Singkawang

Singkawang
Motto: Bersatu Untuk Maju, Singkawang Berkualitas
Singkawang Location of Singkawang in Indonesia
Coordinates: 0°54′N 108°59′E
Country	Indonesia
Province	West Kalimantan
City/Town	Singkawang
Established	21 June 2001
Government
• Mayor	Hasan Karman, S.H., M.M.
Area
• Total	504 km2 (194.6 sq mi)
Population (2010 Census)
• Total	186,306
• Density	369.7/km2 (957.4/sq mi)
Time zone	WIB (UTC+7)
Website	http://www.singkawang.go.id/

One of the main roads in Singkawang, Jalan P. Diponegoro

Singkawang is located at the province of West Kalimantan or Kalimantan Barat, Indonesia. It is located at about 145 km north of Pontianak, the provincial capital, and is surrounded by the Pasi, Poteng, and Sakok mountain. Singkawang is derived from Hakka, San khew jong which refers to a town in hills nearby a sea and estuary.

Population

According to the data from the 2010 Census, the population of Singkawang was 186,306, most of which are Chinese descents. The largest group of Chinese descent is Hakka people (locally called as Khek based on Hokkien dialect) – about 62% of the population. The other major group of Chinese descent is Chaozhou People which is better known as Teochew. The rest are Melayu, Dayak, Javanese, and other ethnicities.

The distribution of the religion practically follows the distribution of the ethnic groups; the largest groups are Buddhism, Confucianism, Islam, Protestantism and Catholicism.

History

Group portrait of the Sisters of Charity at the Roman Catholic mission in Singkawang.

From the middle of the 18th century the Chinese governed trading in the city. During the Dutch East Indies era Singkawang was a Roman Catholic main station and permanent residence of Roman Catholic clergy. The mission there was called the 'Apostolic Vicariate of Dutch Borneo' and founded among others schools, a hospital and a leprosy colony.

City of Thousand Temples

Singkawang is also well-known as the City of A Thousand Temples since there are so many temples can be found in the city and its surrounding. Nearly every god and goddess in Chinese Mythology are worshiped here. People also worship popular historical figures like General Guan Gong, Admiral Zheng He, or even Emperor Sung Tai-zu, which was found to be worshiped in the temple outside the north side of the city.

Food

Chinese food especially Hakka style dominates the food stalls or small restaurants, but Teo Chew style is also available. Minang style food can also be found here. Unique food like "Rujak Ju Hie" (rojak with dried squid) is one of delicacies in Singkawang. Tofu (bean curd) Singkawang is famous in West Kalimantan, also "Kembang Tahu" (silky smooth tofu with sugar gravy) is very popular in this city. Singkawang is also famous for its cakes. The variety of cakes is surprising and available from early morning till midnight. Kopi Tiam (local coffee shop) with strong bitter robusta coffee can be found every where. Peaceful and safe feeling for everyone makes Singkawang to be one of the cities with lively night. One may enjoy various food in Pasar Hongkong from porridge, kwetiau, fried rice, nasi lemak, rujak (fruit & vegetables salad), cakes coffee stall. And the prices of the food are surprisingly cheap. Local people enjoy the night with their friends discussing the local hottest issues, singing, or playing cards.

Chinatown

One of the Chinese temples in Singkawang. ca. 1941.

Beside it is well-known as the City of Thousands Temples, as there are many small and large temple from any corner of Singkawang region, Singkawang is also known as one of the Indonesian Chinatowns since the majority population is Chinese descendant, consisting of mostly Hakka, teo-chew, hokkian, hainan and some other sub-ethnic of Chinese. They still practice their culture in any ceremony or official events, from weddings to funeral ceremonies. The culture is seen as the closest to the original tradition of Chinese people (mostly refers to Fujian), making Singkawang known as the Indonesian Chinatown.

Languages

Singkawang people use Indonesian as the primary language not only in conversation or trading, but they also use their own mother tongue. As Singkawang consists of three major ethnic groups, Chinese, Malays and Dayak, Hakka Chinese is the most among all, then almost all of the Singkawang people use Hakka for conversation beside Indonesian, even some parts of the other ethnic people can use it too. The Indonesian used in Singkawang commonly for daily conversation is not standard Indonesian, but has some Malay influence on vocabulary as Malay is the closest language to Indonesian, as Singkawang people have for years been accustomed to Malay.

Festivals

• Cap Go Meh is celebrated 15th days after Chinese New Year;
• May: Gawai Dayak Naik Dango is celebrated by the Dayak in the opening of the rice harvest to thank the Gods;
• June 1: Ngabayotn is celebrated by the Dayak people to celebrate the closing form of rice harvest and beginning of the cultivation season;
• August: Wayang Gantung;
• August 15: Karnaval Augustus celebrates Indonesian Independence day;
• October: Singkawang 10 km running contest is held on Singkawang's anniversary;
• October: Dragon Cup soccer championship gathers the clubs from the surrounding districts to celebrate Singkawang's anniversary;
• October: Pawai Takbir;
• Festival Bedug on Idul Adha day;
• Karnaval Muharram celebrates Islamic new year

Around Singkawang

Places of interest around the city are:

• Villa Bukit Mas, a resort;
• Bukit Bougenville, a botanical garden about 6 km south of Singkawang;
• Chidayu Indah, is a similar garden to that of Bougenville, and lies right next to it;
• Pasir Panjang beach resort about 17 km south of Singkawang;
• Sungai Hangmoy, a river used for bathing mainly by the Hakka Chinese population;
• Kawasan Wisata, a white sanded beach 8 km south of Singkawang;
• Teratai Indah, an artificial lake used for recreation by the locals; lies only 2 km south of Singkawang;
• Vihara Chikung, the largest Taoist temple in the area, funded by Singaporeans, located 3 km south of the city;
• Gunung Roban, a mount with a tiled path up the mountain used by the locals for easy hiking; located 4 km to the east.
• Batu Belimbing, or Starfruit Rock, a rock that resembles a starfruit. lies 8 km east of the city;
• Gunung Poteng is one of the main water resources for the city, and lies 7 km east. The mountain is a Natural Reserve where unique flora such as the Rafflesia Tuan Mudae grows.

Human trafficking

Singkawang has a large number of incidents of Human trafficking for the selling girls, most of the men who come to Singkawang looking for young women to marry are from Taiwan, China, Malaysia, or Singapore. These men arrive, get in touch with a broker, the broker then approaches a family with a suitably aged girl and generally offers the parents about five million rupiahs (about US$500) for her.

The overseas men of course pay the broker much more than this figure, with one 2006 Singapore source suggesting the fee is around 30 million rupiahs (about US$3,000). Often a time period is stipulated in the contract as well, like two or five years, or sometimes very short periods, and often there is in fact no legal marriage.

Sister cities

• Bintulu, Malaysia
• Miri, Malaysia
• Sibu, Malaysia
• Fuzhou, PRC
• Gutian County, PRC
• Minjiang, PRC
• Ma Zhu, Taiwan

External links

• (Indonesian) Official Singkawang Website
• (Indonesian) UnOfficial Singkawang Website