Indonesia - South Africa Historical Link

[Ara]

A Cultural Link Spanning Three Centuries:

The Story of the Cape Malay

*South Africa and Indonesia have only enjoyed formal diplomatic ties since August 1994, but it is not a well known fact that our links stretch back close to three hundred years.*

*Looking back in history, the colonization of Africa and Asia by European powers from the fifteenth toMosquenineteenth centuries led to the enslavement of millions of Afro-Asian peoples, and an international slave trade. This slave trade led to the involuntary migration of large numbers of Africans and Asians to different parts of the world.*

*It was one such stream of people, most of whom were political exiles or prisoners who had opposed the colonization of their countries, that came to the Cape of Good Hope (now the city of Cape Town). The first such migrants began to arrive in the latter half of the seventeenth century, mainly from colonies occupied by the Dutch and the British.*

Cape Malays*The large majority of these migrants that came to the Cape of Good Hope were Muslims, who were captured and sent into exile from colonies such as Ceylon, Madagascar, India and the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia as we know it today).*

*The origins of this migration can be traced to early in the sixteenth century when, at the end of Indonesia's Majapahit Kingdom, European military penetration and anti-Islamic persecution caused resistance. The dutch crushed that resistance and exiled many opponents to the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa, which was also occupied by the Dutch.*

*The first Dutch settlers in the Cape of Good Hope arrived in 1652, when Jan van Riebeeck came to the Cape to establish a trading post and supply fort in the Cape of Good Hope. The Cape thus became a regular stopover for trading vessels plying the Europe-East Indies route. In fact, remnants of the settlement can be found*

* in the city of Cape Town today, such as the Castle or Old Fort.*

*The Dutch therefore required labour and utilised the opportunity to import political exiles from the East Indies as slaves. Many of these people were skilled artisans, such as silversmiths, masons, milliners, cobblers, singers and tailors. They came to be known collectively as Cape Malay, since despite their diverse origins as far afield as East Africa and Malaysia, and they all spoke the "traders' lingua franca"- Malay.*

Kramat*One such prominent, figure among the Cape Malay, or Orang Cayen (Men of Repute), who resisted the Dutch occupation of the East Indies, and is hailed as a hero in modern day Indonesia, was Sheikh Yusuf. He is credited with having brought Islam to South Africa. Sheikh Yusuf (or Sheikh Yusuf al-taj alKhalwatial-Maqasari, as he is known in religious circles) was born in 1626 in Goa on the island of Celebes (today known as Sulawesi), the son of Makassarese nobility, and the nephew of King Bissu of Gowa.*

*Sheikh Yusuf spent several years studying Arabic and traditional religious sciences in Mecca, and eventually returned to Banten, West Java, where he taught the Islamic doctrine of "Khalwatiyyah", which he had learned during his years spent in Mecca.*

*He eventually sided with Sultan Ageng in his fight against attempts by the Dutch to gain complete control of the Sultanates in the East Indies. Sheikh Yusuf was captured in 1683, and exiled to Ceylon and eventually the Cape of Good Hope, where he arrived aboard the ship "de Voetboeg" in 1694.*

*Having arrived in the Cape, Sheikh Yusuf and his family and followers were sent to Zandvliet farm just outside Cape Town, to prevent his influence on the Islamic slave population. The Dutch attempts to isolate them failed, and Zandvliet became a rallying point for slaves, and other exiles from the East. Today, this farm area is known as Macassar. As Sheikh Yusuf's influence and spiritual teachings spread, the elementary
structures of one of the first Muslim communities in the country were Ambassador BS Kubheka and Linford Andrews outside the kramat of Sheikh Yusufestablished.*

*Sheikh Yusuf died on 23 May 1699, and was buried on a hill overlooking Macassar. Today, a tomb constructed there is among the 25 Islamic shrines or kramat that encircle Cape Town. In 1705, Sheikh Yusuf's remains were brought to Makassar (Ujung Pandang of today), and interred in a tomb located in Katangka Village, bordering on the Gowa regency.*

*Ambassador Kubheka paid a historic visit to the tomb while on an official visit to South Sulawesi in March 1997, to pay his respects to the memory of Sheikh Yusuf, and the cultural link between South Africa and Indonesia which he helped to found.*

*Today in the city of Cape Town, remnants of this culture are to be found as Cape Festival celebrationsa thriving Cape Malay community lends character to the mother city of South Africa. Cape Malay architecture, food (such as bobotie and yellow rice, samoosas, rotis, etc.), tailor shops, mosques and the warmth and hospitality of the Malay people continue to attract tourists in abundance. Indonesians and Malaysians are visiting Cape Town in increasing numbers to experience this cultural link for themselves.*

*Who can ever forget the spirit and vitality of a Cape Malay choir belting out original Dutch folk songs on a warm New Year's Eve evening or at Malay choir competitions? Or the vibrance and colourful spectacle of the New Year's Carnival, when in true Rio Carnival style, a song and dance procession by Cape minstrels is held through the streets of Cape Town? Costumes for this carnival are planned and made months in advance by Cape Malay tailors, and are kept a secret by each dance troupe until the very day of the carnival itself!*

[sanhen]

Errr... that Borobudur ship expedition or something..
Isnt that ship travels from Java to South Africa or something?

[Ara]

The very same one.

[Alvin]

Ara, you read Indonesian? here's an article you might be interested in. From today's Kompas.com.

RI Berupaya Perkaya Wacana Sejarah Nasional Afsel


Jakarta, Jumat



Perwakilan Indonesia di Afrika Selatan berupaya memperkaya wacana mengenai sisi lain sejarah nasional negara itu, dengan menyelenggarakan seminar mengenai masalah "political exiles" dan perbudakan, pada 23 Maret 2005 di Cape Town.

"Dalam kurun waktu sepuluh tahun setelah terbebas dari rejim apartheid, di lingkungan nasional Afrika Selatan masih terus bergulir pembahasan mengenai sejarah nasional mereka," kata Kepala Bidang Penerangan, Sosial dan Budaya KBRI di Pretoria, Teuku Faizasyah, Jumat (4/3).

Ia menjelaskan, seminar tentang pejuang asal Indonesia (pada masa dijajah Belanda) yang diasingkan ke Afsel dan perbudakan itu diselenggarakan bekerja sama dengan Museum Iziko, Cape Town, Afrika Selatan.

Kegiatan itu akan menghadirkan pembicara dari Indonesia yakni Prof Azyumardi Azra dan Prof Nabila Lubis. Keduanya dinilai banyak mendalami sejarah perjuangan Syeikh Yusuf asal Makassar, Sulawesi Selatan, yang diasingkan secara politik (political exiles) oleh Belanda ke Tanjung Harapan, Afsel, pada 1694.

Seminar juga akan menghadirkan Prof Suleman Essop Dangor dan Prof Robert Shell yang banyak menulis mengenai sejarah perbudakan di Afsel, termasuk mengenai para budak asal Hindia Belanda. Dangor dalam bukunya "Shaykh Yusuf of Makasar" menyebutkan bahwa budak-budak yang dikapalkan dari Batavia (Jakarta) sejatinya merupakan orang-orang bebas, telah ada di Tanjung Harapan sejak 1652 dibawa oleh Belanda.

Melalui seminar itu, kata Faizasyah, diharapkan peranan Syeikh Yusuf dan tokoh-tokoh perjuangan asal Hindia Belanda lainnya -- termasuk Abdullah ibn Qadi Abdus Salaam (Tuan Guru) asal Tidore -- serta masyarakat Hindia Belanda yang dijadikan budak di Afsel dapat diapresiasi secara wajar dalam sejarah Afsel.

Para pejuang dan budak-budak yang dibuang ke Afsel ini menjadi cikal bakal atau nenek moyang komunitas Cape Malay di Afsel yang kini mencapai angka sekitar 700.000 orang. Saat ini Abdullah Salam diakui sebagai tokoh yang memperjuangkan kebebasan menjalankan ibadah Islam di Afsel, termasuk tindakannya mengorganisir shalat Jumat berjamaah yang pertama kali di Western Cape.

Berdasarkan catatan sejarah, Syekh Yusuf ketika dibuang ke Afsel adalah salah seorang ulama muda sekaligus pimpinan tentara Kesultanan Banten. Dipercaya ia yang memelopori penyebaran Islam di Afrika Selatan, di samping kaum muslim yang datang dari India. (Ant/Ima)

[Ara]

Thanks Alvin. I'll be attending that seminar. In fact, it is part of a week long celebration in Cape Town. Interestingly, the weeklong celebration will be held during the Easter weekend. What's interesting about it is that the Cape Malay muslims celebrate it because back in the days, the only time the Cape Malay were able to pray together was during Easter. This is due to the fact that the Dutch at that time went on vacation during Easter. I believe this celebration is only held in Cape Town. Thousands of Cape Malay come to an area called Macasar.

[Alvin]

History binds Indonesia, South Africa

The South African government invited six Indonesian journalists, including The Jakarta Post's Dwi Atmanta, for a press tour in mid-February as part of efforts to promote the country ahead of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Asia-Africa Summit in Bandung it is co-sponsoring in April. The following articles are the report on the visit.

Foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda raised his eyebrows when he realized his office had no expert in South African studies, while Indonesia was busy preparing the golden anniversary celebration of the Asia-Africa Conference in Bandung in April.

This was good reason for an exchange of scholars Indonesia and South Africa are set to sign an agreement on following the historical celebration, Indonesian Ambassador to South Africa Abdul Nasier recalled.

For Nasier, the conference would serve as a blessing for Indonesia and South Africa, as the exchange would help boost people-to-people contact, which the ambassador said the two countries were lacking so far.

"People-to-people contact is what we are encouraging, before we can move to better cooperation in other fields, particularly economic," Nasier said.

Ties between Indonesia and South Africa had stretched over centuries before they formalized diplomatic relations in 1994, shortly after Nelson Mandela was elected president of the Republic of South Africa.

The fact that pisang (banana), kantor (office), wortel (carrot) are among the vocabulary of Indonesians and South Africans is only minuscule evidence of the long-standing ties between the two nations.

Old records say the relations between Indonesia and South Africa date back to the 17th century when the Dutch colonial government sent Indonesian political prisoners into exile in South Africa.

The Cape of Good Hope (now the city of Cape Town) was the place where the first unwilling migrants, mainly from colonies occupied by the Dutch and the British, began to arrive and settle. The Cape then was a regular stopover for trading vessels plying the Europe-East Indies route.

A large number of the migrants were Muslims from Sri Lanka, Madagascar, India and Indonesia, which was known as the Dutch East Indies back then.

During the Dutch colonial period, the East Indies governor general in Batavia, or Jakarta today, oversaw the administration in the Cape of Good Hope.

The Dutch administration in South Africa took advantage of the presence of political exiles from the East Indies by employing them as slaves. Many of them were skilled artisans, such as silversmiths, masons, milliners, cobblers, singers and tailors. They were resettled in Cape Malay, since despite their diverse origins, they spoke Malay, which was the "traders' lingua franca".

One prominent figure among the Cape Malay settlers who resisted the Dutch occupation of the East Indies was Sheikh Yusuf, who came from Gowa in South Sulawesi. He was sent into exile after supporting Sultan Ageng from Banten in his fight against the Dutch. The Indonesian government named Yusuf a national hero in 1995.

The South African government paid tribute to him for the cultural link between South Africa and Indonesia he helped establish.

The political relationship between South Africa and Indonesia existed long before they established diplomatic ties in 1994. Indonesia supported the African National Congress (ANC) from the time the now majority party in South Africa's government was a liberation movement, fighting the apartheid government under the old National Party's rule.

During his tenure, Mandela paid three visits to Indonesia both as the South African president and the ANC president.

As a leading developing democracy in Africa, South Africa plays an important role in fostering closer South-South cooperation Indonesia has also promoted. South Africa hosted the 1998 summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and succeeded Colombia as chair of the organization. Both South Africa and Indonesia are also playing leading roles in cooperating in the promotion of North-South dialog.

Close cooperation between South Africa and Indonesia continued when they co-chaired the Asian-African Sub-Regional Organizations Conference (AASROC) last year.

Ambassador Nasier said the relationship between the two countries had been limited to government level, or the elite, which would not benefit their people at large much.

"South Africa has been complaining about the trade balance between the two countries that is in favor of Indonesia. That happens because of lack of contacts between people, including businessmen," he said.

In the final year of his tenure as the Indonesian ambassador to South Africa that will end in September, Nasier has been working to bridge communication and understanding between the two nations which he says will lay a foundation for cooperation in other fields.

Following the Bandung Conference celebration, four Indonesian universities and South African universities are scheduled to sign an agreement on the exchange of scholars. The University of Indonesia, Hasanuddin University in the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar, Padjadjaran University and Parahyangan University, both in Bandung, have been selected for the exchange program.

Nasier said the exchange program would not only produce more experts in African studies, and Asian studies on South Africa's part, but also intensive dialog between the people of the two nations on the bilateral, regional and international challenges they are facing.

"By learning from each other's culture and history, for example, we can expand contacts between people in other areas, such as trade and tourism," he said.

For Nasier the decision by Garuda Indonesia to terminate service to South Africa not only proves the Indonesian flag carrier's failure to optimize business opportunities there, but the lack of knowledge among Indonesians in general about the African country.

In a bid to boost cooperation in the field of tourism, the ambassador is also helping prepare a cultural mission from various towns in Indonesia to South Africa, including a visit of dozens of Makassar figures to Cape Town later in March to reestablish its historical link with the city.

Noting that colonialism and other forms of human rights abuse have linked Indonesia with South Africa, both governments are co-sponsoring a seminar on history and slavery that bind the two nations. Indonesian Muslim scholar Azyumardi Azra will be among the speakers.

Prof. Dhiru V. Soni, who heads the Center for Asia-Africa Studies at KwaZulu Natal University in Durban, agrees with Nasier, saying a lot of opportunities are on offer for South Africa and Indonesia to cooperate in the future.

"The fact that both Indonesia and South Africa are leading developing nations should bring them closer together in promoting South-South cooperation," Soni said, adding that the upcoming Asia-Africa summit would help create a momentum that the two countries could benefit from.

The center is providing a platform for dialog, exchange of information and knowledge and to facilitate international student and faculty exchange with particular emphasis on post-graduate activities.

"There are golden opportunities for collaboration, knowledge exchange and economic expansion," said Soni, who will visit Indonesia ahead of the Asia-Africa summit.