Indian Communities in Southeast Asia (First Reprint 2006) 9789812305732

Citation preview

INDIAN Communities in Southeast Asia

The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) was established as an autonomous organization in 1968. It is a regional centre dedicated to the study of socio-political, security and economic trends and developments in Southeast Asia and its wider geostrategic and economic environment. The Institute’s research programmes are the Regional Economic Studies (RES, including ASEAN and APEC), Regional Strategic and Political Studies (RSPS), and Regional Social and Cultural Studies (RSCS). ISEAS Publishing, an established academic press, has issued almost 2,000 books and journals. It is the largest scholarly publisher of research about Southeast Asia from within the region. ISEAS Publishing works with many other academic and trade publishers and distributors to disseminate important research and analyses from and about Southeast Asia to the rest of the world.

INDIAN Communities in Southeast Asia Edited by

K.S. Sandhu & A. Mani

Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Singapore

First published in 1993 in Singapore by Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) 30 Heng Mui Keng Terrace Pasir Panjang Singapore 119614 E-mail: [email protected] • Website: http://bookshop.iseas.edu.sg and Times Academic Press (1993 edition only) An imprint of Federal Publications (S) Pte Ltd (A member of the Times Publishing Group) Times Centre 1 New Industrial Road Singapore 1953 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. © 1993 Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore First reprint 2006 (ISEAS) The responsibility for facts and opinions in this publication rests exclusively with the authors and their interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views or the policy of the publisher or its supporters. ISEAS Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Indian communities in Southeast Asia / edited by K.S. Sandhu and A. Mani. 1st reprint ed. 1. Indians (Asian people)—Southeast Asia—History. 2. Indians (Asian people)—Southeast Asia—Economic conditions. 3. Indians (Asian people)—Southeast Asia—Social conditions. I. Sandhu, Kernial Singh. II. Mani, A. DS523.4 I3I39 2006 ISBN-13: 978-981-230-418-6 (soft cover — 13 digits) ISBN-10: 981-230-418-5 (soft cover — 10 digits) Printed in Singapore by Markono Print Media

Contents List of Tables

ix

List of Figures

xvii

Preface

xix

Preface to the First Reprint Edition

xxiii

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM 1. A Community in Transition: Indians in Negara Brunei Darussalam

A. Mani

1

INDOCHINA 2. Indians in Indochina

Nayan Chanda

31

INDONESIA 3. Indians in North Sumatra

A. Mani

46

4. Indians in Jakarta

A. Mani

98

5. Indians in Indonesia: A Component of Indonesian National Integration

Harsja W. Bachtiar

131

Kernial Singh Sandhu

151

7. Malaysian Indians: The Formation of Incipient Society

Sinnappah Arasaratnam

190

8. Political Marginalization in Malaysia

Chandra Muzaffar

211

9. The Contemporary Indian Political Elite in Malaysia

Rajeswary Ampalavanar Brown

237

10. Malay Attitudes towards Indians

Khoo Kay Kim

266

11. Plantation Capital and Indian Labour in Colonial Malaya

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

288

MALAYSIA 6. The Coming of the Indians to Malaysia

v

12. Socio-Economic Transformation of Malaysian Indian Plantation Workers

P. Ramasamy

314

13. Indians in the Public Sector in Malaysia

Mavis Puthucheary

334

14. Ethnic Socio-Economic Distribution: Indians in Malaysia

Sahathavan Meyanathan

367

15. Economic Problems and Challenges A. Sivalingam Facing the Indian Community in Malaysia

388

16. The Indian Poor in Malaysia: Problems and Solutions

D. Jeyakumar

405

17. Social and Economic Correlates of Fertility: Indian Plantation Households

Paul T.H. Chan

438

18. The Plantation School As an Agent of Social Reproduction

T. Marimuthu

465

19. Indian Squatter Settlers: Indian Rural-Urban Migration in West Malaysia

R. Rajoo

484

20. Urban Working-Class Indians in Malaysia

K.S. Susan Oorjitham

504

21. Religion and Ethnicity among the Indian Muslims of Malaysia

Judith Nagata

513

22. Social Change and Group Identity among the Sri Lankan Tamils

R. Rajakrishnan

541

23. Sikhs in Malaysia: A Society in Transition

Kernial Singh Sandhu

558

24. Indians in East Malaysia

D.S. Ranjit Singh

568

Tin Maung Maung Than

585

Khin Maung Kyi

624

MYANMAR (BURMA) 25. Some Aspects of Indians in Rangoon 26. Indians in Burma: Problems of an Alien Subculture in a Highly Integrated Society

vi

27. The Legal Status of Indians in Contemporary Burma

Robert H. Taylor

666

28. Jairampur: A Profile of an Indian Community in Rural Burma

Mya Than

683

PHILIPPINES 29. The Indian Community in the Philippines

Ajit Singh Rye

707

SINGAPORE 30. Indian Immigration and Settlement in Singapore

Kernial Singh Sandhu

774

31. Indians in Singapore Society

A. Mani

788

32. Spouse Selection Patterns in the Singapore Indian Community

Sharon Siddique and Nirmala Puru Shotam

810

33. Hinduism in Contemporary Singapore

Vineeta Sinha

826

34. Religious Fervour and Economic Success: The Chettiars of Singapore

Hans-Dieter Evers and Jayarani Pavadarayan

847

G. Shantakumar

866

THAILAND 36. Indians in Thailand

A. Mani

910

37. Indian Communities in Bangkok: Pahurat and Ban-Kaek

Netnapis Nakavachara

950

35. The Indian Population of Singapore: Some Implications for Development

Epilogue

977

Contributors

981

Index

989

vii

List of Tables Page 1.1

Growth of Indian Population in Brunei

3

1.2

The Labour Population of Brunei by Race and Employer, 1930

5

1.3

Spatial Distribution of Indians in Brunei, 1931

5

1.4

Language Affiliations of Indians in Brunei, 1931

6

1.5

Religious Affiliations of Indians in Brunei, 1931

7

1.6

Racial Distribution of Labour in Brunei, 1938

8

1.7

Brunei: Arrival and Departure of Indians

8

1.8

Indian Labour in the British Malayan Petroleum Company (BMPC)

9

Indian Population of Brunei by Sex and District, 1971 and 1981

11

1.10

Age and Sex Distribution of Indians in Brunei, 1981

12

1.11

Country of Birth of Ethnic Indians in Brunei, 1981

14

1.12

Resident Status of Indians in Brunei, 1981

15

1.13

Educational Attainment of Indians Aged 5 Years and over in Brunei, 1981

16

Educational Attainment of Indians in Brunei by Residential Status, 1981

17

Indian Population in Brunei Aged 15 Years and over by Type of Activity and Sex, 1981

17

Indian Working Population in Brunei by Major Occupations, 1981

18

Indian Working Population in Brunei by Industrial Group, 1981

20

1.9

1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17

ix

Page 1.18

Literacy of Indians in Brunei Aged 9 Years and over by Language of Literacy, 1971, 1981

27

3.1

Growth of Non-Indonesian Population, 1815–1930

48

3.2

Distribution of Indians in the Indonesian Islands, 1930

49

3.3

Indian Citizens in Indonesia, 1977

50

3.4

Population of Medan, 1930

89

3.5

Indonesian Ethnic Groups in Medan, 1930

89

4.1

Indian Joint Venture Enterprises, 1977

118

4.2

Tamil Words Used by Kojaks

126

4.3

Indonesia-India Joint Ventures in Indonesia

127

13.1

Clerical Service List, Federated Malay States, 1930

337

13.2

Number of Subordinate Officers Employed in the Federated Malay States in Selected Services, 1938

338

Federated Malay States: Locally Recruited Staff Receiving a Monthly Salary of M$250 and Upwards

340

Malayan Indians by High, Medium, and Low Status Occupations, 1931

341

Communal Distribution of Total Population, Electorate, and Seats in Parliament, 1957–70 (West Malaysia)

349

Ethnic Composition of Federal Public Service (Division One), 1970

352

13.7

Ethnic Background of Senior Government Officers, 1968

353

13.8

Indian Representation in Certain Selected Services (Division One) of the Federal Government

356

Indians in Division One Posts in the Federal Government

356

13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6

13.9

13.10 Indians in Superscale and Division One Posts in the Federal Government, 1981

x

357

Page 13.11 Incidence of Poverty by Ethnic Origin and Rural-Urban Strata

359

13.12 Distribution of Indian Employment by Sector, 1967/68

360

15.1

Share of Indians in Employment by Occupation

390

16.1

Peninsular Malaysia: Occupational Distribution of Indians, 1957, 1970, 1980

407

16.2

Income of MAPA Estate Workers in 1970 and 1981

410

16.3

Increase in Income of MAPA Estate Workers between 1970 and 1981

410

Wages of Selected Categories of Industrial and Manual Group (IMG) Workers, 1970 and 1981

411

Wages of Selected Categories of Workers in the Manufacturing Sector

411

Interest Rates for Employees Provident Fund Savings, 1963–80

412

Percentage Distribution of Households by Income, Peninsular Malaysia, 1970

435

17.1

Distribution of Married Indian Women by Key Variables

440

17.2

Zero Order Correlation Coefficients between Key Predictors and Dependent Variables

444

Children of Survey Respondents (Aged 5–14 Years): Characteristics and Activities by Order of Child in Household

452

Children of Survey Respondents (Aged 5–14 Years): Time Spent per Week on Farm and Household Activities by Order of Child in Household

453

Survey Respondents: Opinion as to the Age at which Boys and Girls Could Make a Useful Contribution to the Family

454

16.4 16.5 16.6 16.7

17.3

17.4

17.5

xi

Page 17.6

Survey Respondents: Attitudes to Children and Value of Children

455

Survey Respondents: Means of Support in Old Age, Reliance on Children for Financial Support in Old Age, and Expectation of Share of Children’s Earnings by Number of Living Children

456

18.1

Enrolment Rates by Level and Ethnic Group, 1979

475

19.1

The Settlers’ Pre-Migration Background

492

19.2

Origin of Settlers

493

19.3

Reasons Given by the Settlers for Leaving the Estates to Come to the City

494

19.4

Length of Stay in the Settlement

496

19.5

Age Distribution of Settlers

497

19.6

Occupational Structure of the Settlers

498

19.7

Income Pattern of Settlers

500

25.1

The Indians and Bamar in Rangoon, 1872–1941

586

25.2

The Indians and Bamar in Rangoon, 1952–57

591

25.3

Relative Representation of Indians in Rangoon’s Labour Force

595

Relative Distribution of Rangoon’s Labour Force by Occupational Groups

595

25.5

Hindus and Muslims in Rangoon, 1872–1983

600

26.1

A. Burma’s Imports by Country

629

B. Burma’s Exports by Country

629

Business Firms in Rangoon by Line of Business and Nationality of Ownership

630

Business Firms in District Towns by Line of Business and Nationality of Ownership

631

17.7

25.4

26.2 26.3

xii

Page 26.4

Business Firms in Small Towns by Line of Business and Nationality of Ownership

632

26.5

Classification of the Urban Population by Race in 1931

634

26.6

Distribution by Race of Male Earners in Non-Agricultural Occupations in Burma, 1931

636

Distribution by Race of Male Earners in Non-Agricultural Occupations in Rangoon, 1931

637

26.8

Number of Registered Foreigners in Burma

646

26.9

Population by Citizenship in the Census of 1973

647

26.10 Population by Racial or Ethnic Groupings (1973 Census)

648

26.11 Population by Racial or Ethnic Groups and Religion, 1973

649

26.12 Small Indian Business in Various Rangoon Markets

654

26.13 Selected Ethnic Groups by Levels of Education Attained, 1973/74

656

27.1

Bangladesh-Burma Refugee Claims, April–June 1978

670

27.2

Bangladesh-Burma Repatriation Claims, August 1978–December 1979

673

28.1

Distribution of Households by Family Size

686

28.2

Distribution of Population by Age Group

686

28.3

Household Heads by Age Group

687

28.4

Distribution of Household Heads by Birth Place and by Number of Years of Residence in Jairampur

688

28.5

Distribution by Occupation

689

28.6

Distribution by Farm Size

690

28.7

Distribution of Crops in 1980–81 Season

691

28.8

Cost of Production and Income of Ten Sample Farms in Jairampur Compared with Their Bamar Counterparts in Zahar (East)

692

26.7

xiii

Page 28.9

Education Attainment of the Household Heads in Jairampur by Type of School Attended

695

28.10 Illness and Medical Facilities Used

695

28.11 Responses to Household Heads to Inter-Caste Marriages

698

28.12 Means of Land Acquisition

699

28.13 Monthly Subscription Fees in Hindi School

702

28.14 Occupational Aspirations of Fathers with Reference to Their Children

705

29.1

Indians in the Philippines 1930–82: Data for Selected Years

719

Indian Population in Provinces outside Metro Manila, 1984

721

30.1

The Indian Population of Singapore, 1819–1980

775

31.1

Indian Population in Singapore, 1921–80

790

31.2

Ethnic Composition in the Main Villages near the British Military Establishment in 1962

794

31.3

Indian Social Organizations by Language Affiliation

804

34.1

Number of Chettiar Firms and Banks in Singapore, 1883–1910

851

Survey on Chettiar Occupations in Various Economic Fields in Singapore, 1983

853

35.1

Indian Population in Singapore, 1871–1990

867

35.2

Indian Sex Ratio by Age Group, 1947–85

868

35.3

Sex Ratio by Resident Status and Age Group, 1980

868

35.4

Economically Active Indian Population, 1957–80

869

35.5

Main Components of Change in Indian Activity Rates, 1957–80

870

29.2

34.2

xiv

Page 870

35.6

Age-Sex Specific Activity Rates, 1966 and 1980

35.7

Unemployment Rates by Sex

871

35.8

Age-Specific Unemployment Rates of Indians, 1957–80

873

35.9

Breakdown of the Unemployed Indians by Work Experience, 1970–80

874

35.10 Unemployed Persons by Kind of Job Looking for, 1974–80

874

35.11 Percentage Distribution of Working Persons Aged Ten Years and over by Industry, 1957–80

876

35.12 Percentage Distribution of Working Persons Aged Ten Years and over by Occupation, 1957–80

880

35.13 Percentage Distribution of Working Persons Aged Ten Years and over by Occupational Status, 1957–80

882

35.14 Working Persons Aged Ten Years and over by Occupation and Ethnic Group

885

35.15 Proportion of Indians to All Races by Occupation, 1970 and 1980

887

35.16 Working Persons Aged Ten Years and over by Occupation and Ethnic Groups: Growth Rates, 1970–80

888

35.17 Median Incomes of Working Persons (Indians and All Races) by Sex, 1972–80

890

35.18 Gini Coefficients of Employed Indians and All Races by Sex, 1972–80

891

35.19 Literacy Rates of Those Ten Years and above, Indians and All Races, 1947–80

894

35.20 School Attrition Rates of Indians and All Races

894

35.21 Distribution of Students (Indians and All Races) by Educational Stream, 1970–75

895

35.22 Distribution of Graduating Students by Sex and Faculty, National University of Singapore, 1970–80

897

xv

Page 35.23 Indians and All Races Five Years and above by Highest Qualification and Sex, 1980 36.1

900

Ethnic-Linguistic Affiliation of Members of the Thai-Bharath Cultural Lodge, 1979/80

938

Population Distribution in Bangkok Metropolitan Area, 1972

952

Land Use of Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Intersection Areas, Bangkok

953

Place of Birth of Indians at Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Intersection, Bangkok

956

Place of Last Residence of Indians at Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Intersection, Bangkok

958

Age at Marriage for Indians at Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Intersection, Bangkok

961

Age Composition of the Indian Household Heads and Their Spouses at Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Intersection, Bangkok

963

Level of Educational Attainment of Indians at Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Intersection, Bangkok

964

Occupations of Indians at Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Intersection, Bangkok

966

Languages Spoken by Indians at Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Intersection, Bangkok

968

37.10 Languages Spoken in Daily Life among Indians Living at Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Intersection, Bangkok

969

37.11 Place of Education of Indian Children at Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Intersection, Bangkok

971

37.12 Future Settlement Plans of Indians at Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Intersection, Bangkok

973

37.1 37.2 37.3 37.4 37.5 37.6

37.7 37.8 37.9

xvi

List of Figures 1.1

Map of Brunei Darussalam

3.1

The Province of North Sumatra

52

3.2

D. Kumaraswamy, community leader in Medan

65

3.3

The Sri Mariamman Temple in Medan

68

3.4

The Bekela Sri Mariamman Temple

71

16.1

Occupational distribution of the Indian community in Malaysia in 1975

406

Occupational structure of Indians in Malaysian labour force, 1980

416

16.3

The subculture of poverty

418

16.4

Origins of the subculture of poverty

425

17.1

Conceptual framework for fertility analysis of Indian plantation household

439

25.1

Rangoon

587

29.1

The first page of the Khalsa Diwan Record Book. The first entry is dated 2 June 1929. The second page contains the list of the members of the General Committee and Board of Trustees as well as partially the list of those who attended the meeting on 7 July 1929.

710

29.2

Indian settlement in Metro Manila, 1984

722

29.3

Distribution of the Indian population in the Philippines, 1984

723

The gurudwara, a simple structure built in 1929, situated at 1350 United Nations Avenue in Manila

725

16.2

29.4

2

xvii

Page 735

29.5

A Sunday langar or community lunch at the gurudwara

29.6

The Hindu deity, Lord Shiva, and his Bull, in a Hindu Temple

739

Indian convict labour laid the foundations of roads in Singapore (circa 1906)

776

Cattle – milked, raced and/or driven, slaughtered – were a major impetus to the development of the Serangoon Road area. The industries that sprung up in the area, like the pineapple-preserving factory, used cattle for transportation and in turn fed them their wastes such as pineapple skins (circa 1900).

779

A carryover of the 19th century milk trade at Serangoon Road.

780

Indian merchants are still an active group in Singapore’s textile business.

782

Map of Tamil Nadu showing various districts and Chettinad (South India).

849

35.1

Lorenz curves, Indians, 1972 and 1980

892

35.2

Lorenz curves, Indians and all races, 1972

892

35.3

Lorenz curves, Indians and all races, 1980

893

30.1 30.2

30.3 30.4

34.1

xviii

Preface Large-scale movement and settlement of people from the Indian subcontinent into Southeast Asia began with the expansion of Western colonialism and capitalism during the last two centuries. The arrival and settlement of various groups of Indians,* unlike much earlier times, have continuously been supplemented by newer arrivals as well as continued links with their natal areas in the subcontinent. With political independence of all the countries in Southeast Asia, most Indians have become domiciled in the respective countries. The papers in this volume were exclusively written for the project initiated by Professor K.S. Sandhu. The purpose was to examine the degree of assimilation and integration of Indians in Southeast Asia with the surrounding communities in which Indians live in the present period. As the authors are from a variety of disciplines, a multi-faceted approach was allowed in providing a commentary on the contemporary position of Indians in Southeast Asia. Although by no means complete, the volume hopes to provide valuable insights into understanding how Indians of diverse ethnicity have adapted or integrated themselves in an ethnically diverse area such as Southeast Asia. Almost all ethnic Indians in Southeast Asia are a product of the development process initiated by Western trade and capital expansion during the last two hundred years. They still remain part of the developmental process in the respective niches that colonialism left them. Even though many have experienced mobility through education, they are still concentrated in their respective occupational niches relative to the other dominant ethnic groups. Indians in Southeast Asia have been represented in the political structure framework only in Myanmar, Malaysia and Singapore. Though they are nowhere numerically dominant, they have played a significant role in the economic niches they found themselves during and after the colonial period. The arrival, distribution and eventual settlement of Indians in Southeast Asia are closely related to colonial history. British colonial dominance of the Indian subcontinent facilitated the movement of Indians to Myanmar xix

(then known as Burma), Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. In these countries they came largely as the labouring classes with a minority coming as businessmen and white-collar workers. Dutch rule in Indonesia, though favouring a movement of Indian workers to Sumatran plantations, could never be realized as the British were reluctant to allow their source of labour to benefit Dutch economic enterprises across the Straits of Malacca. Thus, besides the voluntary migration between Dutch-ruled Sri Lanka and Indonesia in the pre Anglo-Dutch treaty period, all forms of migration to Indonesia from the Indian subcontinent were voluntary and minimal. Very often, the migration to Indonesia was largely a spillover from the Malay Peninsula. Moreover, most of the workers went to work in the establishments that were largely British owned in Indonesia. The French territories in India, for example, Karikal and Pondicherry, provided an important launching point for Indian migration to Vietnam, Kampuchea and Laos. The migration of Indians to French Indochina was largely a business migration. The Philippines has been the most distant place where Indians went in large numbers. The pattern of migration was voluntary and largely dominated by people working in business establishments. The Spanish and American colonial legacies in the Philippines did not attract Indians in large numbers. Most of the initial large-scale South Asian migration to Southeast Asia consisted of south Indian labour, commercial and non-labour Indians. This is the case with Myanmar, the Malay Peninsula and Singapore and to some extent in the case of Indonesia. Except in the case of Myanmar, repatriation of Indians in the post-war period did not occur on a large scale in the rest of Southeast Asia. This volume examines the position and change among Southeast Asian Indians in the period after the post-war period. Despite the fact that Indians were viewed as a homogenous entity by the various colonial powers that dominated Southeast Asia in the pre-war period, Indians viewed themselves as belonging to communities along linguistic, regional or religious boundaries. The concept of being associated with one common geographical area was only evident during the World War II period with the formation of the Indian National Army to liberate the Indian subcontinent from British colonial rule. Hence the title, Indian Communities in Southeast Asia, comments on both the overall patterns as well as the particularistic trends among Indians in Southeast Asia. As Indians are minorities in all the Southeast Asian countries and are affected by the political and economic process of the countries in which they xx

are located, the papers have been arranged along country lines rather than on thematic comparisons. This is not to deny that there is social and economic interaction between Indians living in different countries of the region. Just as among all people in the region, there is internal migration of Indians in Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand. The rural to urban shift among Indian communities is well pronounced in Indonesia and Malaysia. Malaysian Indians in large numbers have also moved regionally to East Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore and Australia for work and permanent settlement. However, much of social life among Indians is still carried out within boundaries of similar language group and religion. Brunei Darussalam, Indochina and the Philippines each have a smaller population size of Indians. The chapter on the Philippines is fairly lengthy given the fact that it has a domiciled population of Indians. Indonesia and Thailand are two countries where very few impediments exist for the integration and eventual assimilation of Indians into the respective societies. Malaysia has received the greatest concentration of scholarly attention as a result of the presence of the largest number of Indians and also of the political recognition given to them. Myanmar is a country where Indians have reduced in importance from being a sociological majority to that of a minority. Singapore on the other hand represents a country where Indians are being encouraged to come to terms with a highly developed, everchanging multiracial metropolis. It appears that Indians have come to form a recognizable minority in all the Southeast Asian countries except for Indochina. In each of the countries, the process of assimilation and/or integration differs according to the political and social opportunities that are present. Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar and the Philippines allow ethnic Indian communities to integrate at their own pace. In Malaysia and Singapore, Indians have been recognized as an important political group, thus allowing integration to take place selectively between Malays and Muslim Indians. In all the countries, the newer generation of locally born Indians has become integrated more closely with others through education and economic participation. Indians have learnt local languages while maintaining their mother-tongues for social and commercial purposes. Thus Punjabi, Sindhi and Tamil are maintained for these purposes. But Indian communities in Southeast Asia still keep English as the link language for economic participation and for mobility. xxi

The writing and preparation of the papers for this volume have taken slightly more than a decade and at one point involved more than forty-five writers. Owing to the varying commitments of the writers, the time-frame of the papers covers an uneven spread from the late seventies and into the eighties. The editors and the contributors wish to thank the Toyota Foundation, Japan, for the very generous financial support given for the research and preparation of this volume. The editors also wish to note the dedication and effort shown by the ISEAS Publications Unit and other colleagues associated in producing this volume — without them the publication may have been further delayed. Though the project was begun by Professor K.S. Sandhu, his sudden demise in December 1992 did not allow him to do a final reading of the papers. However, this volume remains an epitaph to his commitment to the study of Indians in particular, and to the study of the relationship between ethnicity and development in Southeast Asia in general.

A. Mani December 1992 Singapore

Note: * The term “Indians” is used in this volume to refer to all people form the Indian subcontinent. xxii

Preface to the First Reprint Edition When the volume on Indian Communities in Southeast Asia was first published in 1993, it represented the concerted aspiration of the late Professor K.S. Sandhu to document the presence of people who had migrated from the Indian subcontinent during the colonial era and had continued to stay on in Southeast Asia despite the various state formations in both South and Southeast Asia. I was fortunate to have been involved as the co-editor of such a monumental volume, which for many years after its publication has remained interesting enough to scholars and general readers to deserve a reprint edition. While the volume addressed the issues of Indians in Southeast Asia, it has also addressed the issue of ethnicity and development in Southeast Asia. An economically ascendant India and its interest in establishing closer links with Southeast Asia during the past decade has made the first edition of this volume a baseline book for the understanding of Indians in Southeast Asia. The increased demand had led the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) to consider revising and updating the volume. After much discussion, however, it was agreed that the volume would undergo a reprint edition without any change to the original text. The rewriting of the volume was perceived to be a difficult task as many of the contributors to the original volume had moved on in their lives, either through retirement, natural demise, or career change. As a consequence, ISEAS decided to pursue two options to meet the rising demand for knowledge on Indians in Southeast Asia. In the first instance, it was agreed that a second edition of the original volume be published so that it will remain a baseline study on Indian communities in Southeast Asia. Secondly, it was agreed that ISEAS would initiate a new study that would account for the changes that have been taking place since the earlier work was published. The new volume, tentatively called “Rising India and Indian Communities in East Asia”, represents a much expanded coverage. While retaining Southeast Asia as the focus of the study, Japan, China and Korea will be included. The underlining notion is that Indians in Southeast Asia have been economically more affected by the economic xxiii

integration of East Asia. Moreover, India’s “Look East” approach includes the entire East Asia rather than Southeast Asia alone. The second reason for the new volume was to capture the impact of “new Indians” arriving in East Asia as professionals, investors and as transient labour comprising domestic workers, construction workers and plantation labourers. The third perspective to be examined in the new study is the examination of the impact the earlier two factors would have had on the post-colonial Indian communities that had evolved in various parts of Southeast Asia. The second volume, thus, while being a sequel to the 1993 volume, will examine contemporary Indians in East Asia with a view to understanding Indians in East Asia at the beginning decade of the twenty-first century. As the surviving co-editor of the volume, I wish to note the dedication shown by the ISEAS Publications Unit whose key staff have remained ardent supporters in bringing out the initial edition of this volume as well as this reprint edition. The volume remains a testimony to the early large projects and others that resulted in the publication of similarly major works by ISEAS such as Melaka: The Transformation of a Malay Capital, c. 1400-1980 (1983), and Management of Success: The Moulding of Modern Singapore (1989) that Professor K.S. Sandhu had initiated and brought to fruition when he was Director of ISEAS in the 1970s and 1980s.

Dr A. Mani Professor of Asia Pacific Studies Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Japan and Visiting Senior Research Fellow, ISEAS, Singapore July 2006

Note: The term “Indians” is used as a culturally overarching description of all people who trace their early origins to the Indian subcontinent. xxiv

Chapter 1

ACO

INTRANSIDON Indians in Negara Brunei Darussalam A. Mani

Brunei Darussalam (the Abode of Peace) is located on the northern coast of the island of Borneo, with an area of 5,765 square kilometres and a population of some 250,000 persons. Malays form the majority of the population, but there are estimated to be some 70,000 non-Malays, mostly Chinese and Indians. Others include small communities of Britons, Dutch, Americans, and Australians who work in the oil and gas industry and in commerce. The discovery of oil in the western part of the country in the 1920s ushered in a new economic era and the development of offshore discoveries in the 1960s set Brunei Darussalam on the path to economic prosperity. This prosperity attracted thousands of sojourners to Brunei to participate for brief periods in the state's economic development. This chapter examines Indians as a community in Brunei Darussalam.

Historical Background Brunei was one of the ancient kingdoms of Southeast Asia. Apart from its association with the Buddhist Srivijayan empire of Sumatra, the Hindu empire of Majapahit in Java, Temasek (Singapore), and Malacca, very little direct contact can be ascertained between South Asia and Brunei in the early days. 1

2

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

·'\., SOUTH CHINA SEA

\esangar

\ \

I

I I

··'-!.,

\

'\TEMBURONG)' DISTRICT

'· '•,

...

\

'

(. L-'-J·l

BELAIT DISTRICT

'

I

I

',

.

\

)

"--~

'- .............

I

Fig. 1.1.

I

•'

l.. ... - '""--

\ .. _j,/

I

SARAWAK (MALAYSIA)

\

I

I

\..

..,

'-.. •

'•

\

)

I

SARAWAK (MALAYSIA)

Map of Brunei Darussalam.

All the same Indian culture made a massive impact on Borneo at a very early period. This cultural impact, however, left no Indian communities in Borneo (Coedes 1968, pp. 18-19,24, 52-53; Harrison 1949, pp. 99-103), though accounts of early European travellers do reveal the presence of traders from the Indian subcontinent. Indeed trade between Brunei and countries of the Indian subcontinent appeared to have been active and continuous (Nicholl1975, pp. 4, 5, 7, 9, 21, 22, 28, 36, 73). Klings, Malabaris, and Gujeratis from the Coromandel coast, Malabar coast, and Gujerat respectively were among the traders active in Brunei before the seventeenth century. One of the most important items of trade was Bruneian camphor, which was described as worth its weight in silver in Malabar and the Deccan. Indian textiles were much sought after in Brunei (Nicholl 1975, pp. 5, 7). Traditionally, in the pre-British period, the sultan appointed one of the officers for foreign traders to look after the welfare of the keling (Indian) traders (Yusof 1958, p. 31). All or nearly all of the Indians presently found in Brunei have been there only since the founding of the Colony of Labuan by the British (Jones 1966, pp. 44-45), not all of them having come directly from the Indian subcontinent. Many had been long resident in such places as Malaya before coming to Borneo.

A Community in Transition

3

The Punjabi policemen's presence began in 1906 when two policemen, a Pathan and a Sikh, were seconded for duty in Brunei Town. They became a familiar sight in the colonial days. Excluding the Punjabi policemen of early colonial days, the Indians were not numerically significant until the development of the oil industry. They then came both as skilled and unskilled labour, but even then only in small numbers. In addition, they were predominant in certain minor economic activities, especially in the sale of fabrics and inexpensive jewellery hawked on the sidewalks. Politically, the Indians have never been very important in Brunei. The term 'Indian' in twentieth century Brunei has generally been used to describe all persons who originated from contemporary India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), and Nepal. However, in some instances the Nepalese and Ceylonese had been separated and grouped under 'Others' by the British in census takings. In 1971, for instance, Nepalese were grouped with other races for the census taking (Report on the Census of Population 1972, p. xii). It is evident from Table 1.1 that Brunei's Indian population was less than sixty-six persons in 1911. Over the decades it had hovered around one per cent of the population of Brunei. The influx of Nepalese into the security

Table 1.1 Growth of Indian Population in Brunei

Year

Number

1911 1921 1931 1947 1960 1971 1981

66* 38 377 454 2,877* 2,1625,919+

*

Percentage of Indians in Total Population

0.3 0.2 1.3 1.1

3.4 1.6 3.1

Includes persons listed in 'Others' category. The number oflndians may be less than stated.

- Excludes Nepalese who were grouped with 'Others' category.

+ Includes Nepalese. Sources: Star Press, Report on the Census of Population 1971 (Bandar Seri Begawan, 1972), p. 37; Summary Tables of the Brunei Population Census, 1981 (Bandar Seri Begawan, 1982).

4

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

forces of Brunei since 1962 was a major factor for the doubling of the Indian population in Brunei. The pre-World War II Indian immigration into Brunei was largely a result of the discovery of petroleum at Seria in 1929. Other sectors that brought Indians to Brunei were the Public Works Department and the rubber plantations. Of course the growing population of Brunei also attracted Indians to set up businesses at Seria, Kuala Belait, and Brunei Town, which were then the chief centres of population in Brunei. Prior to 1929 only two groups of Indians appeared to have migrated to Brunei. The Indians who engaged in trading and commerce came of their own accord and set up their businesses in various urban centres. The second group consisted of the labourers in the four rubber plantations of Brunei. Their immigration from South India to Malaya and Brunei was regulated by the Indian Immigration Committee. 1 Their conditions of labour were governed by the Malayan Labour Code of 1913, with its subsequent amendments, and the various Indian immigration enactments. The Controller of Labour for Malaya was also the Controller of Labour for Brunei State. By 1930, of the four European rubber estates only one continued to employ Indian labourers. When the price of rubber fell to below the cost of production in the latter half of the year, however, the estate found itself unable to pay the prescribed rates of wages and was compelled to give the labourers notice to leave. The labourers themselves, however, petitioned to be allowed to stay on and not to be forced to return to India. They offered to accept lower wages during the continuance of the crisis through which the rubber industry was passing. Lower rates of wages were accordingly prescribed and accepted by both the employer and the labourers. Despite these adjustments, 56 adults and 7 children were repatriated to India in 1930 at the expense of the Indian Immigration Fund (IIF). Owing to the distance of Brunei from Malaya, the easy availability of cheaper labour free of legal obligations from Sarawak, and the growing importance of the oil industry, the number of Indians who were employed in the plantation sector was reduced. Table 1.2 shows the declining importance of Indians in the plantation sector towards the end of 1930. It is evident from Table 1.2 that Indians formed only 8 per cent of the plantation labour force, and given the conditions of their employment under the IIF, employers were only too ready to reduce their commitment to them. It is also evident from the table that Indian labour participation in the oil industry was increasing and as the petroleum company paid the highest

A Community in Transition

5

wages in Brunei, the Indians themselves would have voluntarily left the plantation sector. The 1931 Population Census showed that there were 377 Indians in Brunei. Their spatial distribution indicated their economic orientation (Table 1.3). The Indian population of Brunei in 1931 was concentrated in the districts of Belait (the oilfield area) and Brunei (Brunei-Muara area). The

Table 1.2 The Labour Population of Brunei by Race and Employer, 1930 Island Trading Co. (Manufacture ofCutch)

British Malayan Petroleum Co. Ltd. (Oil Industry)

Four European Rubber Estates

Bruneis and Kedayans Chinese Dayaks Indians Javanese Others

700

283 391 14 249

599 36 61 75 7

1,582 427 14 310 75 7

Total

700

937

778

2,415

Race

Total

Source: McKerron (1931), p. 22.

Table 1.3 Spatial Distribution of Indians in Brunei, 1931 District

Total Number

Male

Female

Brunei Muara Temburong Tutong Belait

115 1 10 4 247

69

46

8 3 242

2 1

5

Total

377

323

54

Source: V1ie1and (1932), p. 158.

6

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

sex ratio was highly imbalanced, with one female for every six males in the population. This imbalance becomes more striking if one compares it with the estate population of 91 Indians in 1931, which comprised 51 males and 40 females (Vlieland 1932, p. 159). This was a result of the IIF conditions which required that the estate workers migrate as families; the rest of the Indian population had largely arrived as single men. The 1931 Population Census also revealed the socio-economic profile of the Indian community of Brunei. The linguistic and religious affinities of the Indians, together with their economic position, were also reflected in the census enumeration. Malayalis and Tamils (Table 1.4) together constituted the largest group among the Indians in Brunei. Malayalam and Tamil were the predominant languages used within the Indian community. The Tamils, largely owing to their predominance among the estate workers, had more females in the population while all other groups were predominantly male. Hindus formed 59 per cent of the Indian population of Brunei (Table 1.5). The Muslims constituted the second largest group, forming 37 per cent. If the estate population of Hindus is discounted, however, there would be equal numbers of Hindus and Muslims in the urban centres of Brunei. Of the 377 Indians 189 (all males), or 50 per cent, were employed as labourers. They were described as doing general and indeterminate work, Table 1.4 Language Affiliation of Indians in Brunei, 1931 Total Number

Male

Female

Tamil Telugu Malay ali Punjabi United Provinces (Hindustani) Bengali Gujerati (Bombay) Others

119 2 215 11 3

74 2 214 9 3

45

25

1 19

6

Total

377

323

54

Language Group

Source: Vlieland (1932), p. 192.

2

7

A Community in Transition

Table 1.5 Religious Affiliation of Indians in Brunei, 1931 Total Number

Male

Female

Hindus Muslims Sikhs Christians

223

181 130 6 6

42

138 8 8

Total

377

323

54

Religious Group

8

2 2

Source: Vlieland (1932), p. 196.

according to the 1931 Population Census. The next major occupation pursued by Indians was rubber cultivation. The number of Indians listed as engaged in rubber cultivation was about 15 per cent (35 males and 22 females). The 'Not Employed' category included 18 males and 26 females (12 per cent of the population). The remaining 23 per cent of the Indians were engaged in a variety of occupations, such as proprietors of businesses (10 persons), street vendors (8 persons), medical officers (3 persons), engineers (3 persons), clerks and typists (7 persons), domestic servants (11 persons), tailors (3 persons), cooks (3 persons), watchmen (7 persons), and others. Except for the estate population, almost all the Indians were engaged in urban occupations. By 1938, the Indian component of Brunei's labour force had declined further while their participation in the other sectors of the economy increased slowly. It is evident from Table 1.6 that by the late 1930s, Indian labour had become unimportant in the plantation sector. This could have been a result of repatriation of Indians under IIF conditions or their shift to the oilfields2 after their period of employment. Between 1930 and 1938 the size of Indian labour was reduced by about 50 per cent. Indian immigration and emigration patterns in the post-World War II years closely resembled the pre-war years. The plantation sector was unimportant for the immigration of Indian labour, which was now largely coming in for work in the oilfields of the British Malayan Petroleum Company (BMPC). All other Indian immigrants came as non-labourers to work for the government and in the business sector.

8

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

Table 1.6 Racial Distribution of Labour in Brunei, 1938

Race Malays and Bomeans Chinese Indians Javanese Total

Government (Public Works)

Island Trading Co. (Cutch Manufacturing)

373

145

19 2

394

145

British Malayan Petroleum Co. (Oil Mining)

Rubber Estates (Field and Factory Workers) Total

1,450 606

432 566 157 10

500 40

50

1,165

561

2,265

21

159

Source: Black (1938), p. 29.

The 1947 Population Census stated that the population of Indians that year was 454. Compared with 1931 this represented an increase of 77 persons, or 20.4 per cent. The population consisted of 434 males and 19 females, indicating the small number of families among Brunei Indians. Indians constituted about 1.1 per cent of the total Brunei population. By 1946 all labour in Brunei was free, with no contract or indentured labour allowed in the state. Also, as Brunei was no longer part of the Malayan administrative structure, the Controller of Labour for Malaya was no longer responsible for Brunei. The end of World War II saw more Indians coming into Brunei than those departing after their term of work, resulting in a nett annual gain of Indians in Brunei (Table 1.7). Table 1.7 Brunei: Arrival and Departure of Indians

Year

Arrival

Departure

Nett Gain (+)I Loss(-)

1949 1951 1952 1954

675 513 1,078 1,266

501 419 759 1,069

+174 + 94 +319 +197

Sources: Annual Reports on Brunei.

A Community in Transition

9

Most of the Indian immigration in the 1950s was for work in the oilfields at Seria. Though the number of Indian arrivals in the non-labour category was increasing, those who came to work as labourers in the BMPC formed the entire labour force among the Indians. South Indians constituted many of the drilling gangs and did most of the stevedoring both at Kuala Belait and Seria (Pretty 1950, p. 5). From the early 1950s, the oil industry was expanding in terms of continued exploration work. As a result the BMPC experienced considerable difficulty in obtaining a sufficient supply of both skilled and unskilled labour. In 1955 oil was found at Jerundong, approximately 23 kilometres outside Brunei Town. This was the first new find of oil in Brunei since the Seria field was discovered in 1929. The need for more skilled and artisan workers from India was widely felt (State of Brunei Annual Report 1955). Thus, the Indian component of the BMPC' s labour force rose from 7.1 per cent in 1949 to more than double that in 1955 (Table 1.8). More Indians continued to come to the state despite the fact that the total labour

Table 1.8 Indian Labour in the British Malayan Petroleum Company (BMPC)

Year

Number of Indians in BMPC's Total Labour Force

Percentage of Indians in BMPC' s Total Labour Force

BMPC's Total Labour Force for All Ethnic Groups

1946 1949 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1961 1962 1963 1964

179 329 388 522 744 677 642 490 316 219 43 32 27 25

10.1 7.1 11.2 12.8 15.0 15.7 15.5 14.5 11.3 8.6 2.4 2.1 1.8 1.6

1,771 4,614 3,468 4,087 4,959 4,320 4,145 3,384 2,785 2,550 1,800 1,541 1,476 1,598

Sources: Annual Reports on Brunei.

10

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

force of the BMPC had peaked by 1954. After 19583 the number of Indians in the BMPC labour force declined steeply. By 1964 Indians formed only 1.6 per cent of the reduced labour force. This decline should not be interpreted as a deliberate reduction of Indians in the labour force. The BMPC was already reducing its total labour force and by 1956, was beginning to contract out work to private contractors. In 1956, for instance, there were 2,000 workers employed by contractors within the oilfield area. It is possible that not all retrenched workers left Brunei. They might have left the BMPC only to join the contract labour gangs. Some of the skilled workers might have become contractors, hiring their former colleagues for work. Most of the workers employed at the BMPC were Malayalis from Kerala. Many of them had pre-war and post-war experience working in the oilfields of Iran and the Gulf states. The BMPC generally recruited these workers through the Burmah Oil Company's offices at Madras in South India. Some of the workers also had work experience in the Labuan oil company. Thus very early in the history of BMPC, the bulk of the Indian population was Malayalam-speaking. The reduction in the oilfield labour force also led to the reduction of Malayalam-speaking Indians in Brunei.4 The post-war years also saw the rise of Indian contractors in Brunei. These contractors recruited their own labour and took on contracts from the Brunei Government's Public Works Department as well as in the oilfield. 5 Many of the oilfield labourers and newer workers might have shifted to work with the new companies. The discovery of offshore oil and political disturbances in 1962 started a new phase of Indian involvement in Brunei. Nepalese (commonly referred to as the Gurkhas) were brought in as part of the British military presence to protect the oil installations at Seria. In addition a military formation known as the Gurkha Reserve Unit, which had no connection with the British Army, was instrumental in bringing more Gurkhas to Brunei. Thus by the 1960s, the Indian population of Brunei comprised Tamils, Malayalis, and Nepalese, whereas formerly the Tamils and Malayalis constituted the bulk of the Indian population.

Contemporary Population and Settlement In 1971 the population oflndians in Brunei numbered 2,162, accounting for 1.6 per cent of the total population. The Nepalese who served in the army and the Gurkha Reserve Unit were excluded from the category of Indians.

A Community in Transition

II

However in 1981, with the inclusion of Nepalese in the Indian category, a 173.8 per cent rise in the Indian population between 1971 and 1981 resulted. The Indians then constituted 3.1 per cent of the total population of Brunei. Thus the Nepalese associated with the security aspects of Brunei formed more than 50 per cent of the Indian population of Brunei. Table 1.9 shows the distribution of Indians in the five districts of Brunei Darussalam. Except for the Temburong district, all the other areas showed sharp increases in the Indian population. The Belait district had the largest population, followed by Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei-Muara, and Tutong districts. Despite the increased population, it is clearly evident that the Indian population did not have a balanced sex ratio. In 1971 there were

Table 1.9 Indian Population of Brunei by Sex and District, 1971 and 1981 Percentage Change

1971

1981

1971-81

Bandar Seri Begawan Male Female

833 627 206

2,001 1,389 612

140.2 121.5 197.1

Brunei/Muara Male Female

214 188 26

967 771 196

351.9 310.1 653.8

Belait Male Female

999 646 353

2,540 1,616 924

154.3 150.2 161.8

Tutong Male Female

44 31 13

365 334 31

729.5 977.4 138.5

Temburong Male Female

72 70 2

46 40 6

-36.1 -42.9 200.0

2,162 1,562 600

5,919 4,150 1,769

173.8 165.7 194.8

District

State of Brunei Male Female

Source: Summary Tables of the Brunei Population Census, 1981 (1982), p. 34.

12

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

only 38 women to every 100 males, and in 1981 this became 43 women for every 100 males, indicating the significance of transitory male migrants amongst the Indians in Brunei. An examination of the settlement pattern within each of the districts for 1981 shows that the Indians were concentrated only in certain mukims, owing to the nature of their economic pursuits. In the Bandar Seri Begawan district, about 75 per cent ofthe Indians lived within Mukim Bandar Seri Begawan, that is, the town proper. The rest of the five mukims each had no more than a hundred Indians. This might be because of the preponderant involvement of Indians in the commercial sector of Brunei, while the others might be involved in working for the government. Indians in the Brunei-Muara district were largely found in Mukims Berakas and Gadong. Each mukim had 200 to 300 Indians. Mukim Berakas was largely an area for the housing of civil servants and an army can1p. In Mukim Gadong the Indians were largely found in the light industrial zones. Mukims Lumapass, Kota Batu, and Mentri had less than 27 Indians each, while Mukims Serasa and Pengkalan Batu had 30 to 90 Indians each. Of the 2,540 Indians living in the Belait district, Mukim Seria alone housed 2,061 Indians. Within Mukim Seria itself, 74 per cent of the Indians were residing in the Military Area, indicating the large presence of Nepalese in the British Battalion. Mukim Kuala Belait had only 383 Indians. Except for Mukim Sungai Liang's Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) area, the other

Table 1.10 Age and Sex Distribution of Indians in Brunei, 1981 Age

Total

Male

Female

Under 5 years 5-9 years 10-14 years 15-44 years 45 and over Not stated

627 472 329 3,979 498 14

316 256 159 3,016 393 10

311 216 170 963 105 4

All ages

5,919

4,150

1,769

Source: Summary Tables of the Brunei Population Census, 1981 (1982), p. 40.

A Community in Transition

13

five mukims in the Belait district had only a negligible number of Indians. Thus in the 1980s, the Belait district showed a total transformation in the composition of the Indian community living in the district. Whereas formerly the majority of the Indians were Malayalis, the dominant Indian group had become Nepalese. Of the 365 Indians in the Tutong district, Mukim Pekan Tutong (the town) alone had 332 Indians. The other seven mukims had a negligible number of Indians. Temburong district showed a decline in the Indian population since 1971. In 1981 there were only 46 Indians. Of these, 41 were living in Mukim Bangar, the major town of Temburong district. As noted earlier on, not all ethnic Indians in Brunei came from South Asian countries. Ethnic Indians arrived in Brunei from many countries in the region and elsewhere. A discussion of the place of birth of Indians in Brunei would help to illustrate this. As evident from Table 1.11, 40 per cent of the Indians in Brunei in 1981 were born in Nepal, while about 37 per cent ofthe Indians were born in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Thus, about 77 per cent of the Indians appeared to have originated from South Asia. Only about 12 per cent of the Indians were born in Brunei. Thus with about 88 per cent of the Indians born outside Brunei, the community remained largely a transitory one. This transitory nature of the Indian population becomes more explicit on examining the residence status of Indians. All migrants to Brunei are classified as citizens, permanent residents, or temporary residents. Citizenship is given only to a select few. Being born in Brunei is insufficient to qualify one for citizenship. 6 Permanent residence is also granted on a very stringent basis, and once granted it allows one to work without a permit but it does not confer the right to own property. Temporary residence is granted to all who come to work in Brunei. This may be valid from one to three years, after which the holder has to return to his home country before returning to work in Brunei. Thus, it is extremely difficult for temporary residents to qualify for permanent residence or citizenship. Of the 5,919 Indians in Brunei in 1981, only 3 per cent were Brunei citizens (Table 1.12). In addition about 5 per cent had been granted permanent residence. The remaining 92 per cent of the Indians were temporary residents or stateless persons who would eventually leave Brunei and might be replaced by a new influx of younger Indians. Thus one may postulate that, devoid of the temporary residents, the permanent Indian population of Brunei would be reduced to about 8 per cent of the total.

14

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

Table 1.11 Country of Birth of Ethnic Indians in Brunei, 1981 All Communities

Indians

139,167 (72.2) 37,544 (19.5) 3,038 (1.6) 2,522 (1.3) 2,394 (1.2)

715 (12.1) 322 (5.4)

Philippines Hong Kong

2,341 (1.2) 1,792 (0.9) 1,298 551

2,182 (36.9) 146 (2.5) 3 212 (3.6)

Netherlands Thailand Indonesia Korea Other countries Not stated

285 278 235 235 1,078 74

13 1

192,832 (100.0)

5,919 (100.0)

Country of Birth

Brunei Malaysia China and Taiwan United Kingdom Nepal India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh Singapore

Total

14 2,306 (40.0)

4 1

Figures in parentheses indicate percentages.

Source: Summary Tables of the Brunei Population Census, 1981 (1982), p. 49.

The Economic Position of Indians The economic position of Indians in Brunei is largely determined by the expertise that they bring in with them. Except for the businessmen who bring with them capital and business acumen, the Indians arrive to work as employees of the government or private companies. Thus their literacy level

A Community in Transition

15

Table 1.12 Resident Status of Indians in Brunei, 1981 Status

Country of Birth

Total

Nepal India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh Other countries

2,306

2,182 1,431

All ethnic Indians

5,919

Brunei Citizen

Permanent Resident

Temporary Resident

10

2,296

15 171

76 179

2,088 875

3 206

186

265

5,259

209

Others

Source: Summary Tables of the Brunei Population Census, 1981 (1982), pp. 50, 98.

and educational attainment are important determinants of their economic position in Brunei. Of the 4,911 Indians aged 9 years and over in 1981, 85 per cent of them were literate, that is, they had the ability to read and write in some language (Summary Tables of the Brunei Population Census, 1981 1982, pp. 107-35). This was 5 per cent above the national literacy rate of 80 per cent. However, in 1971, 89 per cent of the Indians were literate compared to the national literacy rate of 69 per cent (Report on the Census of Population 1971 1972, pp. 145-49). This change between 1971 and 1981 largely reflected the large inflow of Nepalese into Brunei for the purpose of maintaining security. About 82 per cent of the Indians in Brunei had some education (Table 1.13), compared with 72 per cent for all persons in Brunei. About a quarter of the Indians had primary level education, which was similar to the rest of Brunei's population. Beyond the high school level, 15 per cent of the Indians had attained tertiary education, compared to 9 per cent for all persons in Brunei. Thus, even though the percentage of Indians with primary education was similar to all persons in Brunei, Indians were better represented at all educational attainment levels. As a result, Indians in general were well placed to be gainfully employed. Moreover, there was no significant difference among Indians who were citizens, permanent residents, or temporary residents in their educational attainment (Table 1.14).

16

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

Table 1.13 Educational Attainment of Indians Aged 5 Years and over in Brunei, 1981 Indians Total Population in Brunei*

Total Population

No schooling

30,805 (28.3)

Attended Primary 1-6

Educational Attainment

Male

Female

785 (17.5)

372

413

24,065 (22.1)

960 (21.4)

779

181

5,006 (4.6)

192 (4.3)

179

13

Attended Form 1-3 without LCE

20,190 (18.5)

821 (18.3)

732

89

Passed LCE. Attended Form 4-5 without SC

12,473 (11.5)

609 (13.6)

507

102

Passed SC. Attended L6

6,080 (5.6)

348 (7.8)

273

75

Attended U6, University, Technical College

1,415 (1.3)

133 (3.0)

106

27

Technical, commercial, teachers' certificate or diploma

4,889 (4.5)

178 (4.0)

128

50

Certificate or diploma in medical course

371 (0.3)

14 (0.3)

5

9

Professional diploma or degree

2,649 (2.4)

354 (7.9)

244

110

933 (0.9)

82 (1.9)

75

7

108,876 (100.0)

4,476 (100.0)

3,400

1,076

Passed Primary 6

Not stated

Total

* Excludes all persons still attending school. Figures in parentheses indicate percentages. LCE - Lower Certificate Examination SC - School Certificate U6- Upper Sixth Form L6 - Lower Sixth Form Source: Summary Tables of the Brunei Population Census, 1981 (1982), p. 170.

A Community in Transition

17

Table 1.14 Educational Attainment oflndians in Brunei by Residential Status, 1981 * Educational Level

No schooling Primary schooling High school Tertiary education Not stated Total

*

Brunei Citizen

Permanent Resident

Temporary Resident

Others

21 23 41 18

27 42 81 23 3

723 1,023 1,581 618 62

14 64 75 20 16

104

176

4,007

189

Excludes all full-time students.

Source: Summary Tables of the Brunei Population Census, 1981 (1982), pp. 172, 174, 176.

Table 1.15 Indian Population in Brunei Aged 15 Years and over by Type of Activity and Sex, 1981 Indians Type of Economic Activity

Economically active Employer Employee Own account worker Family worker Unemployed Not economically active Others Not stated Total

All Persons in Brunei

Total

Male

70,690 (59.6) 951 62,511 4,256 410 2,562

3,560 (79.3) 56 3,364 94 6 40

3,305

255

56 3,127 90 4 28

237 4 2 12

47,835 (40.4) 47,779 56

931 (20.7) 926 5

114

817

111 3

815 2

118,525 (100.0)

4,491 (100.0)

3,419

1,072

Female

Figures in parentheses indicate percentages. Source: Summary Tables of the Brunei Population Census, 1981 (1982), pp. 181, 185, 188.

18

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

Among the Indians who were economically active, only about 2 per cent were employers and another 3 per cent were self-employed workers (Table 1.15). Almost 95 per cent of them were employees. This is expected given the fact that the major employers in Brunei were the government and Brunei Shell Petroleum Company. It is also important to note that 76 per cent of the Indian women did not participate in the economy. These women were mainly housekeepers or engaged in full-time schooling. An analysis of Brunei Indians by occupation shows that 52 per cent of the Indians were employed as service workers (Tables 1.15 and 1.16). Table 1.16 Indian Working Population in Brunei by Major Occupations, 1981

Occupation

Professional, Technical and Related Workers Administration and Managerial Workers Clerical and Related Workers Sales Workers Service Workers Agricultural, Animal Husbandry and Forestry Workers, Fishermen and Hunters Production and Related Workers, Transport Equipment Operators and Labourers Workers Not Classifiable by Occupation All Occupations

Percentage of Indians in the Occupation Category

All Persons in Brunei

Indians

9,838 (14.4) 2,061 (3.0) 7,689 (11.3) 4,072 (6.0) 14,757 (21.7) 5,838 (8.6)

463 (13.2) 53 (1.5) 106 (3.0) 412 (11.7) 1,845 (52.4) 94 (2.7)

23,639 (34.7)

543 (15.4)

2.3

234 (0.3)

4 (0.1)

1.7

68,128 (100.0)

3,520 (100.0)

4.7 2.6 1.4 5.4 12.5 1.6

Figures in parentheses indicate percentages.

Source: Summary of Tables of the Brunei Population Census, 1981 (1982), p. 192.

A Community in Transition

19

They accounted for 13 per cent of the workers in this category for the whole of Brunei. The second occupation sector that was important for Indian participation was that of 'Production and Re_lated Workers'. About 15 per cent of the Indians were employed in this occupation category. Even though this category was the largest employer of all persons in Brunei (35 per cent), it was only the second most important sector to Indians. Indian representation in this occupation category was only 2.3 per cent. The third important sector for Indian participation was the 'Professional, Technical and Related Workers' category. About 13 per cent of the Indians were employed in this category. Indian participation in this sector was 5 per cent of all persons employed. 'Sales Workers' category employed about 12 per cent of the Indians in Brunei. Though this sector accounted for only 6 per cent employment for all persons in Brunei, it was the fourth important category for employment of Indians. Indians accounted for 5 per cent of the workers in this occupational category. Thus the four major occupational sectors for Indians in Brunei in order of importance were 'Service Workers', 'Production and Related Workers', 'Professional, Technical and Related Workers', and 'Sales Workers'. An analysis of these four occupational sectors reveals important details of the economic position of the Indians in Brunei. In the case of 'Service Workers', almost 76 per cent of them were employed as 'protective service workers'. That is they were largely the Gurkhas employed in the maintenance of security of Brunei. The next major jobs undertaken by Indians in this category were as cooks, waiters, bartenders, and related workers. These jobs accounted for 11 per cent of the employment in this category. One of the noticeable jobs in this category was that associated with laundrymen, dry cleaners, and pressers. There were 62 Indians doing this job in 1981, but they accounted for 48 per cent of all persons doing laundry work in Brunei. Indian laundry shops were visible in all the towns in Brunei. In the 'Production and Related Workers' category, Indians performed the following jobs in order of numerical size: tailoring and associated work, food processing, and production supervision. The jobs of well-drillers, borers, and related workers were done by only eleven Indians. This is in contrast to the past decades during which Indians were identified as technical staff specializing in oil-drilling. Oil-drilling, the important reason for early Indian migration to Brunei, now hardly figured as even a subsidiary activity for Indians in this category.

20

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

Indians were found in all jobs of the 'Professional, Technical and Related Workers' category. Teachers formed 58 per cent of the persons in this category. They were followed by, in order of numerical size, draughtsmen and engineering assistants (10 per cent), doctors, dentists, and veterinarians (9 per cent), engineers (9 per cent), and nurses and midwives (5 per cent). Indians also worked as scientists, statisticians, lawyers, and aircraft officers. Most notably, Indians formed 37 per cent of all persons employed as doctors, dentists, and veterinarians. 7 This category is also notable for the visible number of working Indian women in Brunei. Women

Table 1.17 Indian Working Population in Brunei by Industrial Group, 1981

Industry

Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Mining and Quarrying Manufacturing Electricity, Gas and Water Construction Wholesale and Retail Trade, Restaurant and Hotel Transport, Storage and Communication Community, Social and Personal Services Unknown

Total

All Persons in Brunei

Indians

3,435 (5.2) 3,863 (5.8) 2,783 (4.2) 1,961 (3.0) 12,644 (19.1) 7,363 (11.1) 4,527 (6.8) 29,282 (44.3) 259 (0.5)

190 (5.5) 29 (0.8) 128 (3.7) 740 (21.4) 96 (2.8) 2,168 (62.6) 7 (0.2)

66,117 (100.0)

3,463 (100.0)

Percentage of Indians in the Industrial Category

45 (1.3) 60

1.3 1.6

(1.7)

6.8 1.5

l.O 10.0 2.1 7.4 (2.7)

Figures in parentheses indicate percentages.

Source: Summary Tables of the Brunei Population Census, 1981 (1982), p. 221.

A Community in Transition

21

formed 37 per cent of the Indians working in this occupational category. Most of them were teachers, followed by nurses and doctors. This is totally in contrast to the position of working Indian women in the 1930s. In the 1930s, almost all the Indian women in Brunei were plantation workers, whereas in the 1980s the majority of working Indian women were professionals. Among the Indians in the 'Sales Workers' category 73 per cent of them were general salesmen and shop assistants. The rest were managers, sales supervisors, and agents. Thus, it is evident that Indians in Brunei were employed in the best growth sectors of the economy. Further analysis by the type of industry the Indians were engaged in indicates a similar pattern. As shown in Table 1.17 Indian employment by industry was most significant in the 'Wholesale and Retail Trade, Restaurant and Hotel' group. Indians accounted for 10 per cent in this group. This is a traditional sector in which Indians have participated since the beginning of this century. The next important industry group was the 'Community, Social and Personal Services' group, where Indian participation accounted for 7 per cent. This is a new sector which became important since the early 1960s. Performance of security work by Gurkhas is the major determinant for increased Indian participation in this sector. The third industry was manufacturing, where Indian participation accounted for 7 per cent.

Community and Identity in the Transitory Community Employment in the government sector, the oilfields in Seria, and the businesses have been the main reasons for Indian migration to Brunei since the 1930s. Their number and extent of involvement have varied with the economic conditions in Brunei as well as the state's stringent policy of offering citizenship or permanent residence only to a select few. This policy has been applied to all persons entering to work in Brunei. As such the element of any special policy directed against Indians is hardly present. The majority of the Indians coming into Brunei have been on short-term work contracts, most of them leaving after their sojourn in Brunei. Thus the Indian community, except for a small minority who are citizens and permanent residents, has been transitory. This transitory community of sojourners has been unable to develop any clear sense of community or identity in Brunei. However, organizational features have been created to meet immediate social and cultural needs of

22

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

various groups of ethnic Indians living in Brunei at any one time. These features have been continued by newer individuals. The most elementary forms of group identity among Indians have been along linguistic and religious lines. It is here that a newly arrived Indian found friendship, assistance, and often information about employment in order to adjust to life in Brunei. At the next level have been the Indian organizations constituted to meet the needs of the various groups for social and cultural identity. Some of these organizations have risen to the national level to offer community representation at state events. None of these community formations have been thought of in terms of propagating Bruneian Indian identity. All Indians in Brunei agree with the state's model of being a Malay sultanate and an Islamic state, and as a result any Indian identity posited remains only at the individual and group levels.

Linguistic and Religious Affinities In terms of linguistic affiliations, more of the Indians in Brunei are Tamils, Malayalis, Punjabis, Sindhis, and Nepalese. There are also a handful of Urdu and Bengali speakers. The Tamils and Malayalis are further distinguished by religions such as Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. All Punjabis are followers of Sikhism. All Sindhis and Nepalese are Hindus. The Nepalese are hardly mentioned in the affairs of the Brunei Indian community, as they lead a removed and secluded life in their army and police cantonments. Their life revolves around their two-year posting for military duty at Seria or at the security duty areas if they have been recruited by the government for work in the Gurkha Reserve Unit. Any religious and cultural practices of the community are confined within the cantonment grounds. Thus even though the Nepalese represent the largest and most homogeneous group among the Indians in Brunei, they do not enter in significant ways in community formation. The Tamil Muslims number about 800 persons, most of them living in Bandar Seri Begawan. The most affluent of them own about fifty business· establishments, while the rest are shop assistants. The Tamil Muslim businesses specialize in textiles, provisions, books, magazines, and sports goods. Some of them operate restaurants. Until1981, one of their centres of residence was at Kampung Air, where they also had a prayer house. 8 The Hindus among the Tamils are largely found in Bandar Seri Begawan. Those who are teachers live in different parts of the state. Some of the early workers at Seria oilfields have now become well-established

A Community in Transition

23

contractors and their descendants continue to live in Kuala Belait. Historically, Ceylon Tamils have formed a significant number of the workers in the Public Works Department. A large number of newly arrived Tamils come from Malaysia and are in a variety of occupations such as doctors and teachers. The Malayali predominance in the Kuala Belait area has been replaced by professionals in a number of sectors, such as the teaching profession and medical services. The Malayalam language forges unity among the Malayalis, who are Christians, Hindus, or Muslims. The Sikhs, numbering about thirty-two families, are largely found in Bandar Seri Begawan (twenty families) and Kuala Belait (eight families). A few of the early migrants have become citizens while the rest are either Indian nationals or Malaysians. Most of the Sikhs are in business. They specialize mainly in sports goods, textiles, ready-made garments, and carpets. The rest work as drivers, doctors, teachers, and engineers. There are only nine Sindhi families in Brunei, with five of them in Bandar Seri Begawan and the rest in Kuala Belait-Seria. Their business dealings are mainly with Singapore. In terms of kinship ties the Bandar Seri Begawan families maintain links with India, while the Kuala Belait families are closer to Singapore and Malaysia. These linguistic and religious affinities are helpful to new arrivals. Even now, many of them obtain a job in Brunei through these linkages before arriving. These affinities perform the function of mutual-aid organizations in helping the new arrivals overcome adjustment problems. Already well known to each other, the new arrivals reciprocate the friendship ties by participating in all events organized by these groups.

Social Organizations There are four major social organizations among the Indians in Brunei. These are the Indian Association at Kuala Belait-Seria, the Indian Association at Bandar Seri Begawan, the Hindu Welfare Board, and the Indian Chamber of Commerce. The Indian Association at Kuala Belait-Seria was started in the pre-war years to promote social, cultural, and sports activities in the community. V.K.A. Pillai, a senior engineer with the Public Works Department, N. Subramaniam, and M. Chidambaram were among the founder members of the Association. V.K.A. Pillai was its first president. The Association's premises were destroyed in an aerial bombing of Seria during the war. The Association was revived in the post-war years and in 1951 a new

24

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

building was erected at Seria. The Association has celebrated activities aimed at different levels of community identity. The two coronations of the Sultan of Brunei in 1951 and 1968 were celebrated in a grand manner. The Association also celebrates the birthday of the Sultan each year. It invites local government officials to grace its community functions. In its identification with India, it maintains regular contact with the Indian High Commissioner to Brunei and celebrates Indian Republic Day. The Silver Jubilee Celebration of Indian Independence Day in 1972 and the Art and Craft Exhibition in 1960 were organized by the Association. It also organizes functions associated with Onam (Malayali Festival), Deepavali, and other Indian festivals. The Indian Association at Kuala Belait-Seria has remained an active association among Brunei Indians. Over the years the Association has been gradually transformed, owing to the reduction in the number of Indians working in the oilfields. In the past the Association's main strength came from Shell employees and leadership came from the Accounts Department of Shell. At the beginning, membership was restricted to Indian nationals, but in recent years it has been opened to all ethnic Indians. There had been a number of attempts to establish an association for Indians living in Brunei Town9 in the pre-war years. In 1938, for instance, Indians residing in Brunei Town, Muara, and Tutong attended a gathering held at Muthian's 10 shop to consider establishing an association for Indians. The meeting established a committee with A. Muthian as the president, Nadaraja Ayer as the vice-president and secretary, and A.M. Mohammed Ali Maricar as the treasurer. In 1942 another meeting was conducted to elect Thandapani as president, Nadaraja Ayer as vice-president, V.A. George as secretary, and A.M. Mohammed Ali Maricar as treasurer. The association had about thirty members. In 1954 the Indian Association was again reconstituted with about twenty members and a constitution. In 1964 the Association was granted a piece of burial ground by the government to be used as an Indian cemetery. In 1971 the Association was renamed the Bandar Seri Begawan Indian Association in line with the name change of Brunei Town. The Association has tried to give a sense of community to Indians and to outsiders. Among Indians it has organized cultural events like Deepavali, Onam, Pongal, and others to bring together the Indians in Bandar Seri Begawan. It also organizes Indian Independence Day celebrations and main-

A Community in Transition

25

tains a close rapport with the Indian High Commission. The Association hosted a reception for the former Sultan in 1960 and has participated annually in the birthday celebrations of the Sultan of Brunei. In 1984, together with the Indian Association at Kuala Belait-Seria and the Indian Chamber of Commerce, it spearheaded the Brunei independence celebrations. In 1988 the organization had 204 members. Compared to the two Indian associations in Bandar Seri Begawan and Kuala Belait-Seria, which cater to local interests at the two geographical ends of Brunei state, the Indian Chamber of Commerce was set up to cater to all Indians in the state of Brunei. It was formed in April1972 by a Brunei Indian lawyer, Bikrarn Jit, and twenty-five other businessmen. It makes representations whenever there is a need and participates in state-level trade missions. However, all its forty-five members in 1984 were from Bandar Seri Begawan. The membership is predominantly Tamil Muslim, indicating the widespread presence of Tamil Muslims in the business sector of Bandar Seri Begawan. The Hindu Welfare Board, compared to the other three organizations, is a religious organization established to take care of Hindus in Brunei state. Though there is evidence of its formation in 1962, the organization was officially registered only in 1970. Begun as the Hindu Cremation Board, its name was later changed to Hindu Welfare Board. The Board's basic purpose is to attend to the funerals of Hindus in Brunei. It maintains a burial ground and a crematorium at Seria. The Hindu Welfare Board admits members irrespective of their national identity. Bnmei citizens and ethnic Indians from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and India freely participate in the organization. The Board has not been able to obtain land to build a temple, but it has been allowed the use of the Kali temple at the Gurkha cantonment in Seria for its religious festivals. Festivals such as Thaipusam, Deepavali, and Tamil Hindu New Year are celebrated on a large scale at the temple. The Hindu Welfare Board uses Tamil in its rituals and follows the Tamil Hindu calendar in its religious events. The Board estimates the number of Hindus in Brunei to be around 250. All the four associations use English in their official administration. The two Indian associations use English so that all Indian ethnic groups can come together for social and cultural events. The Indian Chamber of Commerce and the Hindu Welfare Board, owing to their predominantmem-

26

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

bership of Tamils, cater also to their respective linguistic and religious groups. As the members of these organizations are generally temporary residents, the roles of these organizations vary from period to period. Their membership size is totally dependent on the economic developments in Brunei.

Community Identity at the State Level Social trends in Brunei often require Indians to show their participation in the affairs of the state. In all societal events, the government also recognizes the presence of ethnic Indians in Brunei. In such situations, the Indians act through their three secular associations to organize events. When Brunei gained independence in 1984, the Bandar Seri Begawan Indian Association, the Kuala Belait-Seria Indian Association, and the Indian Chamber of Commerce came together to plan the celebrations. They jointly published a commemorative journal, took part in the national procession, organized cultural performances, and erected an illuminated arch during the celebration period.

Conclusion Among all the Southeast Asian countries, Brunei Darussalam is the only country where Indians still form a transitory community that is constantly undergoing change owing to the arrival and departure of its members. A review of Indians in Brunei demonstrates the close link between the size of the Indian population and the level of economic activity in the state. Indians are allowed into Brunei as sojourners, as a result of which a community of Indians has not been able to evolve. However, the social and cultural needs of individuals and groups have often led to organizations being established. As a result of the transitory nature of the Indian community, families and associated cultural forms have not been able to develop to the fullest extent. As such, issues of integration or assimilation of Indians into Brunei society have to remain unanswered. At the cursory level only the Tamil Muslims, because of their similarity of faith with Brunei Malays, can claim any in-depth interaction. All other Indians only interact with Brunei Malays and others in a socially segmented manner. Like all other sojourners in Brunei Darussalam, Indians meet Brunei Malays at their work sites. There the interaction ends. In this compartmentalized and segmented social milieu it is difficult to perceive any further social development.

A Community in Transition

27

Table 1.18 Literacy of Indians in Brunei Aged 9 Years and Over by Language of Literacy, 1971, 1981

Literate in Malay or in Malay and English, or Malay, Chinese, and English Literate in English only Literate in other languages only Literate population

1971

1981

480 (28.7) 717 (42.9) 476 (28.4) 1,673 (100.0)

1,105 (26.5) 1,887 (45.2) 1,181 (28.3) 4,173 (100.0)

Figures in parentheses indicate percentages. Sources: Report on the Census of Population 1971 (1972), pp. 145-49; Summary Tables of the Brunei Population Census, 1981 (1982), pp. 107-35.

Besides the segmentation in economic life, language itself is a barrier to communication between Indians and Brunei Malays. In 1981 almost 74 per cent of the literate Indians in Brunei were not literate in Malay (Table 1.18). As all Indians are employed for their expertise in one area or another and are expected to have a good command of English, their knowledge of Malay has remained limited. Indeed in 1971 and 1981, the censuses indicated that less than 30 per cent of the Indians were literate in Malay. All the same Indians continue to flourish in the 'Abode of Peace', enjoying one of the highest incomes while contributing to its continued peace and prosperity. NOTES 1. The Controller of Labour for Malaya was the ex-officio Chairman of the Indian Immigration Committee which administered the Indian Immigration Fund (IIF). All travelling expenses of such labourers to their places of employment were paid from the IIF. The income of this Fund was derived from a quarterly assessment levied on all employers of South Indian labourers based on the number of days' work done by such labourers during the quarter. 2. For work in the oilfields Indian labour received fairly higher pay than others. The Chinese received 40-50 cents per day plus rations; In-

28

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

dians received 70-95 cents per day; Malays received 55-95 cents; and Dayaks received 45-65 cents. Indian labour appears to have been considered valuable. In 1957, BMPC's rights were transferred to Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Limited (BSPC). It is uncertain as to whether there was a policy change about recruiting Indians at BSPC. Malayalis who have formerly worked in Brunei feel that Malayali labour was specially identified for possible reduction and non.,recruitment as Kerala, the home state of Malayalis in India, became a communist party-ruled state, and the Brunei authorities feared the spread of communism and trade unionism through Malayalis. The Annual Report of 1954 mentioned that twelve workers went on strike at the Peninsular Construction Company, a firm of Indian contractors doing work for the Public Works Department. Various types of identity cards are issued for different categories of people in Brunei. Citizens are issued yellow identity cards, permanent residents carry red identity cards, and temporary residents carry green identity cards. Indians figure prominently in the Brunei medical service. For example, Dato Dr T. Panch is the District Medical Officer in charge of the Suri Begawan Hospital at Kuala Belait. He has been awarded honours by the Sultan of Brunei with Campaign Medal, First Class. He has also been conferred P.S.B. and P.H.B.S. First Class and conferred Data Paduka D.P.M.B. in 1973. Similarly, Dato Dr I.G. Singh, D.S.N.B., D.P.M.B., P.I.K.B., has been highly decorated and is in charge of administration at Raja Isteri Anak Saleha General Hospital. He is also the District Medical Officer of Bandar Seri Begawan. Prior to 1981, many Indian Muslim businessmen brought in cheap Indian labourers and housed them in crammed houses in Kampung Air. The houses were rented out cheaply and each contained thirty to forty people. Some of these Indian Muslims were also doing petty trading on their own without valid business licences. Upon discovering these conditions and practices, the government passed the following regulations in 1981: (a) No non-citizen could stay in Kampung Air or rent premises there. (b) The employers of Indian workers should provide better living quarters or the workers would be deported.

A Community in Transition

29

Indians not employed by bona fide business establishments must go back to India or do business in proper premises and obtain valid business licences. These measures led to the deportation of about 600 Indian Muslims in 1981-82 (Singh 1982). Brunei Town became known as Bandar Seri Begawan on 4 October 1970. A. Muthian, one of the early traders in Brunei, has been a household name amongst the local people and Indians since 1942. He contributed actively to efforts within the Indian community and represented the Indian community at Istana functions. He passed away in 1980. His sons continue his business at Bandar Seri Begawan. (c)

9. 10.

REFERENCES Barcroft, J.C.H. Annual Report on Brunei for the Year 1951. Singapore: Malaya Publishing House, 1952. Black, J. Graham. Annual Report on the Social and Economic Progress of the People of Brunei, 1938. Singapore: Government Printing Office, 1938. Borneo Bulletin, 17 August 1968. Brown, D.E. "Brunei: The Structure and History of a Bomean Malay Sultanate". Brunei Museum Journal1, no. 2 (1970). Coedes, G. The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. Translated by Susan Brown and edited by F. Vella. Honolulu: East-West Center Press, 1968. Harper, G.C. The Discovery and Development of the Seria Oilfield. Brunei: Muzium Brunei, 1975. Harrison, Tom. "Gold and Indian Influences in West Borneo". Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (JMBRAS) 22, no. 4 (1949): 33-110. Jones, L.W. The Population of Borneo. London: Athlone, 1966. Matthew, N.M. "Who is Who". Unpublished monograph. Brunei: Bandar Seri Begawan Indian Association, 1988. McKerron, P.A.B. Report on the State of Brunei for the Year 1930. Singapore: Malaya Publishing House, 1931. Nicholl, Robert, ed. European Sources for the History of the Sultanate of Brunei in the Sixteenth Century. Bandar Seri Begawan: Muzium Brunei, 1975.

30

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

Noakes, J.L. Sarawak and Brunei: A Report on the 1947 Population Census. Kuching, Sarawak: Malayan Union Government Press, 1948. Peel, W.J. Annual Report on Brunei for the Year 1946. Kuala Lumpur: Malayan Union Government Press, 1948. Pretty, E.E.F. Annual Report on Brunei for the Year 1949. Singapore: Malaya Publishing House, 1950. Singh, D.S. Ranjit. "Field Notes on Indians in Brunei, 1982". Unpublished. University of Malaya. Report on the Census of Population 1971. Bahagian Ekonomi dan Perangkan Jabatan Setia Usaha Kerajaan. Bandar Seri Begawan: The Star Press, 1972. Summary Tables of the Brunei Population Census, 1981. Bahagian Perangkan Unit Perancang Ekonomi, Kementerian Kewangan, Bandar Seri Begawan, 1982. Vlieland, C. A. Report on the 1931 Census of British Malaya. Kuala Lumpur: Government Printer, 1932. Wijaya Merdeheka Brunei: Commemorative Issue on Brunei's Independence. Bandar Seri Begawan: Indian community, 1984. Yusof, P.M. Adat Istiadat (in Jawi script). Brunei, 1958.

Chapter 2

Indians in Indochina Nayan Chanda

Indian policy towards Indochina provides a unique example of a foreign policy in which history or the interest of nationals living in the area has exercised very little influence. India's first contact with what later became Indochina dates back to the first century AD. Until the middle of the thirteenth century, a succession of Hinduized kingdoms ruled over a large part of Indochina. From the beginning of the twentieth century, there was a new wave of Indian migration to French Indochina, thus re-establishing an old link, albeit in a different form. However, neither India's historic association with that part of the world nor the interest of the Indian community there appears to have played a significant role in shaping independent India's foreign policy. In fact, it is ironic that the recent spurt of Indian interest in Indochina dates from the total communist victory in the area in 1975 which led to the exodus of the majority of Indians living there.

Indians in Indochina One of the surprising things about India's millenary contact with Indochina is that India has been totally oblivious of this association. It was the research of French and Dutch scholars in the early part of this century that brought into focus the deep and abiding Indian cultural influence in Southeast Asia. Indian historians too subsequently delved into India's 'glorious past' in a bid to heighten nationalist feeling in the context of the growing freedom movement against British rule. In their nationalist fervour in rediscovering that past, some even went to the extent of calling Southeast Asia 'Greater India' .1 Notwithstanding extensive research about the influence of Indian culture, religion, and social and political ideas, very little is known about emigrant Indian communities in the area. A number of Indians, mostly from 31

32

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

the south and east, are believed to have come to what was then known as Funan, Champa, and Kambuja. According to the conjecture of a noted Indian scholar, traders, attracted by the lure of gold, silver, and spices, were the pioneers in establishing the initial contact. Others who followed in their wake included Brahmins and Buddhist monks "fired by the missionary spirit, impoverished kshatriyas (warrior caste) hoping by their prowess and military knowledge to restore their fortunes, and artisans and craftsmen trying to improve their social status and material welfare by the exercise of superior skill'? The same scholar speculates that the Indian emigrants married local women and deeply influenced the prevalent culture with their language, literature, religion, and social mores. The fusion between the Indian migrants and the Hinduized local people, he said, "was so complete that it is not always possible to distinguish between the two'? A Chinese envoy Chou Ta-kuan, who visited Cambodia in 1296, saw Brahmins wearing the sacred white thread in the streets. He did not say whether these Brahmins were of Indian origin but he mentioned seeing a Brahmin scholar and royal priest whose ancestors had come from India. 4 By the end of the nineteenth century, a new phase of Indian migration had started with the establishment of French rule over Indochina. Indians from the French possessions of Pondicherry, Karaikal, and Mahe started to trickle into Indochina in search of trade and job opportunities. Later Indians from Gujerat and Sindh also migrated to Indochina. Around 1910 there were approximately 1,000 Indians in the whole of Indochina.5 According to the census of 1937 there were some 6,000 "Asiatic foreigners", mostly Indians who were British subjects. Of these Indians 3,000 lived in Cambodia, 2,000 in Cochin China, and the rest in central and north Vietnam and Laos. According to the pioneering French economic historian of Indochina, Charles Robequain, about 1,000 of the Indians were from the French territories in India. They lived principally in the cities of Cochin China, especially Saigon, where they were engaged in textile trade, brokerage, and moneylending. He also noted that other Indians who were British Indian subjects resided mostly in Cochin China and Cambodia and engaged in brokerage and money-lending. They were mostly from the Madras region while some came from Sindh. 6 While the early Indian settlers in Indochina brought with them a rich culture, those who followed them nearly 1,000 years later had very little to contribute. The Indians with French nationality were given favoured positions in government and business by the colonial rulers, thus making them

Indians in Indochina

33

the object of scorn and envy of the local population. 7 While petty traders might have provided a useful service to the urban population in Indochina, the Chettiar businessmen earned notoriety as exploitative and usurious moneylenders. As the Agricultural Banks lent money only on first class security, over half the farmers in Indochina borrowed from the Chettiars and in the mid-1940s their outstanding loan amounted to 9 million piastres. 8 (The estimate of half the Indochinese farmers borrowing from Chettiars, however, appears high in view of the relatively small number of such moneylenders outside Cochin China.) One Indian writer has pointed out that the interest rates charged by the Chettiars were no more exorbitant than those of the Chinese money-lenders. He, however, notes that despite the risks they took in lending to people without security the Chettiars made huge profits. In Saigon there were three to four streets dominated by these Indian businessmen. As they were very religious minded, they built temples devoted to Hindu gods. The value of jewels and other assets in one temple in Saigon was estimated at 50 million Indian rupees in 197 I9 - a revealing indication of the wealth of the Chettiars. Although with the end of French rule some Indians of French nationality went to France or to the French territories in India, the vast majority stayed on in Laos, Cambodia, and the two Vietnams. The establishment of a communist-ruled Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) north of the 17th parallel affected Indian businessmen as it did others. The fact that India under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru established cordial relations with the DRV did not in any way alleviate the situation of some 500 Indians who were in the north. Within a year of the 1954 Geneva Agreement which ended French rule in Indochina, some 400 Indians had left North Vietnam to go to the south, or to Laos and Cambodia. In April1955 the Indian Parliament was told that some sixty Indian firms in North Vietnam had been compelled to close down because of "difficult" conditions. 10 New Delhi's enthusiastic espousal of the Geneva Agreement and its generally pro-DRV position in its performance as the chairman of the International Commission for Control and Supervision did not endear India to the South Vietnamese Government. Although this did not result in any overt discrimination against Indian nationals, the government tightened visa restrictions for Indian businessmen. However, a shift in New Delhi's position in favour of South Vietnam in 1959 as well as the greater trading opportunities offered by growing American involvement and spending in the south improved the scope for Indian traders. The same was true of Laos,

34

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

where American involvement dramatically increased from the early 1960s. Massive flows of American assistance to Laos and South Vietnam provided ample opportunity for flourishing import-export business and foreign currency deals. However, the political climate for the Indian business community in the south took a tum for the worse from 1970 when India again started leaning towards Hanoi. Following the Indian invitation to Madame Nguyen Thi Binh, the Foreign Minister of the Provisional Revolutionary Government (PRG) of South Vietnam (which was not yet recognized by New Delhi) there were repeated demonstrations outside the Indian consulate in Saigon and against Indian businessmen. Some demonstrators, such as the ex-servicemen's organization, threatened Indian shopkeepers, demanding that they leave the country or "face the consequences". Although no businessman appears to have left, their shops had to remain closed to avoid any untoward incidents. 11 Some representatives of the Indian community in South Vietnam travelled to New Delhi to plead with the government not to pursue policies that could be deemed hostile by Saigon. The Indian Foreign Ministry replied that it would not change its policy for the sake of Indian citizens in South Vietnam. In a heated debate in the Indian Parliament the Foreign Minister, Swaran Singh, was asked by opposition members whether it was not part of the Indian Government's policy to protect overseas Indians. Singh responded by saying that if in pursuing a "correct policy" a situation was created which brought about pressure on persons of Indian origin and if this "is used against us as a factor to bring about a change in our policy, we will resist it". 12 Such declarations about a "correct policy" notwithstanding, India delayed its recognition of the PRG till the day- 30 April 1975- when North Vietnamese tanks rolled into Saigon. The delay, however, was not due to any consideration for the Indian residents, many of whom, in any case, had begun to find South Vietnam a less attractive place. By May 1975 the total Indian population had dropped to some 1,500 for the whole of South Vietnam. During the height of the war, there were 2,000 Indian residents in Saigon alone. One obvious reason for the drop in the number of Indians on the eve of the communist take-over of South Vietnam was the massive exodus of the wealthy Vietnamese and a large portion of the foreign residents, including Indians, in the face of the South Vietnamese military collapse. In fact, the day before the fall of Saigon, some 250 relatively well-off Indians left

Indians in Indochina

35

Saigon for Singapore. The change of regime and the revolutionary transformation suddenly made persons of Indian origin aware of their nationality as a means of getting out of the country. For the first time since the establishment of the Indian consulate in Saigon the mission was besieged by Indians and their Vietnamese dependants seeking travel documents to leave Vietnam. The applications for Indian passports gave the consular officials their first clear glimpse into the lives of the citizens of Indian descent or nationality. While some 7,000 people claimed Indian nationality and thus the right to be repatriated, according to the official Indian count only 1,500 were Indians -about 1,000 Indian citizens and 500 stateless persons of Indian origin. 13 The others were either Vietnamese married to stateless Indians or second or third generation descendants of mixed Indian-Vietnamese parents. The leaders of the Indian community informed the consulate that on the eve of the communist victory most Indians were in Saigon. Only some eighteen families of Indian traders were thought to be in Pleiku, Kontum, Phu Bon, and Ban Me Thuot in the Central Highlands. Later consular officials discovered more Indian nationals, mostly petty traders and skilled labourers, in the Mekong delta towns and in cities like Danang on the central coast. In 1975 an overwhelming majority of the Indians in South Vietnam were from Tamil Nadu who were engaged in petty trade- textiles, jewellery, general merchandise retailing - and service professions. A number of Chettiars concentrated in Saigon were prosperous money-lenders who had also invested in real estate. One interesting feature of the Chettiars and other Hindu Tamils was that they rarely married local women but most often kept their families in India. They used to visit their families on an average of once every two years, that is, until the collapse of the Saigon regime. Indian Muslims, on the other hand, frequently married Vietnamese women and had large families. Sindhis generally went back to India to get married but raised their families in Vietnam. The fall of the Saigon regime proved as traumatic to the Indian community as to the Vietnamese themselves. While a handful of rich Indians had remitted the bulk of their money abroad and had set up businesses elsewhere, for many it meant loss not only of business and profession but of their adopted homeland as well. During the first days of communist victory, the businesses of some Indians in the provinces were reportedly pillaged, resulting in serious hardship. While the revolutionary administration provided such victims with food, many were forced to live

36

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

off the charity of their fellow countrymen. 14 With the exception of an Indian consular agent whose house was looted by robbers, the property of most Indians was untouched during the chaotic period leading up to the fall of Saigon to the communists. While there was no confiscation of property by the revolutionary authorities in the first weeks of the take-over, it was clear to most that the professions they practised would have no place in a socialist Vietnam. An Indian trader whose perfume and cosmetic business had virtually dried up within a few weeks told a reporter: "There seems no chance of things picking up again, and the only alternative for many people is to go." It was not that they faced any animosity from the new authorities, he said, but there was a feeling that there was no scope for their kind of operation. 15 The revolutionary transformations that started soon after left no doubt about the pessimistic prognosis. As the banks remained closed for two months there was a serious liquidity crisis leading to a virtual stoppage of commerce. In early July the banks (which had by then been nationalized) reopened but customers whose deposits did not exceed 100,000 piastres were allowed to withdraw only 10,000 piastres. Those who had larger amounts in the bank were not allowed to withdraw anything at all. 16 This move, which virtually stopped the rich from having cash in hand, was followed by a decree on 10 July 1975 prohibiting foreigners from transferring property by sale or gift or even by the delegation of powers for the administration of such property. These two measures were the first clear warning shots to capitalist traders that their time was up. An even graver blow came on 22 September 1975 when, in a surprise move, the government demonetized the former regime's currency. Although no questions were asked for large sums that Vietnamese or foreigners took to change, a ceiling was imposed on the amount of the new currency dong that one could withdraw from the bank. 17 While some enterprising businessmen managed to disperse their holdings and recover a large part of it in new currency, the reform brought about a general impoverishment by restricting the cash in circulation. Shortly before the currency reform, the National Bank had issued a communique banning possession of and transaction in foreign exchange. The 10 September 1975 communique stated that foreign nationals could retain the foreign exchange they possessed, but only with prior permission from the National Bank. These reforms and restrictions concerning foreign exchange convinced even the most optimistic among the Indian businessmen that the prudent course now was to leave with whatever money they could take along.

Indians in Indochina

37

From the end of May 1975 the authorities organized special flights by Air Vietnam to evacuate foreigners. A number of Indians who could afford to pay for the air tickets left Vietnam by such flights. Thanks to New Delhi's cordial relations with Hanoi, Indian nationals leaving Vietnam faced much less harassment from customs and immigration officials than did other foreigners, especially Westerners. While most foreigners leaving Vietnam were not allowed to take out more than a few hundred U.S. dollars, Indians were reportedly allowed to take out up to US$4,000. Although the Indian consulate was closed by the end of 1975, consular officials from the embassy in Hanoi were permitted to make frequent visits to the south to meet the remaining Indian nationals and arrange for their departure. In 1977 special flights by Air India were organized to evacuate those Indians who wanted to leave but did not have the means. According to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, in July 1980 some 200 persons of Indian origin were left in Vietnam. 18 These were mostly people who had no place to return to or were hard-core businessmen who would try every possible means to recover their investment before calling it quits. During a trip to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in early 1981 the author met two examples of such hard-core Indian businessmen. One was a Tamil trader who had come to Vietnam in the 1940s and ran a souvenir shop selling cheap antiques and lacquer and porcelain goods. The rare Western visitors and more frequent, but less solvent, East European tourists who came to Ho Chi Minh City did not provide enough customers for his business to be viable, especially as he had to pay a very high business tax levied every month. He, however, did not rely so much on his sales as on the black market in U.S. dollars. By means that he would not elaborate, he had managed to convert his past currency holdings to the new dong and sell most of his possessions. He had kept the shop open in order to engage in underthe-counter money-change operations and thus convert his Vietnamese currency holdings to hard currency. He had been remitting the U.S. dollars by clandestine means and would leave Vietnam when he had converted all his Vietnamese money. Despite the government's attempt to curb the black market in foreign currency by the introduction of foreign exchange coupons for use in hotels and government shops, foreigners still needed Vietnamese currency for use in private shops and restaurants and preferred to obtain this from black market operators who offered rates often double those of the bank.

38

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

Another Indian - a Sindhi from Bombay - who had stayed on in Vietnam hoping to carry on his import business was finally planning to leave when the author met him at a coffee shop in Ho Chi Minh City. He came to Vietnam some thirty years before to join his brother, who had set up a textile import business a decade earlier. He himself launched a film import company to supply South Vietnam's growing demand for Western films. He had hoped that even a communist country would need entertainment and that he could still carry on business in the country where he had spent most of his life. For the first three [or] four months, the communists left us [businessmen] alone. They did not know how to handle the situation. Then slowly they started asking for stocks. By the time they came round to confiscate the goods barely 10 per cent were left. Upset, the authorities then demanded that businessmen pay 300 per cent tax on the value of goods sold since the stock was taken. People said they had no money to pay tax and then the government confiscated their cars and whatever property was left.

Despite this experience he wanted to relaunch a film import company and the government initially showed some interest. But the terms they offered, he said, did not leave anything for him. So he had finally decided to leave Vietnam. "Thieves", he said, summing up his experience of six bitter years under the new regime, "are better than the communists."

Indians in Laos The condition of Indians in neighbouring Laos was in many ways similar to that in Vietnam. In the early 1960s there were some 2,000 Indians in Laos, about 800 of whom lived in Vientiane and the rest in Sayaburi, Luang Prabang, Savannakhet, and Pakse. They engaged in the import-export trade, gold and jewellery business, and retail trade. Like the Indians in Vietnam, some worked as teachers, waiters, barbers, watchmen, and mechanics. The majority of them were from Tamil Nadu- a very high percentage were from Tanjore and Karaikal districts and a few from Pondicherry. However, unlike Vietnam, there was no concentration of Chettiar money-lenders in Laos and a large proportion of the Indians were Muslim. Other than a handful who were involved in a lucrative trade in opium, of which Laos was a principal producer, most were petty traders or importers. As such, their business was essentially dependent on the easy availability of the dollar that

Indians in Indochina

39

American aid ensured. As the American role in the Lao war ended in 1973 and the Western aid programme to finance Lao imports started to dwindle, Indian businessmen too began to thin out. In early 1975 there were some 1,000 Indians left in Laos. During the several months of turmoil preceding the formation of the Lao People's Democratic Republic in December 1975, more than 600 Indians had joined the exodus of wealthy Lao and foreigners. 19 For a number of Indian businessmen who had left communist North Vietnam in 1955 to come to Laos, the advent of socialism in their second haven revived bad memories. But for several months there was no indication that the new regime was going to clamp down on private trade. In September 1976 government officials went round to take stock of goods in private shops and assess their value. The next step was to nationalize the goods, offering the shopowners compensation of 16 per cent of their value. This measure, however, did not affect them too much as most had, in anticipation, liquidated a large part of their stocks. They also considerably inflated the ~nt compensation was based. prices of existing stocks on which the 1( The government authorized the traders whose stocks were confiscated to withdraw from the National Bank a maximum of 100,000 kips (US$500 at the prevailing official rate of exchange) per month from the amount due to them as compensation. This policy, considerably more generous than that in Vietnam, led the Laotian Government to print millions of kips, leading to galloping inflation. 20 Unlike in Vietnam there was no attempt to drive out the foreign businessmen either. After the nationalization of old stocks, registered merchants - native as well as foreign - were allowed to conduct business according to the new regulations concerning price and sales tax. A government statement in September 1976 urged Lao and foreign nationals engaging in commercial activities to "behave properly", for the "era has passed in which one could be corrupt and enrich oneself without considering the national interest". 21 Although such exhortations were not taken seriously by the businessmen, they were relieved at not being asked to leave. This policy of tolerance of private foreign business, albeit under stringent government supervision, explains why a relatively large proportion of Indians stayed on in Laos as compared to Vietnam. A number of rich businessmen who stayed on for nearly three years after the Pathet Lao take-over had sent their families away and had set up business in other places such as Bangkok, Singapore, and Manila. The main reason for their staying on was to recover the compensation money from the

40

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

government and convert that into dollars by changing it in the black market before leaving Laos. The fact that many from the foreign community of over 1,000 diplomats and international agency officials in Vientiane found it convenient to change money in the black market enabled the Chinese and Indian traders to soak up the available dollars. These operations, coupled with food shortage, stagnating industry, and scarcity of consumer goods, were one of the principal reasons behind the inflation and sharp fall in the kip exchange rate. By the end of 1979 the government decided on a change of policy by devaluing the kip and freeing controls over private trade. Calling the past attempt to clamp down on private trade as "suicidal", the government restored the right of private traders - Lao and foreign - to import goods under licence and sell them at a reasonable profit. 22 The government's new pragmatic policy led to a flourishing of private trade in Laos, thus providing a new incentive to the remaining Indian businessmen to persevere. India's increasingly warm relations with Laos since the Laotian president Prince Souphanouvong' s state visit to India in January 1977 also gave additional encouragement to the Indian businessmen. They were, of course, deeply suspicious of the communist intentions to invest in joint-venture projects as desired by the government, but the 1980s began with a hopeful note. The trickle of departures that had continued through 1977-79 stopped. In July 1980 there were thirty-five licensed Indian businessmen in Vientiane and a handful in Sayaburi and Luang Prabang. The average investment of the Indian businessmen in Laos was estimated to be US$4,000. 23 By that time, the National Bank had stopped paying compensation money for the nationalized stocks, but otherwise there was no harassment from the authorities. Although dealing in foreign currency by private traders was prohibited, the government did not ask any questions as to how the goods would be paid for before granting import licences. On top of the licence fee an import duty of 20--40 per cent was collected but otherwise the government turned a blind eye to the methods employed by the traders to obtain hard currency and to the prices they charged. One Tamil shopkeeper who had spent twenty years in Laos summed up the situation in early 1982: "There is not much business now because the people don't have money but the government generally leaves us in peace. Indians in particular have no problems." Talking to the Indians still remaining in Laos, one is struck by the nonchalant, relaxed attitude of the Lao that many have imbibed after several decades in this sleepy republic. The pace of life there is slow and ambitions

Indians in Indochina

41

are limited. After having lived in such an ambience, many seem to dread the thought of going elsewhere to make the effort of starting afresh. The nonchalance, however, does not mean lack of initiative or imagination. It was mainly some Indian shops in Vientiane that put out. the Pathet Lao flags for sale on their counters within days of the emergence of the Lao People's Democratic Republic. It was the enterprising Indian shopkeepers who put on sale T-shirts emblazoned with revolutionary slogans and pictures of flagwaving Lao. Correctly sensing the way the wind was going to blow in Laos, one Sindhi shop in Vientiane replaced the U.S. Government-produced English textbooks that were on sale with Teach Yourself Russian. Two of the brothers who owned the shop themselves learned a smattering of Russian. As the number of Soviet personnel in Vientiane grew, that shop on Sam Senthai Road became a popular Russian haunt. By 1982 there was no need for a private shop to sell Russian textbooks, for the government bookshop carried them. Moreover, Lao students wishing to learn Russian could get the books free from the Soviet Cultural Centre. But other avenues were still open to Indian businessmen. Some jewellers who could no longer trade in gold above the counter switched to silver and stone jewellery. Asked about the price of a pair of stone-set silver ear-rings displayed in the window, the Indian owner politely asked me: "Do you want it for your wife? I am afraid what I have here is not for Asian women. They are for the heavy-built Russians." Apart from buying jewellery, the Soviet advisers and technicians posted in Vientiane preferred to go to the Indian shopkeepers (almost all of whom would change dollars under the counter) rather than the Chinese traders to change their money quietly. The Indo-Soviet friendship that developed in the 1970s was obviously an advantage.

Indians in Cambodia The condition of the Indian community in communist Cambodia has been in sharp contrast with that in South Vietnam and Laos, particularly the latter. As noted above, the number of Indians in Cambodia in 1910 was about 3,000. In the late 1960s the estimated total dropped to some 2,500. 24 Like their fellow countrymen in the other two Indochinese countries, the Indians were mostly from Tamil Nadu and Sindh and were engaged in importexport, trade in textiles, jewellery, and precious stones, money-changing, and money-lending. A small number of Indians earned their living as teachers, clerks, tailors, and mechanics. A handful of persons· born of mixed

42

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

Indian and Khmer parents, like Is soup Ghanty, attained high government positions. Ghanty, a leading intellectual, was active in Sihanouk's political movement in the 1960s and was the ambassador of the Sihanouk-led Resistance government in Stockholm. When he was in power, Prince Sihanouk was known to have regularly consulted priests and astrologers of mixed Indian origin. Like the rest of the Cambodian population and business community, the Indians were affected by the war and turmoil that followed the coup d'etat against Sihanouk. By 1973, the war had come to Phnom Penh, with Khmer Rouge rockets raining down on the capital. Like the wealthy Khmers, Chinese, French, and other foreigners, well-to-do Indians also started leaving the war-tom country. In early 1974, when India closed down its embassy in Phnom Penh, there were about seventy Indian nationals left in Cambodia. According to Indian Foreign Ministry records of that time, all of them resided in Phnom Penh, except for one family in Siem Reap and three in the gem-mining town of Pailin in Battambang province. 25 However, as later evidence showed, there were more Indians in the country than it was believed by the embassy. On 17 April1975, when the victorious Khmer Rouge army marched into Phnom Penh, thirty-three Indian nationals still in the capital took refuge in the French embassy, together with other foreigners. The new rulers, who drove the Cambodian population from the capital to the countryside, made it clear from the beginning that foreigners had no place in new Cambodia. All the foreigners taking shelter in the French embassy were evacuated to Thailand by road in May 1975. A few days after the evacuation Radio Phnom Penh announced, Our policy is not to allow foreigners to remain in our country, but this is only a temporary measure. We shall reconsider the question after the re-establishment of diplomatic, economic, and commercial relations with other countries. 26

During the chaotic days of the Khmer Rouge victory fourteen Indian nationals were reported missing. Later events - mass transfer of urban population, forced labour, starvation, disease, and executions - took a heavy toll of human life, probably including the Indians reported missing from Phnom Penh. There is no doubt at all about the fate of some of them. The records kept at the Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh show that fourteen Indians were arrested for unspecified crimes and executed. The unique

Indians in Indochina

43

survivors among the Indian community were a family living outside Phnom Penh - a family that did not figure in the last count kept by the Indian embassy in 1974. During a trip to Cambodia in early 1980 the author met the sole Indian survivors in Pol Pot's Cambodia- the 79-year-old Subbayan Thangavelu Pillai and his two sons. Pillai arrived in Cambodia in 1929 from a village in Tanjore district of Tamil Nadu province. At first he ran a petty business in Phnom Penh and married a Khmer woman who bore him four children. In 1961 the family moved to Kompong Cham province where he worked as a supervisor in a French-run rubber plantation. They stayed in the province till the Khmer Rouge victory in 1975 when, like the rest of the Khmer population, the family was sent to work as peasants in a village. In the chaos during the population transfers Pillai' s wife and their two daughters were separated from the rest of the family and moved to Kompong Thorn province. Pillai lived in a village in Kompong Cham province with his two sons and their families. His account was like hundreds I had heard in Cambodia. He said, Although as an old man I did not have to work in the field, only make bamboo baskets, we had very little to eat. The meal was generally thin rice gruel with green bananas. Many people fell ill and died. Out of 150 'new families' in our village only five survived when the Vietnamese arrived. I also developed beriberi but luckily it was at the end of 1978. In March 1979 we came to Phnom Penh and I was treated in the hospital.

While in Phnom Penh he met a nephew who was in the same village as his wife and daughters. He told him how they were executed for no apparent reason. Pillai' s eyes became misty as he recounted a past that he still found hard to comprehend. One thing, however, he was sure of. He wanted to leave Cambodia. He had an Indian passport that he had hidden at great risk during the Khmer Rouge years. It was an expired document but still a valuable proof of his nationality and a possible pass out of this nightmarish land. Another lucky stroke of which he was barely aware was that the then newly elected Indian Prime Minister had promised to recognize the Vietnamese-installed Heng Sarnrin regime, thus making it easier for him and his sons to get official help in returning to India. New Delhi recognized the Phnom Penh Government in July 1980. One of the first acts of the reinstalled Indian embassy was the repatriation of the Pillai family. It was a historic irony that a new phase in India's relations with Cambodia began

44

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

with the departure of the Pillai family, which brought to an end nearly 2,000 years of Indian presence. NOTES See Upendra N. Ghoshal, Progress of Greater Indian Research 1. (Calcutta, 1943). R.C. Majumdar, Ancient Indian Colonisation in South-East Asia 2. (Baroda, 1955), p. 36. R.C. Majumdar, Hindu Colonies in the Far East (Calcutta, 1944), 3. p. 7. Georges Coedes, The Hinduized States of Southeast Asia (Honolulu, 4. 1964), pp. 212-14. L'Indochine, numero special, hors serie, decembre 1922, p. 4. 5. The Economic Development of French Indochina (New York, 1944), 6. pp. 23, 24. Area Handbook for Cambodia, Foreign Area Studies (Washington, 7. 1968), p. 59. Indochina, Geographical Handbook Series, Naval Intelligence 8. Division (London, 1943), p. 365. V.M. Reddi, "Indians in the Indochina States and their problems" in 9. Indians in Southeast Asia, edited by I.J. Bahadur Singh (New Delhi, 1982), p. 156. 10. Ton That Thien, India and South East Asia, 1947-1960 (Geneva, 1963), p. 141. Times of India, 29 July 1970, p. 1. 11. 12. Times of India, 30 July 1970, p. 1. 13. Interview with Indian Foreign Ministry official in New Delhi, 7 September 1979. 14. Agence France Presse dispatch from Saigon, 21 May 1975. 15. Ibid. 16. Keesing's Contemporary Archives, 1975, p. 27495. See Nayan Chanda, "Vietnam: Cash Withdrawal", Far Eastern 17. Economic Review, 30 October 1975, pp. 34-35, and BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, FE/5014/B4-6, 23 September 1975. 18. Reddi, op. cit., p. 157. 19. Interview with the Indian community leader, Abdul Rahim, in Vientiane, 8 February 1981.

Indians in Indochina

20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26.

45

Nayan Chanda, "Drought worsens Lao plight", Far Eastern Economic Review, 26 August 1977, p. 45. Radio Vientiane, Home Service, 25 September 1976, Foreign Broadcasting Information Service, Daily Report, 1 October 1976, pp. 1-4. Nayan Chanda, "Capitalist Road to Socialism", Far Eastern Economic Review, 7 March 1980, pp. 74-76. Information provided by the Indian embassy in Vientiane, July 1980. Area Handbook for Cambodia, Foreign Area Studies (Washington: 1968), p. 59. Interview with Indian Foreign Ministry official, 7 September 1979. Keesing's Contemporary Archives, 1975, p. 27470.

Chapter 3

Indians in North Sumatra A. Mani

The study of the Chinese in Indonesia has been given particular emphasis because of their former economic role as intermediaries between indigenous Indonesians and the Dutch and, more recently, because of the inherent conflict between the Chinese economic position and Indonesian nationalism.1 However, very few scholars who study Indonesia seem to realize that another ongoing Asian community survives there, one which may be thought of as having had similar conflict with Indonesian national interests but which has adjusted itself to changing conditions: that of the South Asians. The businessmen that scholars see in Jakarta or other major Indonesian cities are generally dismissed as being either Muslims domiciled in Indonesia (often the scanty remnants of a community which has disappeared as a functioning whole) or Indians of post-war India temporarily trading in Indonesia. This gap in the literature became obvious to the author as a result of research on caste among Indians in Singapore. 2 The frequent references made by certain respondents to their stay in North Sumatra suggested that this might be an interesting area in which to study what happens to South Asians and their socio-cultural traditions as they lose contact with their areas of origin. The author's search of the literature for information on contemporary South Asians in Indonesia brought to light a number of travelogues written by past European visitors to the area, which included references to the presence of South Indians in North Sumatra; other than these, published accounts in Dutch, English, Indonesian, and Tamil are scanty. Armed with such rudimentary information as these sources could provide, the author planned a month of field-work in North Sumatra, to be carried out during

46

Indians in North Sumatra

47

May and June of 1976. 3 A follow-up field study was carried out in July 1982. During the field trips and his stay in the Medan area and the adjoining districts, the author met with about 100 respondents from different socioeconomic levels, including a number of individuals identified as prominent persons in the Indian community. Family histories were collected and specific questions of interest were explored; the author was also able to visit many of the local areas of South Asian settlement and to attend most of the public ceremonies as well as important private functions held during his stay. In the first section of this chapter a demographic profile of South Asians in Indonesia is provided, followed by a reconstruction of the history of South Asian migration to North Sumatra in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, in relation to the labour conditions then prevailing there. The second section describes the nature of community life among the Medan Tamils, covering distinctions of economic status, caste and sex, schools and other organized social and cultural groups, and the relationships between religious institutions, in particular the Sri Mariamman Temple, and the larger local and Indonesian society. The third section describes the Punjabi Sikh community, which is next in importance owing to its distinguishable features and processes within the community. This is followed by a discussion on Muslim communities representing an important stage in totally being assimilated into Indonesian identity. The final section suggests some tentative conclusions as to the persistence of Indian cultural identity in Medan, and its religious expression in the context of efforts toward local and national integration. In addition to assembling information previously unavailable, this study of South Asians in North Sumatra is also relevant to a number of theoretical issues. Specifically, it may help in understanding those processes at work among other ethnic groups of Indonesia as they struggle to reach an accommodation with an evolving Indonesian national identity, while at the same time retaining valued and distinctive aspects of their cultural heritage. Cultural groups in Indonesia are not independent of what happens at the macro-level; it will be argued that they accommodate the expectations of the dominant ruling group by altering their perceptions of communal identity, and that their retention of aspects of cultural identity need not conflict with political loyalties. Though this chapter may be presumptuous in its generali-

48

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

zations, it may help to provide insights not only into a single minority community, but into the adaptations of ethnic minorities in other complex nation states to an evolving national identity.

South Asians in Indonesia: Demography and History A Demographic Profile South Asian, especially Tamil, involvement in Indonesia long preceded the arrival of the Dutch,4 but the South Asians presently in the country are descendants of those who arrived, largely in response to Western mercantilism, from the end of the nilJeteenth century through the late 1930s. According to the 1930 Census of the Dutch East Indies, under 3 per cent of the 60.4 million people in Indonesia were non-Indonesians. As Table 3.1 indicates, these included the Chinese (1,233,000), Europeans (240,000), Arabs (71,000), and British Indians (30,000). Most British Indians were concentrated in Sumatra (Table 3.2). Java and Madura ranked next, and Kalimantan (Borneo) and Sulawesi (Celebes) also had sizeable numbers of Indians in their coastal towns. In general, Indian settlement in the Indonesian islands decreased from west to east. Data from the 1930 Census on place of birth reveal that most Indian residents were permanent settlers, nearly half having been born in Indonesia; the sex ratio was far more equal than it had been in the past, though males still outnumbered females by two to one.5 There was a high rate of turnover among immigrants, most of whom came as temporary labourers and did not Table 3.1 Growth of Non-Indonesian Population, 1815-1930 (In thousands) Chinese

Year

1815 1845 1860 1880 1900 1920 1930 n.a. -

not available.

Europeans

Arabs

British Indians n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

100

4

n.a.

n.a.

n.a. n.a.

221 344 537 809 1,233

44 60 91 168 240

9 16 27 45 71

21 30

Indians in North Sumatra

49

Table 3.2 Distribution of Indians in the Indonesian Islands, 1930 (In thousands) Island

Total

Percentage Born in Indonesia

Java and Madura Sumatra Borneo (Kalimantan) Celebes (Sulawesi) Other Islands

5.5 20.1 2.9 0.8 0.7

58.2 48.5 36.0 44.0 58.0

Total

30.0

Average 49.0

Source: Area Handbook on Indonesia, Southeast Asian Studies (Yale University, 1956), p. 523.

plan to stay beyond the duration of their contract; fewer Indian than (for instance) Arab newcomers tended to remain. 6 Thus, 20,858 South Asians were reported in all of Indonesia in 1920, and 17,000 more (not counting contract labourers) arrived between 1924 and 1931; but the South Asian population recorded in 1930 is 30,000, indicating the possibility that about 8,000 Indians might have left. 7 It also indicates that most Indian migrants during this period might have been single males. The fewer number of families, resulting in less increase in population from natural increase, is also evident. The fact that 49 per cent of Indians are reported as having been born in Indonesia shows that the process of settling in Indonesia might already be a developing feature of the community. Statistics for Java and Madura, including the outer islands, appear to indicate that assimilation or accommodation with the local societies might be occurring rapidly. Table 3.2 also indicates that 67 per cent of the Indian population was domiciled in Sumatra, while Java and Madura had about 18 per cent of the population. Kalimantan and Sulawesi appear to be settled by 12 per cent of the Indians. The rest of the islands accounted for less than 3 per cent of the Indians in Indonesia. Thus it is possible to interpret that the farthest islands from major ports of Southeast Asia attracted fewer number of Indians. As this chapter is primarily concerned with contemporary Indonesians of Indian origin, it will not pursue the question of those citizens of present-day India who have come to Indonesia for industrial and commer-

50

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

cial activities. Table 3.3 shows the distribution in 1977 of those professing Indian citizenship. Table 3.3 Indian Citizens in Indonesia, 1977 Province

Male

Female

Sumatra: Acheh North Sumatra Riao West Sumatra Jambi South Sumatra Lampun

179 1,633 173 85 343 555 79

46 1,166 34 47 210 63

762 529 329 33 762

166 51 4 30 821

82

59

Java: Jakarta West Java Central Java Yogyakarta East Java Bali Kalimantan: West Central South East Sulawesi: North Central South

219 56 721 106 64

341

Nusa Tenggara: West East

6 3

Irian Jaya

4

Total

44 156

7,064

4

2,902

Source: Statistik Indonesia (Statistical Year Book of Indonesia), 1977-1978 (Jakarta: Biro Pusat Statistik), p. 151.

Indians in North Sumatra

51

South Asian Immigration to North Sumatra Past publications have used various terms to refer to South Asian immigrants to Indonesia. Most European travelogues refer to them as 'Klings' or as 'Bcngalees'; the term 'Chulias' is often used interchangeably with 'Klings', both deriving from the ancient kingdoms of India's east coast, Cola and Kalinga, long associated with Southeast Asian trade. Official publications refer to South Asians in colonized Indonesia as 'British Indians'. In North Sumatra another term commonly used is 'orang Bombai', literally 'person from Bombay'. The frequent misnomers found in early travelogues create confusion as to which group of South Asians is actually being referred to. A late example of such confusion appears in a handbook published in 1930, which describes British Indians as follows: The role of Peninsular Indians, formerly of such great significance, has now become greatly changed. The majority are Mohammedan and come from the coastal districts of Coromandel and Malabar. Many are found in the plantation areas of Deli as coolies, car drivers, cattlemen etc.; owing to their fine physique, these so-called Klings (Clingalese) are engaged as night-watchmen on the plantations. fn Java they are mostly shopkeepers. They are conspicuous owing to their height, heavy growth of beard and large turbans. Their women too, who immigrate in rather large numbers (about half that of the men) wear characteristic clothing and the typical nose rings. 8

Anyone aware of the traits that distinguish diverse South Asian groups would note the inconsistencies. The Indonesians, at least those in North Sumatra, apply these terms denoting geographical origin in a particular, somewhat altered, sense. 'Kling' is used as a general term, referring to anyone from South India. During the colonial era, all Klings came from the Madras Presidency; North Sumatrans also knew of the Bengal Presidency, and as a result all non-Klings, that is, all immigrants from North India, were termed 'Bengalees', even though most of them (as suggested by the above quotation) were actually Sikhs from the Punjab. The third main group of Indians consisted of the businessmen, characterized by their comparative wealth; since Bombay was well known for its commercial wealth during the nineteenth century, all Indian businessmen were called 'orang Bombai', even though many, like the Tamil Chettiars, came from other areas.

52

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

STRAITS OF MALACCA

INDIAN OCEAN

•

A A

Town/ City Volcano

*

®

Waterfall Lake

Boundary

Fig. 3.1. The Province of North Sumatra.

To gain perspective on South Asian migration to North Sumatra, as background for an understanding of present-day conditions there, it is necessary ftrst to understand the labour conditions in the area towards the end of the nineteenth century.

The Coolie Ordinance The importance of North Sumatra in the Dutch colonial empire during the second half of the nineteenth century was primarily due to tobacco. In Deli

Indians in North Sumatra

53

the European planters took the lead, not only economically but politically; "they have ruled as well as developed the country", as Wright noted in 1909.9 It was their demand for agricultural labourers to work their estates that drew the South Indians (mainly Tamils) from the Coromandel coast. Deli, one of the three sultanates of North Sumatra, had been under the hegemony of the Sultans of Siak and Acheh until 1854. After gaining autonomy for his region, the Sultan of Deli approached the Dutch for help in maintaining its independence. As a result of the Siak Pact of 1858, East Sumatra was declared a Siak region and accorded Dutch Protectorship. On August 1862, aboard the warship Reiner Classer, the Sultan of Deli signed a statement of submission to the Dutch East Indies Government. In the following year the first land concession was ceded to Nienhuys, a Dutch tobacco merchant in Tanjung Sepasai, launching an industry that was to be known later as 'Deli tobacco', enriching East Sumatra and earning it the acclaim 'Het Dollar Land' or 'Land of the Dollars' .10 A small uprising took place in 1872, and as a result, four years later, the Dutch had taken over full rule of Deli, exercising effective political and economic control. From Deli, the European planters expanded their operations into the neighbouring districts of Serdang and Langkat. When tobacco was first cultivated in Deli and the other two districts, their sultans hadjurisdiction over the labourers brought in to work the Dutch plantations. With the passing of political power fully into the hands of the Dutch, there arose a demand for special regulations whereby the workers could be held to their contracts and order would be maintained by the government instead of by the planters. The Deli Maatschappij, or Planters' Association, formed sometime between 1877 and 1880, played an instrumental role in creating the Coolie Ordinance. The Planters' Association felt that order must be introduced into the affairs of the contract coolies, in particular through a system of registration that would enable them to exert greater control over the well-organized Chinese labourers in the area, most of them from Swatow. The Chinese kongsi, gangs of labourers each under its own foreman, demanded higher wages whenever there was an increased demand for labour. The Planters' Association soon decided that this form of Chinese labour should not be used. Certificates were to be given to coolies dismissed in periods of low demand, and those without such certificates would not be rehired. Furthermore, a system of passes or passports was introduced, to be issued by the headman of the Chinese to each so-called 'free Chinaman', increasing the

54

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

planters' control over their labourers. When the price of tobacco fell, efforts were made to reduce the cost of production. The price to be paid for tobacco harvested by field labourers was fixed, and the advances made to new contract'coolies were also fixed at a certain rate, so that employers would not be able to entice away each other's labourers by offering higher wages. It was the Association, too, which finally decided not to purchase cured tobacco from non-European cultivators, thus restricting this tobacco to the local market. Through these regulations, lowering labour costs and standardizing quality, the Deli Planters' Association was successful in increasing its profits and in fetching a higher price for its produce in the world market. In 1876 the planters petitioned the Dutch East Indies Government to introduce a Coolie Ordinance, forwarding with their request a draft of one that would meet their needs. In 1880 the first Coolie Ordinance was issued, containing most of the planters' requirements. Subsequently it was often added to and altered, but in general it specified the form of labour contract to be drawn up and the information that it should contain- for instance, the kind of work to be done, the wages and advance to be given, the manner in which these were to be paid and accounted for, and the duration of the contract, which could in no case exceed three years. The Ordinance also contained instructions about the registration of the contracts. In theory, no registration was permitted until the workmen had voluntarily accepted the conditions of the contract with full knowledge of the consequences; and after registration was effected, employer and employee were both legally liable for any violation. The actual conditions of life and work in East Sumatra were somewhat less harmonious. Public outrage in the Netherlands eventually led to the establishment of a labour inspection bureau meant to ensure that all provisions of the Ordinance were carried out. It was felt that "as the coolie had a right also to bring any grievance to the notice of the government officials, his interests were doubly safeguard[ed]".U This labour inspection bureau was set up as a temporary responsibility of the Dutch Government, but had been made permanent by 1907. The Chieflnspector, who stayed in Batavia (Jakarta), had three assistants located in different parts of the residency of the East Coast of Sumatra, in Deli and Langkat, and in the southern districts where immigrant labour was also employed. The inspectors and their interpreters regularly visited the estates to ensure that the Ordinance was enforced, looking through the estate records and informing the magistrate of those cases which gave reason for initiating prosecution.

Indians in North Sumatra

55

The Coolie Ordinance was, however, never enforced to its fullest extent, as has often been pointed out. For instance, a report issued by the Intelligence Division of the British Royal Navy in 1921 noted that apart from coolies subject to the Ordinance, who had entered into legally enforceable contracts, there also existed labourers with an agreement which did not involve legal penalties, under an Ordinance of 1911, as well as labourers whose contract fell outside either class. 12 Another class of 'free workmen' also existed in every district, continually recruited from among foreign coolies whose initial contracts had expired but who did not wish to return to their home countries. By the second decade of the twentieth century, the Coolie Ordinance applied not only to agricultural labourers but also to those workers in mining and industry who were not native to the district in which they worked. The wages paid to contract coolies varied considerably among occupations and between districts. On rubber estates men usually earned 14 Amsterdam cents a day and women 12, with an extra 2 cents per day for men when they renewed their contracts. Experienced rubber tappers generally received a monthly bonus of 40 to 60 cents (1-1.5 florins). On tobacco plantations the coolies who actually planted the tobacco earned an average of 32 cents a day, while ordinary labourers earned 14 to 16 cents. In districts where the cost of living was high, contract wages were proportionally higher. The contracts usually stated that an employer could pay a portion of wages in the form of food, but most employers supplied their workers only with padi at a fixed price.

Tamils on the Plantation Though the Deli Planters' Association was instrumental in lobbying for the Coolie Ordinance, it was less successful when it came to assuring a regular labour supply. The problem of obtaining sufficient labour for the development of their estates had confronted the European planters of the East Coast of Sumatra since the early days of the tobacco industry. The planters felt that "when the natives - as is rarely the case - are induced to work, their energy is very spasmodic. Their whole nature seems to revolt against constant application to one particular routine". 13 In consequence, workmen were imported. A Dutch tobacco planter named Nienhuys was the first to bring coolies to work on his plantations. In 1873 a group of twenty-five Tamil coolies was brought from Penang, then a part of the British Straits Settle-

56

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

ments, to assist the Chinese labourers in keeping plantations of areca palm free from undergrowth, carrying drinking water, and constructing drains and estate roads. 14 By this time, 'free Tamils' had also arrived to work in both urban and agricultural areas of North Sumatra. In 1875 Tamil and Javanese workers in North Sumatra together numbered about 1,000. The process of Tamil immigration to North Sumatra as described by older Tamils is rather contrary to published sources. According to the latter, 'Klings' or 'Chulias' came to Deli via Penang and Singapore, and signed their contracts upon arrival at the estates. Tamil informants say that they were recruited in their home villages with the promise of work in Malaya, but were taken to Sumatra instead. In support of this, one may note that the Steam Navigation Company is known to have shipped Indians from Madras and Calcutta both to Singapore and to Deli itself. 15 An effort was made to bring about regular emigration from the Madras Presidency to North Sumatra, but this could only be arranged by a treaty between Great Britain and Holland. In 1884 the Deli Planters' Association and others interested in tobacco cultivation sent a petition on the subject to the Minister for the Colonies at The Hague. At that time there was a great shortage of labour, for few Javanese workers were arriving, and the 2,000 'Klings' engaged on the estates were said to have paid their own passage from Penang and Singapore. Another petition was drawn up in 1886, this time addressed to the Governor-General of Netherlands India. The Consul-General for the Netherlands in Singapore and a Controller of Labour from Deli were sent to British India to see what could be arranged, and negotiations were opened between the Dutch and British Governments. The British were reluctant to permit Tamil labour to go to North Sumatra, as Dutch plantations there were in direct competition with their own plantations on the west coast of Malaya. A treaty was drafted, in which the British demanded that one of their officials be allowed to make periodic visits to those places in the Netherlands Indies where South Indians were employed, that Dutch officials exercise control over the conditions of labour, and that a Coolie Ordinance be introduced specifically for Tamils and their employers. The Dutch would not agree to these conditions, and broke off the negotiations. In March 1889 the Straits Settlements opened an Emigration Depot in Nagapatinam, south of Madras, 16 primarily to supply workers to Malaya. The Deli planters then petitioned the Colonial Secretary at The Hague, pointing out that they had no objection either to the periodic visits of a

Indians in North Sumatra

57

British official or to a special Coolie Ordinance for 'Klings', but the Dutch Government could not be persuaded to re-open negotiations. In consequence, the immigration of 'Kling' coolies continued on the former irregular footing, and did not increase to any great extent. The early South Indian plantation workers, mostly Tamils with some Telugus, were primarily employed in the Netherlands Indies in constmcting roads, trenches, and dykes, and to some extent as drivers of bullock carts. A traveller in 1903 described a typical tobacco plantation and the place of Indians within it: Everywhere [the traveller] will find the arrangements much about the same. In the middle, a spacious house for the director. ... Next to it extends a gigantic fermenting barn .... Then the large airy shed of the Chinese workmen, the so-called 'Kongsi', in the neighbourhood of which one or more native shops, here named 'Kedei', are to be found, and other dwellings of Javanese, Klingalese, Bengalese, or Boyans. Each of these races has its own peculiar labour; the Javanese are woodmen, roadmakers, and gardeners; the Klingalese cowherds and drivers of ox-wagons (Kareta Lembu); the Bengalese, policemen; and the Boyans, carpenters; whilst the clearing of the forest is done by Battaks and Malays, temporarily engaged, who can also build hams and make roads. 17

Whether recmited in their home villages or in the Straits Settlements, the Indian labourers were brought to the various plantations where they worked by a kangany, or foreman, often the employee of the plantation, or the middleman for a labour agency. The kangany exchanged his labourers for a fee (respondents referred to this as selling), and they were then made to sign the contract. In many cases wives and husbands were 'bought' by different plantations; at least during the earlier years of immigration, family life appears to have been non-existent. Many of the older respondents recalled that they had had to pay money to the kangany when he returned to their work place with another batch of labourers, in order to get a wife who could stay with them. This account is similar to the labour conditions experienced by Javanese coolies. The social system of the immigrants was acknowledged by the plantation owners, to the extent that separate quarters were assigned to casteHindus and to 'untouchables' or Adi-Dravidas, as they are now called. 18 The labour foreman, or thandal, was assigned the task of keeping order; when

58

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

those under him were cart drivers, he was in charge of 10 to 20 bullock-carts and about 50 bullocks. It appears that the Dutch planters, like those in Malaya, underpaid their South Indian labourers: in eight months the Chinese earned 150 guilders, the 'Klings' only 120. 19 In general, estates apparently had a population of at least fifty males each, some of them with wives and dependants. 20 According to most informants in Sumatra, few of them returned to their home villages. Under the provisions of the Dutch treaty with the Sultan of Deli, the South Indian contract labourer was not a subject of the Sultan, and so could not ask for the Sultan's intervention or protection. According to Article 35 of the Kuala Government Act of 1873, he was administratively treated as a Dutch possession. These conditions caused intense public debate over the abolition of the penal sanction attached to labour contracts for East Sumatra. This controversy climaxed in 1920, when the United States Congress prohibited imports of tobacco produced by unfree labour. Fearing the loss of the American market, the Dutch Government and the planters repealed the Coolie Ordinances and put an end to the injustices attendant upon them, an action facilitated by the ample supply of labour that resulted from the global economic depression. This led to a very rapid increase in 'free labour'.

Urban Indians before and after World War II While the stream of contract labour was spilling over from the Straits Settlements, other 'free' (non-contract) Indians arrived in Medan to participate in the growing service sectors. Chettiars and Chettis (money-lenders, traders, and petty businessmen), Vellalars and Mudaliars (cultivator-caste groups engaged in trading and other activities), Sikhs and Uttar Pradeshis, and others entered the scene in a variety of occupations, as money-lenders, traders, goldsmiths, dairy farmers, and so forth. These non-contract Indians came under the jurisdiction of the Sultan of Deli, who apparently appointed Kapitans to serve as intermediaries in the administration of South Indian affairs. 21 With the establishment of Dutch money as the official currency of North Sumatra, around 1879, a branch of De J awasche Bank was opened in Medan. A number of Sikhs were brought in to work as security guards, and others followed them, finding work as watchmen at the palaces, in shops, and in other places. Steadily Sikhs were also recruited as security guards in the plantations and served as postmen within the plantations. With the increasing demand by local Europeans for dairy products, some Sikhs also

Indians in North Sumatra

59

established dairy farms, which met with considerable success and provided further employment. By 1930 there were more than 5,000 Sikhs in North Sumatra. Other North Indians arrived during the 1920s, in numbers that varied with Medan's changing fortunes, but never exceeding 2,000 at any one time. World War II brought many changes to the composition and settlement pattern of the Indian population in North Sumatra. The evacuation of the pre-war Indian business community from Medan, and the evacuation or internment of the Dutch tobacco and rubber planters, led to a massive shift of Tamils from the plantations to the city. A number of other outside influences contributed to this shift, among them the internment by the Japanese of Allied Forces in the Medan area. The British forces thus interned were composed mainly of Indians, and from them, in the spirit of national liberation, the Japanese organized a unit of the Indian National Army, which was reinforced by volunteers from Medan and sent to fight the British on the Myanmar (Burma) front. Few of those who left Medan ever returned. The defeat of the Indian National Army in Myanmar, and the consequent Joss of face for those who survived, led many of them to stay abroad in Malaya, Singapore, or elsewhere. On 10 October 1945 a battalion of 800 allied British troops landed in North Sumatra to accept the Japanese surrender and maintain order until the Dutch arrived. Again, these troops were mainly Indian, and the Indonesian revolutionaries interpreted their presence as an attack by India against independent Indonesia. 22 Although India did later contribute arms and diplomatic support toward the overthrow of Dutch rule, Pakistan responded to this perceived threat by sending troops to aid the new Muslim nation, troops whose traditional anti-Hindu sentiments were extended to local Indians . . . . several complaints of Indian loss of life and property from attacks by Pakistanis who were attached to the Indonesian Republican Army as volunteers had been received. As the Pakistanis were good and helpful soldiers, and as Muslims enjoyed the sympathy of the local population, the Republican authorities were finding it a little difficult to deal with them. 2 ' Such incidents contributed to the flight of rural Tamils to towns such as Siantar, Binjai, and Medan, where they were well received by the British Indian troops. In the course of the Dutch-Indonesian hostilities, many Indians lost

60

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

all means of livelihood. In July 1946 the Government of India sent S. Chettur, the Indian Government Representative in Malaya, to investigate the conditions of Indians in the new Republic. His report recommended the immediate repatriation of those who had become destitute. Arrangements were made for their return, and about 3,500 chose to go back as soon as possible. The exact number of Indians repatriated from North Sumatra is not available; one source puts it at 4,000,24 but an earlier source presents a different picture: ... 3,000 Indians belonging to Medan in North Sumatra, who were being persecuted by the local bandits, wanted to return to India. Two ships were diverted in November 1946 from Singapore and all these Indians were repatriated to India. 25

At present, almost all Tamils and Sikhs in Indonesia are urbanites; only a negligible number are involved in any form of rural agricultural activity. In recent years, there has been a steady outflow of Indians from Medan to other towns and cities in search of economic opportunities. Thus it is not uncommon to find Medan Tamils and Sikhs in Jakarta, Bandar Acheh, Semarang, Bali, or elsewhere in Indonesia.

Tamil Society in Medan Social Distinctions: Economic, Caste, and Sex The present discussion of social and religious organization among the Indians ofMedan will be limited almost entirely to the Tamils. Though Tamils and Sikhs have lived next to each other for more than three generations, their differences in place of origin, employment, and religion have kept them as separate communities. The Sikhs have attained greater economic mobility than the Tamils, in part because of their closer ongoing contacts with India, and because of their earlier interest in establishing educational institutions. Whether any of them originally came as contract labourers is doubtful. At present, the Sikhs of Medan are primarily involved in farming and selling textiles or sporting goods, and a good number of them have moved on to Jakarta. The Tamil community, in contrast, forms a socio-economic pyramid, with the majority of its members living in poverty equal to or greater than that of most indigenous Indonesians. Of the 18,000 or so Tamils in North Sumatra, only about 30 families could be called wealthy, to the extent that

Indians in North Sumatra

61

they are able to educate their children to the highest local standards, and even send them abroad for advanced training. In 1982 there were 10 engineers, 3 medical practitioners, and about 100 university graduates among the Tamil population. Most Tamils are involved in some form of trading or service sector activities; others work for Javanese, Chinese, or Tamil firms. Some have started private schools to teach English and commercial subjects, and some are employed as government officials and army personnel. Most of those not in business for themselves make no more than S$30 per month. In general, Medan Tamils consider it demeaning to work as an employee for someone else; all such activities are considered temporary, a preliminary step to starting up their own trading activities. This may be natural, given the economic circumstances in Indonesia, where the average salaried man needs more than one job to lead a comfortable life. It is also possible that the Tamils' past experience of economic subordination has encouraged them to view salaried work with disdain. The classic success story among Tamils concerns the rise of a lucky and industrious bullock-cart driver to a position of wealth and power. Some petty contractors have indeed taken advantage of the 1970s oil boom in North Sumatra to become wealthy men. Others, employed in textile-related trading activities, have managed to set up textile factories in Java, where some of them employ around 4,000 workers. Most young men make frequent trips to Java or other provincial capitals, starting new economic ventures. Despite this recent increase in contacts with areas outside North Sumatra, 90 per cent of Tamils there were not only born in the region, but have had no direct involvement with any other area. About 95 per cent of those who are married have married Tamils; the few who have not, most of them males, are considered to have abandoned their culture. 26 They are primarily of lower economic status, and most of their marriages are said not to last for long. The value of an in-group marriage is greatest among those least well off; they need the help of their kin in times of crisis. Within the Tamil community, the traditional caste structure still persists. Caste-Hindus and Adi-Dravidas (former untouchables) from endogamous groups are separated by occupation, religious affinity and attitudes towards reform, and place of residence. Tamil Catholics and Buddhists are said by Hindus to be Adi-Dravidas, as are those who live in the local neighbourhoods of Kampung Anggrong and Kampung Kristen. Economic mobility is not yet rapid or significant enough in the city's occupational structure to alter this identification of caste with locality. Another South

62

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

Indian group, the Telugus, have become integrated into the Tamil community with a status equivalent to that of an endogamous caste. Sex roles are also clearly differentiated: men go out to earn, while women stay home. If women engage in any economic activity, it will typically be confined to the neighbourhood and on a small scale, as when they sell cooked food from their doorsteps or through their children. In general, unmarried young women are kept in relative seclusion, remaining unseen when there is a male visitor in the house. Few pursue an education (though a handful from wealthier families have studied in Jakarta or abroad), and even those with some form of education are expected to stay at home after they marry. As a result, interestingly, women and children have come to be the repositories of Hindu religious traditions, while men provide moral and financial support. Proper conduct of rituals at weddings and other ceremonies depends upon women, and the most enduring social groups are those formed by women for devotional purposes.

Social and Cultural Organizations The first English-medium schools in Medan were founded by Sikhs, whose social leadership of both the Sikh and Tamil communities in the sphere of education has been set back by the internal discord among Sikhs as to their own community's goals. The first school, named after King George V and with Baghel Singh as its first principal, was expanded in 1930 by the addition of staff from India and Malaya. A second school, the Khalsa English School, was built in 1931 near the Sikh Temple. Both schools admitted not only Sikhs but Tamils and indigenous Indonesians as well. Tamils founded their own English school in 1952, the Bharathi English School. Several Tamil Hindu temples established schools stressing the study of Tamil. These schools remained in operation until1969, when the government prohibited schools in a medium other than Indonesian. Most Tamil schools now have gone through the transition to function as schools using Indonesian language. However, it is still permissible to teach and learn Tamil at the temples in order to preserve religious tradition. In 1970 the Medan Sri Mariamman Temple obtained about 40,000 books in Tamil from the Tamil Nadu State Government in India, for free distribution and use by Medan Tamils. The temple continued to teach Tamil for religious purposes untill974, while other temples continue to do so. All Medan Tamils, except for a few of the aged generation, are literate in Bahasa Indonesia. Most

Indians in North Sumatra

63

adults are able to speak Tamil as well as write it, and most try to pass on this skill to their children, the wealthier families often hiring private tutors for the purpose. Other secular social organizations, not specifically educational but devoted to the promotion of Tamil culture, were a prominent feature of community life until the early 1960s. Several pre-war organizations flourished during the active years of activist social leader D. Kumaraswamy. During the 1950s some of the older organizations were re-established, and new ones founded. The Deli Hindu Sabah, the Adi-Dravida Hindu Sabah, and the Krishna Sabah27 continued to lend support to religious, social, and cultural activities. The Indian Boy Scout Movement was reactivated by Tamils living around Jalan Darat and affiliated to the National Scout Association. Tamil youths started the Indonesian Hindu Youth Organization, and a North Sumatra Welfare Association was established to help poorer Tamils. Newspapers were begun, one the Hindu in Tamil intended to counteract the conversion of Tamil Hindus to other religions, and the other the Chakkaram (the Wheel), to propagate Buddhist religious values, published by D. Kumaraswamy after his conversion. From 1952 to 1956, the Tamils Festival (Tamilar Thirunaal)28 was celebrated annually, featuring competitions in Tamil language usage, sports, drama, and dancing. Most of these activities and organizations came to an end within a few years of their inception. Leadership struggles within the Tamil community, lack of financial resources, and the disillusionment of activist youths contributed to this. The final blow came with the dramatic political transition of 1965. Among Tamils, as in other parts of Indonesia, all social and cultural organizations not primarily religious in orientation became associated by default with 'atheistic communism', and so were dismantled as their membership declined. In 1976 the only such organizations seen to be still functioning were the women's groups in different parts of Medan, centred in kampung where Tamils lived in large numbers. These were both social and religious in orientation. The women gathered on Fridays and on other auspicious days of the Tamil Hindu calendar, either at a local temple or at a neighbourhood house. Led by older women literate in Tamil, they sang devotional hymns and prayers and discussed religious matters. Their expertise in the proper conduct of religious ritual made them a neighbourhood resource: they helped to organize weddings, and sang the appropriate hymns when someone died. In the 1980s the relaxation in the Indonesian political scene led to

64

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

newer social organizations being established in the Tamil community. A number of bands and sports teams came into existence. Keluarga Tamil, a representative body for Tamils, was set up. However, it was becoming increasingly evident that social organizations espousing community needs were increasingly felt to be unnecessary among most residents in Medan. The newer organization's were either religious or established to fulfil a recreational need. The Tamils of North Sumatra maintain a sense of community with Tamils in nearby areas outside Indonesia. In 1976 and in 1982 most ofthem listened to the Tamil prograiifmes broadcast over Radio Malaysia or Radio Singapore, and gathered at neighbourhood houses that had television sets (men at certain houses, women and children at others) to watch the Tamil movies telecast each fortnight by Television Malaysia. Most people also listened to Tamil songs recorded on cassettes, sent over from Malaysia or Singapore. By 1982, the dissemination of Tamil by cassettes and videos was common in most homes in Medan and Binjai.

Kumaraswamy: An Innovator and Community Leader D. Kumaraswamy was one of the most notable social leaders produced by the Tamils in Medan. His contributions to the Medan Tamil community are presented here, rather than a detailed biography. Medan Tamils refer to D. Kumaraswamy as 'O.K.', 'annal' (a person of high esteem), or 'Anna' (elder brother, that is, one whose thought and conduct are exemplary to others). He was instrumental in setting up many local social organizations and initiating social changes. D. Kumaraswamy was born on 11 March 1906. His father (Duraisamy Pillai) and mother had migrated to Medan from Pondicherry in South India. His mother taught him Tamil, while his father was responsible for his early fluency in English. At seven years of age, he was appointed to read aloud the Tamil texts of the Ramayana and Mahabharata at the Binjai Mariamman Temple. This is proof of his linguistic ability, as both texts are written in medieval Tamil, and one would have to have mastered Tamil poetic grammar to make them understandable. He studied English up to Standard 7 at a government school in Medan, using this knowledge to gain a post with the Harrison and Crossfield Company, an English firm dealing largely with the export of plantation produce, in Medan. He worked there until his retirement.

Indians in North Sumatra

Fig. 3.2.

65

D. Kumaraswamy, community leader in Medan.

The Deli Hindu Sabah, begun in 1913, had become defunct by 1918. In 1923 an attempt was made to reactivate the association,. In 1931, at the age of 25, D. Kumaraswamy succeeded in re-establishing it, and served as its chairman until 1941. Through the association, D. Kumaraswamy attempted to bring about social reform among Tamils in Medan. He founded chapters within it for women, theology, sports, drama, and music. He also wrote a number of songs and dramas intended to bring about a social renaissance among Medan Tamils. D. Kumaraswamy started the Indian Boy Scout Movement in 1936 with the idea of inculcating social responsibility among Medan Tamil youths. He also established a hockey team for local Indians. In 1937 he was instrumental in founding the Indian Welfare Association to aid poor Tamils in North Sumatra. All these associations came to an end when the Japanese invaded Indonesia. When the Japanese surrendered, the Indonesian struggle for independence accelerated. With the plantation economy in ruins, the political status of Indians became a problem. In order to establish some represen-

66

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

tation of Indians for dialogue with. the various power groups, D. Kumaraswamy founded the All India Representative Association in 1946 and became its president. Later the Association was renamed the Sumatra Indian Union. When the Indian embassy was established at Jakarta in 1947, the first Indian Ambassador, N. Ragavan, recognized D. Kumaraswamy as the representative of Indian interests in North Sumatra. When the Indian consulate was established at Medan in 1949, the Sumatra Indian Union was dissolved. By that date, the Indonesian Constitution had conferred citizenship status on most of the Medan Tamils, those who were born in Indonesia or had been resident in the country for the requisite number of years. In 1954 the school behind the Medan Sri Mariamman Temple was completed. In the same year D. Kumaraswamy was elected the president of both the school and the temple. For the next four years he was successful in bringing about many changes to these two institutions. He had already been active in education for many years, having founded the Fine Arts Society in 1929, an organization that enabled Medan Tamils to study music, drama, and oratory and to become fluent in Tamil and English. In 1935 he had started the Jalan Darat Tamil School, which still continues as an Indonesian language school. He also established Tamil schools at Jalan Iskandar Muda, Jalan Tharuma, and Jalan Asia, all under the supervision of the Deli Hindu Sabah. He taught English at all these schools. In order to promote literacy among Tamils in English and Bahasa Indonesia, D. Kumaraswamy published in 1937 a book entitled How to Learn Latin Characters in Ten Hours. The absence of a good printing press for Tamil publications in Medan induced him to plan the introduction of Tamil script in romanized characters; but such efforts had already been repudiated in Tamil Nadu and elsewhere. In 1940 he started a monthly news magazine in Tamil called Thinaharan. It ceased publication during the Japanese occupation, and was restarted as the Indian in 1948/49. It ceased publication again after two years owing to financial difficulties. In order to alleviate the problem of alcohol abuse among lower working-class Tamils, D. Kumaraswamy published a book in 1932, emphasizing the evils of strong drink. To promote respect for the Tamil community, he acquired a motor vehicle for use as a hearse under the auspices of the Deli Hindu Sabah. This soon replaced the traditional custom of carrying deceased Tamils to the cremation grounds on a special rectangular bamboo bier (paadai). He also composed funeral songs. Finally, he simplified the marriage rituals, so that Hindu marriages could be conducted without the

Indians in North Sumatra

67

help of Brahmin priests. These changes in death and marriage ceremonies introduced by him still remain among Tamils in Medan. At the age of 25, D. Kumaraswamy became a member of the Medan Lodge of the Theosophical Society. This was one of the few associations into which liberal Europeans admitted Asians. Here he learned more about Hinduism from Europeans who attended the Society's meetings. In 1936 D. Kumaraswamy published a small book entitled Explanation of Life (Vazhai Vilakam), in which he discussed the nature of God and the nature of worship. In 1947 he contacted the Theosophical Society in Tamil Nadu, and with their help started the Vasantha Lodge of the Theosophical Society. In 1950 the defunct Medan Lodge and the Vasantha Lodge were combined into the new Medan Lodge, of which D. Kumaraswamy was elected the chairman, a post which he held for fourteen years. After twenty-five years of involvement in community affairs, D. Kumaraswamy apparently felt disillusioned and discouraged about winning people to his beliefs. As a result, in 1954, he became a Buddhist, distinguishing himself no less in this capacity. The Indonesian Buddhist Sangha honoured him as a monk for his excellent services to the Buddhist cause in North Sumatra and he was given the title of 'Maha Ubasaha Maha Panditha' (great teacher and scholar). When he visited Tamil Nadu, the chief abbot of the Madras Buddhist Sangha, Maha Therer Nandiswara, conferred upon him one of the highest titles in Buddhist religion - 'Maha Ubasaha, Maha Panditha, Asoka Dharma Surya'. D. Kumaraswamy's early contributions toward the advancement of the Medan Tamil community are remembered by his contemporaries with respect and esteem. For this reason, they refer to him as thalaivar (leader). By the 1960s, however, his conversion to Buddhism and his efforts to convert Tamil Hindus to the Buddhist faith were seen as undermining the community. Personal problems led to an increase in the community's antagonism, and by the 1970s he had lost esteem as a social leader in the community. He died in Medan on 10 October 1979.

Temples in the Tamil Community All over Southeast Asia, in urban and rural areas, the temples built by South Asian immigrants and their descendants are primarily patterned after the Tamil Hindu temples of India. One might even say that the predominance of these temples has brought about a quiet integration of all South Asian Hindus in Southeast Asia, even of those from North India who have never

68

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

Road

-

......

Dharma Putra School (formerly Bharathi School)

I

Sivan

~----~

I

~--------------------------~~~-.

"'E;·

The Indian Population of Singapore

879

force has responded to the structural changes that have occurred in the economy since independence. Economic development also envisages a shift in the distribution of labour among the various occupational groups. Higher-level occupations would be relatively expansionary. The industrial composition of the employed (both Indians and the national total) is presented in Table 35.11. Of the 62,300 Indian workers in 1957, 37 per cent were engaged in the 'Other services' sector, where a large proportion of jobs were in public administration, defence, and community and social services. About 36 per cent of the male labour force and 80 per cent of female workers were in this sector. Next in rank were the commerce and transport and communications sectors. The manufacturing sector had only 4,700 Indian workers, a negligible 7.6 per cent. Between 1957 and 1970, there was a decline of 9,000 Indian workers, mostly males. A significant decline occurred in the 'Other services' sector, followed by commerce and construction. The fall in the services sector employment for male Indians is due to the fact that the British bases were a major employer of Indian white-collar workers. In relative terms, the services sector continued to have the largest share of employed Indians. By 1980, this proportion had declined to 28 per cent against the increases in manufacturing employment throughout most of the 1970s. In 1980 sectors in which Indians were dominant were: services, manufacturing, commerce, and transport. Indian females were also concentrated in the services sector, although their share has continuously declined. They are to be found mainly in manufacturing, services, and commerce. When compared to national levels, the share of Indians in the services sector was higher in the years 1957-70. The gap has significantly narrowed since 1970. Indian shares have always been higher than those of all races in utilities and transport and communications. It may be concluded from the analyses that Indians tend to concentrate in their traditional sectors of public administration, transport and communications, and utilities. Their shift to manufacturing, commerce, and construction has been gradual. Indian females have responded to structural change by shifting away from the public sector to manufacturing during the industrialization period. The occupational classification of the work-force is given in Table 35.12. A large proportion were production and related workers, especially males. Most females were professional and technical and services workers,

Oo Oo 0

Table 35.12 Percentage Distribution of Working Persons Aged Ten Years and over by Occupation, 1957-80

;;--

g:

Indians All Persons

19571 Total Professional and technical Administrative and managerial Clerical Sales Services Agricultural workers and fishermen Production and related workers Not classifiable

100 (62.3)

19701 100 (53.4)

19752 100 (51.7)

;:;

19782 100 (62.5)

198()3 100 (76.1)

19571 100 (60.8)

19701 100 (49.0)

19752 100 (41.0)

Q

Females

Males

19782 100 (45.0)

198()3 100 (56.0)

19571 100 (1.4)

19701 100 (4.4)

19752 100 (10.8)

;;! ;;!

19782 100 (17.5)

198()3 100 (20.2)

;::

i:!. ~·

""s· ~ ;::

s.

"" :.. ""s· (::)

3.8

7.8

9.5

8.5

8.9

3.2

5.9

8.5

8.4

7.5

29.1

29.3

13.6

8.9

12.7

1.6 13.2 20.2 15.2

1.1 13.3 21.5 20.0

2.4 15.0 13.9 20.9

1.6 15.3 13.9 17.3

3.7 13.9 12.4 16.2

1.7 13.2 20.6 14.8

1.2 12.6 22.8 19.7

3.0 12.5 16.2 21.5

2.1 13.4 16.5 17.0

4.6 11.0 15.3 16.5

0.8 11.7 6.0 30.7

0.3 21.0 6.4 23.1

24.1 5.0 18.6

0.6 20.4 7.2 18.2

1.3 21.7 4.4 15.4

2.9

2.2

2.3

1.6

1.4

2.8

2.3

1.8

1.4

1.3

9.0

1.2

4.0

2.4

1.8

41.7 1.4

31.6 2.5

31.1 4.9

34.4 7.2

36.0 7.5

42.3 1.4

32.8 2.7

30.2 6.1

31.5 9.8

34.7 9.2

12.6 0.1

18.2 0.4

34.2 0.5

41.7 0.7

39.9 2.8

;:;.

Table 35.12 (continued) Percentage Distribution of Working Persons Aged Ten Years and over by Occupation, 1957-80 All Races All Persons

19571 Total

Professional and technical Administrative and managerial Clerical Sales Services Agricultural workers and fishermen Production and related workers Not classifiable

19701

19752

Males

19782

198()3

19571

19752

19782

198()3

100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 (471.9) (650.9) (833.5) (1,018.3) (1,077.1) (387.7) (497.3) (586.5) (675.7) (706.5)

19571

19701

19752

19782

198()3

100 100 100 100 100 (86.5) (153.6) (247.0) (342.6) (370.6)

5.1

8.6

10.7

8.6

8.8

4.1

6.9

10.7

8.2

8.2

9.9

14.2

10.8

9.2

10.0

1.7 11.6 18.3 15.1

1.8 12.9 16.2 13.6

2.8 16.0 15.2 11.4

2.8 15.7 15.3 11.1

4.8 15.6 12.4 10.4

2.0 12.6 20.0 10.6

2.2 11.7 17.9 10.6

3.7 12.2 16.5 9.3

3.9 10.9 16.8 9.3

6.2 9.3 13.3 8.8

0.3 6.7 10.2 35.8

0.4 16.9 10.7 23.4

0.6 24.9 12.3 16.3

0.5 25.5 12.4 14.9

2.2 27.4 10.2 13.5

7.8

4.1

2.8

2.2

1.9

7.0

4.4

2.9

2.5

2.5

11.9

3.2

2.5

1.6

1.0

38.5 1.9

39.2 3.6

35.3 5.8

38.1 6.1

40.4 5.8

41.4 2.3

41.7 4.6

36.7 8.1

39.3 9.1

43.4 8.3

25.1 0.1

30.9 0.3

32.1 0.5

35.6 0.2

34.7 1.0

Based on Classification of All Occupations 1969. 2 Based on Singapore Standard Occupational Classification 1973. 3 Based on Singapore Standard Occupational Classification 1978. Notes: 1. 1978 data consider those working persons over 15 years of age. 2. Figures in parentheses show the total number in thousands. Sources: Various censuses and surveys. 1

19701

Females

;;l

s"'

~

;:s '1:;

~ ;:: l:l

6·

;:s

~ Vl

s·

CiQ

~0

;;;

Oo Oo

'-

Oo Oo

Table 35.13 Percentage Distribution of Working Persons Aged Ten Years and over by Occupational Status, 1957-80

N

::;-

~

Indians Total- All Categories

Males

Persons

Males

1957*

100

100

100

3.9

4.1

1966*

100

100

100

4.3

4.5

1970

100

100

100

3.3

3.5

1974

100

100

100

4.8

6.1

1975

100

100

100

4.2

5.3

1976

100

100

100

4.7

5.9

Females Persons

Males

Females Persons

Males

Females

:::. :::t. s·

;::

12.7

12.9

4.5

1.2

1.2

3.2

82.1

81.8

91.6

14.2

14.6

7.2

1.6

1.6

1.2

79.9

79.3

91.5

0.4

16.6

17.7

3.9

1.2

1.1

2.1

78.9

77.7

93.6

0.4

6.8

8.5

1.2

1.3

1.4

0.8

87.1

83.9

97.5

5.7

6.7

2.0

1.4

1.3

1.5

88.7

86.7

96.4

6.5

7.9

2.0

1.3

1.0

2.0

87.5

85.2

94.8

86.7

83.7

96.3

0.7

1.2

7.1

8.7

2.0

1.3

1.3

4.2

5.6

0.7

5.6

6.7

2.9

1.2

1.2

1.2

88.9

86.5

95.2

3.7

4.8

0.9

87.7

84.4

96.8

100

4.9

1978**

100

100

100 100

Females Persons

0;::

0.5

100 100

Males

Employees

6.3

100 100

Females Persons

Unpaid Family Workers

1.2

1977 1980

Own-Account Workers

Employers

Year

;:,s

0.6

7.7

9.8

1.7

0.9

0.9

::::

"'"'

V:l

C)

::::

.,s."' ~ ~

"'s·

Table 35.13 (continued) Percentage Distribution of Working Persons Aged Ten Years and over by Occupational Status, 1957-80 All Races Total- All Categories Year 1957 1966 1970 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978** 1980

Persons 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

Employers

Males Females Persons 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

3.7 3.7 2.8 4.1 4.0 4.1 4.1 4.1 3.9

~ Excludes Sri Lankans. **Considers working persons over 15 years of age.

Sources: Various censuses and surveys.

Own-Account Workers

Males Females Persons 4.3 4.7 3.4 5.5

5.3 5.4 5.7 5.6 5.3

1.0 1.1

0.8 1.2 1.0 1.1 0.7 0.8 1.1

17.5 16.0 17.1 10.8 10.9 10.9 10.6 9.7 10.8

Unpaid Family Workers

Males Females Persons 18.4 17.3 18.4 12.8 12.7 13.3 12.7 11.6 13.5

13.3 11.4 9.6 6.5 6.7 5.6 6.1 5.8 5.5

5.1 4.5 3.6 2.9 3.1 2.9 3.1 3.0 2.5

Employees

Males Females Persons 3.5 3.3 2.8 2.1 2.0 1.9 2.0 2.0 1.8

12.5 8.7 6.2 4.6 5.7 5.3 5.5 4.9 3.8

73.7 75.7 76.5 82.2 81.9 81.9 82.1 83.2 82.8

Males Females 73.8 75.0 74.4 79.6 80.0 79.2 79.6 80.6 79.2

73.2 78.4 83.4 87.8 86.5 88.0 87.7 88.4 89.6

~

~

[

!5' ;::s '1::1

~ >:: iS'

5· ;::s

~

c.,

;;·

OQ

{l c ~

Oo

~

884

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

these shares being higher than for all races. A shift towards higher-level occupations has occurred, although Indian participation in administrative and managerial jobs is wanting. In the professional and technical category, the concentration is in occupations such as doctors, lawyers, and teachers. 11 Nevertheless, there seems to be a preference for service and clerical jobs, especially among males. Indian females have responded to industrialization by increasingly taking up production and assembly-line jobs, then requiring low skills, in the manufacturing sector. 12 The working population can generally be classified into occupational status of employers, own-account workers, unpaid family workers, and employees, as given in Table 35.13. It may be noted that Indian share of employees has exceeded that of all races. Even within this category (in 1980) Indian public employees (32 per cent) exceeded private employees on the national scale. In the employer category, Indians had larger shares than all races in all years between 1957 and 1978. In 1980 this share had declined. It may be concluded that there has been an over-concentration of Indians in the 'Employees' category; within this grouping, public sector employment predominates. Though Indians have been fairly well represented in the 'Employers' category, their share in the 'Own-account workers' category has somewhat declined.

Skills Structure among Indians A detailed occupational classification enables the analysis of skills-mix among the working population, both for Indians and the total population, contained in Table 35.14. Only selected high-level key occupations were considered for the period 1970-80_13 Occupations for Indians that were significantly comparable to or above the national levels were: architects, engineers, etc.; doctors, dentists; accountants; jurists, teachers, etc.; and government (administrative and executive) workers. The proportion of specific skills possessed by Indians in the national total is computed in Table 35.15, compared over the 1970-80 period. It may be noted that the following occupations showed significant uptrends: architects, town planners; civil engineers; mechanical engineers; chemical engineers; jurists; life scientists; dentists; economists; university teachers; primary teachers; and pre-primary teachers. Obviously, there is tremendous improvement where skills acquisition of Indians is concerned, especially in the industrialization phase of postindependent Singapore. With increases in work participation and better

Table 35.14 Working Persons Aged Ten Years and over by Occupation and Ethnic Group Number

Percentage

I970 Occupation Group (3-Digit) Architects, engineers, surveyors, and related technicians Architects and town planners Civil engineers Electrical and electronics engineers Mechanical engineers Chemical engineers Metallurgists Mining engineers Industrial engineers Engineers NEC Life scientists and related technicians Life scientists Medical, dental, veterinary, and related workers Medical doctors Dentists Statisticians, mathematicians, systems analysts, and technicians

I980

I970

I980

All Races

Indians

All Races

Indians

All Races

Indians

All Races

Indians

9,994 370 656 738 1,371 285 15 31 353 480 137

707 5 32 43 46 12 -

32,834 608 1,229 1,862 2,506 401 11 140 686 244 1,001 115

1,676 16 71 95 164 25 1 4 25 8 52 9

1.54 0.06 0.10 0.11 0.21 0.04 0.002 0.005

1.32 0.01 0.06 0.08 0.09 0.02 -

-

0.02 0.08 0.01

3.05 0.06 0.11 0.17 0.23 0.04 0.001 0.01 0.06 0.02 0.09 0.01

2.20 0.02 0.09 0.12 0.22 0.03 0.001 0.005 0.03 0.01 0.07 0.01

-

9 43 5

0.05 O.D7 0.02

-

~

[

5' ;:,:

.g"t1 ;:

IS"

::t.

;J:.

100

;:::

;:: ;:s

's·"'

100

25.8 37.8 5.3

30.5 32.9 6.1

27.1 31.2 3.9

29.5 23.8 4.2

27.1 20.1 3.8

28.0 19.6 3.4

27.9 20.3 4.5

29.8 14.2 4.9

30.7 13.5 4.5

28.6 18.2 4.7

28.1 20.7 3.8

9.9 14.9

11.9 12.2

22.2 9.1

25.3 9.0

25.3 8.2

29.2 7.5

26.5 7.7

27.5 8.2

28.4 8.8

28.3 5.9

23.7 7.4

0.4 6.0 100

0.3 6.0 100

2.0 4.6 100

2.8 5.5 100

2.3 13.2 100

2.4 9.9 100

3.0 10.0 100

3.1 12.3 100

3.3 10.7 100

3.6 10.7 100

4.5 11.9 100

Table 35.22 (continued) Distribution of Graduating Students by Sex and Faculty, National University of Singapore, 1970-80 (In percentages) Faculty

Arts, Social Sciences Science* Law Business Administration, Accountancy Medicine, Dentistry Architecture, Building, Estate Management Engineering Total

Arts, Social Sciences Science* Law Business Administration, Accountancy Medicine, Dentistry Architecture, Building, Estate Management Engineering Total

1970

1971

1972

1973

1974

1975

All

Races

(Males)

1976

1977

1978

1979

1980

17.8 37.7 6.1 11.2

24.4 32.6 7.6 14.0

21.3 31.7 3.9 23.3

18.8 24.5 4.4 26.4

13.8 18.7 3.7 25.9

17.5 19.9 3.2 30.6

17.8 20.2 3.6 27.9

18.3 14.1 4.1 26.6

20.9 13.0 2.2 29.8

21.2 17.4 3.8 27.7

21.2 18.7 2.9 24.1

17.7 0.5

12.5 0.2

10.2 2.7

12.4 4 ..4

11.8 3.6

8.9 3.3

8.7 4.7

10.7 4.1

11.1 4.3

6.3 5.3

7.9 5.3

8.9 100

8.7 100

6.8 100

9.2 100

22.5 100

16.5 100

17.1 100

22.2 100

18.7 100

18.3 100

19.9 100

All

Races

(Females)

jS•

;:s

42.6 38.5 3.8

43.9 33.6 2.9

38.5 30.3 4.0

43.8 23.0 3.9

44.7 21.9 3.8

41.6 19.2 3.8

39.8 20.5 5.5

41.8 14.3 5.8

42.8 14.2 7.3

37.1 19.3 5.7

36.9 23.3 4.9

5.8 9.3

7.4 11.5

19.9 6.7

23.7 4.6

24.6 3.4

27.4 5.7

25.0 6.5

28.4 5.6

26.7 6.1

29.1 5.3

23.1 6.6

1.5 0.2 100

0.4 0.1 100

0.6 0.4 100

0.5 1.1 100

1.1 1.3 100

1.0 1.6 100

2.0 2.0 100

2.1 0.8 100

1.6 1.9 100

3.5 1.7 100

-

100

~

["'

* Includes Pharmacy. Note: For Indians, the figures are approximate. Sources: Compiled from the University of Singapore/National University of Singapore Convocation Lists; Department of Statistics, Yearbook of Statistics, annual issues.

'"tl

.§ ~

iS"

5·

;:s

~

Vl

~·

-§

~

~

900

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

compensates for the lack of data beyond 1975. The arts and social sciences disciplines attracted the largest share of students, the Indian share being higher than for the nation. The female preference for such subjects was also pronounced. Indians were also well represented in the law faculty, which had the second largest share of I_ndians in most of the years. Next in importance were physical sciences and medicine and dentistry. However, the share of Indian science graduates was below the national level. In most years, the share of Indians among medical and dental graduates was higher than national levels. In all the remaining faculties, particularly in engineering, management, and architecture, Indian shares were inadequate. It is worth noting that although the share of engineering graduates nationally has increased sharply since 1974, Indian graduate shares have risen only slightly. There have Table 35.23 Indians and All Races Five Years and above by Highest Qualification and Sex, 1980 (In percentages) Indians All Persons Total No qualification Primary Secondary '0' level (arts and science) Technical and others Upper Secondary 'A' level Teachers' training Technical, commerce, and others Tertiary Building and engineering Science Medical science Arts Others

100

Males 100

Females 100

29.6 46.1 14.9 (100) (96.8) (3.2) 6.1 (100) (73.5) (8.1)

27.1 47.9 14.8 (100) (95.3) (4.7) 6.7 (100) (70.7) (5.1)

26.0 43.7 21.5 (100) (98.8) (1.2) 5.3 (100) (78.5) (13.6)

(18.4) 3.2 (100) (13.8) (18.5) (9.4) (44.3) (14.0)

(24.2) 3.5 (100) (21.2) (16.0) (9.7) (37.5) (15.6)

(7.9) 2.9 (100) (0.9) (23.0) (9.0) (56.0) (11.1)

901

The Indian Population of Singapore All Races All Persons

Total No qualification Primary Secondary '0' level (arts and science) Technical and others Upper Secondary 'A' level Teachers' training Technical, commerce, and others Tertiary Building and engineering Science Medical science Arts Others

100

Males

100

Females

100

35.3 44.0 12.4 (100) (95.1) (4.9) 5.7 (100) (60.9) (7.7)

27.6 49.7 12.4 (100) (92.0) (8.0) 6.7 (100) (54.2) (5.2)

43.2 38.1 12.3 (100) (98.3) (1.7) 4.7 (100) (70.7) (11.5)

(31.4) 2.6 (100) (19.2) (17.8) (6.4) (46.7) (9.9)

(40.6) 3.5 (100) (27.2) (17.9) (6.5) (39.9) (8.5)

(17.8) 1.8 (100) (3.0) (17.5) (6.2) (60.4) (12.9)

Source: Census of Population 1980, Singapore: Literacy and Education.

hardly been any Indian female graduates from engineering, architecture, and building and estate management. Finally, Table 35.23 provides a distribution of Indians and the total population by their highest qualification in 1980. It may be inferred that relatively speaking, Indians were educationally better qualified than all races. The share of Indians with no qualifications was less than the national population, while they were higher at all qualification levels. Indian females were better educated at least up to secondary levels compared to their male counterparts. Preponderance of Indians in purely academic disciplines seems to support the lack of an aptitude or disinclination for technical education, definitely so for females. Of those Indians with secondary education, about 3.2 per cent were technically qualified, contrasted to 4.9 per cent for the nation. Only 18.4 per cent of Indians with upper secondary education had technical and commercial leanings, in contrast to 31.4 per cent for the country. The preference or aptitude for non-technical disciplines is also

902

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

apparent when compared against all races. It is possible to conclude that Indians in Singapore were relatively more literate and better qualified, at least academically. A relatively higher attrition rate at secondary four level seems to threaten this status. The proportion of Indians with professional qualifications is quite encouraging at present, especially in the medical and legal professions. Those Indians with lower education are mainly nontechnically qualified. High attrition rates between secondary four and preuniversity levels, coupled with non-technical education preference, may not improve this present situation.

Implications for Socio-Economic Development: Some Recommendations At this juncture, it is natural to ponder whether the community has advanced in terms of socio-economic development, with a view to offering some prescriptions for further development. Gaps may point out possible new policies that may promote not only the community's advancement but also its contribution to the country's development ethos. Among the observations that can be considered as significant are: 1.

2.

3.

4.

Singapore Indians have grown from a mainly male migratory basis to a more settled population of some 190,000 persons by 1990. Such a transition augers well in terms of the community's level and pattern of participation in the country's labour force. The more settled nature of the community has become evident since the late 1960s, before which its sex ratio (an indicator of family formation) was abnormally in favour of males. This then led to a rather high economically active male population. Job opportunities in the country attracted Indian males into the workforce; the situation also led to rather low unemployment rates among Indians (particularly males). Of course, the closure of the British bases and trading houses did encourage an exodus of Indian males in the late 1960s, thereby contributing to low unemployment. This emigration could have also improved the sex ratios. Though the transitory nature of the Indian population came to an end, the 1970s seem to indicate a revival of this feature. This stems from an influx of Indian guest workers who were recruited to ease the pressure on the labour market. This revival is expected to be shortlived.

The Indian Population of Singapore

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

903

Apart from the settled feature of the community, female participation in the work-force has increased since the 1970s. In earlier times, Indian women were tradition-bound or discouraged by their inability to find suitable employment in the labour market, as may be discerned by their higher unemployment rates in the early 1970s. Industrialization in the country offered better opportunities and, through education, Indian women have entered the work-force. Despite employment generation, Indians have been less able to take advantage of the structural changes in the economy. Their shift to better-paying lead sectors in the economy was not significant. They have tended to concentrate in public administration, utilities, transport, and communications. As for females, however, more have gone into manufacturing, mainly for low-skilled assembly-line and production jobs. Despite increased demand for professional and technical workers in the 1970s, only the few tertiary-educated Indians have capitalized on this. Even then, the professional occupations that required less technical skills (say, medical, legal, and teaching services) were in demand, with very few opting for more technical professions (engineering, architecture, and the sciences). Those with less than tertiary education went into white-collar clerical and service occupations. Indian women who were lesser qualified took on mainly clerical and production jobs. The profile ofthe unemployed Indians reveals a preference or affinity for non-technical jobs. A disproportionate number were looking for clerical and service occupations; the non-preference would be due to a genuine lack of technical skills among the job seekers. This lack of aptitude, rather than attitude, is confirmed by the evidence on educational attainment. The proportion of Indians who had secondary and upper secondary qualifications with technical and commercial background was lower than national levels. The tertiary-educated were in non-technical jobs, with the least number having engineering and building sciences degrees. Wage income levels of Indians have improved tremendously over the development decades, mainly from widespread employment opportunities. Female participation in work has contributed to the higher family incomes of Indians. Their lower than national wage incomes

904

10.

11.

12.

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

may be accounted for by their disproportionate numbers in the public sector, mainly in clerical and service jobs. Unless corrected by deliberate policy, the trend towards the production of white-collar skills and non-technical professions would be expected to continue. The evidence shows an over-representation of Indians in academic courses (mainly in arts) in secondary and preuniversity levels in 1970-75. This trend seems to have continued since a large share of graduating Indians were from non-technical courses in the university, at least up to 1980. It is of concern that the attrition rate of Indians at secondary four was higher than national levels. Most of the drop-outs at this stage were academically qualified, opting for clerical, service, and low-skilled production vocations. With economic restructuring, automation, and computerization, nontechnical vocations will be less in demand. Any preference or affinity for white-collar jobs is not very encouraging. Indians should gear up to take advantage of the changing economic circumstances to improve themselves even further.

The Singapore Government has made available the pre-conditions necessary for employment creation in the economy, not to mention the provision of educational facilities for workers to train or upgrade themselves for better-paying skilled vocations in a restructured environment. The country's educational system seems to have operated without discrimination or favouritism based onthe principles of merit. Problems peculiar to Singapore Indians must be solved by the community alone. Arising from the above considerations, some policy guide-lines may be prescribed at both micro and macro levels. 1.

Aptitude rather than attitude seems to be responsible for the streaming of Indian students into the academic curricula; it then becomes necessary to raise the aptitudes of students in the less academic fields. This may be done by community-wide tuition projects and advisory services conducted by dedicated, qualified, and better-trained people widely dispersed in the community. Indeed, the Tamils Representative Council's (TRC) Educational Assistance Programme, 21 started in 1982, seems to be advancing in this direction. Effectively organized as a youth activity, the programme is performing yeoman service to the community. Classes

The Indian Population of Singapore

2.

3.

4.

905

conducted at the weekend are run by voluntary teachers for the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), secondary four, and pre-university courses in key subjects, with a view to supplementing the students' efforts towards better examination preparation. Students enrolled are mainly from the Indian community, paying nominal fees to cover refreshments or travelling allowances. Keen students from other communities are also encouraged to join these classes, providing a competitive base for the rest. This development must be lauded since no ethnic polarization ought to be encouraged. Extension of this programme to primary three, where streaming first occurs, should be the next logical step. 22 Any deficiencies must be spotted at this stage. It is crucial for the community that tuition classes ought to start at this level with a long-term objective. The present programme does not attract public financial assistance. Funds are raised through various projects and the programme is self-sustaining, providing a motivational approach. The use of schools and centres to conduct the classes has been limited. 23 Some form of further government assistance should be considered. Numerical and language skills seem to be insufficient for the community. The focus of training and extra instruction should be on mathematics, English language, and computer knowledge. In fact, some of these should be imparted to Indian pupils at an earlier stage to identify and rectify such deficiencies. These might help towards better performance in later years. A career guidance programme24 must be instituted to kindle interest in vocations and careers anticipated to be in effective demand in the future. Academicians and leading professionals from the community should work together in setting up a volunteer body to render advice to aspiring youth. The TRC seems to have heeded this approach. In 1986, the Tamil Language and Cultural Society (TLCS) held a seminar-cum-workshop and launched a career guidance programme called Education Information Services, covering law, commerce, engineering, arts and social sciences, computer, and physical sciences. This would need resources to make it viable. The author is of the opinion that both the TRC and the TLCS ought to combine their resources to make this a successful venture, a purely voluntary effort. The community should support both the TRC and the TLCS activities

906

5.

Indian Cornmunities in Southeast Asia

through various umbrella organizations that represent the Indian community- in terms of finance, manpower, and other resources. In this the Indian Chamber of Commerce should take a leading role in motivating its affluent members to support such activities. 25 At the same time, the Chamber ought to provide more bursaries and scholarships for the community to pursue higher studies at the universities, local and abroad. 26 Again, other bodies such as the Indian Education Trust and the Hindu Endowments Board should also extend some assistance at critical levels, not necessarily at the tertiary stages. 27 Very specifically, research should focus on the linkage between educational attainment and economic position so as to provide some insight into subgroups of Indians obtaining higher education and hence better jobs. Also, there need to be studies on Indian businesses in the country: extent of capital ownership, contribution to employment and income, economic concentration, managerial styles, level of modernization, and so on. Indian businesses are well suited, through the Chamber, to help the community to advance, instead of parochial development which can be detrimental.

NOTES * The author is indebted to Balagopal Nair who worked on an academic exercise on "Economic Characteristics of Singapore Indians" under his supervision. Some computations in this chapter are adapted from

1.

2.

this work. In current official usage 'Indians' refer collectively to the peoples from the Indian subcontinent. They comprise persons from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and the Maldives. Censuses prior to 1970 enumerated this group as Indians and Pakistanis (which included Bangladeshis) as one entity and the rest were classified into the 'Other' category. Any reference to data prior to 1970 should keep this distinction in perspective, although macroobservations are not affected. The labour force surveys after 1980 do enumerate each ethnic group in terms of occupation, industry, income, and other characteristics. For some reason, the Ministry of Labour has discontinued publication of such data after 1980. Ethnic analyses are necessarily restricted to the last census in 1980. Broad information on Indians has just (in

The Indian Population of Singapore

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

907

1992) been published in the first release of the 1990 census. Detailed data are expected in late 1992 or early 1993. Various studies arising from census reports and other published data are noteworthy, namely: Saw Swee Hock, Singapore Population in Transition (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1970); P. Arumainathan, Report on the Census of Population: Singapore 1970 (Singapore: Department of Statistics, 1973); and You Poh Seng, V. V. Bhanoji Rao, and G. Shantakumar, "Population Growth and Population Characteristics", in The Singapore Economy, edited by You Poh Seng and Lim Chong Yah (Singapore: Eastern Universities Press, 1971). Two well-known studies are: K. S. Sandhu, Indians in Malaya: Some Aspects ofTheir Immigration and Settlement 1786-1957 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1969); and S. Arasaratnam, Indians in Malaysia and Singapore (Bombay: Oxford University Press, 1970). The sex ratio is expressed as the number of males per 100 females. In a settled population not affected by migration, the sex ratio stabilizes around 106 at birth, reduces to about 100 by marriageable ages and reduces even further in later ages due to higher male mortality compared to females. Abnormal sex ratios refer to an unhealthy balance between the sexes from the expected norm. This process actually began in the post-war era, intensified by the introduction of stricter immigration control between India and Malaya as well as between Malaysia and Singapore (after 1965). Due to data limitation, the analyses will necessarily relate to time series from the 1970 and 1980 censuses and the labour force surveys in the decade of the 1970s. Information beyond 1980 has not been officially published to facilitate such analyses. A standardization procedure to analyse these factors on labour force participation was carried out in Balagopal Nair, "Economic Characteristics of Singapore Indians: 1947-80" (Academic exercise, Department of Economics and Statistics, National University of Singapore, 1983/84), pp. 13-17. The recession of 1985-86 showed a higher unemployment rate in the total population at 6.5 per cent compared to 4.1 per cent and 4.7 per cent in 1984-85 and 1986-87 respectively. Indian unemployment would follow national trends. Full employment is not zero unemploy-

908

10.

11.

12. 13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

ment but a low level consistent with labour or skill shortages amidst upward wage pressures. Michael Tan Tai Seng, "A Study of the Unemployed in Singapore, 1970-78" (Academic exercise, Department of Economics and Statistics, National University of Singapore, 1980/81), p. 47. According to the 1980 census, only 25 per cent of Indian professional and technical workers were in occupations that required high technical skills such as engineers, scientists, and technicians. This is lower than the 35 per cent for the nation. In 1980, 55 per cent of females in production and related occupations were electrical and electronic component assemblers. Occupational classification at the three-digit level is comparable for the 1970 and 1980 censuses. Also, these two years broadly represent the period of economic and social development. Again, labour force data up to 1980 provide only a two-digit breakdown, while beyond 1980 such data have yet to be published. The author fervently hopes that such data beyond 1980 will be periodically (say every two to five years) published to help ascertain the community's progress in socio-economic development. Otherwise, serious analyses must await the next census ten years hence. The median income refers to the average amount earned by 50 per cent of the employed. This is more representative of the average income than the arithmetic average, which is affected by extreme values in the income distribution. The wider disparity in Indian male wage incomes may be due to greater heterogeneity in their occupational distributions. The females are concentrated in certain homogeneous occupations such as clerical, service, and production jobs that may require uniform or homogeneous skill levels. The Gini coefficient ranges between 0 and 1. At perfect income equality the coefficient is 0 and at perfect income inequality it is 1. Problems of estimation and interpretation, with specific reference to Singapore, are discussed in V. V. Bhanoji Rao and M. K. Ramakrishnan, Income Inequality in Singapore and Structural Change, 1966-1975 (Singapore: Singapore University Press, 1980). Preliminary computations of the national level Gini ratio seem to show a slight increase in inequality in wage incomes; a similar prognosis for Indians is precluded for want of published statistics.

The Indian Population of Singapore

19. 20.

21.

909

The further the Lorenz curve from the diagonal, the greater the inequality level. Enrolment statistics by ethnic group by faculty are not published at the university level. This necessitated compilation of graduates from detailed convocation lists of the university. Though not comprehensive, the compiled data serve as an approximation. The TRC Educational Assistance Programme: Year

Number of Children

Number of Volunteers

1982 1983 1984 1985 1986

121 1,619 2,372 2,624 4,429

11 152 279 249 411

Cost of Programme

$1,395 $27,651 $50,284 $67,029 $99,286

Source: Adapted from TRC Educational Assistance Programme, Half-Decade in Community Upliftment (Singapore, 1986), p. 4.

22.

23. 24.

25. 26. 27.

The youth wing of the TRC organizes annual workshop seminars where problems are aired and discussed. Prominent persons are also invited to speak at the seminars. Extension of the programme to primary three was a significant recommendation at the 1985 forum. The TRC meets the cost of rentals and so forth, of these classes in various school premises. This idea was mooted in G. Shantakumar, "The Position of the Indian Community in Singapore: An Economic Profile", Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce Economic Bulletin 24, nos. 1/6 (Jan./June 1984): 1-4. As a start, the Chamber should consider subsidizing the rentals of classes. It seems some of the scholarships have fewer takers owing to very stringent criteria set by the administrators. Based on the recommendation of an Action Committee on Indian Education (ACIE), a government-supported but community-based organization known as the Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA) was set up in 1991 to oversee the educational development of Indians in Singapore. The setting-up of SINDA effectively removed most of the problems encountered in the educational upliftment efforts of the 1980s.

Chapter 36

Indians in Thailand A. Mani

The South Asians in Thailand constitute an extremely small percentage of the total population. There is no consensus as to the number of Indians in Thailand. Thailand was described as having 20,764 Indians in 1921. 1 The 1947 Census of Population claimed that there were 11,189 Indians of whom 3,388 were females. 2 Another source in 1967 estimated the number of Indians to be around 25,000. 3 Despite the fact that post-war immigration rates are not as high as pre-war rates, since 1947 the annual immigration quota of 200 has been regularly exceeded. 4 Russell maintained that in 1958, the number of Indians in Thailand was 60,000, 5 while Harold Smith estimated them to be 75,000. 6 The highest estimate is given by Thompson as 100,000.7 In 1981 the Indian embassy in Bangkok estimated them to be around 20,000, whereas a 1982 study of Indians in Thailand estimated their number at over 60,000. 8 As in other parts of Southeast Asia, elements of Indian civilization are evident in Thai language, religion, culture, and daily life. A multitude of words from Indian languages are widely used. Thonkam (gold), kiribun (cloves), sundari (beautiful), malai (garland), arun (dawn, sun), and mali Gasmine) are commonly heard words in the streets of Bangkok. In religion, besides the omnipresent Buddha in Thai society, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva remain important. Religious texts in Pali, Sanskrit, and Tamil are kept and read at the Thai Brahmin Temple, Sao Ching Cha, in Bangkok. Despite the indigenized veneer of Buddhist-Hindu culture of Thailand, the contemporary Indians in Thailand seem to stand quite apart from the indigenous people of Thailand and their culture. Most of the contem910

Indians in Thailand

911

porary Indians came to Thailand after the 1920s, with certain groups tracing their arrival to the first half of the nineteenth century. This chapter attempts to provide a descriptive analysis of Indians in Thailand. The first part examines the migration, settlement patterns, and the socio-economic conditions of Indians in Thailand in a historical context to provide the background to the study of the contemporary position. This is followed by an examination of the contemporary position of Indians in Thailand. The first section provides some explanation as to the retention of cultural and ethnic identity among the Indians, with an explanation of the trends that are becoming currently evident. Though Indians are found all over Thailand, this chapter is largely based on field-work done in Bangkok. References to other parts of the country are made as the social networks among Indians in Thailand still refer to Bangkok as the centre.

Background The Historical Setting Historians have documented the links between the Indian subcontinent and Thailand. Evidence of the presence of sizable number of Indians during the Sukhothai and Ayutthaya periods have been described by a number of Western travellers to the Thai court. 9 Indian influence was noticeable in the religion and manners of the royalty. Indians were also seen to play an important part in trading activities. The ascendency of the Chakri Dynasty in the late eighteenth century marked the beginnings of strong European, especially British, influence. It also provided a clear break in the type of roles Indians played in Thailand. After the Anglo-Thai treaty of 1856, the traditional role of Indians at the Thai court and in the trading sector declined, and the new British Indian subjects who arrived later came to increasingly play a role in expanding the world capitalist economic mode of trading for the Europeans. The Anglo-Thai treaty concluded by Sir John Bowring granted extraterritorial privileges to the British in Thailand, thereby removing Indians from the jurisdiction of Thai authorities. This allowed Indians to pursue any form of economic activity in Thailand.

Migration The migration and settlement of Indians in Thailand have varied according to the different linguistic groups among them. Punjabis, Sindhis, Parsees,

912

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

Gujerati Sunnis, Dawoodi Bhoras, Tamils, Pathans, and Bengalis all have different migrational history. The pattern of Indian migration to Thailand was unlike that of Malaya (as Peninsular Malaysia was then called). Most Indians carne of their own· free will, and very few could have been said to have come to work in labour-intensive occupations. For instance, between 1933 and 1938, there were 9,067 Indian arrivals and 6,121 departures. Out of the 1,834 arrivals in Thailand in 1936, only 33 were labourers. The great majority engaged in commerce. 10 The earliest groups to have come in sizable numbers to Thailand appear to have been the Tamils. Phuket in southern Thailand seems to have been the first area that experienced a spill-over of Tamils from Penang and Peninsular Malaysia. Most of them came to participate in the cattle trade and precious-stone mining, with service groups like the Chettiars following them. The present-day Tamils living in Bangkok are unable to say whether Tamils who arrived in Phuket in the last century had moved on to other parts of Thailand. When in the third quarter of the nineteenth century King Mongkut started modernizing Thailand, many British engineers and entrepreneurs entered the country along with their Indian subordinates. Most of them were Tamils. They were engaged primarily in the various development projects like irrigation, waterworks, railways, and banking. As Bangkok grew in commercial importance during the nineteenth century, Tamils also moved to Bangkok from Phuket, Penang, and Singapore. Their pattern of movement closely coincided with the trade they pursued. Those who traded in cattle initially arrived in Bangkok via Penang and Phuket. A similar pattern was followed by those who operated quarries for precious-stone mining. These were largely Hindus. On the other hand, the Muslim Tamils had largely arrived via Singapore. Most of them were traders who had established their businesses in Singapore. Among the early Tamil settlers in Bangkok were Vaiti Padayatchi (a Hindu) and Mu. Tharnby Saibu Maraikayar (a Muslim). Both appear to have been prominent men and were leaders of the Tamil community. Vaiti Padayatchi was a cattle trader, whose trade in cattle kept him in close touch with Kader Sultan Marican (also known as Karikal Marican) in Singapore, then referred to as the cattle king of Singapore. V aiti Padayatchi established the present-day Sri Mariarnman Temple at the Pan Road/Silom Road junction in Bangkok. Soi V aiti, a street off Silom Road, is named after him. During this time, the Indians enjoyed absolute monopoly in the ex-

Indians in Thailand

913

port of cattle and meat from Thailand. In 1897, for instance, as many as 28,000 head of cattle were shipped from Bangkok.n Mu. Thamby Saibu Maraikayar, who was also known as M. T. S. Marican, had established his firm earlier in Singapore and had been an active trader in gemstones. When his debtors in Bangkok failed to remit their payments, he established his own firm, M. T. S. Marican Progressives Ltd., in 1880. The company, now managed by his fourth-generation descendant, has accounts dating to 1884. M. T. S. Marican invested his money in real estate along Silom Road and New Road, adjoining the present-day General Post Office. Along Silom Road, two lanes are named after him. Trok Tambisa and Soi Tambisa are streets named after M. T. S. Marican. The Sri Mariamman Temple, established in 1870, is commonly referred to as Wat Kaek, meaning Indian temple, by Bangkok residents. It appears to have been closely identified with South Indians and the area around it is referred to as W at Kaek area, where South Indians are to be found. Though today there are other 'Indian areas' in Bangkok, the early community of Tamils and their temple could have been significant for Bangkok's indigenous people to use the term 'Kaek' only in relation to the worship site of the Tamil Hindus. 12 The Dawoodi Bohra Muslims were also early migrants to Bangkok. The A. T. E. Maskate company, established in 1856, is the oldest nonChinese firm in Bangkok. It belongs to the Dawoodi Bohra Muslims who arrived from Ahmedabad in the Surat, then a princely state in the British Indian empire. It was a professionally managed company with head office in India, from where managers were sent to serve in the overseas branches. Almost all the Dawoodi Bohra Muslims came as wealthy traders to import British goods and export local goods. Until1914, with the outbreak of World War I, the Bohras and Tamil Muslim merchants from Pondicherry and Karikal were the only important businessmen in Thailand. The Tamils from Pondicherry and Karikal were French subjects. After the first wave of Tamils and Bohra Muslims came the Punjabis and Hindi-speaking Uttar Pradeshis. Though it is possible for some amongst them to have arrived earlier, available evidence shows them to have arrived in recognizable numbers after World War I. The early decades of the twentieth century were economically the worst periods for the Punjab peasantry with drought and unemployment in

914

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

the villages of the Punjab. Those with kinsmen in Myanmar (Burma) were first attracted there and then to Thailand. The first Punjabi to arrive in Thailand is believed to be Kirparam Madan, a Sehajdari Sikh, who arrived in 1884. He brought his relatives to work for him, who in tum brought more Sikhs to Bangkok. By 1913, the Sikh population in Bangkok had grown to a sizable enough number to warrant a gurudwara (temple) being built for them. Early Punjabi migration to Bangkok may be said to have centred around four textile companies. Gian Singh, Nam Singh, L. S. Bagwan Singh, Bhool S. Inder Singh, and Akbal Singh Narula were the premier trading companies with which most Sikhs were associated. Almost all early Punjabi firms appear to have been Narulas, a caste-like endogamous group. During King Chulalongkom's reign, some Sikhs had also been enrolled into the Thai Police Force. De Busen, the then British Consul in Thailand, explained that the police forces of Hong Kong, Singapore, and other British colonies had urged the Thai Government to make use of their experience by drawing on the considerable British Indian population in Bangkok. The constant French objections to the employment of British subjects in Thai government departments, however, made the British discourage such hiring. 13 The Uttar Pradesh Hindi-speaking Hindus generally followed the establishment of Western trading firms in Bangkok. As each trading firm set up its warehouses and expanded its economic activities, more Uttar Pradeshis came to work as watchmen. Other groups among the Indians have been small or very recent in their migration to Thailand.

Population and Settlement Patterns Almost all the Indians in Thailand are found in urban centres. Indian community leaders estimate their population size to be about 30,000. About 75 per cent of the Indian population lives in Bangkok. The other urban centres where Indians are found in sizable number include Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Lampang - all in northern Thailand. Their preponderance in numbers in northern Thailand could be a result of the American involvement in IndoChina, with a concomitant need for a non-indigenous, non-communist ethnic group to supply the needs of the American armed forces. Indians in Thailand can be classified according to their linguistic origins.

Indians in Thailand

915

The Punjabi speakers can be divided into those associated with Sikhism and Hinduism. Most Punjabis in Thailand are from the districts of Gujeranwala, Sialkot, and Shekhupura - all now part of Pakistan. Sikhs outnumber all the other Indian groups put together. They form the dominant group and are often equated with being 'Indian' more than any other group. Outside Bangkok there are estimated to be about 20 Sikh families in Chiang Mai. Most are Sehajdari Sikhs from Peshawar in present-day Pakistan. Uborn has about 20 families, while Udorn and Chiang Mai each has about 3 families. Khon Kaen has 15 families. Mae Sod has about 10 to 15 families, the number varying according to the trends in the cross-border trade with Myanmar. Lam Poon, Phra, and Phisnolke each has about 5 families. Almost all the Punjabis in Bangkok and northern Thailand originated from that part of Punjab that forms part of Pakistan. The Sikhs in southern Thailand are largely from the present-day Punjab in India. The Punjabi Hindus number around 2,000 and they are largely residents in Bangkok. Kinship ties are still binding between the Sikhs and Punjabi Hindus. Hindi speakers are largely from Uttar Pradesh in India. Muslims among them have almost disappeared. The Hindus number around 5,000 persons. The sex imbalance is biased with adult males forming the bulk of the community. They form the second dominant group among the Indians. By the beginning of the twentieth century, the Babus of eastern Uttar Pradesh were working in sizable numbers in Myanmar. They began to trickle into Thailand as watchmen and dairy farmers. They consisted mainly of Brahmins and Madavis and a few Rajputs from the districts of Gorokspur and Asamgarh. They came largely as labourers and peons to work in the British and Dawoodi Bohra firms. As they increased in number, their dairy needs and those of the European community were met by the arrival of Gorkhpuri milkmen, who developed miniature colonies complete with cows. Brought as security guards to work in foreign firms, the population size of the Babus has varied according to the growth or decline of foreign firms in Thailand. Bengali migration to Thailand is largely a post-war phenomenon. They number around 200 persons, with most of them in service-oriented trades and businesses. The Pushtu speakers are from Peshawar in northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. They comprise both Muslims and Hindus. They are

916

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

settled mainly in northern Thailand, especially m Chiang Mai and the adjoining rural areas. The Hindus among them do not exceed 50 persons, while the Muslims number around 1,000 people. Sindhi migration into Thailand was part of their economic involvement in French Indo-China. Shevak Methani's Karachi Store appears to have been one of the premier firms to be set up in Bangkok. Many presentday Sindhis came to work with the early shop owners. Prior to World War II the Punjabi Sikhs and Hindus were a minority among the Indians in Bangkok. It was the Babus, or the Hindi speakers from Uttar Pradesh, who formed the majority of the population. The Punjabis could be described as the second most identifiable group, concentrated mainly in the Pahurat Road area. World War II and the subsequent partition of India dramatically altered the internal demographic configuration among the Indians. As Bangkok Punjabis were mainly from the Pakistani portion of Punjab, all the displaced Punjabis who had any connection with Bangkok migrated there. The post-war period witnessed a dramatic increase in females and children among the Punjabis. The concomitant rise in birth rates and stable families soon increased the number of Punjabis in Bangkok. The Babus, being unaffected by the Indian partition and having been always a male-dominated community, soon faced stringent regulatory conditions. The Thai Government imposed immigration quotas and discouraged fresh migrations. All government departments were encouraged to hire only citizens. Increasing curtailment of younger men arriving in Thailand and job restrictions soon resulted in the Uttar Pradesh community consisting of only middle-aged and older men. As older men returned to India after retirement, the size of the Babu population witnessed a gradual decrease in size. There is a possibility that except for those with families, the entire single male population may return to India with advancing age. The early settlement pattern of Indians in Bangkok is closely related to the economic niche each group occupied. A similar pattern is discernible in most of the urban centres in Thailand. In the late nineteenth century, the Indian settlement pattern was discernible only in three different areas of Bangkok. The Dawoodi Bohra Muslims and other trading groups lived mainly on the eastern side of the Menam Chao-Phraya until the administrative site of the Thai kings was moved to the western side. Most of the large-scale trading groups followed the change and moved directly across the river to Ratchawongse Road. The Tamils, especially Hindus, were settled near the Sri Mariamman Temple in

Indians in Thailand

917

Silom Road. A similar pattern was followed by Tamil Muslims in settling near Silom Road and in the adjoining New Road, opposite the General Post Office. Another region where Tamil Muslim traders opened their preciousstone stores and textile shops was the W at Ko area, where some shops ~till exist to this day. The Punjabis, consisting mainly of Sikhs, were settled in areas adjoining Pahurat Road, especially the area adjoining the gurudwara. As their population size and business activity increased, their shops spilled over into the area known as Sampeng, lying between Pahurat Road and Ratchawongse Road. The settlement pattern continued to be unchanged until the mid1970s when the closure oflndo-China to the usual trading activities brought many wealthy businessmen to Bangkok. Sikhs and Sindhis, who had earlier supplied ready-made textile materials to American troops, started their stores in areas frequented by tourists and wealthy Thais. This led to an increased number of tailor shops along Sukhumvit Road. There are 200 Sindhi Hindus in Bangkok. They numbered between 20 and 25 persons in 1933. At that time most of them were single men. Families came after the war. At the same time the wealthy businessmen in Pahurat and other traditionally Indian areas became interested in the real-estate business. This led to more families moving to homes in Sukhumvit and Thonburi while retaining shops at Sampeng Road. Still, about 50 per cent of the Indians live on the east side (Thonburi) of the river. The settlement pattern of the Sikh population in Bangkok can be described as 30 per cent resident at Thonburi, 25 per cent at Sukhumvit, and 30 per cent at Pahurat.

Economic Development The social and economic history of the Indian community differs according to the linguistic group, and the demographic size, the economic activity, and the sex ratio of the group. The Indian migration into Thailand was voluntary and in search of economic advancement. The increase in the community size came about only when some earlier members were seen as being successful. Very often the move to Thailand was a result of kinsmen, or members of the same village or district, already being there. The Tamils and Bohra Muslims, who appear to have been the most

918

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

identifiable groups to have come to Bangkok in sizable numbers, are examples of communities that were heavily influenced by the economic niche that they occupied. It is possible that the early Tamils did not inspire further immigration as a result of the poor communication between South India and Bangkok. Moreover, as Malaya offered more opportunities, the growth in size became restricted very early. Most Tamil Hindus, Tamil Muslims, and Bohra Muslims appear to have assimilated into the Thai community. The female population among these groups was negligible to the extent that the men in these groups married local women. The Muslims, due to their religion, could easily marry into the pre-existing Muslim population of Bangkok. Among the Tamil Hindus, marrying local women was a decision made on the threshold of becoming absorbed into Thai society. All the early marriages of Indian men to indigenous women appear to have been with Mon women. This was possible partly due to the fact that Mons were refugees to the Bangkok area and as such were economically depressed; until slavery was abolished, many Mons were bonded individuals. No cases were reported among the respondents of anyone marrying Thai women. Thus, there is doubt as to the extent the Thai society recognized these marriages as a process of integration into Thai society. For many professing Islam, it was easier to marry indigenous women until their departure from Thailand. But in most cases, kinsmen did exercise social control over such marriages, and prevented too many interethnic marriages. Generally, the indigenous women embraced the religion of their husbands. While the early Tamil Hindus were in the cattle-rearing and export trade, the Tamil Muslims were in piece cloth and precious-stone trading around the Wat Ko area. The Bohra Muslims and others from Gujerat, together with some Sindhis, specialized in goods from the British empire. Thus the wholesale textile trade was in their hands. The poor Punjabi peasants who came into the Bangkok scene also joined the textile trade, as it was easier for them to get credit from Sindhi and Punjabi firms. They also took credit from other foreign textile firms. They were vendors in piece cloth, who either carried their cloth bundles on their heads or in cloth baskets hung at the end of a long pole. Many Punjabis did manage to succeed in making sufficient money to start their own small

Indians in Thailand

919

textile shops. All of them traded in European textile goods, to the exclusion of Japanese goods, which were totally handled by the Chinese mercantile community. In 1932, as a result of the Sino-Japanese War, the Chinese textile merchants began a boycott of Japanese goods. The hartal, often backed by gangland violence, was enforced throughout the Chinese business community. There was a demand for the low-priced Japanese goods among the indigenous population, though they were inferior in quality to European goods. The new trading opportunities in Japanese goods were taken up by Indian vendors in Bangkok. As the Japanese were eager to find new marketing agents, they gladly gave credit to all the small Punjabi firms. The new link was taken up enthusiastically in the textile trade. By the late 1930s, many Punjabi firms extended their trade links to Japan and established offices in Tokyo. Thus, while a section of the Indian community continued to trade in continental textile goods, the Punjabis and some Sindhis were looking east towards Japan. The new expansion was further made possible by the family structure of the Punjabis. Many of them had their families with them, and often brought their brothers and other kinsmen to help in the expansion. While the older firms were managed by managers who had a share in the profits, the Punjabi firm was a family undertaking with an equal chance for the participants to subdivide the developed business later on. According to an elderly informant, Sardar Singh N arang of Thai Penang Fabrics, prior to World War II there were 5 firms in Korat, 3 firms in Ubon, 2 firms in Udon, 4 firms in Prahya, 2 firms in Utredit, 2 firms in Songkhla, 6 firms in Chiang Mai, 3 firms in Lampang, 2 in Chiang Rai, and 15 firms in Bangkok. All these were large textile firms dealing in wholesale and retail business, with each having a pool of vendors who sold further inland or in local bazaars. The Bangkok shops were all located in Ratchawongse Road. The onset of World War II brought enhanced fortunes to the Indian business community. As cloth became a scarce commodity the stocks held by the Indian traders brought tremendous profits. During the war their position as a trading group with Japan was further enhanced. With the increased profits, they were able to buy more shops in the adjoining traditional Chinese business area - the Sampeng district. When the war ended, the textile-trading Punjabi community was in a

920

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

better position in terms of controlling the textile market in Thailand. This position was further reinforced by their command of English and adequate capital to trade in American textiles. All the leading firms in Bangkok started branches in New York to establish their lead. The early 1950s indicated changing market conditions, with the Japanese recapturing the textile market, this time with cheaper but highquality textiles. The Indian trading community, having established their Japanese connection two decades earlier, was able to slide back into the Japanese textile trade. By this time, the Indian business community trading in continental goods had either lost out and withdrawn or changed their area of trading. Thus Tamil Muslims moved exclusively into precious-stone trading, while the Bohra Muslims and other Bombay merchants were reduced in number, with the remaining entering trading activities in high-value technology goods. The Babus, with the preponderance in their security occupation, were overtaken by events. Many were unemployed during the war, and were not in an economically advantaged position at the end of it. With increasing restrictions on employing non-citizens in the public sector, the Babus had to seek jobs in private firms. Many joined the new Punjabi textile firms as unskilled labour while a steady stream of older men began returning to India. As citizenship rules were made more stringent, the Punjabis could again emerge as a permanent group. The Punjabis, with the third generation being born in Thailand, could use their children, as Thai citizens by birth, to register new businesses and buy real estate. On the other hand, the maledominated groups within the Indian community were caught in their evereroding economic niches. This phenomenon of not having a Thai citizen in the family especially affected the Hindi-speaking Uttar Pradeshis, who had always been dependent on wage-earning occupations. In 1940 there were about ten leading Dawoodi Bohra Muslim firms. Today, only A. T. E. Maskate is still operating. These firms used to import textiles from India only and act as outlets for continental goods brought in by European companies. Palai, a special cloth 1.5 to 1.8 metres in length, was very popular among the Thais. Cotton yarn was also imported. This was the main trade commodity of the Bohra Muslims. The only large Sikh firm of the pre-war days still surviving is the Ramani Company. The Chotirmall firm had closed and then reopened in

Indians in Thailand

921

1972. Now, more Sindhis run tailor shops. Some of them were young escapees from Hong Kong during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The Sindhis have about ten large firms, mainly dealing in the garment export business. The rest mushroomed after the American withdrawal. For instance, of the 100-odd tailor shops at Pattaya Resort, 70 to 80 are Sindhi -owned. The arrival of the Americans and the war in Indo-China provided the Indians with another opportunity for business expansion. Their knowledge of English made it possible for them to open shops in the American bases and take on contracts to supply American needs. In the late 1960s, Indian businesses began to diversify, but the textile trade continues to be the main economic niche from which Indians advance. Individuals like Shivanath Rai Bajaj and Amamath Sachdev have ventured to get involved in industries either individually or in collaboration with Japanese or Indian capital and technology. Many of the industries are extensions of the textile trade. About fifteen Indians have ventured into setting up factories. The first factory was established in 1960. Most of the industrial development came about only in 1970. There were about twenty-five factories by the late 1980s with each employing 200 to 1,000 workers. At the time when Shivanath Rai Bajaj ventured into industries, he started companies using his children's names as he was still an Indian citizen. In 1963 the joint-venture company Teijin-Thai Filament Textile Company was started in collaboration with the Japanese Teijin Company. As chairman of the joint venture he controlled 51 per cent of the shares in the company. Under the terms of the joint venture, Teijin was to supply the technical knowhow, while he was to look after management and sales. The factory went into production in 1970, producing 100 per cent polyester filaments, shirting, suiting, and dress materials. The capital investment in the factory was 35 million bahts. As his factory was the first to produce polyester goods in Thailand, it is continuing to enjoy the lead in terms of high profits. Since 1978, Shivanath Rai Bajaj has participated in more joint ventures. The Tupper of India firms have teamed up with him to start a 3,000-million-baht firm producing paper and pulp. With the Usha Company of India, he went into a joint venture to start U sha Siam, producing steel wires and ropes. Sri Ambika Mills at Ahmedabad in India also teamed with him to start a factory to produce dye-stuff.

922

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

Dialdar Chanrai started his own jewellery and garment factories about twenty-five years ago. The jewellery factory is at Banmo, outside Bangkok city. The garment factory is at Prahnau. The Birla group of industries in Thailand has given rise to companies like Thai Rayon Company and the Indo-Thai Carbon Black Company. Most of the Birla companies are joint ventures with Indians in Thailand possessing Thai nationality. Economically, the Sikh community in Thailand can be described as 60 per cent vendors selling textile and electrical equipment. Though Uttar Pradeshis and Tamils are involved in similar businesses, their percentage is negligible. A new line of business, known as the 'Din Daeng' business, has become popular among these groups of businessmen. The business, named after the district in Bangkok where it became popular initially, is the selling of commercial goods on hire-purchase terms. Though there is increasing legislation to control exorbitant interest rates, the business appears to be gaining popularity. The vendors are wealthy by Thai middle-class standards. Another 15 per cent of the Punjabi population can be described as shop owners. They are absolutely wealthy. The expression of their wealth is seen in the houses they own and the ease with which they send their children to study abroad. The remaining 25 per cent of the Punjabi population can be described as having average income, but definitely well-off compared to the average Thai.

Social History and Development The social history of the Indian community in Thailand is largely centred in three areas namely Phuket, Chiang Mai, and Bangkok. Except for certain periods, social history was language-bound in relation to indigenous society. Prior to World War I, the Indian community in Phuket was largely a spill-over from Malaya and was predominantly Tamil. World War II and the subsequent return of Indians to Malaya or India reduced the community to an insignificant size. Those who came to work in the commercial sector had largely left, except for a small community of Tamils who had married indigenous women. This is reflected in the composition of the management committee of the Sri Mariamman Temple, in which the majority of the members, including the chairman, are descendants of marriages between Tamil men and indigenous women.

Indians in Thailand

923

In Chiang Mai the community that identified itself as Indian was clearly differentiated. The Muslims from Bengal and Uttar Pradesh engaged in dairy farming and minor commercial activities. They settled as permanent but isolated communities. This in tum resulted in their marrying indigenous women and becoming assimilated into Thai society. There was little interaction between the Bengali-speaking Muslims and the Urdu-speaking Muslims, and their social interaction was very often with minority indigenous groups for marriage purposes. The Pustu-speaking Hindus from Pakistan, the Punjabis, and the Sikhs had certain commonalities which brought them together. All of them recognized the major teachers of Sikhism as saints, and the gurudwara was able to forge closer links amongst them. Chiang Mai remains one of the few places in Thailand where non-Sikhs are admitted to the leadership of the gurudwara. Coupled with religious unity, their economic niche brought about further unity. Due to the association with Bangkok, almost all of them were involved in the textile trade. This brought about the use of a common commercial language, namely Punjabi rather than other Indian languages. A common commercial language further reinforced the ascription of nonSikhs to Sikhism. In Thailand, all the Indians are affected by historical processes that take place in Bangkok's Indian community. For most Indians with links outside Thailand, the various social niches of Indians in Bangkok are important links to the social and commercial world outside Thailand. Within Bangkok, the social history of the Indian community is bound by linguistic and religious affinities, except during World War II, when Indians were mobilized to fight against the British in India. As the Tamil Hindu community had integrated very early by marrying Mon women, the only social institution that they could preserve was the temple, with Mariarnman, a prominent village deity in Tanjore's village, as the remaining symbol of Tamil cultural continuity. Other aspects like language and culture were left largely unattended. Until World War II, the community's temple was managed by newly arriving persons - train drivers from Malaya or accountants at the Indian bank. As late as 1951, the community could still muster an all Tamil-speaking temple management committee and publish Tamil books to raise funds. Very early in its history, the Sri Mariamman Temple came to be recognized as representing Indian culture in Thailand. Thus in 1875 King Chulalongkom, after his visit to India, presented a set of glass lamps to the

924

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

temple as a token of friendship. In 1911 a boundary wall was erected and idols of deities were brought from India and installed. With the steady influx of Hindi-speaking Uttar Pradeshis, their participation in the religious affairs of the Sri Mariamman Temple increased. When the temple was officially registered in 1915, the name of Sri Maha Umadevi was added to the temple. The temple has always emphasized the need to keep a Tamilspeaking priest from India to carry out the religious affairs of the temple. The Tamil Muslims, under the patronage of the family of M. T. S. Marican, could never develop social institutions. The family's wealth and influence was too vast for any individual in the Tamil Muslim community to provide an alternative to their social leadership. Almost all communal activity, until recently, was carried out with patronage and funds provided by the M. T. S. Marican family. Besides, the Tamil Muslims who intermarried with indigenous Muslim groups tended to be more assimilated into Thai society than maintain links with fellow Tamil Muslims. Moreover, the existence of about 150 mosques in Bangkok did not warrant the Tamil Muslims to organize themselves like the Tamil Hindus to preserve religious identity. The Hindi-speaking Uttar Pradeshis, who began to arrive in large numbers after World War I, brought with them social institutions that were characteristic of Eastern Uttar Pradesh. As single males, with their residence generally at their place of work, there was not much communal activity amongst the Uttar Pradeshis that involved families. Most of the activities centred around single men, who were influenced by social and political developments in Uttar Pradesh. Thus very early in the societal development of Hindi-speaking Eastern Uttar Pradeshis, religion - Hindu versus Muslim - became an identity that split the community. The Muslims, demographically smaller in size, formed separate groups which interacted closely with indigenous Muslim groups, and for many integration with Thai Muslim society became easy through marriage. The Hindu Uttar Pradeshis initially worshipped at the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple, which they termed Sri Maha Umadevi Temple. Eventually, however, their Bajans (devotional songs, sung in groups) and festivals, their Vaishnavite sect within Hinduism, and their increasing numbers were perceived as a threat to the Tamil-dominated leadership (all members of the Saivite sect) of the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple. This conflict

Indians in Thailand

925

resulted in the founding of the Vishnu Mandir (Vishnu Temple) by the Hindu Uttar Pradeshis in 1920. The temple was consecrated to Rama and associated deities. The temple also became the cultural and literary centre of the community of the Babus. A library of Hindi books with facilities for teaching the language to non-literate Babus was established. The temple became the focus for exchanging ideas and views about the social and political processes that were sweeping the Gangetic plain during the pre-war years. In 1924 the Babu community was again splintered by those who believed in neo-Hindu revivalism, and they eventually formed the Arya Samaj. Though the neo-Hindu movement drew the younger Uttar Pradeshis into its fold, the Vishnu Mandir was able to survive the social undercurrents in the community. The dearth of an educated group within the community stunted the popularity of the Arya Samaj. As the community comprised mainly peasants rather than urbanites, Vishnu Mandir became the community symbol in Bangkok for the Uttar Pradeshis. The post-war years witnessed the decline in popularity of the Arya Samaj. The Punjabis initially centred their communal activities around their gurudwara, originally established in 1909, but later moved to the present Pahurat site in 1932. As latter discussions show, the subdivisions among the Punjabis gave rise to other forms of social differentiation. Most early Sikhs were Sydhari Sikhs, meaning those who accepted the Sikh religious precepts but were not Sikhs in the full sense. They were described as being on the way to becoming full Sikhs. Thus the Punjabi Hindus, Sindhis, and other believers of the Sikh saints comprised a single entity in terms of social interaction centred around the gurudwara. The economic homogeneity amongst them further contributed to the process of becoming Sikhs among the Punjabi-related groups. By 1924, however, a separate Hindu Sabha had been established by Punjabi Hindus. Conceived as an organization to cater to the spiritual needs of all Hindus in Thailand, it soon became the centre for the social and religious activities of the Punjabi Hindus. As 'Sabha' in Thai means 'parliament', the name was changed to Hindu Samaj in 1945. In 1951 the present site at Thanon Burapa was bought. By this time, the Punjabi Hindus had separated themselves from the Punjabi Sikhs and had formed a distinct community. That the Punjabis, both Sikhs and Hindus, were the first group among the Indians to come to Thailand with their families is clearly evident by the emphasis they put on establishing schools. Bharath Vidyalaya was founded

926

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

in 1934, clearly indicating that a sufficient number of Indian children in the community had attained school-going age. Started as a middle school with Ragunath Pawar as the first principal, it was recognized by Thailand's Ministry of Education in 1939. In 1951 it was moved along with the Hindu Samaj to the present site at Thanon Burapa, near Sao Ching Cha (The Giant Swing). The Sikh Vidyalaya, started mainly for Sikh children prior to 1941, established itself as a permanent school in 1951. Though both schools were set up to cater to sectional interests within the Punjabi community, both have evolved into schools where the Thai language has become the dominant language of instruction. The Bharath Vidyalaya continues to teach Hindi and the Sikh Vidyalaya offers Punjabi language instruction to Indian children. In the pre-war period, even though the Punjabis were emerging as a significant community owing to their economic position and demographic size, they were largely ignored. The involvement of the Bangkok Sikhs in the activities of the Ghadar party of Canada in 1912, and the subsequent arrest and exile of Sardar Budha Singh to the Andaman Islands in 1916, had made all Sikhs suspect in the eyes of Bangkok society. Thus the Sikhs were normally left out of all official functions. A. E. Nana, a Dawoodi Bohra, and Sulti Amarudi were leaders of the Indian community. A. E. Nana, Salebai (an Urdu-speaking Sunni from Gujerat), and Shewak Mehtani were regarded as the spokesmen of the Indian community. Poet Rabindranath Tagore's visit to Bangkok in 1927 led the Indian community to formulate plans for establishing cultural exchange programmes between India and Thailand. A few years after his visit, he managed to persuade Swami Satyanand Puri to go to Bangkok. The swami studied the Thai language for about two years and by his death in 1942, had written fourteen books in the Thai language about Indian culture. However, he is remembered more for his revolutionary zeal against British rule in India. He was a revolutionary in a monk's robe, and is largely credited for laying the foundations for the Indian Independence Movement in Southeast Asia. His Bharath Cultural Lodge attracted Sikhs with revolutionary zeal in planning for covert action against the British. Amar Singh, who had spent about twenty years in British jails; Gyani Pritam Singh, who was the granthi (priest) of the gurudwara in Bangkok; and Chanda Singh, a rubber planter in Yala, were active collaborators with Rash Bihari Bose in Japan. All these men were active members at the Bharath Cultural Lodge. From Bangkok,

Indians in Thailand

927

the revolutionary Sikhs sent agents into Malaya to win over Indian support against the British. During the war years, an Indianness identity was imposed upon the Bangkok Indians with the formation of the Indian National Army in the city. Each linguistic group had its representative to collect funds for the war effort. Isher Singh Narula, a Bangkok Sikh, became the Finance Minister in the provisional Government of India. The Sikhs in business contributed money while the unemployed Uttar Pradeshis joined the ranks of the Indian National Army. A Balak Sena (children's army) was instituted to involve teenagers in the war effort. Members of the Balak Sena were used as couriers and to distribute propaganda pamphlets. Their effort was continued even after the war, when they were used to distribute pamphlets to the British Indian troops urging them to greet local Indians with the words jai hind (victory to India) rather than other forms of address. The late 1950s witnessed dramatic changes in the Indian community of Thailand. The Indian groups began to dissipate their sense of Indian unity of the war years, and returned to the previous state of separate communities. The Sikhs and Punjabi Hindus, owing to historical changes in the Indian subcontinent, increased demographically. The years 1947 to 1952 saw more Punjabi women and children arriving in Thailand with the family institution gaining strength amongst them.

Contemporary Position The current position of the Indian community in Thailand stems from the past historical and economic processes. In order to comprehend the presentday Indian community it is important to understand the community at three different but related levels. At one level the Indian community appears to have undergone internal differentiation and developed boundary maintenance mechanisms in order to keep its Indianness. The definition of Indianness itself is not agreed to by all Indians, but is presented as the bundle of things, values, and historical perspectives considered as Indian by the group concerned. Often such a conception is not arranged hierarchically with other conceptions, but treated as part of a whole. Often individuals within a single group are ignorant of the existence of the Indian conceptions of other groups. A single group's conception of Indianness is juxtaposed as different from all others, which can include Thais, other Indians, and others. The mechanisms by which each group continues to be a separate entity are linguistic affinities,

928

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

religious affinities, marriage and kinship, and specific group-oriented social organizations. Though at one level the Indian community in Thailand may be undergoing boundary maintenance processes in order to preserve itself as a community in the larger context, at another level integrative mechanisms are at work to bring together the various groups within the Indian community. These are the economic conditions and community-level social organizations. At the third level, the Indian community is subjected to the various historical and demographic processes that are operating to assimilate the Indian community into Thai society. Appendages that are irrelevant to the Indian community's continued presence in Thailand are being transformed or being transferred back to their natal areas. The wider Thai society and culture impinge upon the Indian community to generate social processes that in the long run will further enhance the integrative processes between the Indians and Thai society. The first part of this section will describe the processes of boundary maintenance and subethnic identity orientation in the Indian community. The second part will describe the integrative processes that are continuing to provide the 'Indian identity' to Indians. The third part will describe the assimilative processes that affect the Indian community as a result of their living in Thai society.

Boundary Maintenance Processes Internal differentiation The Indian community in Thailand has been estimated by community leaders to consist of around 20,000 Punjabis, 5,000 Hindi-speaking Uttar Pradeshis, and other groups such as Tamils, Bengalis, Sindhis, and Urduspeaking Pakistanis, with each group having not more than 1,000 persons. Their linguistic affinity has provided for a broad framework for social and cultural interaction. In smaller linguistic groups, other factors like religion cause less social division. At present, social network and community conceptions continue to occur along linguistic lines, and interaction outside one's linguistic group is similar to the wider Thai society. The Punjabis, who form the largest group among the Indians, are divided into various groups on the basis of religion. They are divisible into

Indians in Thailand

929

Sikhs and Hindus. Caste distinctions still persist, with most Sikhs and Hindus claiming themselves as Auroras, Jats, and Khatris or Shatris. The Jats are peasant farmers from the Ludiana District in the Punjab, but they are fewer in number and are found mainly in southern Thailand. The Sikhs themselves are divisible into Akali Sikhs, Namdharis, and Nildharis. The Akali Sikhs number about 12,000 in Thailand, with 75 per cent residing in Bangkok (cited in the pamphlet distributed at the 15th Sikh International Camp, 16-30 December 1981). They define themselves as believers in one god and the ten teachers of Sikhism with the Guru Granth Sahib (writings of the ten gurus) forming the eleventh teacher. They believe in adorning all the five symbols of Sikhism and do not abstain from meat, except beef. They recognize the Sikh gurudwara in Bangkok and thirteen other gurudwara in other larger cities of Thailand. There are about 2,000 to 3,000 Namdharis, who are referred to as Sikhs by others, although Akali Sikhs treat them as outside the fold of Sikhism. They do not accept the concept of a fixed number of gurus and continue to believe in a living guru. They do not consume meat and are identified by a white turban, tied in a special way. In Bangkok the Namdharis appear to be internally divided into about four divisions. The Sat Guru group, that is, believers in a living guru, are J4Umerically dominant and follow the religious instructions as laid down by their living guru. This group is often viewed by Akali Sikhs as the Namdharis group. A second group is termed the "breakaway group", whose adherents are clean shaven, and believe in smoking, and consuming meat and liquor. They accept Sikhism as their religion, without observing any social restrictions. Almost all the members of the second group are highly educated and have become wealthy in recent times. The Sat Guru group often describe them as people who want to express their new economic wealth by opposing tradition. The third group is described as "president-for-life group" born as a result of the living Sat Guru in India appointing an individual as his representative in Thailand. In the face of the objections by other Namdharis the incumbent president has continued to maintain that ritual leadership in the Namdhari religious community can only be lost by death of the individual rather than by repudiation by the Sat Guru or the community. The last group of people are described as the "don't know" group of people, who have chosen to remain neutral as they do not wish to offend any one of the groups.

930

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

The latter three groups often comprise close-knit families rather than cross-sections of the Namdhari community. The Nildharis, started as a new sect about fifteen to twenty years ago, claim to be believers of action rather than mere book knowledge of Sikhism. Their guru is Guru Hasnam Singh. They are highly orthodox abut nonconsumption of meat, alcohol, and food and personal hygiene. Most of the Nildharis are considered as Akali Sikhs, allowing for time to absorb them back into the Akali fold. The Nildharis continue to worship at the gurudwara of the Akali Sikhs. The Punjabi Hindus continue to form a single group with caste divisions, namely Auroras and Khatris, for marriage purposes. In all the other linguistic groups, religion does not appear to overshadow social interaction within the linguistic group. The Tamil Hindus and Muslims continue to interact at societal level. Religion, more than language, determines all the Indian subgroup interaction, except for the Punjabis and Tamils.

Marriage, kinship, and family The family is the basic unit of reference for boundary maintenance and ethnic subgroup orientation by the various groups among the Indians. This is expressed by the marriages of one's children and the resulting kinship patterns established. Indians in Bangkok live mostly in joint families, or in households where more than one person from a single village dwell together. Families are predominant among Punjabis and Sindhis, as opposed to other households consisting of single men. Families live in joint households until more than one son is married; but each son may be allocated a house that may be leased out to give extra cash to the couple. Those families with successful businesses and branches outside Bangkok post their sons to these branches as managers. Some wealthy families build multi-storeyed apartment buildings to house their sons and daughters and even the families of their grandchildren. The family size among Indians has been reduced to three children per family, from about six children. Almost all intralinguistic marriages are arranged. The bride's side makes the initial approach or gets a middleman to do so. However, the Namdharis and Akalis behave as distinct endogamous groups in marriage. As a result kinship ties are non-existent. However, marriages still continue to take place between Akalis and Punjabi Hindus. In most cases, such

Indians in Thailand

931

marriages result from earlier kinship ties. Generally, similar caste, religion, and language are the basic criteria for arranged marriages. There is an increasing trend among Bangkok Sikhs to search for spouses within the city. In Punjabi marriages, parents examine four criteria: caste status, personal characteristics of the spouses, economic status, and amount of dowry. The Auroras, who form the dominant caste group among the Punjabis, have lineage groups such as Narula, Sachdev, and so forth. Formerly, marriages within lineage groups were not allowed, but are now practised in Bangkok. Now the children of a brother and sister may marry - such practices were abhorred prior to World War II. The Punjabis, owing to their reduction in possible marriageable lineages, appear to have allowed their caste to undergo structural reduction. Personal characteristics of spouses include beauty, education, demeanour, and so forth. Economic status is class-based, meaning a rich businessman would want his children to marry into families with similar economic status. This is aptly described by Bangkok's Punjabis as "marriage of sign-boards with sign-boards". Dowry is not specifically asked for among the Punjabis, but is expected from the girl's family in the form of gold, houses, cars, business capital, and so forth. As the selection of spouses is carried out on the basis of economic class, the amount of dowry is more an expression of the bride's family status. In most cases of intralinguistic marriages between Hindus and Sikhs, religious conversion often takes place. Thus, a Sikh youth removes his religious symbols like his turban on marrying a Punjabi Hindu girl. In such cases the amount of dowry and parental involvement are not clear. However, the Sikhs are described as more forgiving in terms of the amount of dowry. In cases where Peshawari Hindus marry Punjabi Sikhs or Hindus, they follow the bridegroom's religious affinity. The Hindi-speaking Uttar Pradeshi Hindus, forming the third significant group among the Thai Indians, appear to be held together by kinship relations. As families have been a recent phenomenon among them, marriage does not play a major role in generating newer forms of kinship. The few educated Uttar Pradeshis who brought their wives from India prior to World War II were not intent on staying permanently in Thailand. Accumulation of property in their natal villages with concomitant absence of any investment in Thailand did not allow them to stay on, Due to the close kinship ties amongst Uttar Pradeshi men, there

932

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

was little encouragement to marry indigenous women. At present there are about 200 families of Uttar Pradeshis and another 200 men have married indigenous Thai women. As Uttar Pradeshi families were not settled in Bangkok in large numbers until recently, there are not many persons of marriageable age among them. There are more men than women available for marriage. As such, for those Uttar Pradeshis who decide to marry Uttar Pradeshi women and live in Thailand, caste in marriage is not of any importance. Any argument of not having married within one's caste can be explained away that the respondent has at least married within his own community and not a Thai woman. Those wishing to marry within their own caste still do it in their natal villages where caste is the most important prerequisite. Marriage within one's linguistic, religious, and caste group is one of the most important mechanisms used by Thailand's Indian community to keep its communal boundaries intact. In most cases, the in-group boundary maintenance is helped by the enhanced economic status that these groups enjoy.

Social organizations and religion There is a close relationship between religion and the social organizations that help to maintain intraethnic boundaries in the Indian community. For the Sikhs, the gurudwara have played an important role not only in maintaining Sikhism but also as a means to provide an organized outlet for the community. In Bangkok, where 75 per cent of Thailand's Sikhs are concentrated, the Guru Singh (or the gurudwara) has become the focal point for all Sikhs in Thailand. Though Punjabi Hindus and Sindhis attend its Sunday morning services, in recent years it has become increasingly Sikh in orientation. As its members would say, "The Sikhs in Bangkok are more Sikh than those in India". The gurudwara and the social activities associated with it have become an expression of Sikh presence and cultural identity in Thailand. The four-storeyed building of the gurudwara stands in the centre of the business district in Bangkok. The third floor contains the assembly hall where daily morning prayers are made with Sunday mornings reserved for larger meetings. The gurudwara is a focal point for all Sikh scholars and leaders passing through Southeast Asia. Sikhism being a congregational religion, and the Sikh community of Bangkok being economic equals rather than a community of varying

Indians in Thailand

933

economic status, the Bangkok Sikhs have avoided internal conflicts that have beset other Sikh communities in Southeast Asia (for example, see chapter 3, "Indians in North Sumatra" in this volume). The presence of a single gurudwara for the entire Akali Sikh community, coupled with change of leadership biennially, has given rise to the gurudwara becoming an important institution for maintaining the community's boundaries. The gurudwara has six affiliated organizations: 1.

2.

3. 4. 5. 6.

Young Thai-Sikh Association. This is to involve young Sikhs, mainly in their twenties and thirties, in maintaining their identity as Sikhs. The members help put out fires in Bangkok. Sikh Vidyalaya. This is a regular school having classes up to high school level. About 400 pupils are enrolled in it. The school, situated at Bagna, 26 kilometres outside Bangkok, has no Sikh pupil. Guru Nanak Mission. Its aim is to spread the Sikh religion. The organization operates a medical clinic for the poor. The Library. It contains books in Punjabi and English for use by the gurudwara members. Guru Nanak Foundation. It was set up to raise funds for scholarships awarded to needy students in Thai universities. Old Age Home. The home has many Indians of Uttar Pradesh origin.

With most members enjoying higher standards of living compared to Thais and others, all the affiliated organizations of the gurudwara are geared to helping others, which in tum help to add prestige to the Sikh identity in Bangkok and the rest of the country. In recent years, there has been an increased emphasis on preserving the Sikh way of life in Bangkok. This has been interpreted by some Sikhs as a concomitant result of the resurgence of Islam in the world, while others dismiss it as part of a universal phenomenon which may not last for long. However, a consensus appears to have emerged among the Sikh community leaders in Bangkok. There is general agreement that a Sydhari Sikh who has since birth maintained faith in Sikhism can be a Sikh, while a Sikh who is shorn of the external symbols of Sikhism cannot be a true Sikh. In the past, such a rigorous definition of a Sikh in Bangkok might have provoked discussion, but now debates on such topics are avoided for fear of violating religious sentiments. This is further testified to by many Sikhs in their twenties and thirties, who feel a sense of pride in the adornment of the external symbols of Sikhism in Bangkok society.

934

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

The thirteen gurudwara in other towns, though operated with local funds by local Sikhs, consider the Bangkok gurudwara as central to their religious beliefs. In many of the gurudwara outside Bangkok, Sydhari Sikhs (for instance Sindhis and Peshawaris) are accepted as leaders. This is largely because of the small demographic size and close-knit nature of these communities. Among the Namdhari Sikhs, despite the internal divisions, the three gurudwara they have at Sukhumvit Soi 71, Sukhumvit Soi 43, and at Thonburi are the centres of their religious and social activities. Among the Hindi-speaking Uttar Pradeshis, Vishnu Mandir is the largest organization helping to maintain intragroup identity. Its library helps to promote Hindi and maintain close contact with events in Uttar Pradesh and India by means of regular newspapers and magazines. The temple is also the focal point for Hindi scholars travelling in the region. The festivals and joint singing of hymns provide opportunities for the male-dominated Uttar Pradesh community to maintain close links within itself, and indirectly exert social control over members who may choose to cross ethnic boundaries by way of marriage. The other major organization among the Uttar Pradeshis is the Arya Samaj, founded in 1924. Gradually, it has lost its appeal among the Uttar Pradeshis as the original founders advanced in age and have not been able to induct newer members. It has become more of a social organization, loosely operating as a boundary maintenance mechanism for those who may not like the leadership of the Vishnu Mandir. The Hindu Samaj and Dev Mandir (housed in the same building as the Bharath Vidyalaya), founded by Punjabi Hindus, is kept exclusively for Punjabi Hindus. In 1981 it had 218 men and 153 women as registered members, representing about 200 families. A few affluent and 'well-behaved' Uttar Pradeshis have been admitted as lay members. The Tamil Muslim Association at Soi Garajee (opposite the General Post Office) also houses a mosque for Tamil Muslims in Bangkok. It was established in 1975, to take care of the social and religious needs of the Tamil Muslim community of Bangkok. The 200 Muslims have brought a Tamil-speaking imam from South India to deliver sermons in Tamil, besides the citation of Arabic verses. The congregation on Fridays and gatherings at the mosque when prominent Tamil scholars (including Hindus) deliver lectures on religion or the Tamil language have brought the community together. At one level the Association, through the mosque, is able to

Indians inThailand

935

prevent marriages of Muslims who already have a wife in their native villages. Apart from this, the involvement of those who have children from their marriages to indigenous women is to help inculcate 'proper Islam' in their children.

Education, economy, and contact with India As late as the mid-1950s, members of the Indian community in Thailand were content to send their children to the Bharath Vidyalaya or the Sikh Vidyalaya where Hindi, Punjabi, and English, together with Thai, were taught. At present most parents who are affluent by Thai standards send their children to India for education. Most children by the age of nine attend boarding schools in Uttar Pradesh or at Darjeeling in Himchal Pradesh. A handful also attend schools at Chandigar, Ludhiana, in Punjab or in New Delhi. Boys tend to study until the age of fourteen or sixteen, while girls are permitted in some instances to enter colleges or universities. Most parents feel that by sending their children to India for their education they help prevent them from becoming totally absorbed into Thai culture. In many cases, the children return with an excellent command of English and Hindi, rather than Punjabi. Though this may be viewed with consternation in India, for purposes of staying in Thailand it is felt that the children have at least picked up elements of Indian culture that are highly relevant to family and business life in Thailand. The English language continues to provide one of the best means of communication for trade connections outside Thailand. The Pahurat area, referred to as the Indian quarter of Bangkok, has undergone dramatic changes in the last decade. The air connection by international airlines to New Delhi has provided easy communication for the Punjabi Indians to India. This has reinforced cultural and religious ties with kinsmen in India and a better awareness of Indian political and cultural undercurrents. Besides, the Pahurat area itself has brought in more Indians from India who come as tourists or pass through in transit. The Pahurat area specializes in selling the type of goods that Indians from India prefer; the goods can also be brought into India without heavy customs duties. This has brought in more contemporary Indian citizens who further enhance the boundary mechanisms of Bangkok Indians in particular and Thailand's Indians in general. The economic pursuits of Indians in Thailand have largely remained

936

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

unchanged. Textile is still the mainstay of all Indian wealth. Punjabis, both Sikhs and Hindus, are textile merchants who are concentrated in the SampengPahurat area, which in tum reinforces their linguistic, cultural, and religious affinities. Punjabi, and to some extent Hindi, is the business language of the textile trade. Younger men who join the trade at the age of sixteen or seventeen quickly learn to put aside their English and Hindi to become conversant in Punjabi in order to gain acceptance by the older men. Similarly, those doing business in the Sampeng-Pahurat area observe the religious requirements closely by attending the gurudwara or the Dev Mandir regularly, in order not to invite gossip or ostracization. The Uttar Pradeshis' predominance in occupations such as security guards, illegal money-lending, and other minor occupations has contributed to their maintaining their ethnic boundaries, though not as completely as among those in the textile trade. Similarly, the Tamil Muslim predominance in the precious-stone trade has given them a sense of ethnic identity. The new economic ventures pursued by Indians are often done as a group rather than individually. Thus the Namdhari Sikhs' shift out of textiles and into real estate and professional education is perceived as a group shift rather than efforts undertaken by individual families.

Integrative Processes Though at one level the Indians appear to be striving to maintain their intraethnic boundaries, this is not what they wish to project to Thais and others. In the interaction with others an 'Indian model' is postulated and presented to outsiders, even though such postulations are coloured by intraethnic distrusts and conflicts. Intraethnic processes to provide an 'Indian model' to outsiders are largely integrative, where conflicts to a large extent are ameliorated by concessions from the groups. The integrative processes are effected largely by religious and social organizations and to a lesser extent by education and the economy. Social and religious organizations are the dominant mechanisms by which Indians come together despite intraethnic boundary mechanisms. The gurudwara and the Vishnu Mandir have become monolithic institutions for Akali and Nildhari Sikhs and Uttar Pradesh Hindus respectively. The Vishnu Mandir has developed into an institution where Uttar Pradesh Hindus, together with some Sindhis, participate with the Punjabi Hindus. Despite the fact that Punjabi Hindu attendance at ceremonies is

Indians in Thailand

937

small compared to Uttar Pradesh Hindus, the Punjabi Hindus have made a significant concession by using Hindi rather than Punjabi at the Dev Mandir. The priest is a Hindi speaker, and the Hindi versions of Bhagavat Gita are read with devotional songs in Hindi. The Bharath Vidyalaya run by the Hindu Samaj (Punjabi Hindus) is a place where some of the Indian children who enrol there to study interact with each other. Of the 700 children, only 5 per cent are Indians, with Uttar Pradeshis and Punjabi Sikhs and Hindus amongst them. Though the institution is peripheral to the Indian community, it remains one of the avenues for interaction among the various Indian groups. The Radha Soami Sat Sangh of Beas is a syncretic group involving not more than 500 Indians. The majority are Akali Sikhs, followed by Namdhari Sikhs and some Sindhis, The Bangkok group is an extension of the movement that started about thirty years ago in India. They believe in the teachings of all saints and religious teachers. This tenet has gained adherents from all sections of the North Indian community bounded by the Punjabi language. The followers abstain from meat, alcohol, and drugs. The language used generally is Punjabi, and the Holy Granth is the only book read at congregations. The organization represents one of the few instances where Akalis and Namdharis interact. The Thai-Bharath Cultural Lodge (TBCL), despite its aim to promote cultural exchange between Thailand and India, is one of the organizations where Indians come together. Begun in 1940 by Swami Satyanand Puri, the three-storeyed building was built after the war on the grounds of the Hindu Samaj at Siriphongse Road, next to the famous Sao Ching Cha. The membership ofthe TBCL in 1979 was 172, with Punjabi Hindus forming 45 per cent of the membership. This was followed by Punjabi Sikhs, with smaller representations from other Indian groups (see Table 36.1). In 1979/80, the TBCL had an overwhelming Punjabi Hindu membership. As the organization largely excluded the Uttar Pradeshis, and as Sikhs were active within their religious sphere, Punjabi Hindus came to occupy the dominant position. This might also have been due to the fact that it is situated within the grounds of the Hindu Samaj. In the early 1980s in trying to rebuild the premises, the Hindu Samaj requested the TBCL to vacate the premises. This has caused a certain degree of friction between the two organizations as the TBCL demanded an explanation. Though the TBCL activities are directed mainly towards Thais, they

938

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

Table 36.1 Ethnic-Linguistic Affiliation of Members of the Thai-Bharath Cultural Lodge, 1979/80 Ethnic/Linguistic Group Thai Punjabi Sikh Punjabi Hindu Uttar Pradesh Hindu Other Indians

Total

Number(%) 30 (17) 45 (26) 76 (45) 9 (5) 12 (7) 172

Source: Compiled from the membership list of the TBCL.

provide an important platform where intraethnic conflicts are avoided to provide an 'Indian' identity in Thailand. The Indian Association in Bangkok was formed in 1928. Its name was changed to the Indian Chamber of Commerce in 1944, at the request of the Japanese. The Indian Association was later revived and still continues to be a viable organization where all Indians can come together. However, the numerical dominance of the Uttar Pradeshis has made the affluent Punjabis unco-operative. Without the financial support of the Punjabi community, the Indian Association has become merely a symbol carried on by some of the Indian community leaders from the pre-war period. The India-Thai Chamber of Commerce, which has about 200 members, is one of the premier organizations for all Indians engaged in trading activities. Among the members 80 per cent are involved in the wholesale or retail textile trade. As the Indians aged forty years and below are generally Thai citizens by birth, only about 5 per cent of the members can be said to be holding Indian passports. This trend was taken into account when the name was changed about ten years ago from its original name of Indian Chamber of Commerce. The original name gave the impression that Indians were foreigners in Thailand. However, the membership is restricted to Thais of Indian origin. Until seven years ago, the president was appointed by a small group of persons, but now an election is held with a requirement to rotate the office among individuals of different faiths. This appears to be a concession made by the dominant Akali Sikhs to preserve the 'Indian'

Indians in Thailand

939

identity. Similarly, the Punjabis as a dominant group in the India-Thai Chamber of Commerce have forgone using Punjabi by using Thai and English as the working languages of the organization. Representing the Chamber, the president automatically becomes a member of Thailand's Board of Trade. Though the Chamber was set up with the aim of promoting trade between India and Thailand, most of the textile trade is with Japan. The Chamber has become a useful body for arranging joint ventures between firms in India and Thai Indians. The local Indians provide capital and marketing, while investors from India provide capital, technical knowledge, and management. A cremation ground has been reserved for all Indians at Watthung Road, adjoining the Vishnu Mandir; Sikhs, Punjabi Hindus, and Uttar Pradesh Hindus all use it to cremate their dead. This is one of the few instances where all Indians contribute willingly to maintain the cremation ground. The Indian Alumni is an organization in which all Indians who have had their education in India become members. With a membership numbering about 1,000 persons, the organization uses Thai and English to provide common activities to all Indians. As economic affluence is a major criterion for studying in India, the majority of the members are wealthy. The organization is active only occasionally owing to the lack of participation. Another area in which there is interaction among Indians is at the work place, where many Uttar Pradesh Hindus have begun to work for the larger Punjabi ftrms. The relationship, though employer-employee, provides opportunities for Hindi usage to maintain contact between the two groups.

Assimilation and Interaction with Thai Society Almost all Indians, in spite of their intraethnic cleavages, interact with the larger society. In this section, the effects of the historical and demographic concomitants on the Indian community will be discussed. The perceptions held by Thais towards Indians as well as by Indians towards each other and towards Thais will be analysed. It will be posited that the resulting social processes are not only integrating segments and aspects of Indian society into Thai society but also giving rise to irreversible assimilation processes, which are becoming increasingly difficult for Indians to prevent. The efforts taken by the Indian community to be seen as belonging to Thailand will be elaborated. Finally, cases of assimilation into Thai culture and society will be described.

940

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

Concomitants of historical and demographic effects The Indians, numbering about 30,000 in Thailand, are the result of a number of historical factors. Though the Indians in Thailand during the pre-war period consisted mainly of males, the economic niches and 'historical accidents' favoured the growth of certain linguistic groups among the Indians, both economically and demographically. Thus, the loss of natal villages by Punjabis in the Indian subcontinent due to the partition increased their numbers significantly. The Namdhari Sikhs, who migrated in families much earlier than others and had used their earnings to buy real estate, were ready to move out of the textile business when the property boom came in the mid-1960s. Their children's Thai nationality status was crucial in their accumulating further real estate. With increased wealth, they were able to send their children for professional level education. This in tum aided the group in moving out of the textile business and into other businesses and industries, for example, milk products, precision engineering, and medical products. For the majority of the Indians in the textile business, manpower was the crucial factor for further expansion. Their pre-war lead and English language proficiency allowed them to hold an edge over the Chinese textile merchants. Their expanded family size provided the necessary manpower. Thus, boys were introduced into the business by the time they reached sixteen years of age. With more sons, the successful families could post them to branches even as far away as Singapore, Tokyo, and Hong Kong. The Uttar Pradesh Hindus, owing to the initial economic niche that they occupied and the 'pull' to return to their natal villages, could never have families in Thailand or accumulate sufficient wealth to take advantage of economic opportunities. Thus while the Punjabis have become an established community with a stable population of 20,000 persons, the Uttar Pradeshi population shows signs of decreasing in the near future, as older men return home after retirement. A similar process is at work among the Tamil Muslims. The Sindhis, with their regional and world-wide presence in all the major trading cities, are not expected to increase in number but will be subject to reduction in number if there is an economic downturn. Similar demographic outcome can be expected among the smaller Bengali and other Indian groups. The Indians who are not closely aligned to the Bangkok Indian community and especially those in the provinces and those belonging to

Indians in Thailand

941

smaller groups may be subject to the assimilation processes that affected the earlier Tamil Hindus and various Muslim groups (especially the Pathans and Bohra Muslims). The Tamil Hindus who represented the first wave of Indian migration to Thailand in the nineteenth century have been totally assimilated. Similarly, the Tamils who were brought to work in the Myanmar Death Railway during World War II, especially those who did not return to Malaya after the war, have dispersed and assimilated with the rural population around Bangkok. The Tamil Muslims, the Bohras, and the Pathans, with smaller populations, already show different levels of assimilation into Thai society. The Pathans, who are still in dairy farming and other minor trading activities, have often given rise to groups which want to perpetuate endogamy among the children born to indigenous women. Given the relative openness of Thai society, such a practice appears to be waning after the second generation. Similarly, Tamil Muslims who have married indigenous women feel that they are unable to establish a newer community of Indian-Thai Muslims. In the provinces, especially among Indians who are economically disadvantaged, the children are beginning to be assimilated at an increasing pace in their language usage and cultural traits, eventually very often choosing indigenous women as their wives. Thus, except for the Punjabis, who are numerically dominant and have a balanced sex ratio coupled with an affluent position, all the other Indian ethnic groups may be subjected to assimilation into the wider Thai culture and society. For many, the decision has to be either to remain in Thailand and sooner or later become assimilated, or leave for their natal areas. The historical and demographic effects may continue to prevail and repeat the processes that have been at work in the last 180 years.

Perceptions of Indians and Thais Indians in their interaction among themselves and with Thais have developed certain stereotyped views of each other which play a crucial role in the integration and assimilation processes. The Indians among themselves tend to refer to each other on the basis of their economic levels. Thus the Punjabis view the Uttar Pradeshis with certain apprehension and refer to them as 'baiyas' or 'babus'. The label is used even when Uttar Pradeshis have raised themselves beyond their wage

942

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

labour position. The Uttar Pradeshis in turn look on the Punjabis with distaste for their affluence and arrogance in social organizations. The Punjabis generally feel that intermarriage with Thai women is an indication of losing their enhanced social and economic status. The Punjabis feel that seldom will an Indian be able to marry into Thai family with a high social status. In the rural areas in and around Bangkok, the Thais feel that Indians are miserly and tend to bundle all Uttar Pradeshis and Punjabis together in describing them as distasteful personalities. The Indians are described as "having turbans with fierce-looking bearded faces" or "wearing a distinct sarong and overall with a funny cap". Though the term bang (brother) is used for watchmen, the term !-bang is reserved for describing watchmen and milk-vendors. The money-lending and 'Din Daeng' activities of the Indians have also caused certain amount of distrust among working-class Thais. Among Thais of higher socioceconomic status, the attitude is a quiet dislike for the Indians regarding their perceived inability in becoming fully Thais. The average Thai dismisses all South Indians as Muslims with the term 'Kling'. The older term 'Kaek' is now used to refer to any Indian. Perceptions of Indians about their future status in Thailand are varied and influenced by their current economic status. Most Uttar Pradeshi Hindus feel they will have to leave Thailand eventually, as their occupations have been relegated to the "not needed category". The Punjabis feel that Thailand is better than India in many respects; their children too seem to dislike the idea of returning to India permanently. However, the fear that the communist threat may grow and eventually force all trading groups out of Thailand forms a backdrop to all discussions about the future.

Social processes Living away from the natal areas and living in Thailand has given rise to social processes that are causing differentiation and assimilation among the Indians. Indians from the Punjab and Sind provinces of British India were all Sydhari Sikhs (individuals on the way to becoming proper Sikhs) when they arrived in Thailand. Many of the present-day prominent Sikhs (for instance, B. S. Kalra, who is described as one of the pillars of Sikhism in Thailand) were Hindus when they arrived in Bangkok. Marriages were quite common

Indians in Thailand

943

among groups with similar caste status. Now the PunjabiHindus and Sindhi Hindus have moved away from Sikhism. They are increasingly becoming Hindus. Knowledge and usage of Punjabi is slowly decreasing in favour of Hindi or English. Though this process is a common phenomenon even in India, the Bangkok situation provides a clear insight into the effects of living in Thai society. Though the Punjabi Hindus and Sindhis represent a shift away from Sikhism and Punjabi, the Pustu and Urdu-speaking Peshawari Hindus of Chiang Mai represent a case where the shift is towards becoming a Sikh, but switching to Hindi and English. In both groups the Thai language is gaining ground with each generation. Most Indians with families have third-generation children of marriageable age. There is general apprehension about the gradual loss of literacy in the mother tongues by all Indians. Most Punjabis of the pre-war generation converse with other North Indians mainly in Punjabi, with a smattering of Hindi and English. With Thais, a market-level Thai is used. English is used widely in trade and business. Their children tend to exhibit higher literacy levels in Thai, Punjabi, and English. The third generation, especially those who are aged thirty years and below, appears to have higher literacy rates in English and Thai. Most Punjabis feel that their younger children are conversant in Thai to the extent that they have to use Thai rather than any other language for any serious discussion. The Punjabis also feel that an average Indian child becomes totally assimilated into Thai culture if sent to local schools, to the extent that there is a drastic erosion of the 'Indian values' that are considered necessary for economic survival. In order to reinforce 'Indian cultural values', most affluent families send all their children above the age of seven to elite boarding schools in India. About 80 per cent of the children aged 7 to 16 years are in India. This explains the failure of the Sikh Vidyalaya and the Bharath Vidyalaya in attracting a sufficient number of Indian children for linguistic and religious training. The children who never get to India for their education attend local Thai schools and are felt to be totally absorbed into the Thai way of life. Though education in India is felt to equip the children with Indian cultural values, the children do not return literate in Punjabi and are often unable to read the Holy Granth; most return with an excellent command of English and with some literacy in Hindi. Such children are not very literate

944

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

in Thai, although they familiarize themselves with spoken and written Thai for daily working purposes. Given the background where linguistic illiteracy is developing vis-avis their culture and religion, the Sikhs have transferred the burden of maintaining their cultural identity to their womenfolk as well as placed greater emphasis on the external symbols of Sikhism. Almost all the Sikh women are married by the age of twenty (the age of marriage for men is twenty-four). The women and the gurudwara have become the bastions for retention of the Punjabi-Sikh cultural identity. The Punjabis do not consume beef, and their home meals have largely remained Indian. The women still wear traditional Indian dresses at home and at all social and religious functions. Western mode of dressing is evident among unmarried teenagers, but Indian dresses are worn after marriage. Both Sikh and Hindu women among the Punjabis have become active participants in religious affairs. The Granth is read by women at the gurudwara. Most Sikh women become literate in Punjabi after their marriage. This enables them to read the Granth at home and at the gurudwara. Similarly, all devotional songs are sung by women.

Belonging in Thailand Thai Indians establish a closer relationship with Thailand by three means: acquiring Thai citizenship by birth or naturalization; changing one's name to a Thai name or Thai-sounding name; and participating in Thailand's civic and social activities. These are the three visible ways in which Indians respond to the larger society. Among stable population groups like the Punjabis, 90 per cent of the community are Thai citizens. About 40 per cent of them are Thai citizens by birth. Among other Indian groups, slightly less than 50 per cent are Thai citizens. Name changing is not as predominant among the Indians as has been of the Chinese. For most Punjabis in the trading sector, the names case the in are still Punjabi, though younger children are given Thai-sounding Sanskrit names, while distinct Punjabi names are used at home. However, many Tamil Muslims have changed their names to Thai names upon assuming Thai citizenship. Thai authorities have not enforced name changes for Indians. Civic and social activities are among the major avenues through which the Indian community interacts with the wider Thai society.

Indians in Thailand

945

Educated and prominent Indians are members of non-ethnic organizations like the Bangkok Toast Masters Club or the Turf Club. The Thai-Bharath Cultural Lodge conducts yoga classes for Thais and sponsors Thai students and scholars to study in Indian universities. The India-Thai Chamber of Commerce donated a statue of Brahma to the city of Bangkok during its bicentennial celebration. The statue was established with special ceremonies at the Siriphongse Road, next to the Sao Ching Cha. Members of the gurudwara contribute blood to the Thai Red Cross Society and make regular donations to government-sponsored religious bodies. Both the Bharath Vidyalaya and the Sikh Vidyalaya operate schools in which almost all the pupils are Thais. In recent years, there appears to have been a rush by affluent Indians to contribute to charities established by Thai royalty. Such donors have been bestowed with titles of honour. For instance Shivanath Rai Bajaj, a multimillionaire and industrialist, has been thrice awarded honour by the King of Thailand. In 1978 he received the Crown Order of Thailand (5th class). In 1980 he was awarded the 4th class. In 1981 he was awarded the White Elephant Honour (3rd class). This is one of the most noble orders of the Kingdom of Thailand.

Assimilation and indigenization Total assimilation into Thai society for Indians has been through interethnic marriage. Such a process has not meant the total eradication of the Indian cultural identity, but indigenization of the institutions. The Dawoodi Bohra Muslims and Tamil Hindus are examples of cases where interethnic marriages among the early migrants have led to indigenization of their institutions. The Dawoodi Bohra Muslim Mosque, on the eastern side of the Chao Phraya, opposite Ratchawongse Road, presents a midway stage of assimilation and indigenization into Thai society, while the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple (referred to in Thai as Wat Kaek) represents an extreme form of assimilation and indigenization. The Sri Maha Mariamman Temple is administered by the descendants of interethnic marriages that took place in the nineteenth century. Respondents in the community feel that they retain hardly 20 per cent of the Tamil cultural identity of their forefathers. The temple has become very popular among Thais and Chinese, giving a sense of identity to the descendants. The temple is administered by a trust of twenty families, who are scattered all over Bangkok. The temple has been renovated constantly in

946

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

order to retain its South Indian architectural forms. In 1970 temple architects from South India were specially brought over to renovate the temple. The original statues and sanctum sanctorum allocated to Mariamman, Thandayutha Pani, Pillayar, Mathurai Veeran, and Navagrahas are still retained. A South Indian priest is employed, with a regular work permit, to carry out the religious functions according to the South Indian calendar. He is expected to use Tamil in offering prayers to the deities. However, the temple has also responded to the religious needs of the wider Thai society and its devotees. In 1953 a huge statue of Lord Buddha was incorporated into the temple pantheon. Similarly Brahma Moorthi and Shiv a have been added to the courtyard as the former is a popular deity to all Thais. Adjoining the Buddha statue, various images of Vishnu have been added to show the continuity between Hinduism and Buddhism. Though the prayers offered to the deities in the sanctum sanctorum are South Indian, the devotees use joss-sticks in their prayers. Prayers in front of Mariamman are accompanied by the burning of Chinese candles and using of Chinese-type boxes for predicting personal fortunes. Thus the Hindu-Thai-Sino syncretism of religion is highly evident in the daily administration of the temple. Among the festivals observed by the temple trustees, the most popular is the celebration of Navarathiri and the subsequent Vijayadasami festival. On the tenth night, all roads surrounding the temple are closed by Thai Municipality to enable the Goddess to tour the streets on her specially constructed South Indian chariot. The descendants of the original interethnic marriages participate under the guidance of the temple priest. The crowd consists of Thais and Chinese, and of Indian Hindus who go to the temple more as observers than participants. As far as Bangkok society is concerned, W at Kaek can be said to be an integral part of Thai culture rather than of Indian culture. The assimilation and indigenization of the Sri Mariamman Temple could have resulted from the affinity between Hinduism and Thai Buddhism. The Dawoodi Bohra Mosque, on the other hand, represents a case where there has not been total assimilation into Thai society due to the disjunctures between the Islam of the Dawoodi Bohras and the belief structure of Thais in the wider society. As the number of Dawoodi Bohra Muslims has decreased, the administration of the mosque has been assigned by the amir (religious head of the community) to a descendant by interethnic marriage. As central control is

Indians in Thailand

947

still vested in the amir in India, the mosque has not been indigenized at a greater rate. At other levels, descendants of interethnic marriages between Thais and Indians are indigenized with each passing generation and in many families only the memory that a remote forefather was an Indian persists.

Trends and Conclusion Indians in Thailand are largely urban dwellers. Their migration and settlement in Thailand was due to their own initiative and in response to economic opportunities. Though internally diversified, the Punjabi dominance and the prevailing unity among the Akali Sikhs have made them the dominant group. The definition of Indianness in the future will continue to rest largely on them. Other groups among the Indians are either transient groups or groups already on the continuum of assimilation and indigenization. The second dominant group of Uttar Pradeshis are expected to leave for their natal villages, apart from those who decide to stay and those who have married local women. Various factors will continue to favour the retention of the cultural identity of the Akali Sikhs and Punjabi Hindus: their economic niche, which allows them ample readjustment according to the market forces in the textile community; the retention of Sikhism among the Akali Sikhs; and their orientation to Indian culture by virtue of their education. In terms of linguistic literacy, Thai will come to dominate the daily interaction between them and others. The lead in English fluency will be maintained for economic purposes. The economic diversification and settlement patterns will continue to change, which in turn might generate differentiation processes and segmentation of intragroups among the Indians. This might make it possible for individuals in smaller segmented groups to opt easily for an ethnic boundary crossing with subsequent assimilation. Thus, the Namdhari Sikhs, though a close-knit community until recently, are moving out of Sampeng and the textile trade. New economic opportunities in real estate and non-textile related industrial development have emerged as key sectors. The shift out of the labour-intensive textile trade has allowed them to prosper in the real-estate sector without having to involve all males above the age of sixteen. The economic shift has allowed their children to pursue higher and professional education. With increased wealth from diverse sources and

948

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

higher levels of education, the community has segmented into four irreconcilable sectors. As more individuals are released from the restrictions imposed by others in the group, interethnic marriages will become easier. With the easy access into the wider Thai society and acceptance by the Thai culture of newcomers, the process of assimilation remains a great threat to the Indian community. In the next decade, a large sector of the Indian community will still continue to have textiles as the mainstay of its economic base. If Thailand fares well in its industrial development, Indians will continue to prosper, while the size of the Indian population might stabilize at around 30,000 persons. In conclusion, a few things are important about Indians in Thailand. First, to look at the Indian people in Thailand as a group - as some kind of entity - seems rather fruitless. They are homogeneous neither socially, culturally, nor in their own view of themselves. Nor is there any conceivable way to envision a pan-Indian social organization. 'Indian' is a mere category to term all the people from the Indian subcontinent. One implication of this is that it would be futile to examine ethnic boundaries for the Indian community as a whole. But this does not mean that Indian ethnicity is of no sociological relevance. It still can be and is seized upon as a means of demarcating social and cultural differences within the broader society. The within group boundaries among the Indians (namely, language and religion) have adopted ethnicity as a way of separating themselves socially from the broader society for economic reasons. The differences in ethnicity set them apart from the people they deal with and enable them to be free from traditional social constraints. Perhaps it should be noted that minorities have always played an important part in Thai non-farming economy- the Chinese, Vietnamese, and Muslims. Indians may have only added another dimension. And it may be added that such correspondence of ethnicity and economy is common throughout the world. NOTES: 1. The Directory of Siam and Bangkok (Bangkok: Bangkok Times Press, 1921). 2. Wendell Blanchard, Thailand: Its People, Its Society and Its Culture (New Haven: HRAF Press, 1958).

Indians in Thailand

3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

8. 9.

10. 11. 12.

13.

949

N. J. Namporia, "The Overseas Indians", The Asia Magazine, 16 November 1967. Blanchard, op. cit., p. 45. Field H. Russell, Southeast Asia in the United Nations (New York, 1958). Harold Smith, Historical and Cultural Dictionary of Thailand (Methuen, N.J.: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1976). Virginia Thompson, Thailand: The New Siam (New York: Paragon Books, 1967). Zakir Hussain, The Silent Minority: Indians in Thailand (Thailand: Chulalongkom University, Social Research Institute, 1982). See John Crawfurd, Journal of an Embassy to the Courts of Siam and Cochinchina (London: Oxford University Press, 1967), p. 119; and R. C. Majumdar, Hindu Colonies in the Far East (Calcutta: K. K. Mukhopadhay, 1963), p. 232. Bangkok Times, 10 July 1936. N. A. Graham, Commerce and Trade of Siam (London: Alexander Morning Ltd; Paris: De La Nou, 1924), p. 110. In 1917 an order was issued prohibiting the use in government records of the designation 'Kaek' before the personal names of Indians. Though the term meant 'guest', it had a derogatory meaning for Indians. National Archives, 204/15, 15 February 1917. Cited in Zakir Hussain, op. cit., p. 41. Chandran Mohan Das Jesurun, "British Policy Towards Siam 18931902" (M.A. thesis, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 1964), pp. 281-84.

Chapter 37

INDIANCO S IN BANGKOK Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Netnapis Nakavachara

This chapter is based on a field survey conducted in 1982. It examines the social and economic position of Indians in Bangkok. The first part of the chapter, by way of introduction, examines the distribution of Indians in Bangkok. The second part describes the two significant localities in Bangkok where Indians are concentrated in sizable numbers. For the purpose of an in-depth understanding of the areas studied, 108 sample households were selected for interviews. The third part describes the historical background of the Indians in these two localities based on the interviews. The fourth section is concerned with the contemporary structure of the two Indian communities. The final section examines issues relating to the social interaction, integration, and assimilation of Indians vis-a-vis the larger Thai society.

Distribution of Indians in Bangkok According to the Population and Housing Census of Thailand, 1970, 14,008 persons were classified by their citizenship as belonging to the category of Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, and Myanmar (Burmese). As this classification is by citizenship status, it excludes a great number of Indians who have become Thai nationals. However, this number constituted only 0.04 per cent of Thailand's population. According to this census, Bangkok was reported to have 3,573 Indians.

950

Indian Communities in Bangkok

951

According to the Bangkok Municipality report of 1982, Bangkok had 7,626 Indians who were not Thai citizens. They formed 0.14 per cent of Bangkok's 5,322,450 people. It is possible that since 1970, more Indians who are bona fide Indians by their citizenship status could have arrived in Bangkok to trade, engage in industrial joint ventures, or work at the many international agencies. Bangkok, with an area of 1,569 square kilometres, is divided into twenty-four districts. Though Indians are found in all the districts, they are settled in greater numbers at Pranakorn, the old central business district of Bangkok. The district accounts for about 33 per cent of the Indians in Bangkok (Table 37.1). Within the district, Indians are concentrated in Pahurat Road and Sampeng Road. These are predominantly Punjabis engaged in the textile trade. Prakanong is a larger district in terms of area and size of population. The Indian population, by citizenship status, is enumerated as 1,747 persons. They account for about 23 per cent of the Indian population in Bangkok. Sukhumvit Road in the district is also the major road that runs from the central city area to the eastern part of Bangkok. Sukhumvit Road is a recently developed residential and shopping area frequented by the wealthy and tourists. Affluent Indians have their residential areas along Sukhumvit Road, from Soi 1 to 71 (soi means lane). This stretch of Sukhumvit Road also has numerous ready-made clothing or made-to-order tailor shops. Prakanong district has no single area where Indians are concentrated. Their settlement is scattered. On the eastern side of the Menam Chao Phraya are the Klongsan and Thonburi districts. Each of the districts has 11 per cent of Bangkok's Indian population. In the K.longsan district, Indians are concentrated around the Ban-Kaek Intersection. The site is one of the oldest Indian settlements in Bangkok. In the early 1980s, some of the Indians from the crowded central business district of the city moved to a new housing estate called Nanak Villa at Samyek-Thapra. The Indians in this settlement are mainly Sikhs. The Silom Road and the New Road (especially opposite the General Post Office) are situated within the inner part of Bangkok city. Here, Indians constitute about 7 per cent of Bangkok's Indian population. The Indians in the area are mainly Hindus or Muslims. It is reasonable to assume that for certain historical, economic, and social reasons, Indians in Bangkok prefer to congregate in certain sections of the city, mostly aroumithe commercial area in theinner part of the city.

Table 37.1 Population Distribution in Bangkok Metropolitan Area, 1982 '0 v, N

Citizenship Indian Area District

Total Population

Density/

(Sq. km.)

Sq. km.

Thai

Chinese

Bangkok Pranakorn Pop Prop Patumarn Samuanthawong Bang Rak Yannawa Dusit Phyathai Auaikwang Thonburi Klongsan Bangkok Yan Prakanong Bang Ken Bang Kapi Bangkok Noi Phas Charoen Rat Durana Nong Chok Minburi Lat Krabang Bung Khun Tien Taling Chan Nong Khaem --

1,568,737 5,536 1.931 8.369 1.416 5.536 36.909 22.210 17.429 22.679 8.626 6.051 6.180 143.559 169.310 149.283 23.304 53.947 42.874 236.261 174.331 123.859 181.156 79.698 48.283

5,322,450 121,935 250,093 233,884 79,559 136,722 382,585 528,357 520,443 208,129 267,398 139,624 102,719 545,926 408,720 291,484 313,286 190,108 118,099 52,131 58,451 43,990 213,440 70,201 45,166

3,393 22,026 129,515 27,946 56,186 24,697 10,366 23,789 29,861 9,177 30,999 23,075 16,621 3,803 2,414 1,953 13,443 3,524 2,755 221 335 355 1,178 881 935

4,936,081 100,684 169,539 210,772 58,962 113,462 311,243 516,351 512,562 206,186 243,307 128,642 97,319 503,811 406,090 289,657 308,571 164,557 116,264 51,839 58,060 43,638 210,085 69,534 44,946

361,444 18,282 80,308 21,244 20,220 20,121 69,987 11,546 6,342 1,517 23,062 10,067 5,220 32,858 2,342 1,566 4,486 25,471 1,753 286 365 348 3,196 644 213

Total Population

Percentage of Indian Population

7,626 2,509 13 74 75 546 170 114 188 30 836 847 109 1,747 12 80 73 16 51 1

100 33.11 0.17 0.98 0.99 6.56 2.24 1.50 2.48 0.40 11.03 11.18 1.44 23.06 0.16 1.06 0.96 0.21 0.67 O.Ql

1 123 8 3

0.01 1.62 0.11 0.04

~

Others

~

~

;:, (]

Source: Bangkok Municipality Report, 1982

17,299 460 233 1,794 302 2,593 1,185 346 1,351 396 193 68 71 7,510 276 181 156 64 31 5 26 3 36 15 4

a

;:! ;:!

;;:: ;:, i:t.

"'

"' ;:;· ~

;;::

s..

"' ;:;. ~

~

"'E)•

Indian Communities in Bangkok

953

Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Areas Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Intersection are two well-known areas of Indian settlement in Bangkok. These two form the study areas in this chapter. Pahurat, located in the inner part of Bangkok, adjacent to the China town at Sampeng, is the centre of the Indian commercial community. The area, well known in Bangkok as a centre of textile shops, is settled predominantly by Sikhs. There are about 166 Indian households in the Pahurat area (Table 37.2). The Sikh temple is located in the area. The settlement pattern is nucleated, with the Sikh temple located at the centre. As in other crowded areas in Bangkok, three- or four-storeyed shophouses are dominant along the main road. Most of the Indian households are situated along Pahurat and Chakaphet roads. Located among Chinese and Thai shophouses, Indian shophouses are mostly retail shops, selling textiles and related materials as well as traditional forms of dress and ornament. The ground floor of each shophouse is normally the hub of commercial activity, while the higher floors are used for family living and storage of commercial goods. In the Pahurat area, there are about 66 retail shophouses. A few shops specialize in wholesale trade, while others provide services to members of the Indian community as well as others. The service shops include medical clinics, travel agencies, and restaurants.

Table 37.2 Land Use of Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Intersection Areas, Bangkok Number of Indian Households Type of Land Use Residence Retail trade Wholesale trade Service (restaurants, etc.) Warehousing Office Factory Institutions (temples, etc.) Utilities Total

Pahurat Area

Ban-Kaek Intersection

89 66 4 3

358 5 8 12 3 2

2

166

388

954

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

Residential homes are located away from the main roads in the inner part of the Pahurat area. With every available space used for commercial activities, the side lanes become small roads that lead to the rear of buildings where most homes are located. There are eighty-nine Indian residential households in the area. Ban-Kaek Intersection, the second area of this study, lies on the eastern side of the Chao Phraya river. The Indian community is largely settled in the area bounded by Prachatipok and Issalapap roads, especially along the lanes known as Soi Sarapee 1 and Soi Sarapee 2 of Klongsan district. This is one of the largest Indian settlements in Bangkok. With 388 Indian households, the name of the area itself- Ban-Kaek- reflects the significant presence of Indians there.* The Ban-Kaek Intersection is also located within one of the most densely populated areas of Metropolitan Bangkok. The surrounding area of Ban-Kaek is a prominent centre of Chinese commercial and trading activities in Thonburi. The nucleated settlement pattern is evident everywhere. Within the area, the Indians are concentrated in the inner western part while the Chinese are found largely in the eastern sector and along the main roads. However, the area is largely a residential one for Indians while the Chinese use it for commercial activities. In the area 92 per cent of the Indian households are residences, while 4 per cent are used for commercial and service-oriented activities. Most Indians and Chinese in the area live in either row-type houses or shophouses. On the other hand, the indigenous Thais living in the area reside in scattered detached type of houses, each having a small garden. As in the Pahurat area, Indians in the Ban-Kaek Intersection are predominantly Sikhs. Both the Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Intersection areas cannot be described as uniquely Indian in terms of architecture or landscape. The two areas are physically like any other urban area in Bangkok, except that Indians are found in large numbers. To a cursory observer only the nature of businesses and smell of food identify them as Indian areas.

The Background The sample survey covered 108 households in the Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Intersection areas. In this section the historical background of the household heads is described in order to provide an understanding of the collected data, reported in the following section. The place of birth of the household heads and the antecedents of their

Indian Communities in Bangkok

955

migration to Thailand and eventually to Bangkok would provide invaluable insight into the present structure and nature of the two communities. It will be shown that for many of the household heads, migration to Bangkok took place in stages and not direct from their natal villages.

Place of Birth Using place of birth as an indicator of migration, it was found that 50 per cent of the household heads were born in Thailand (Table 37 .3). In contrast only 38 per cent of the wives of the household heads were born in Thailand. This clearly indicates that many migrants initially came alone and later brought their wives from elsewhere. It is also possible that the early demographic trend in the community was to have more male children than female. The household heads and their spouses who indicated that they were born in Thailand were asked as to their place of birth in Thailand. Approximately 62 per cent of the household heads and 54 per cent of the wives said that they were born in Bangkok. The second area where a significant percentage of them were born was northern Thailand, especially Chiang Mai and Lampang. Southern Thailand was also cited as the third important region where many were born. Pattani, Yala, and Nakhon Srithmarath were the prominent towns which were the birth places of many Indians. The figures clearly indicate that Bangkok and certain towns in southern and northern Thailand have had settled Indian communities for more than thirty years. It also shows that internal migration of Indians in Thailand from provincial towns to Bangkok has been occurring for some time. At least 50 per cent of the Indians in the two communities did not come directly from their natal villages in India but from urban centres within Thailand. Among the household heads and spouses who indicated that they were born outside Thailand, females were numerically more dominant than males. British India (which also included Pakistan) was the place where most of them were born - 36 per cent of the household heads and 40 per cent of the spouses. Besides this, about 10 per cent of the household heads and 6 per cent of the spouses were born in present-day Pakistan. Malaysia was cited as the birth place for 3 per cent of the spouses. It should be noted that only 6.5 per cent of the household heads indicated that they were born in either of the two areas studied in this chapter. All of them were living at Pahurat at the time of the study. About 10 per cent of the household heads indicated that they had moved into the two areas prior to the outbreak of World War II. Almost 40 per cent of the

\0

Table 37.3 Place of Birth of Indians at Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Intersection, Bangkok (In percentages)

'-" 0\

;:;--

B,

>:> ;::.

Pahurat Husband Place of Birth

(N

= 61)

Ban-Kaek Intersection Wife (N

= 61)

Husband (N

= 47)

Wife (N

= 47)

6l

Total Wife

Husband (N

= 108)

(N

= 108)

Within Thailand

49.2

37.4

55.3

38.4

51.8

37.8

Bangkok

36.1

16.4

29.8

25.5

33.3

20.4

North

1.6

3.3

14.9

-

7.4

1.9

Northeast

3.2

4.9

4.3

2.1

3.7

3.7

Central (excluding Bangkok)

1.6

4.8

2.1

0.9

3.6

South

4.8

6.4

8.5

5.6

7.3

Place Unknown

1.6

1.6

0.9

0.9

Outside Thailand

6.3

50.8

62.6

.44.7

61.6

48.2

62.2

India

34.4

39.3

38.3

40.4

36.1

39.8

6.4

2.1

10.2

5.6

2.1

-

2.8

Pakistan

13.1

8.2

Malaysia

-

3.3

Place Unknown

3.3

ll.5

-

17.0

1.9

13.9

;:! ;:!

"" :::. ::l". (1)

'"' ;;;·

v,

0

""(1) So >:> ~

::t. E;•

'"'

Indian Communities in Bangkok

957

household heads had moved into the two areas within the previous fifteen years. During the period 1978-83, the Ban-Kaek Intersection area received 19 per cent of the household heads. It is evident that the Indian communities at the Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Intersection areas are becoming more settled since 1946. They appear to have passed the transitional stage of being a migrant community to becoming a permanently settled community.

Place of Last Residence In order to establish whether the Indians came directly from their natal villages in India or came from other areas, the question of their last residence before they reached the two study areas was asked. Their responses showed that not all of them had arrived directly from India. Most of them had been to other parts of India or other countries before arriving in Thailand. Many of them had arrived in the provincial towns of Thailand or had stayed in other parts of Bangkok city before settling in the two areas studied. It is evident from Table 37.4 that only 6.5 per cent of the husbands were born in the study areas, specifically Pahurat. About 9.3 per cent of the spouses indicated that they came directly from outside Thailand. India, Pakistan, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia were mentioned in order of importance when the respondents were asked of their place of last residence outside Thailand. Among men who reported their last residence as Thailand, 45.4 per cent were from Bangkok itself while 22 per cent mentioned provincial towns. It can be deduced from the data on last place of residence that Pahurat may have been the initial area settled by Indians, but later their settlement spilled over into the Ban-Kaek Intersection area. It may be possible that the arrival of spouses and the establishment of families necessitated the expansion of residences in the Ban-Kaek Intersection area.

Patterns of Migration A number of factors appear to have been significant in the decision of Indians to leave their villages or towns in India for Thailand. Similar factors have been important when Indians moved from one place to another in Thailand and eventually reached the two study areas in Bangkok. The most important factor that led to the migration of Indians to Thailand during the twentieth century was economic. Poverty due to drought, crop failures, and unemployment in their villages were the main causes that

(5;

Table 37.4 Place of Last Residence of Indians at Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Intersection, Bangkok (In percentages)

Oo

Si'

~

;::;

Ban-Kaek Intersection

Pahurat Husband Place of Last Residence

(N

= 61)

Wife (N

= 61)

Husband (N

= 47)

Thailand Study areas* Bangkok+ Provincial towns Outside Thailand

60.7 11.5 27.9 21.3 8.2

22.4 6.6 14.7 3.7

68.1 23.4 6.4

Unknown

31.1

73.9

2.1

Total

*

+

Born in the study areas. Excludes the study areas.

100

91.5

Wife (N

= 47)

27.6

100

~

Wife

Husband (N = 108)

(N

= 108)

25.0

19.1 8.5 14.9

74.1 6.5 45.4 22.2 7.4

57.5

18.5

65.7

-

100

Total

100

100

§ ~::t.

i5;

;:;· ~ :::

So

13.0 12.0 9.3

100

~

;:...

"'s·

Indian Communities in Bangkok

959

prompted Indians to move to Thailand. Political problems, such as the partition of the Indian subcontinent, were also important contributing factors. The economic success of earlier immigrants in Thailand also attracted more Indians to Thailand. Very often, the immigrants followed the migration of an earlier relation. Women generally arrived in Thailand due to their marriage with men already residing in Thailand. The above factors not only help to explain the cause of Indian immigration into Thailand, but also the internal migration within Thailand. Once the Indians arrived in the provincial towns in Thailand, they found that Bangkok, being the capital city, offered more economic opportunities than any other part of Thailand. As Bangkok already had areas with Indian concentration, it was easy for many of them to settle in these areas. The respondents in both the study areas appear to have arrived in Bangkok by two routes. Many of them had already travelled from their villages in British-ruled Punjab to other major towns in North India. The first route was by ship from Calcutta to Penang or Singapore and then by train or road to Bangkok. Very often the respondents had stayed in the provincial towns of southern Thailand for a considerable period of time before moving to Bangkok. The second route that the respondents took to reach Bangkok was via Myanmar. Very often the travel to Thailand involved a direct overland route by local transport through Myanmar. In some cases, the respondents had spent some time in Myanmar towns and then moved on in stages to reach provincial towns in northern Thailand. The next stage of their migration involved travelling to Bangkok and settling down permanently in the two study areas. Recent migrants arrived in Thailand by air. The study also revealed that most migrants came alone initially. Slightly more than 40 per cent of the household heads arrived alone and then returned to India to bring their spouses. About 25 per cent of the households had arrived in Thailand as families. It was also evident that in most households, the parents of the respondents were the first members in the family to migrate to Thailand. In 44 per cent of the households, it was the parents of the respondents who had arrived earlier in Thailand. For 22 per cent of the households the grandparents were the first in their families to come to Thailand. Only about 15 per cent of the households reported themselves as first-generation migrants. Most respondents reported that either their predecessors or they them-

960

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

selves had worked as employees in large firms run by Indians. Once they had learnt about trading, they began their own trade and then moved on to set up shops.

Social Structure This section is concerned with the structure of the two Indian communities at Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Intersection. The structure of the two communities will be described in terms of their contemporary demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.

Family and Marriage The average Indian household in the two study areas often has more than a single family living within it. Quite often the parents live with one of their married sons. However, there is a definite trend towards nuclear households. The average Indian household size in the two communities is 6.5 persons. This is comparable with the average household size of indigenous Thais. There are about 166 Indian households in Pahurat and 388 households in the Ban-Kaek Intersection area. About 40 per cent of the combined households had four to five members, while the rest had more people. Based on this it can be estimated that there are a total of 3,478 Indians in the two areas. This figure is almost half the figure cited for the entire Bangkok city by the 1982 Bangkok Municipality data that list Indians by their Indian citizenship status. The nuclear type of family was the rule in both study areas. In 65 per cent of the households the members consisted of a married couple and their siblings. Marriage for Indians in the two areas comes very early in their lives. Both males and females tend to marry young (Table 37 .5). Most males are married between 20 and 24 years of age. Most women are married when they are between 15 and 19 years of age. Of the husbands 57 per cent reported that they were married before they were 24 years of age, while 44 per cent of the women said they were married by the age of 19. The average marriageable age was 23.3 years for males and 19.1 years for females. Indians in the two study areas, except for a negligible number, were married to Indians only. The majority of the marriages were arranged by parents or close relatives. In all the arranged marriages, religion, linguistic group, and socio-economic status were considered as important criteria.

Table 37.5 Age at Marriage for Indians at Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Intersection, Bangkok (In percentages) Pahurat Husband Age Group

(N

= 61)

10-14

Ban-Kaek Intersection Wife (N

= 61)

Husband (N

= 47)

Wife (N

= 47)

Total Husband (N

= 108)

Wife (N = 108)

1.6

2.1

4.3

0.9

2.8

41.0 24.6

17.0 34.0

40.4

13.0

40.7

20-24

9.8 49.2

34.0

42.6

28.7

25-29

23.0

3.3

38.3

2.1

29.6

30-34

2.8

1.6

15-19

4.3

2.8

-

0.9

35-39

1.6

Widowed* Unknown

1.6

4.9

2.1

12.8

1.9

8.3

13.1

24.6

2.1

6.4

8.3

16.7

*

-

;:;, ~ ;::!

i :::

:::.

~·

Also includes an unmarried girl.

"' ;;;· l:r.:l

$:>

~

fr ?;-

~

962

Indian Communities in Southeast Asia

Thus Punjabi Sikhs, who constituted the majority of the population in the two areas, were helped by their marriage institution to retain their group identity. In both study areas, not more than ten Indian males have married Chinese, Thai, or European females. Besides, none of the Indians seems to be married to Indians of other linguistic or religious groups. By using the measurement of intermarriage as a method of social assimilation, it would appear that Indians from both study areas, who are mostly Sikhs, have not been integrated or assimilated into Thai society through this mechanism. Intermarriage among Indians is the most conspicuous phenomenon though there is the tendency of males with high educational attainment, especially when they have attended Thai or foreign universities, to marry other nationalities.

Age Most of the Indians in the two study areas were between 15 and 64 years of age. They constituted about 61 per cent of the population of Indians. Those aged 14 years and below made up about 27 per cent while those aged 65 years and over accounted for 11 per cent of the population. Most household heads in the two study areas were aged between 45 and 59 years (42 per cent), while their wives were aged between 45 and 54 years (32 per cent) (Table 37.6). The average age of a household head and his wife was 47 and 40 years respectively.

Socio-Economic Status Educational attainment The educational attainment of Indians is comparatively higher than that of the indigenous Thai people. In the study 74 per cent of the husbands and 58 per cent of the wives attained some level of education. There is not much difference in the level of educational attainment between males and females. At higher levels of educational attainment there is only 1 per cent difference between males and females. Among males who had attended school, about 40 per cent were educated in Thailand while 34 per cent were educated outside Thailand, mostly in India. In both groups, not many males were educated beyond high school, indicating low priority given to educational achievement as an avenue to economic status. Among women, an equal number were educated in as well as outside Thailand. However, only women educated outside Thailand had educational attainments at college or university level.

Table 37.6 Age Composition of the Indian Household Heads and Their Spouses at Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Intersection, Bangkok (In percentages) Pahurat Husband Age Group

(N

= 61)

Ban-Kaek Intersection Wife (N

= 61)

Husband (N

= 47)

Wife (N

= 47)

Total Husband (N

= 108)

Wife (N

= 108)

20-24

-

1.6

2.1

14.9

1.1

7.4

25-29

8.2

8.2

14.9

17.0

11.3

12.0

30-34

1.6

4.9

17.0

4.3

9.4

4.6

35-39

9.8

13.1

4.3

4.3

7.0

9.3

40-44

14.8

11.5

8.5

4.3

11.9

8.3

45-49

14.8

18.0

12.8

17.0

13.8

17.6

50-54

14.8

14.8

14.9

14.9

14.9

14.8

55-59

8.2

9.8

19.1

4.3

13.7

7.4

3.3

2.1

4.3

6.6

3.7

60-64

11.5

65-69

4.9

2.1

3.5

70-74

1.6

2.1

1.9

75-79

1.6

-

80-84

1.6

-

No information

6.6

14.7

~

~ ;::; ~ ;,: ;,: ;::

;::;

~:

"'s·

0;; !':> ;::;

""

;.;0 ;.;-

0.8 0.8 14.9

3.3

14.8

1.0

8:;

\Q

Table 37.7 Level of Educational Attainment of Indians at Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Intersection, Bangkok

~

(In percentages)

~

~

Ban-Kaek Intersection

Pahurat Level of Educational Attainment

;:=

g

Total

Husband

Wife

Husband

Wife

Husband

Wife

(N = 61)

(N = 61)

(N = 47)

(N = 47)

(N = 108)

(N = 108)

6.6 8.2 18.0 1.6 3.3

8.2 4.9 13.1 -

6.4 8.5 18.1 4.3 4.3

8.5 21.3 2.1

6.5 8.3 18.0 2.9 3.8

4.1 6.7 17.2 1.5 -

Total

37.7

26.2

41.6

31.9

39.5

29.5

Outside Thailand Lower than High School High School College, University

24.6 3.3 6.6

16.4 3.3 6.6

21.3 6.4 6.4

21.3 6.4 4.2

22.9 4.8 6.5

18.8 4.9 5.4

Total

34.5

26.3

34.1

31.9

34.2

29.1

No formal schooling No information

3.2 24.6

8.2 39.3

23.4

8.5 27.7

1.8 24.1

8.4 33.5

p -Primary MS - Middle School

;:, ~-

"';:;·

Thailand Pl-P4 (1-4 years in school) P5-P7 (5-7 years in school) MS1-MS3 (8-10 years in school) MS4-MS5 (11-12 years in school) Technical, Commerce School

Total

::! ::! ;:

100

100

100

100

100

100

~

;:

s. "':::;.

"'

~

"'s·

Indian Communities in Bangkok

965

It is evident from Table 37.7 that most respondents had attended school beyond the compulsory level of education required by the Thai Government. In Bangkok most Indians, even when they attend Thai medium schools, go to schools run either by Indians or by Christian missionaries. About 26 per cent of the men and 42 per cent of the women covered in the survey showed that they had either no formal schooling or no information about their educational attainments. It is possible that they were older informants who could have migrated to Thailand from a peasant background. The overall educational trend among Indians in the two areas surveyed appears to be to study for a maximum of eight to ten years. For those who pursue a tertiary education, this is generally done outside Thailand, largely in North India. Men appear to drop out of the education system as it is not the channel for economic mobility among Indian males in Thailand while women drop out to get married.

Economic status The economic status of Indians in the two study areas is largely dependent on the status of the male household head. Women are generally housewives or assist their husbands, but are seldom seen to be involved actively. Trade and commerce is the predominant economic pursuit of the Indians in the two study areas (Table 37.8). They are mostly involved in the textile business either as wholesale or retail operators. Having grown up with parents or relatives in the textile business, many have easily taken to textile trading and continue their family businesses. Many of the respondents have started branches in other parts of Bangkok with the help of their adult sons. A number of the Indians do not own shops, but carry the textile goods on their motor bikes and operate as door-to-door salesmen. Some of them also carry on a hire-purchase business, where payments are collected in instalments. Some household heads are also employed in private Indian firms. None of the household heads are employed in the Thai government service. Generally, Indian women do not work outside their homes. They are housewives, but help in their husbands' work whenever needed. The average household income reported by the respondents indicates that Indians in general are better off than Thais. The average monthly income reported by respondents was 6,800 bhats (which is believed to be much lower than the actual income). Merchants at Pahurat are affluent

\0

Table 37.8 Occupations of Indians at Pahurat and Ban-Kaek Intersection, Bangkok (In percentages)

8; ;:s

i:l...

Ei' ;:s

Husband Occupation Trading

(N

= 61)

95.1

Wife (N

= 61) 8.2

Husband (N

= 47)

87.2

-

-

2.1

Sewing, dressmaking

1.6

Unemployed

1.6

3.3 -

2.1

Employee

Housewife and others No information Total

1.6 100

Total

Ban-Kaek Intersection

Pahurat

Wife (N

= 47) 2.1

~ Wife

Husband (N

= 108) 91.7

(N

= 108) 5.6

0.9

-

0.9

1.9

83.6

6.4

85.1

2.8

4.9

2.1

12.8

1.9

8.3

100

100

100

.,;:s

;:;: