The Chinese Business Élite in Indonesia and the Transition to Independence, 1940-1950

Book excerpt: Studies of the Indonesian Chinese have usually failed to address their role as a commercial bourgeoisie. Moreover, such studies tend to focus on the local-born peranakan Chinese, ignoring the China-born totok Chinese and the Chinese of the Outer Islands. This book fills a gap in the literature on Indonesian Chinese by focusing directly on Chinese business roles and the emergence of partnerships between Chinese businessmen, mainly the totok, and Indonesian revolutionaries. This close relationship was forged in the risky business of smuggling which was widespread during the 1940s. It also documents the transformation of the Chinese business community during this period from one dominated by the Dutch-educated peranakan to one led by the totok with good local connections to Indonesian power-holders. The integration of a substantial amount of Chinese oral and written sources makes this work especially valuable to students and researchers of contemporary Indonesia.