INDONESIA RACIAL GROUP

INDONESIA RACIAL GROUP

The Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It has a strategic location along major sea lanes connecting East Asia, South Asia, and Oceania. It is the world’s largest island country, Indonesia is an ethnically diverse country with around  633 ethnic groups.

Javanese ethnical group

Javanese people are one of the ethnic groups in Indonesia. They are the dominant ethnic group in Indonesia, with makeup 42% of the population. The majority are from the Islamic religion. They also have a few from Christian doctrine and roman catholic. They are predominant in the central to eastern parts of the island. They also are significant numbers of people with Javanese descent in most provinces of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Suriname, Saudi Arabia, and the Netherlands to name a few

Cirebonese

The Cirebonese people are an Austronesian ethnic group and nation native on the city of Cirebon, and its immediate surroundings located in the northern part of the island java. They are mostly Muslims; their language is Cirebonese, which is a mixture of Sundanese and Javanese with more influence from Javanese.they have a makeup of 0.94% of the population..

There are many differences between the two ethnic groups. The language used by the Javanese people is Austronesian. Their style has two speech levels; Nikko and Kromo. Nikko is the language used by individuals of the same social status. In contrast, the Kromo is the speech level used to address elders, people of higher standards, and people whose condition is not yet known to the speaker. The Cirebones changed from having the same language as the Javanese and Sundanese to having their independent style. Now there is vocabulary that has nothing in common with the standards of the Javanese language.

The Cirebonese ethnical group was once part of the Javanese ethnical group. Its only fair to say they will be having some similarities in culture. In the theory of continuity, arguments based on marriage since its mostly used to identify the source of continuity. Both ethnic groups send messengers from the groom’s side to ask for the bride’s hand in a marriage proposal. A washing ceremony occurs where the bride is cleansed so that she can start her new life as a wife in a new and pure page. Also, the night before the wedding day, the bride applies traditional makeup to look her best for her wedding. Lastly, since both Javanese and Cirebonese are mostly Muslims, they make sure some of the rules of Islamic marriages are observed at the latest.

In conclusion, both the dominant and the minority racial groups have differences as well as similarities in many aspects, and the essential thing is they find ways to co-exist with as minimal conflicts as they can. Javanese racial group, given there percentage, seem to feel superior, and they make sure the other ethnical groups think the same that’s colonialism ina way. They need to find common grounds to respect and learn to appreciate one another for there to be peace.

References

Kartika, T., 2016. Verbal communication culture and local wisdom: The value civilization of Indonesia nation. Lingua Cultura, 10(2), pp.89-93.

Sarsito, T., 2006. Javanese culture as the source of legitimacy for Soeharto’s government. Asia Europe Journal, 4(3), pp.447-461.

Hamdani, D., Cultural System of Cirebonese People.

Kamaluddin, M., 2016. The religiosity of Cirebonese Society Culture in the Oral Tradition Pepujian. UMRAN-International Journal of Islamic and Civilizational Studies, 3(3-1).

Poedjosoedarmo, S., 2017. Language Propriety in Javanese. Journal of Language and Literature, 17(1), pp.1-9.

Suanda, E., 1981. The social context of Cirebonese performing artists. Asian Music, 13(1), pp.27-41.

Beatty, A., 1999. Varieties of Javanese Religion: An anthropological account (Vol. 111). Cambridge University Press.