Local autonomy and the revitalization of the Tionghoa culture in Indonesia: The case of Padang city, West Sumatera

Like any other ethnic groups in Southeast Asia , the Tionghoa (Chinese) community would like to revitalize their original culture as is the case with respect to religion, cultural festivals, arts, Mandarin letters and the adoption of Tionghoa’s name. In Indonesia, local autonomy is conferred for all ethnic groups to practice their culture. In the Padang city the Hok Tek Tong clan promotes the use of Mandarin letters on their Hok Tek Tong’s gate. This study examined the question how far had local autonomy improve the Padang city Tionghoa community’s effort o revitalize their ethnic culture . Primary data were gathered from in-depth interviews of 15 local Tionghoa informants from the Pecinaan area of the West Padang district, West Sumatera. The findings revealed that local autonomy could indeed enhance the revitalization of local Tionghoa religious practices, cultural festivals, arts and the adoption of Tionghoa names. However, local autonomy failed to do the same with respect to the use of Mandarin letters on Hok Tek Tong’s gate as this was rejected outright by the Indonesian government . In conclusion, local autonomy could but confer limited freedom for Indonesian Tionghoa communities to revitalize their ethnic culture.