The seafaring people of Madura, situated off the northeastern coast of Java, are one of the
leading maritime groups in the Indonesian archipelago. They have played a major role in
indigenous shipping, and since the second half of the nineteenth century their importance in
this field has been second only to that of the Bugis and Makassarese. With their strong
maritime orientation and outward economy, the coastal Madurese contrast strongly with the
agricultural orientation of their near neighbours, the Javanese and the Balinese.
The first part of this thesis presents the Madurese in historical context vis-his the
Javanese and the maritime groups of Sulawesi. It then considers the various historical and
cultural-ecological factors which predisposed the coastal Madurese toward seafaring as a
livelihood, and which enabled them to eclipse their former rivals along the north coast of
Java. The main seafaring centres of Madura during the twentieth century are identified, with
these being in three distinct locations: the northwest coast, the southwest coast, and the
eastern islands of Madura. Special attention is paid to the two major commodities carried by
traditional Madurese vessels, salt and cattle, leading up to a more detailed consideration of
the major transport commodity from the 1960s until the present, timber.
The second part of thesis focuses on the role of the Madurese in the Java Sea timber
trade. A key aspect of this account is the struggle between timber importers and the state.
The legal aspects of the movement of timber are explained, along with their economic
significance for importers and vessel operators, and the changing degree of compliance with
the law from the early 1970s to the much stricter enforcement after the mid-1990s. From the
late 1990s until 2003 the focus becomes closer to reveal the inner workings of the timber
trade, with special attention paid to the rise of 'wild' ports on the isolated north coast of
Madura, as well as the difficulties faced by many Madurese vessel operators after the ethnic
conflict in Central Kalimantan in 2001. The profitability and risks of the perahu operators
and timber traders are explained, and career profiles of several prominent individuals are
presented.
The study ranges widely in its setting, including maritime villages around Madura,
perahu ports in Java, and timber ports in Kalimantan. It concludes that the traditional
approach to business of the Madurese is no longer appropriate, and that diversification and
change of approach are now necessary. The maritime entrepreneurs of East Madura have in
this respect been more successful than their counterparts in West Madura, and it is suggested
that this difference is linked to historical differences between the two areas.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/221863 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | K.Stenross@murdoch.edu.au, Kurt Stenross |
| Publisher | Murdoch University |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | http://www.murdoch.edu.au/goto/CopyrightNotice, Copyright Kurt Stenross |
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