Leiden, the Netherlands
The Arabs In Southeast Asia (1870 - C. 1990)
From 8-12 December 1997 the Royal Institute of Linguistics and Anthropology (KITLV) in Leiden hosted its 12th International Workshop on Southeast Asian Studies. The workshop, which was organized jointly with the International Institute of Asian Studies (IIAS) and convened by Prof. Kees van Dijk, was devoted to the Arabs in Southeast Asia (1870 - c. 1990).By Huub de Jonge
Throughout history thousands of Arabs, in particular inhabitants of the Hadhramaut in South Yemen, have migrated to regions around the Indian Ocean. Until the middle of the nineteenth century most migrants settled along the East African or South Indian coasts. After the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, however, the English Straits Settlements (Singapore, Malacca and Penang) and the Netherlands East Indies took precedence as the most important destinations. Only recently has this Arab diaspora drawn scholarly interest. In the past few years, several studies on the Hadhrami in Africa and India have been published but relatively little is still known about the vicissitudes of the immigrants in South-East Asia. Studies about the Hadhrami (or Arabs as they are always called) in this part of the world pale into insignificance in comparison with those about other minorities, such as the Chinese and the Indians. The main reason for holding this workshop was to begin to fill this gap.The workshop was attended by participants from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, Germany, Great Britain, the USA, Australia, and the Netherlands. In five sessions fifteen papers were discussed. The first two sessions, chaired successively by Kees van Dijk and Frans Hüsken, concerned the role of Arabs in religion and education in South-East Asia. In the third meeting, chaired by Henk Maier, the emphasis lay on the political aspects of the presence of Arabs in the region. The fourth session, chaired by Huub de Jonge, centred on the shifts in identity of the immigrants in their new environment. The fifth session, chaired by Thomas Pritzkat, dealt with the development of the relationships between the Hadhramaut and South-East Asian countries in the colonial and post-colonial periods.
The workshop was most fruitful. In the papers, presentations, and discussions new facts and new ideas were brought forward which in turn led to new questions for research. The meetings left no doubt that research on the Arabs in Southeast Asia is still in its infancy, as the history of the minority has only been written about in general terms. One enormous hiatus is that data concerning the place of this group within South-East Asian countries during post-war years is almost totally lacking.
At the closing business meeting Nico Kaptein and Huub de Jonge were entrusted with the publication of the proceedings of the workshop. Propitiously, the decision was made to organize a follow-up workshop in South-East Asia itself the next few years. Kees van Dijk and Farid Alatas will take charge of these preparations.