The Chinese Complex of Returned Indonesian Overseas Chinese
Zhuang Gongwu
At first glance, you might think that the couple in the photo are foreigners. In fact, they are Chinese, but their identities are a bit special: they were born in Indonesia, grew up in Indonesia, and returned to China in the 1960s. They are Indonesian overseas Chinese. The man in the photo is my father. He was born on the island of Timor, Indonesia. In 1960, he returned to the country in response to the call to build the motherland. The woman wearing glasses in the photo is my mother. She was born in Wengtian Town, Wenchang, Hainan. She also returned from Indonesia, but she was sent back to China to study when she was a teenager. This photo was taken when they returned to Indonesia to visit relatives in 1996.
In the photo, my parents are wearing traditional Indonesian costumes and posing for a photo on a hillside. My father wore a traditional costume called “Batik”, with a cloth called “Sarong” around his lower body, with a belt around his waist, and some decorations on the belt (it is said to be Koyo, which is a very high-class local dress. ). Father wears an Indonesian hat on his head, and he looks very handsome and full of Indonesian style. The mother also wore a headgear on her head, and the clothes she wore was called “Kebaya”, with a sand cage around her waist and a belt. This photo was taken in the place where my father lived.
Speaking of their experience after returning to China that year, it can be said to be a history of building overseas Chinese farms in Hainan. They have excellent living conditions in Indonesia. My father is the young master of the family. There are several servants in the family. He is the youngest child in the family and he has been loved since he was a child. My mother’s family is a small business, which is also considered a well-off family. At that time, Indonesia was anti-Chinese, and when they heard the motherland’s call for them to come back and build the motherland, they all had the idea of returning. In order to solve their problem of returning home, the government specially chartered a large ship from the Soviet Union. The boat can seat thousands of people, and they also bring a lot of belongings: bicycles, beds, wardrobes, and suitcases. In this way, in 1960, they bid farewell to the place where they were born, bid farewell to the superior living conditions, traveled across the ocean and returned to the embrace of the motherland and started a new life.
In order to settle these returned patriotic overseas Chinese, the state established a farm in a place called Bincunshan in Qionghai City, Hainan (then Qionghai County), which is now the Bincunshan Overseas Chinese Farm. They lived in Bincunshan Farm. Come down. The conditions at the time were difficult, desolate, wild grass overgrown, insects and beasts infested, and their living conditions in Indonesia were too different. Many people cried and found it difficult to accept. Many people have moved back to Indonesia. My grandma also returned to China. She was 60 years old at the time. She was very strong. She told the children: “Our country has just been established, and it is waiting to be rejuvenated. It is very necessary for us to build and create together to revitalize the economy and strengthen the motherland. Why did we travel overseas to make a living? Wasn’t it because the country was so poor that the people could not survive? Now that we have returned to our country, we should settle down and actively participate in the construction of the motherland for the future of the motherland Contribute your own strength.”
After listening to the grandmother, the father and the others settled down, wielded a knife and a hoe, opened up wasteland, planted rubber and pepper, and led a self-reliant life. There is no food to eat, they open the land to grow vegetables; there is no house to live in, they cut the straw to live in thatched house; there is no water, they go to a far away well to pick water… just like that, all the way, in this land How much hardship and sweat did they put in! They have worked hard for the development of the Bincunshan Overseas Chinese Farm for more than 40 years. Every drop of their sweat has poured out bright flowers. With their hard work, the former dilapidated and desolate farm has now changed its appearance. It’s not the same.
After graduating from junior high school in Wenchang’s hometown, his mother actively participated in the upsurge of building the motherland. She fought for more than three years in the construction of Songtao Reservoir. In 1967, she was assigned to work in the coconut factory in Jiaji, Qionghai. After marrying her father in 1968, she worked at Bincunshan Overseas Chinese Farm. My father and mother are very affectionate and reasonable. I have never seen them quarrel with red faces. They work hard on the farm, run their own family, and love the three of us. , Teaches us the truth in life.
Although the work on the farm is hard, the life of the returned overseas Chinese is very colorful. They retain the Indonesian lifestyle and often make Indonesian dishes such as curry chicken, satay, Jiadogado, Padang beef and so on. Every New Year’s Day, mothers buy the ingredients for making cakes, and make cakes, Indonesian sesame cakes and so on by themselves. Sometimes it takes a week before we can eat them. Most of the returned overseas Chinese are cheerful and optimistic. They love to sing and dance. In their spare time, they pick up guitars and sand hammers, put on traditional Indonesian costumes, and dance the cheerful Indonesian folk dance “Inana” to sing an increasingly beautiful new life. , I also miss my relatives in a foreign country.
In 1996, their mother’s sister who was far away in Indonesia invited them back to Indonesia to visit relatives. The mother also missed her family in Indonesia. After discussion, she and her father went through all the formalities and took the plane back to Indonesia and met her relatives. Reunion after a long absence, with many emotions. Father and mother visited their relatives and took pictures in many places. The photo above was left by them on Timor Island, where my father was born.
Time flies, in the blink of an eye for 56 years, the footprints of the Indonesian returned overseas Chinese at Bincunshan Overseas Chinese Farm, walking on every inch of the farm’s land, their sweat is spilled on every corner of the farm, and they have made great contributions to the construction of the farm. . The young boys and lively girls of the year are now gray-haired, and some have passed away, but their patriotic spirit and undaunted spirit inspire our next generation to continue to fight for the construction of the motherland.
Stories from Deli 
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