Tracing Chinese Migration to Sampadi, Sarawak: A Historical Ethnography of Cultural Integration and Settlement
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33736/jbk.10276.2026Keywords:
Chinese migration, Sampadi, Sarawak, Hakka, Teochew, Leichou, cultural integration, Southeast Asia, colonial historyAbstract
This paper examines the historical migration and settlement of Chinese communities in Sampadi, Sarawak, focusing on how distinct dialect groups—Hakka, Teochew, and Lei Chou—integrated with local Dayak populations. Drawing upon oral histories, archival sources such as the Sarawak Gazette, genealogical records, and ethnographic observations, the study reconstructs the processes through which migrants adapted economically and culturally within a colonial frontier zone. Methodologically, it combines field interviews (n=20) with documentary analysis and site-based ethnography. Findings reveal that Sampadi served as both an economic settlement and a cultural crossroads, where intermarriage, linguistic blending, and hybrid rituals created a localized model of cultural integration. By situating these dynamics within broader frameworks of diaspora, transnationalism, and hybridity, the study contributes to understanding how peripheral settlements like Sampadi illuminate the micro-histories of Chinese migration in Southeast Asia and the negotiation of identity in plural societies.
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