In Indonesian batik designs, chrysanthemums and grapes signify the Dutch influence, bright filigree birds are of Chinese origin, and geometric patterns are Islamic. New Zealand’s Indonesians also represent such a blending of cultures: Dutch colonials, Javanese, Sundanese (from West Java), Sumatrans, and Chinese.
Considering the size of Indonesia’s population, relatively few of its people have chosen to settle in New Zealand. Among arrivals, there are three distinct groups: Dutch colonials, Indonesians (Javanese, Sundanese – Muslim people from West Java – and Sumatran) and Chinese Indonesians.
For centuries Indonesia was a Dutch colony, known as the Dutch East Indies. The 1921 census records 13 New Zealand residents born in the Dutch East Indies.
In the late 1940s the first of several waves of Dutch settlers arrived in New Zealand. The East Indies gained independence from the Netherlands in 1949, and became the Republic of Indonesia. During this period, most Dutch immigrants came from Indonesia, rather than the Netherlands.
By 1951 the Indonesian-born population in New Zealand numbered 303. Most of these immigrants, such as the artist Theo Schoon, were Dutch colonials.
In the 1960s many Indonesian immigrants were students or worked for the Indonesian Embassy in Wellington. The New Zealand Indonesian Association was established in the capital in 1964, and an Auckland section soon followed.
The Wellington branch often organised events that featured wayang kulit (shadow puppetry), pantum (folk poetry), warong (food stalls) and displays of batik (dyed cloth). They also raised funds for Pusat Rehabilitasi Yakkum, a charity for disabled Indonesian people.
In 1982 Wellington’s Indonesian community had a radio show, and by the 2000s there was a women’s club, Dharma Wanita. It was not until the 1990s that there was a sizeable influx, mostly of Javanese, Sundanese and Sumatran migrants. During this period the population more than doubled – from 861 in 1991 to 2,073 in 2001. In that year many of these immigrants were students. Most lived in Auckland (58%), Wellington (16%) and Christchurch (9%).
In the 1960s Rieke, an Indonesian woman, came to Wellington as a student. Before returning to Indonesia alone, she secretly married a New Zealander. When her husband went to Indonesia to bring her back to New Zealand, Rieke acted as translator between her parents and new husband. They married again in Indonesia before returning to Wellington to raise a family. After nearly four decades in the antipodes Rieke still clung to her origins: ‘I always feel Indonesian, very much Indonesian’. 1
Chinese have lived in Indonesia for hundreds of years. Their success as business people made them targets of resentment in times of popular discontent. A group of Chinese Indonesian refugees arrived in New Zealand between 1967 and 1971, and in 1998 some 1,500 came, fleeing Indonesian riots. Around 800 overstayed their visas. Of these, two-thirds were granted residency, and the remaining third were sent home.
Other Chinese Indonesian migrants included businesspeople who arrived during the 1990s in search of a more relaxed lifestyle. Education and family reunification were important reasons for migrating. By the mid-1990s many Chinese Indonesians lived in the Auckland suburbs of Glenfield, Mt Roskill and Mt Eden.
The Indonesian community today is made up of several ethnic groups: Javanese, Sundanese (Muslim people from West Java), Sumatrans and Chinese Indonesians.
In 2001 the majority were Christian and around a third were Muslim. Catholic and Presbyterian services were held for Indonesians in Auckland, and many Chinese Indonesian Catholics lived near their North Shore church.
Whatever their religion or ethnicity, Indonesians gather to celebrate Indonesian Independence Day (17 August). The day signifies the end of Dutch rule in Indonesia.
Gamelan (Indonesian percussion music) was established in the music department at Victoria University of Wellington in the early 1970s. The Indonesian Embassy lent the university the pelog (major key) half of a large Central Javanese gamelan.
During the 1970s and 1980s Wellington Indonesians often organised gamelan performances. In 1992 the university’s gamelan group was given the Javanese name Padhang Moncar, which signifies that it is the first in the world to see the new day’s sunrise.
By 1994, six secondary schools taught Indonesian to a total of 139 pupils, with the largest classes at Auckland’s Rangitoto College. In 2001 most migrants could speak English. The majority were bilingual and spoke their own language at home.
While breakfast and lunch habits have become westernised, many Indonesians still have a traditional evening meal. The Toko Baru Indonesian restaurant opened in Wellington in 1983, and in the 2000s restaurants also operated in Auckland and Christchurch. Gado gado (salad with peanut sauce), nasi goreng (fried rice) and sate (skewered meat) have all proved popular dishes among New Zealanders.
The New Zealand census figures listed here show the number of residents born in Indonesia or its predecessor, the Dutch East Indies.
In the 2006 census, people were asked to indicate the ethnic group or groups with which they identified. The numbers include those who indicated more than one group.
Bell, Daphne, ed. New to New Zealand: a guide to ethnic groups in New Zealand. Auckland: Reed, 2001.
Togersen, Mayumi. ‘Orang Indonesia di Auckland.’ In Vietnamese, Indonesian and Hong Kong immigrants in Auckland, edited by Hong-key Yoon, 88–128. Occasional paper 34, Department of Geography, University of Auckland, 1997.
http://www.geocities.com/kamasiwellington/index.htm
The website of the Wellington Indonesian Club.