Social Inequality among the Female Merchants of Ethnic Malay and Chinese

Abstract

People in Jambi city assume that Pasar Hong Kong, a traditional market located in Jelutung sub-district, is “a Chinese market”, even some areas in the city of Jambi such as Jelutung, Koni, and Talang Banjar are dominated by the ethnic of Chinese. This research aims to explore how social inequality that occurs due to the advantages and disadvantages of an ethnic group so that it can affect individual attitudes that damage social capital. This research uses a case study approach with in-depth interviews and literature study as data collection techniques. The subjects of this study were ethnic Malay and Chinese female merchants in Pasar Hong Kong, Jambi city, Indonesia. This research found that social inequalities that occur among the female merchants of ethnic Malay and Chinese in Pasar Hongkong occur naturally, where both merchants and buyers have a high tolerance when interacting. Although sometimes there are differences in attitude when the merchants serve different ethnic buyers. The involvement of traditional leaders in managing social inequalities is very important due to the lack of assimilation among ethnic Malay and Chinese.Orang-orang di kota Jambi beranggapan bahwa Pasar Hong Kong, pasar tradisional yang terletak di Kecamatan Jelutung, adalah "pasar Cina", bahkan beberapa daerah di kota Jambi seperti Jelutung, Koni, dan Talang Banjar didominasi oleh etnis Tionghoa. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengeksplorasi bagaimana ketimpangan sosial yang terjadi akibat kelebihan dan kekurangan suatu kelompok etnis sehingga dapat mempengaruhi sikap individu yang merusak modal sosial. Penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan studi kasus dengan wawancara mendalam dan studi literatur sebagai teknik pengumpulan data. Subjek penelitian ini adalah pedagang perempuan etnis Melayu dan Tionghoa di Pasar Hong Kong, kota Jambi, Indonesia. Penelitian ini menemukan bahwa kesenjangan sosial yang terjadi di antara pedagang perempuan etnis Melayu dan Tionghoa di Pasar Hongkong terjadi secara alami, di mana baik pedagang maupun pembeli memiliki toleransi yang tinggi ketika berinteraksi. Meskipun terkadang ada perbedaan sikap ketika pedagang melayani pembeli etnis yang berbeda. Keterlibatan tokoh adat dalam mengelola kesenjangan sosial sangat penting karena kurangnya asimilasi antara etnis Melayu dan Tionghoa.