahal campurannya juga beda2.
jadi, untuk ngejawab judul tulisan ini.is it a shame to be mixed heritage? definitely it’s not a shame, but it will confuse u.hahaha…ntar klo gw dah tau jawaban pastinya gw kasi tau lo lagi.
regarding ur last sentence on the article:”Justru dengan adanya darah campur ini, kita bisa kemana saja dan lebih mudah mengapresiasi budaya dan perbedaan orang lain.”hmmm…assertion pertama masih dipertanyakan dan perlu penjelasan.klo yang lebih mudah mengapresiasi perbedaan kudos on that.
my rants:yang masalah stereotype indo itu emang nyebelin banget.harus cakep blablabla…gw kulit putih,mata coklat,tapi idung gw dapet idung chinese alias pesek.ntar orang nanya…”wah..campuran ya?kok idungnya pesek?”siyaaaaaaaaaaal!pembagian gen tidak merata.wakakak..
@colson
thanks for the kind comments. I’m glad your children feel proud of their mixed heritage, which is not the case of of 3rd Indo generations in Indonesia. There is nothing really wrong if the eurasians themselves consider them as “exotic” or “different”, but it’s more important to accept they are mixed above anything else.
@christy
wah thanks komennya christy. ini bisa menjadi tambahan yang menarik. Oh ya maksud saya “bisa kemana saja dengan mudah” maksudnya adalah kitanya tidak keberatan bertemu dengan orang2 dari latar belakang yang berbeda, karena kita bisa lebih cepat menerima perbedaan kultur.
oh ya saya benar2 ga nyangka ternyata pas formulir pendaftaran harus menyebutkan etnis apa. kalau saya mungkin tulis aja “indonesia” daripada repot2 (bisa ngga ya?)
i am proud to say that i have bataknese-chinese descent with probability of a little bit javanese (have not sure about it yet..lol), and i am a happy Indonesian.
indo people makes the diverse in this country become more than just a myth, and we should celebrate it more.i never found disturbing discrimination in my life before, and it always fun to tell people that i am indonesian rather than ‘i am bataknese’ ‘i am chinese’ whatsoever, since being Indonesian is the idea of which my main identity is made.
Sometimes I think cultural identity is a bit over-rated. I don’t know, maybe its the way I was raised, maybe its the conclusion I’ve come after I’ve seen and gone through the prejudice that could, and does exist in this world.
I understand having pride in knowing, understanding, and being able to practice cultural traditions. I get that having something in common with random strangers is a powerful feeling.. I just don’t get the way some people cling on to their cultural identity to the point that it looks like they have nothing else to hold on to. As if that was the only way to define themselves.
I’ve said this many times – I’m just as happy to be called ‘Indonesian’ and that’s enough for me. I don’t mind if no one bothers mentioning the country and call me ‘Asian’. Hell, I’m happy enough to be called an earthling. Don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t mean I don’t like being called Indonesian – I just don’t think its all that important.
Not to be self-centered, but when it comes to defining yourself – you are who you think you are. Be whoever you want to be.
As for saying mixed races are ‘exotic’ and ‘beautiful’ and stuff.. Well to be honest.. Does it really matter? For the people who get labeled that – good for you! I mean, compliments are always nice, and no one is immune to it. And for the ones who think they deserve the label – you deserve it then. Why care what other people say?
Ya lu taulah pendapat gw Vin
Well, since you write also in Indonesian, I’ll follow it up in Indonesian.
Di satu bagian situ menulis: “Orang Indo di Indonesia, generasi yg hilang?” Dari pengalaman saya mengedit artikel Eropa-Indonesia di Wiki Indonesia, masalah terbesar adalah kesulitan dalam mendefinisi “siapakah orang Indo”. Orang ras campuran eropa? Orang eropa setengah, seperempat, seperdelapan? Orang yang menjalankan kultur eropa, meskipun fenotipenya melayu/cina sekali? Kesulitan ini muncul akibat definisi “Europeanen” dalam UU Administrasi 1852. Definisi Indo sekarang (oleh orang Indonesia) adalah orang Indonesia yang punya campuran Eropa kuat (racially based), tapi orang Indo di Belanda mengaitkannya juga dengan kultur (racially and culturally based). Itulah kenapa gerakan Indo 3.0 di Belanda cukup kuat, sbg bentuk penguatan identitas. Di Indonesia, walaupun ada kesan orang memperhatikan penampakan (fenotipe), masyarakat sebenarnya tidak membedakan orang begitu ybs. memperlihatkan perilaku yg “common”. Paling2 dibilang “bule” (kalau fenotipenya caucasian), tapi perlakuan yang diberikan thd-nya tidak berbeda dg terhadap orang lain.
Industri hiburan memang punya keanehan. Jangan terlalu mengacu pada industri itu. Menyesatkan.
Forgive me, one more comment to bother you with my irrelevant opinion.
I guess Mousharilla describes the ideal way to handle one’s identity. But probably that’s not within reach of each and everyone of all those who are involved. Because an individual only has limited means to neutralize the perception of a minority by the majority. And usually subgroups in society have or develop prejudices and stereotypes about each other. Some of them mild and positive, but often also negative and aggressive ones.
Looking around in my own society I can observe this phenomenon. Maybe there are some similarities to what is the positionn of Chinese-Indonesians.
Of course the present mayor of Amsterdam Job Cohen,probably one of the best in history, is and considers himself to be a real Dutchman. But there is always the connotation `Jewish`. Which means he is perceived of belonging to a subgroup who is different because of their religion, some of their habits and the special relationship with Israel. A group moreover which has a relatively strong position in commerce and dominates literature, art and the intellectual scene.
Their successes in the past has contributed to anti Semitism and even in Germany in the Nazi epoch, led to the Shoah.
And the mayor Rotterdam is of Moroccan origin. Also a subgroup that seems to be quite different. A different religion, several different habits and a special relation to the country they originated from. Obviously the mayor himself is a successful Dutchman, but in the papers, on TV, he is always reminded of his descent. In this case meaning he belongs to a minority group whose members are perceived as causing a lot of trouble. As most of them belong to the lowest strata in socio-economic sense, it is not amazing that this is rather factual and not mere perception. So, for Dutchmen of Moroccan descent therefore it is hard to identify themselves with a Dutch society that time after time rejects them.
My point is that it is not always up to the individual to define his-her own identity. Often the majority in society puts one in the position of being “different”, ” strange” or even “dangerous”. That´s the start of discrimination and of a vicious circle as the victims often have no option but to seek “shelter” in their own group. That only add to their oddness and visibility as being “others” and can easily fuel fuel the prejudices and stereotypes.
“It is not easy to be green”(Kermit the Frog, Sesame Street).
Not at all. There’s nothing to be ashamed about it. In fact, I find it something to be proud of.
[...] referred to my last post of 3rd generations of Indo in Indonsia. Most were reluctant of conforming their identity. It [...]
another good reading (yet not updated)
http://countrystudies.us/indonesia/55.htm
ah itu juga artikel menarik, terima kasih sharingnya
In today’s world being of mixed heritage is an advantage. For those of you who carry it as a burden, the psychological shackles of colonialism still harbor the inferiority complex. You may not even realize it, as it’s an underlying message that can permeate through the generations.
As I said, today it is an advantage. I do not think it is demeaning or objectifying if the media glamorizes the look of Eurasians. As we say here in America, ” go for it !” “have at it !”. It’s actually a very powerful tool for expressing other causes.
I remember in science class at school studying about hybrid species. What stood out in my mind is when one breeds with another it can produce a superior hybrid, better than the parents but the best of both combined. I’m not saying Eurasians are superior, but it does make you wonder.
We should indeed celebrate the mixed heritages – look at Obama, look at Tiger Woods, etc. the list goes on and on. We should capture this complex history and honor it to the highest degree.
Thanks for listening,
Bianca
I concur with your opinion Bianca, wish everyone else here also celebrates their mixed heritage, regardless their ethnicity, their history, because it’s always part of them
Calvin