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It is widely known that the Bugis people, originally fromSouth Sulawesi, have been migrating to many places,including both the Indonesian and Malaysian sides of theborders today. The translocal and transnational movementsof the Bugis people, especially to North Kalimantan ofIndonesia and Sabah and Johor of Malaysia, have occurredin several waves, particularly during the 17th century,around 1965 and from 1980 to the present. The fall of thekingdom of Somba Opu in South Sulawesi and the riseDutch colonial power have been the triggers for the early movement of the Bugis to both the Indonesian andMalaysian borders. This was followed by the second push ofthe Islamic rebellion in South Sulawesi, around 1965,creating another big wave of Bugis movement. The mostrecent one has been mainly due to economic reasons. Thesedifferent phases of the movements, as well as the dynamicinterplay of various aspects, such as citizenship, ethnic, andsub-ethnic groupings, practicing of cultural traditions andkeeping the language, to mention a few, have contributed tothe process of the construction of the multiple identities ofthe Bugis. Indeed, the Bugis people are no longer identifiedor identify themselves as a single group, but rather havefluid and contesting identities. This paper will discuss threemain issues: the history of the translocal and transnationalmovements of the Bugis to North Kalimantan, Sabah andJohor; the process of adaptation to these new places; andthe construction of Bugis identities. |
