The Javanese connection in Malaysia

Despite Malaysia being home to the largest Javanese population outside Indonesia, very little is known about the role and contributions of this dynamic and industrious ethnic group, particularly in the economic development of our nation.

There are not many writings on the historical background of the Malaysian Javanese community. Hence, this article seeks to fill the gap by narrating the early emigration of Javanese to Malaysia, their distribution and growth as well as their role and contributions to the economic development of our nation.

Historically, Java and Peninsular Malaysia had trading relations since early times. During the time of the Malay sultanate of Malacca, Javanese traders from Tuban, Japara and Gresik supplied Indonesia’s foodstuff and spices. The Javanese were also renowned as sailors, shipbuilders and carpenters. In addition, they served as mercenary soldiers and formed a significant part of the Malacca sultanate’s army.

Fifteenth-century Malacca had a Javanese settlement, Kampung Jawa, at Bandar Hilir. There was also another large Javanese settlement at Upeh (Tranquerah) with Utimutiraja as its chief. Utimutiraja was the most powerful and richest Javanese merchant who controlled the rice trade, and reportedly had thousands of men working under him. He was subsequently executed in December 1511 for allegedly plotting against the Portuguese authorities. Among the other leading Javanese at Malacca were Patih Adam, Patih Kadir, Patih Yusoff and Patih Yunus.

Beginning from the 1870s, the Javanese started migrating in considerable numbers to Malaysia, reaching a peak in the early decades of the 20th century. Originating mainly from Central and East Java, they were driven to do so primarily due to poverty, population explosion and land scarcity. According to historian Khazin Mohd Tamrin, the Javanese originated from such places as Semarang, Surabaya, Puwardjo, Kebumin, Ponorogo and Ceribon.

As stated by Craig Lockard, Malacca and Penang in 1871 had an Indonesian population of 4,683, with the great majority evidently being Javanese. Most of them, apart from being petty traders, found employment as shipping crew, port labourers and domestic workers.

During the same period, Sultan Abu Bakar encouraged Javanese immigration into Johor to work mainly in coconut plantations. Most of the pioneer Javanese farmers settled in west Johor: Batu Pahat, Padang and Tanjung Kupang. They also planted sugarcane, tapioca, bananas, maize and areca nuts.

It is noteworthy to mention that the Javanese were extremely self-reliant and hardworking. In establishing new settlements along the coastal areas, they dug canals and ditches to drain the swamps besides building new roads and clearing the mangrove forests lining the shores at both Padang and Tanjong Kupang. The canals were called “parit”; consequently, “Parit Jawa” refers to a Javanese settlement.

Immigration encouraged

Subsequently, in the late 19th century, the British colonial administrators encouraged Javanese immigration into Peninsular Malaysia which was closely tied with contract or indentured labour. The labour contracts, which were generally for three years, included housing, food allowance, wages about equal to those of Indians, and generally a provision for repatriation.

This indentured Javanese labour was meant for plantation agriculture which was largely under European control: sugar and coffee in the late 19th century and rubber cultivation in the early decades of the 20th century.

The Javanese also worked as labourers on government projects, including canal and road construction. There were also gangs of Javanese who moved from estate to estate specialised in digging drains, particularly in Perak.

By 1891, the number of Javanese – mainly estate labourers – in the Straits Settlements and the Federated Malay States totalled 14,239. They had found favour with the Europeans for two major reasons. First, the Europeans believed that the Javanese could easily assimilate with the Malay population. Second, the Javanese were better suited for the clearing of jungle in the opening of estates because of the similarity of their home environment with that in British Malaya.

It is no surprise that the British colonial administrators in Peninsular Malaysia held the Javanese community in high esteem: they were regarded as highly self-reliant, thrifty, industrious, and enterprising – particularly in the field of agriculture.

Most interestingly, based upon documentary records, the exemplary performance of the Javanese immigrants in commercial agriculture spurred the local Malays to borrow their techniques of management and enhance their smallholding output. For example, the Acting Collector in Kuala Langat to the Selangor Resident reported in 1891 to the effect that the Javanese planters were good role models so much so that some of the local Malays had started to learn and adopt their attitudes to cultivate their own holdings in a more efficient manner.

In North Borneo (Sabah), beginning from 1892, the British North Borneo Company started importing Javanese labourers to work in tobacco and rubber estates. According to British historian Mary Turnbull, Javanese contract labourers made up one-third of Sabah’s workforce by 1921. In Sarawak, by 1902, several thousand Javanese were working in government-owned estates.

Vast increase

The early decades of the 20th century saw a vast increase in Javanese immigration into Peninsular Malaysia. The Javanese population in Peninsular Malaysia increased from 68,005 in 1911 to 99,447 in 1921, 153,241 in 1931, and 163,040 in 1947 with a vast majority of them residing in Johor, Selangor and Perak.

In Johor, the Javanese were concentrated mainly in the districts of Muar, Batu Pahat and Kukob; in Selangor, in the districts of Kuala Selangor, Klang, Kuala Langat, Ulu Langat and Kuala Lumpur; in Perak, in the districts of Lower Perak, Batang Padang, Kinta, Krian and Kuala Kangsar.

As stated by Tengku Shamsul Bahrin, the Javanese in Johor were mainly coconut and rubber smallholders and, to a lesser extent, some of them were involved in the cultivation of areca nuts and as labourers in the rubber estates. He adds further that in the Kuala Selangor and Lower Perak districts, the Javanese were engaged largely in rice cultivation. For example, in 1932, about 7,000 acres of new paddy land was opened in Sabak Bernam and Panchang Pedena area.

In Pahang, especially in the district of Kuantan, the number of Javanese who were largely employed in the rubber estates increased from 431 in 1911 to 3,086 in 1921. However, by 1947 the majority of them had changed to rice cultivation and rubber growing on their own.

Interestingly, the percentage of Javanese labourers working in the estates declined sharply during the second and third decades of the 20th century because more and more of them took up smallholdings. In Selangor, the Javanese established small rubber estates of their own by the hundreds in the coastal districts of Kuala Selangor, Kuala Langat and Klang.

Further, in the 1930s, Javanese immigration grew at a relatively unrestricted pace. For example, in 1937, 15,000 Javanese migrated to Peninsular Malaysia mainly to plant rubber.

Pertaining to settlement patterns and cultural identity, the Javanese during the early phase of their arrival in Malaysia generally stayed together in their own settlements (Kampung Java) and preserved their own identity. They spoke Javanese among themselves although they knew the Malay language.

They also maintained their culture, including the traditional music of “gamelan”, traditional dance of “kuda kepang”, self-defence art of “silat” and the traditional puppetry of “wayang kulit”. Over time, the Javanese in Malaysia have lost much of their distinctiveness and have now virtually assimilated into the Malay population.

In a nutshell, the highly industrious and enterprising Javanese community in Malaysia contributed significantly to the economic development of the nation through their involvement in plantation agriculture.

They provided valuable labour, initially in coconut and coffee plantations, and later in rubber estates. They also played an important role in opening up estates and transforming swampy and marshy land into thriving settlements, thereby contributing further to the nation’s economic development. - Mkini

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RANJIT SINGH MALHI is an independent historian who has written 19 books on Malaysian, Asian and world history. He is highly committed to writing an inclusive and truthful history of Malaysia based upon authoritative sources.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.