The influence of Chinese Diaspora on Indonesia's economy during the New Order

Abstract

The Chinese population is infamous for their economic aptitude. Their Confucianism lifestyle actually motivates them way more than just being in high savings mode or being their pragmatic self which in most cases lead them to public resentment. They believe in the value of family, friendship, and trust. With their demographic worldwide, they are renowned for having the biggest diaspora movement in the world. The biggest of their destination country is Indonesia, even when the social and political ostracism is truly high in the region especially in the New Order. This paper describes how the Chinese diaspora in Indonesia actually contributed to Indonesia’s economic growth through the social resentment and violence they face. The research revolves around the migration systems theory and modernization theory. The migration systems theory help elaborates how the Chinese diaspora in the New Order era actually contributes to the improvement of the business environment, infrastructure, and trade with the driving factors of the five capitals of diaspora: social, financial, intellectual, political, and cultural capital. The research uses some empirical data to act as national level proxy measures that is proposed by the modernization theory such as GDP growth, inflation, investment, and also trade growth. The aim for this research is to acknowledge the contribution of diaspora communities especially the Chinese diaspora not to their own country of origin like what other diaspora theories and studies show, but to their destination country where they settled down.