YOGYAKARTA - Who would have thought that New Caledonia was actually mostly inhabited by Javanese descendants? How come? Let's see the interesting facts about New Caledonia here!
The reason is that there are around 4,000 Indonesian citizens living and living in New Caledonia, especially the Javanese tribe. This was conveyed by Ema Noviana Triningsih, Consul for Sosbud of the Indonesian Consulate General in Noumea in interviews with the Diplomacy Ranah Program in several media, Tuesday (14/5/2024).
"Based on the 2021 census, Indonesian descendants in Kaledonia Baru reached more than 4000 people, which is 1.4 percent of the total population of New Caledonia," said Consul Ema Noviana.
Reporting from the 20-minute RRI interview, there are several unique facts about Indonesian citizens of Indonesian descent in New Caledonia. Initially, the Javanese or Indonesian descendants who live today are the second generation who have been assimilated with other nations.
"The first Javanese people arrived in New Caledonia in 1896 so that at this time there is no longer a first generation. The next generation is partially married to Javanese again but many are married to other nations," added Consul Ema Noviana.
Consul Ema Noviana further said that the 4,000 Javanese people in New Caledonia currently do not all have Javanese blood. Not only Javanese are descendants called Niaouli, there are also many Indonesians outside Java who arrived in times after Indonesia's independence. In general they were born in Indonesia and most of them are still Indonesian citizens.
Second, most of the people of New Caledonia who are Javanese are still speaking Javanesengoko, although some others are no longer able to speak Javanese.
"People of Indonesian descent generally still speak Javanese ngoko but some do not speak Javanese at all. The difficulty of maintaining Javanese can be understood because all children attend French schools which require students to speak French either at home or at school," added Consul Ema Noviana.
Third, according to Consul Ema, Javanese people in New Caledonia are still practicing the ancient Javanese culture which in Java itself has rarely been practiced. "Such as the tradition of offering to move houses or offerings before Eid al-Fitr, this Eid tradition is still carried out by some elders even though they themselves do not worship Islam, let alone have changed religions. The halal bihalal tradition is still being carried out by both Muslims and those of other religions," explained Consul Ema.
Fourth, people of Indonesian descent in New Caledonia have a Javanese cultural identity mixed with the local culture of New Caledonia.
"The people here also really appreciate Indonesian art as seen by the many requests to appear. Javanese in New Caledonia experience different local cultural influences than Javanese elsewhere, They mix Javanese cultural elements with the local culture of New Caledonia, creating a unique identity that reflects their experience as Javanese diaspora in a new place," added Consul Ema.
Ema said that the Javanese and New Caledonia cultural assimilation also appears, for example in language.
"In terms of linguistics, the Javanese have also combined Javanese with French. For example, in a sentence instead of saying 'the tests are cut' they could say 'the gateau is coup', Consul Ema gave an example.
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Fifth, according to Consul Ema, people of Javanese descent are used to holding celebrations to commemorate the arrival of their ancestors with various appearances of Indonesian arts and specialties.
"There are associations of Indonesian-derived communities, some based on religion, some based on sports activities and socio-cultural activities and all of them are members of the Indonesian Community Association and their Descendants (PMIK)", explained Consul Ema.
Sixth, Indonesian descendants in New Caledonia have close ties to their extended family in Java.
"They still often visit Java, especially since the visit is not uncommon for them to invite families from Java to work in New Caledonia or even find a mate from Java," he concluded.
In addition, read also: Indonesian Diaspora Commemorating 128 Years of Javanese Migration to New Caledonia.
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