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Explore conflicts and merging of cultures in Fiji and Sarawak, encountering native and immigrant groups under colonial rule, focusing on ethnic identity, land rights, political transitions, and societal perceptions.
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Encountering of Cultures • Masao ISHII • Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences • Mie Univeristy
Cultures in Conflict? • Two contrasting examples from Insular S.E. Asia & Pacific • In Melanesia: Native Fijians and Indo-Fijians • In Borneo: Malays and Kadayans
In Fiji:Contrasting Two Cultures • The native Melanesian culture and the South Asian culture. • Two cultures encountered in the late 19th century under the British colonial rule. • The Melanesians fear to lose their native land rights following the increase of Indian population.
Two Ethnic Groups of Fiji 775,077 393,575 338,818 42,684
Conflict between Two Groups • Military coup d’etat against Indian “dominated” government in 1987. • Col. Rabuka stayed in power as Prime Minister until General election in 1999. • First Indo-Fijian Prime Minister formed a coalition government in 1999. • In May 2000, the coalition government was overthrown by a militia group of Native Fijians
In Northern Sarawak:Two Similar Cultures • Malays and Kadayans are both under the rule of Brunei Saltanate since 14th century or earlier. • Kadayns and Malays speak almost the same language, and share common customs. • Kadayans were confined to lower status against ruling Brunei Malays. • In Brunei, Kadayans are silently merging into Malays since the colonial days.
Kadayans in Sarawak • In Sarawak under the rule of Brooke, Kadayans enjoyed higher status than their counterpart in Brunei. • Their ethnic identiy is circumstantial. • Ethnic awareness is getting vigorous recently, through carrying out the traditional rituals, and the activities of the Kadayan Ethnic Association.
Ethnic Conflicts ? • Conflicts are mostly concentrated in the urban area. • The stereotyped images of the “culture”. • How and why these images are formed ? • Political background and the role of the mass media.