The Construction of Chinese Muslim Identities in Surabaya

This study aims to uncover how Chinese Muslims in Surabaya developed their identity in Post-Reformation. During the New Order regime, they could not show their identity as a part of Indonesian diversity. Chinese identity has merged with the “native” people. Along with the downfall of the authoritarian political system and the development of multiculturalism and pluralism, Chinese Muslims in Surabaya could express their cultural identity. This study uses a qualitative method with an ethnographic approach. The results of the study reveal that the Chinese Muslims in Surabaya developed their cultural identity through Cheng Hoo Mosque, Chinese Muslim Organization, and Imlek Celebration. The cultural identity created a hybrid identity which is a combination of Chinese, Java, and Islamic cultures.


Introduction
The development of the identity of Chinese Muslims in Indonesia cannot be separated from the historical process of Chinese community in Indonesia in general. Identity of Chinese community experienced dynamics following the national historical process. If identity, for most entities, can be understood as a general, simple, and scientific characteristic, identity for Chinese community in Indonesia is a complex ramification with multidimensional aspects such as social, economic and political that is mutually affecting and having a long history. The construction of Chinese community identities in Indonesia is a legacy of Dutch colonialism in the past. Since the early formation of Chinese community identities, there is a correlation between race, class, and religious concepts so that Chinese identity is unique and complex (Hoon, 2012).
Uniqueness occurred because Chinese identity was formed in the context of Indonesian history different from the histories of other countries. The complexity occurred because of long and sustainable dialogue with native people through two-way relations in the context of race, class, and religious context. The formation of identity is different from the case of Chinese ethnicity in other countries such as Malaysia, the Philippine and Thailand that have integrated with the native people. The concept of the Indonesian nation does not follow ethno-nation principle, because Indonesia consists of various nations. However, in the case of Chinese, the national concept tends to use ethno-nation with orientation based on the native characteristic. Chinese community must 67 merge into natives or one of the native ethnics to be an integral part of the perfect Indonesian nation (Suryadinata, 2010).
The policy to merge the identity of Chinese ethnic into the native community reached the top when the New Order regime ruled. As a result of the G-30 S PKI revolt in 1965 and anxiety of loyalty to the People's Republic of China (RRT) that might undermine the ruling regime stability, the New Order government repressed the freedom of Chinese ethnic in expressing their identity. The New Order regime forced the Chinese ethnic to merge their Chinese identity into the 'native' community. They could not openly use Chinese cultural symbols and practices such as the Imlek (Chinese New Year) celebration, the use of the Chinese language, and organizatione. Also, Chinese schools were closed and Chinese ethnic had to change their names in Indonesian names.
Discriminative policy for Chinese ethnic was changed when political reformation took place in 1998. President Abdurahman Wahid (1999)(2000)(2001) took various legal reformation steps to protect the human rights of the Chinese minority ethnic. The step was taken by issuing a Presidential Decree No. 6 of 2000 supporting the development of Chinese cultures, such as permission to hold Imlek celebration (Lindsey & Pausacker, 2005).
Chinese Muslims in Surabaya welcomed enthusiastically for policy change from assimilation to multiculturalism. As a part of the Chinese community in Indonesia, progressively they started developing the identity of Chinese culture that disappeared for three decades. Chinese Muslims in Surabaya started developing self-identity combining Chinese and Islamic identities that were less common during the New Order regime ruled.
There are some studies to review the identity of Chinese Muslims in Indonesia in post-reformation. Weng and Wai (2019) described how religion, ethnicity and nationality developed in the identity of Muslim 68 China. Elizabeth (2009) found the combined values expressed in the life of Chinese Muslim in Semarang. The values consisted of Chinese, Islam, and Javanese, and once it was expressed in their life as business men, it was become distinctive. The above review broke the stereotype that both entities, Chinese and Islam mutually opposed and they were difficult to integrate. Chinese people could be good Muslim, by keeping their Chinese identity. But the social fact is not as easy as the generalization. Another study of Elizabeth, Sholihan, and Hassan (2017) (showed that the processes of religious conversion among Chinese in Semarang also impacted in family conflict, and the argument told us the stereotype of Islam among Chinese community. In the processes of being muslim, the study of Rahmawati et. al. (2018) revealed that Chinese prepared some strategic ways for fostering converts and Chinese Muslims to mainstream their way of life in accordance to Indonesian Islam ways. They planned the fostering programs from building the facilities for worship, Cheng Hoo Mosque, through both communication media literacy and information technology literacy. By that program it is hoped that the enculturation processes of Chinese-Indonesian-Islamic culture will proceed wel. Mahfud (2014) suggested that there are two meanings of the Cheng Hoo Mosque establishment in Surabaya, namely, as the identity of the hybridity culture of Chinese Muslims in Indonesia and the facility of Chinese cultural development. The architecture of the Cheng Hoo Mosque symbolizes the integration of Chinese, Javanese and Islamic cultures. Another meaning of the Cheng Hoo Mosque establishment in Surabaya is a new medium to study the Chinese Muslim culture in Surabaya. Afif (2012) explained that Chinese ethnic following Islam has a hybrid identity or combination of Chinese, Indonesian and Islamic values. The hybrid identity of Chinese Muslims in Yogyakarta is a 'bridge' or cultural capital in solving differences from Chinese ethnic and 'native' people. On one hand, Islamic believers more easily interact with native people; on the other hand, they remain to maintain their Chinese identity to keep their relationships with families and relatives. Chio (2013) studied the Imlek celebration in Yogyakarta in 2013. Chinese and Islamic cultural elements integrate as missionary media (dakwah) for Chinese ethnic in Yogyakarta. The activity the PITI Korwil DIY initiated resulted in an argument because most people assumed that the Imlek celebration was found identic to the Confucianism teaching festival. The Imlek praying means that not all forms of hybrid culture or Chinese and Islamic cultures are easy to integrate, especially in religious rituals. Imlek is a thin demarcation between identity and culture.
Different from previous studies discussing the identity of Chinese ethnic in Indonesia, this study focuses on how Chinese Muslims in Surabaya developed their cultural identity in post-reformation. This study discusses Cheng Hoo Mosque, Chinese Muslim organization and Imlek celebration as Chinese Muslim identities in Surabaya.
This study uses a qualitative method by applying an ethnographic approach. Ethnography is a work to describe a culture. Ethnography is the research process in which an anthropologist lives in a small community to study the details of their daily life (Agar, 2015). The ethnographic study is a research design in which the researcher studies a group of complete cultures in a natural environment for a sufficiently long period by collecting observational data (Creswell & Creswell, 2017). Surabaya becomes the field of research in this study as its Chinese Muslim population is large enough around 1,500 people. Chinese Muslims in Surabaya were active in developing identity of Chinese Muslim culture in post-reformation.
This data in this study were collected through observation, in-depth interview, documentation and audio-visual materials associated with the identity of Chinese Muslims in Surabaya. The observation was taken in the Cheng Hoo Mosque of Surabaya; the in-depth interview was conducted with 35 informants, both PITI and YHMCI committees and 70 other Muslim and Non-Chinese Muslims. The secondary data were from books, journals, magazines and internet. To analyze the data, a qualitative analysis technique is used in three ways; data reduction, data presentation, and concluding (Miles & Huberman, 1992).

Ethnic Identity
There are perspectives in seeing ethnic identity. Stuart Hall suggested that identity is anything that cannot separate, identity correlates to space, history, language and culture. In Cultural Identity and Diaspora, Hall described the identity of individuals or groups in the aspect of culture. He suggested that identity is never single or forms directly, but it forms gradually among different discourses, practices and positions. Cultural identity is a product of continuously processing historic development, colorized by change, transformation, and realized in a representation. Identity and representation are two inseparable items.
There are two points of view to see cultural identity; they are cultural identity as a stable thing and cultural identity as a dynamic thing (Austin, 2005;Hall, 1990). The first sees cultural identity as an essential characteristic. Cultural identity is viewable as a thing that is stable and never changes. Essentialists believe that culture consists of complete, steady, standard and stand-alone values and norms. The behavior of a group of individuals would depend on the cultural values and norms they follow.
Furthermore, the second does find culture as an essential thing, but it finds the culture as a dynamic thing, changing any time. Cultural identity in this concept makes the process of becoming as important as what is being. Hereby, identity is a non-essential one focusing on similarity and difference of characteristics. In such meanings, Hall suggested that cultural identity is an issue of how one forms his/her identity as becoming and being. Cultural identity includes the future and past times. Cultural identity is essential, depending on how one makes the cultural identity a position and essence so that he/she can be 'anyone' wherever he/she is. Identity is anything never stopping formation, not only 'being' thing, but it is 'becoming' continuously. Furthermore, Hall showed a position in identity meant as a thing, which is liquid and forming continuously.
This group views that identity is fully culture, with formation based on space and time. An anti-essentialists view that forms of identity always change and associate with the social and political condition. Identity is constructions that are not associated with one and others, its meanings always change along with space, time and use.
Another theorist, Jan Nederveen Pieterse analyzed the effect of globalization on the formation of cultural identity. In Globalization and Culture: Global Melange, Pieterse (2009) said that globalization is identic as cultural hybridization process identified as "the ways in which forms become separated from existing practices and recombine with the new forms in new practices". Of the meaning, hybridization is a process in which forms merge from old forms to new ones. Hybridization emphasizes on merging of excellent elements that may come from past time and then form new and excellent one. In culture, hybridization refers to a combination of Asian, African, American and European cultures.
Hybridization is the creation of global culture as a global mélange or global mixture. For centuries, global interaction mutually mixes cultures, where 'Western-Eastern-Northern-Southern' areas affect one and others, as in 'Southern-Southern' areas would gain mixing cultural elements. Past and current cultural forms do not move in process of uniformity and standardization.

Cheng Hoo Mosque as Identity of Chinese Muslims in Surabaya
One symbol of the identity of Chinese Muslims in Surabaya is the Cheng Hoo Mosque of Indonesia. The mosque established in 2003 72 architecturally represents the identity of Chinese Muslims that just formed in post-New Order (Weng & Wai, 2019). The Cheng Hoo Mosque is unique because it presents architectural design symbolizing the reappearance of the identity of Chinese culture after it disappeared from public life in some decades.
The early goal of mosque establishment is to form an Islamic missionary medium for the Chinese community. A developing opinion indicates that some Chinese people view Islam as a different religion, event contradicting Chinese values. Islam is identifiable as native people's identity. Whereas Cheng Hoo name is identifiable as admiration to Cheng Hoo, the Chinese Muslim figure, distributing Islamic teaching in peaceful ways between ethnic groups in Indonesia.
The architectural design of Muhammad Cheng Hoo Mosque in Surabaya adopted the classic Mosque of Niu Jie, in Beijing, as the design base of the Cheng Hoo Mosque, as H. Haryanto Satryo, Chairman of DPW PITI of East Java, suggested as follows: "Chinese symbols of the Cheng Hoo Mosque were not taken so merely, but we took them from Nujie Mosque of Beijing or Xinjing, in which mosques had been built for thousands of years. It is a moment to remember that China has mosques previously, so that, culturally we find closer. We distribute to the Chinese community in Indonesia (Interview, 24 th December 2019)." Through Cheng Hoo Mosque, Chinese Muslims in Surabaya would like to connect their identity to Chinese Muslims in China. Although Islamic Chinese community in Indonesia are, in general, recent converters to Muslims, and ethnically they are different from Muslim Hui ethnics in China, but, relations that are imagined, are realized in mosque design. Muslims in China are also found more identic to culture because they have a longer history than Chinese Muslims in Indonesia.
Overall, the architectural design of the Cheng Hoo Mosque reflects a hybrid cultural identity that is a combination of Chinese, Javanese and Islamic cultures. Each element of the Cheng Hoo Mosque in Surabaya contains philosophy to combine elements of Chinese culture with local values. The identity of Chinese culture is found in two aspects, namely, the color and roof of the mosque (Interview, Ustad Haryono Ong, Committee Chairman of Cheng Hoo Mosque of Surabaya, 6 th December 2019). The dominant color of the Cheng Hoo Mosque is red, yellow and green, where Chinese ethnics prefer colorful characters. Red color means happiness and fortunes; gold color symbolizes peace; whereas, the green color symbolizes prosperity. The design of the Cheng Hoo Mosque in Surabaya is similar to a temple building, from the configuration of color, roof shape and details of ornaments with Chinese nuance. The identity of a mosque will display when we see writing "Allah" on the top of the building without relief or sculpture as a pagoda character, such as a symbol of a Dragon or the goddess Kilin.
Whereas the identity of Javanese culture displays from wooden carved variations in various mosque ornaments as found in the pulpit. Other symbols of Javanese culture identity are in large drum put in the side of the mosque. The large drum alone is an instrument coming from 74 China and traditionally Nahdatul Ulama members use it as an instrument to call believers to pray.
Islamic culture identity displays on the top of the dome having Allah writing decoration in Arab letters. Moreover, each dome level has calligraphic decoration displaying characteristics of Allah in the glass ornaments. There are eight calligraphies found in each dome level, following the 8-angle roof hollows. The combination of calligraphic ornaments reflecting Islamic culture with typical roof shape of Chinese culture becomes the uniqueness of the hybrid identity of the Cheng Hoo Mosque in Surabaya.  Cheng Hoo Mosque also plays a role in developing the culture of Chinese Muslims, such as traditional performance media of China, Chinese language learning center and acupunctural clinic. There are also Kindergarten named Istana Balita "Cheng Hoo" and Integrated Islamic Primary School (SDIT) named "Cheng Hoo" actively involved in promoting the culture of Chinese Muslims in Surabaya.
Cheng Hoo Mosque in Surabaya has 'exceeded' conventional mosque function in general, namely, as praying place and meeting media for believers. The Cheng Hoo Mosque also functions as a Chinese community center for meeting with local people in Surabaya (Muzakki, 2009

Organizations of Chinese Muslim in Surabaya
The cultural development of Chinese Muslims in Surabaya can be inseparable from the existence of organizations as a pillar. There are two organizations of Chinese Muslims in Surabaya in post-reformation, namely, the Chinese Muslim Association of Indonesia (PITI) and Haji Muhammad Cheng Hoo Foundation of Indonesia (YHMCI).

Chinese Muslim Association of Indonesia (PITI)
Chinese To keep PITI as a "bridge" for various parties, PITI is neutral, not affiliating with a specific political organization. The philosophy of PITI is that PITI may not bring everywhere, but PITI exists everywhere. The philosophy means that PITI as a social organization and political party must have a good relation to various social organizations and political parties, but PITI may not involve directly in practical political issues.
Committees and members of PITI DPD of Surabaya are open for all ethnicities, groups and levels in the community. However, the position of PITI DPD chairperson of Surabaya must be from Chinese ethnics. This policy means that PITI remains to keep Chinese cultural roots and mission in the Chinese ethnical field is easily implementable if Chinese ethnics chair PITI. They have nearly similar religious and cultural experience background As an organization of Chinese Muslims, PITI implements some functions, such as missionary media of Chinese Muslims and Champaign of social integration. As missionary media, PITI gives religious guidance and assistance to Chinese Islamic converters. For the Chinese ethnic, it is not easy to be an Islamic converter because the resistance of the environment frequently occurs. To self-approach to the people, PITI organizes weekly or monthly missions, religious celebrations and social activities for the poor around Surabaya. The organizational structure of YHMCI is interethnic and interreligion. As for PITI, the position of YHMCI chairperson must come from Islamic Chinese ethnics. This requirement is the basis for the consideration that Chinese Muslims established YHMCI and it is missionary media in the Chinese community. The requirement that the chairperson of YHMCI must come from Chinese ethnics is that this foundation belongs to a Chinese person having a mission to Chinese community. Other committee positions may come from other religions and ethnicities.
The composition of YHMCI committees with interethnic and religions reflects hybrid organizations in the local context. Individuals from various cultural identities such as Banjar, Madura, Java and China did activities together to collect funds, did the mission and mission of humans in the organization of Chinese Muslims in Surabaya. The 80 objective of hybrid identity construction in YHMCI is to realize the conviction of Chinese Muslim ethnic figures in Surabaya especially, and East Java in general in doing integration so that YHMCI is not an exclusive organization belonging to Chinese Muslims.
YHMCI does not only manage the Cheng Hoo Mosque but also it established a multicultural school named Istana Balita "Cheng Hoo" and Integrated Islamic Primary School (SDIT) "Cheng Hoo". Istana Balita (ISBA) is a school of playgroup and kindergarten establishing since 2001, having educational strata of playgroup, kindergarten A and B. Kindergarten ISBA "Cheng Hoo" has missions to introduce multicultural values. Meanwhile, SDIT "Cheng Hoo" is an educational institution developing multicultural values and culture of Chinese Muslims. SDIT Cheng Hoo established in 2016 has excellent programs, such as the Indonesian language, Arab language, and English and Mandarin (Chinese) language.
As communication media with various internal and external parties, YHMCI publishes the magazine Cheng Hoo twice each month. This magazine contains information on YHMCI activities, Islamic mission in articles and news about Islamic developments in Indonesia and other states, such as Islam in Chine. In Cheng Hoo magazine, it shows how YHMCI tried to promote Islamic and Chinese values through the media.
There are various YHMCI activities in promoting a culture of Chinese Muslims, such as seminars, book publishing and religious celebration. To improve cultural understanding between Indonesian and Chinese Muslims, YHMCI facilitates activities of 'religious communication'. Muslims (YHMCI, 2014). This activity of intercultural understanding intensely has organized some visits.
The relation between organizations of Chinese Muslims in Surabaya is synergic in carrying out the mission and other activities. H. Haryanto Satryo, Chairman of DPW PITI of East Java, suggested that: The relation between PITI and YHMCI, is a mutually supporting organization for missionary and social activities. PITI is an organization in religious life, especially for Chinese Muslims in Surabaya. Whereas, YHMCI is a foundation specializing in social-societal organization, collecting funds for social-societal activities (Interview, 28 th December 2019).
The relation between PITI and YHMCI is like "right and left hands" in carrying out social and missionary activities in Surabaya. Missionary and integrating activities cannot develop without adequate fund sources. Hereby, the role of YHMCI is in organizing Chinese Muslims in developing Islamic missionary activities to Chinese community, developing the culture of Chinese Muslims and integrating into Surabaya.

Imlek and Identity of Chinese Muslims in Surabaya
The tradition of Chinese community being the ethnic identity of Chinese Muslims in Surabaya is Imlek. Early, Imlek was a celebration organized by farmers in China, on the first day of the first month in a new year. The calendar of Imlek applies the calculation of the lunar calendar. It is unlike Christian Calendar; it bases on the solar calendar. This celebration is also a party for farmers to welcome the spring season. The celebration starts on 30 December and ends on 15 January. Its agenda consists of praying for Imlek, praying to God, and ended by a celebration of Cap Go Meh. The objective of this praying is to realize thank and praying of expectation so that future year will give more blessings, to entertain the ancestors and as hospitality media with relatives and families.

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Nevertheless, during the New Order regime ruled, ethnics of Chinese Muslims in Surabaya could not celebrate Imlek openly. As far as the New Order regime ruled, the development of Chinese culture, such as the Imlek celebration, was limited.
After the regime changed from New Order to the post-reformation government, there was also a change in the celebration. In a multicultural situation, Chinese ethnicities got independence to celebrate Imlek in public. The change in policy implied in celebration of Imlek. Immediately before the celebration of Imlek, red ornaments, such as lantern lights and decoration showing Chinese identity colorizes public space again. Barongsai (Lion Dance) and liang-liong as performance tradition of Chinese ethnic culture participate in enlivening celebration of Imlek in public. Displays of symbols and cultural practices with inhibition during the New Order regime recovers in various cities, such as Surabaya. The Indonesian nation enjoys 'resurgence" of Chinese cultural identity in symbols and cultural practices. Hoon (2009) suggested that change in political policy from assimilation to multiculturalism generated enlivening in celebrating Imlek facing prohibition for three decades. Chinese ethnics in Indonesia can enjoy the freedom to celebrate Imlek in public. Imlek is an award on the symbols and identity of Chinese culture in Indonesia. In celebration of Imlek, a Chinese ethnic person can feel being a part of their ethnicity. Imlek in Indonesia, in post-Suharto, became a 'symbolic festival' of Chinese identity that was recreated and managed by Chinese ethnic based on their traditional imagination. The signification of Imlek as an ethnic symbol, especially when associated with the fact that the majority of Chinese community born in Indonesia have limitations in speaking Mandarin. Hereby, Imlek participates in forming an expression of Chinese identity in Indonesia that was degraded during the New Order regime.
In public, the celebration of Imlek frequently resulted in a debate, whether as a Chinese cultural tradition or a religious ritual relating to Confucianism. Around the world, Chinese ethnics see Imlek as a cultural 83 festival, but most Chinese community in Indonesia assume it as a religious festival relating to Confucianism.
For the community of Chinese Muslims in Surabaya, the tradition of Imlek is a tradition of Chinese culture, nor religious teaching. The most important value of Imlek for the community of Chinese Muslims in Surabaya is more social dimensioned to strengthen hospitality rope with families and respect the older persons. Chinese Muslims in Surabaya, either committee of Chinese Muslim organizations and community of other Chinese Muslims celebrate Imlek daily.
To preserve Chinese culture, organizations of Chinese Muslims in Surabaya also celebrate Imlek. Since 2016, PITI DPW of East Java and YHMCI enliven the celebration of Imlek by combining Chinese tradition and Islamic values. The activities are to donate to orphans and the poor in front of the Cheng Hoo Mosque. Ustad Hasan Basri, Daily Chairman of YHMCI, suggested that: "In general concept of Imlek, we still use Chinese tradition, but we mix with Islamic values", such as gift sharing; basically, it is the acculturation of culture. With the elders, we celebrate Imlek by donating to orphans and the poor near the Cheng Hoo Mosque (Interview, 24 th January 2020).

Information of informants indicates that
Imlek is the New Year momentum of Chinese ethnics around the world without identifying religious identity. Organizations of Chinese Muslims in Surabaya have a moral duty to keep the tradition of Chinese culture complying with Islamic values. In celebrating Imlek, the organizations of Chinese Muslims in Surabaya combine Chinese values with Islamic ones as to form cultural mixing that can be identifiable as a hybrid culture.
In celebration of Imlek organized routinely in Cheng Hoo Mosque, Yansen Project Lion Dance shows barongsai attraction where players are non-Chinese Muslims. The shown barongsai attraction has cultural crossing where other ethnicities, such as Java ethnic, play Chinese 84 culture. This phenomenon is an illustration of what is hybrid culture, a cultural crossing in the local context. This phenomenon is an illustration of what Pieterse found as a hybrid culture, a cultural crossing. Pieterse showed an example of hybrid culture as globalization result, the performance of Thai boxing that Morocco girls played in Amsterdam, an Asian Rap Music show in London and a performance of Shakespeare in Japanese Kabuli style in England (Pieterse, 2009, p. 77).
Shows displayed in front of the Cheng Hoo Mosque in celebration of Imlek are forms of hybrid culture in the local context of the Surabaya people. In the performance, non-Chinese ethnic groups played art shows of Chinese ethnics with audiences from various ethnicities or groups of Java, Madura and others in the yard of the mosque with a hybrid architecture having Chinese, Islamic and Javanese nuances.
The typical Chinese red lantern lights decorating the Cheng Hoo Mosque improved the enlivening of the Imlek situation in front of the Cheng Hoo Mosque. For Chinese ethnics, the red lantern lights are symbols of the future award with welfare, livelihood and happiness. The existence of lantern lights signifies the representation of Chinese cultural symbols that disappeared in public during the New Order regime. The red lantern lights increased the enlivening of multiculturalism and pluralism situation in post-reformation. The lantern lights in Cheng Hoo Mosque before and some weeks after Imlek confirmed the identity of hybrid culture in the architecture of the Cheng Hoo Mosque in Surabaya.
The celebration of Imlek in the Cheng Hoo Mosque became a symbol of the Chinese Muslim identity in Surabaya with hybridity characteristics. It can display some aspects as follows. First, Chinese tradition is celebrated together by Chinese ethnic and non-Chinese ethnic with various religious identities. The participation of various ethnic groups and clans shows hybridity identity in the local context. Second, this celebration gives a new understanding of the relationship between ethnicity and religion, especially between Chinese and Islamic characteristics. This celebration expresses Chinese identity when the celebration of Imlek is not only implementable by Confucius believers in the temple, but also by Chinese Muslims in Mosque. Besides, the development of multiculturalism and pluralism values in the country opened space for Chinese Muslims in Surabaya to show their identity. They promoted that Chinese and Islamic identity is not an identity that is new and contradictory as voiced by The New Order regime. Through hybrid identity, Chinese Muslims in Surabaya would like to show that they are a part of national cultural diversity. Integration among identities symbolizes harmony in ethnicity and social life within a multicultural community.{w]