@article{ART003366098},
author={Victor T. King},
title={Review of The Chinese in Brunei: From Ong Sum Ping to Hua Ho Department Store (ed. Ooi Keat Gin)},
journal={SUVANNABHUMI},
issn={2092-738X},
year={2026},
volume={18},
number={2},
pages={333-350},
doi={10.22801/svn.2026.18.2.333}
TY - JOUR
AU - Victor T. King
TI - Review of The Chinese in Brunei: From Ong Sum Ping to Hua Ho Department Store (ed. Ooi Keat Gin)
JO - SUVANNABHUMI
PY - 2026
VL - 18
IS - 2
PB - Korea Institute for ASEAN Studies
SP - 333
EP - 350
SN - 2092-738X
AB - This volume is important in documenting the somewhat neglected histories of some of the ethnic minorities in Brunei Darussalam. It explores the Chinese minority. It resists the debates using the term “race,” though officially, the categorization of populations in Brunei are phrased in terms of this misnomer. However, these are not racial issues.
It explores the history and contemporary issues faced by the Chinese ethnic minority in Brunei, in the context of a predominantly Malay-Muslim monarchical nation-state, but this is not an issue of race. Key themes include the continuing need of the Chinese to negotiate their identity and whether they belong in Brunei. The Chinese are transnational; they have networks across the world. Some have already left Brunei; others have established residences elsewhere in case their status in Brunei becomes difficult to manage. In the pursuit of Malay-Muslim monarchy, Brunei does run the risk of losing some of its major contributors to the Brunei economy. Other Chinese have chosen to assimilate or accommodate to the Brunei concept of nationhood. And yet publications on the Chinese in Brunei continue to refer to “semi-citizenship,” “liminal spaces of in-betweenness,” “exclusion and inclusion,” “belonging and non-belonging,” and echoing Benedict Anderson, rather than an “imagined” community, they are “unimagined” and “stateless.”
KW - Chinese;Brunei Darussalam;Ong Sum Ping;Hua Ho; economy;race;ethnicity;minorities
DO - 10.22801/svn.2026.18.2.333
ER -
Victor T. King. (2026). Review of The Chinese in Brunei: From Ong Sum Ping to Hua Ho Department Store (ed. Ooi Keat Gin). SUVANNABHUMI, 18(2), 333-350.
Victor T. King. 2026, "Review of The Chinese in Brunei: From Ong Sum Ping to Hua Ho Department Store (ed. Ooi Keat Gin)", SUVANNABHUMI, vol.18, no.2 pp.333-350. Available from: doi:10.22801/svn.2026.18.2.333
Victor T. King "Review of The Chinese in Brunei: From Ong Sum Ping to Hua Ho Department Store (ed. Ooi Keat Gin)" SUVANNABHUMI 18.2 pp.333-350 (2026) : 333.
Victor T. King. Review of The Chinese in Brunei: From Ong Sum Ping to Hua Ho Department Store (ed. Ooi Keat Gin). 2026; 18(2), 333-350. Available from: doi:10.22801/svn.2026.18.2.333
Victor T. King. "Review of The Chinese in Brunei: From Ong Sum Ping to Hua Ho Department Store (ed. Ooi Keat Gin)" SUVANNABHUMI 18, no.2 (2026) : 333-350.doi: 10.22801/svn.2026.18.2.333
Victor T. King. Review of The Chinese in Brunei: From Ong Sum Ping to Hua Ho Department Store (ed. Ooi Keat Gin). SUVANNABHUMI, 18(2), 333-350. doi: 10.22801/svn.2026.18.2.333
Victor T. King. Review of The Chinese in Brunei: From Ong Sum Ping to Hua Ho Department Store (ed. Ooi Keat Gin). SUVANNABHUMI. 2026; 18(2) 333-350. doi: 10.22801/svn.2026.18.2.333
Victor T. King. Review of The Chinese in Brunei: From Ong Sum Ping to Hua Ho Department Store (ed. Ooi Keat Gin). 2026; 18(2), 333-350. Available from: doi:10.22801/svn.2026.18.2.333
Victor T. King. "Review of The Chinese in Brunei: From Ong Sum Ping to Hua Ho Department Store (ed. Ooi Keat Gin)" SUVANNABHUMI 18, no.2 (2026) : 333-350.doi: 10.22801/svn.2026.18.2.333
