Chinese Poor Social and Economic Transformation in Bangka (An Overview Between Stigma and Reality)

There are many main academic studies that focus on identity politics raising about the dynamics of the existence of ethnic Chinese in Indonesia. Previous studies dominated the issue of discrimination and social, economic, political and cultural intimidation experienced by this group in the trajectory of Indonesian history. This study tried to fill the gap in the study of the phenomenon of poor Chinese who became the antithesis of the stigma of their elitism both socially and economically. By using a qualitative approach, this research attempts to describe the picture of poverty and why factors for the Bangka case are found in poor ethnic Chinese communities. The study found that historiography of the origins of Chinese migrants in the past still influenced the process of cultural socio-economic transformation that would shape them to become rich or poor. In general, structural poverty factors such as the availability of employment, educational orientation and competitiveness, the sensitivity of government policies and the perspective on modernism have a significant influence on the economic capabilities of the poor Bangka Chinese ethnic.