Threads of Gold: The Rise of Indochinese Enterprises In Terengganu

It has been more than 20 years since the Cham
community settled en masse in Kuala Terengganu,
Malaysia. Yet, hardly much is written
about them. This book aims to provide an
ethnographical study and examine the immediate
history, networks and identity of the Cham Diaspora.
The locals had assumed that they are either Malays
from Cambodia or Vietnamese Muslim converts . They
are Muslim-Cham from Cambodia and Vietnam, who
fearing the assaults of the Pol Pot regime and
possible threats to their identity-and-religion,
have from 1975 begun to flee to
various United Nations-run refugee camps in
Thailand, hoping to be resettled in Malaysia. From
their initial occupations as petty traders and odd
job labourers, they have emerged as successful
textile and gold retailers in KT. They have also
built a socio-economic network within their
community on which they could depend for various
form of support. This book would be of interest to
anthropologists and political analysts who are
studying minority group relations and the social-
political dynamics of refugees-local population
interactions.

Autorentext

Ng Sue-Chia, MSc: International Political Economy, Nanyang Technological University & B.Arts (2nd Upper-Hons): Southeast Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. She was an IDSS Research Assistant Study Award Recipient & is currently an Associate Research Fellow (CENS) with the S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

Klappentext

It has been more than 20 years since the Cham community settled en masse in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. Yet, hardly much is written about them. This book aims to provide an ethnographical study and examine the immediate history, networks and identity of the Cham Diaspora. The locals had assumed that they are either 'Malays' from Cambodia or 'Vietnamese Muslim converts'. They are Muslim-Cham from Cambodia and Vietnam, who fearing the assaults of the Pol Pot regime and possible threats to their identity-and-religion, have from 1975 begun to flee to various United Nations-run refugee camps in Thailand, hoping to be resettled in Malaysia. From their initial occupations as petty traders and odd job labourers, they have emerged as successful textile and gold retailers in KT. They have also built a socio-economic network within their community on which they could depend for various form of support. This book would be of interest to anthropologists and political analysts who are studying minority group relations and the social-political dynamics of refugees-local population interactions.