Chinatown in Semarang: Cultural Environment and Peaces Narrative

People’s opinions on the Chinese are still limited to the groups of people who are oriented to economic affairs only, i.e. economic animals. Such a view often creates negative prejudice towards them. In fact, the Chinese people have quite diverse cultural wealth. Historically, cultural diversity can actually be a tool for inter-ethnic communication that can build a social integration. Based on the description above, the study aims to examine the cultural heritage of Chinese people and to find out how the social construction of society effects the cultural history of Chinese people. The results of the study are 1) The Chinese people in Semarang’s Chinatown are quite conservative in preserving and caring for their cultural environment, the conservative attitude is influenced by their belief in FengShui; and 2) The social construction of Chinese people towards their culture is quite positive, it shows the aspects of humanism and Indonesianity. They consider that their traditions are a part of Indonesia's cultural wealth, not merely a symbol of Chinese ethnicity or an ethnic exclusivity. The implication of the study is that, the prejudices and stereotypes about ethnic Chinese are built politically through some policies and they are structurally controlled, so the people must not instill hatred of other ethnicities. It is necessary to be humanist to create a peaceful and non-threatening atmosphere.