新堯灣：多元族群裡的馬來西亞砂拉越客庄

Abstract

新堯灣（Siniawan）華人聚落開埠於1840年代，是位於砂拉越（Sarawak）首府古晉（Kuching）西南邊約25公里的一個小鎮，周邊社區由比達友人（Bidayuh）、華人與馬來人共同組成的社區，八千居民中，三族比例約為6:3:1。華人皆為客家，其日常語言為河婆客語（Hopoh Hakka）。從華人的觀點，新堯灣歷史有幾件大事，1840年比利達戰役、1857年礦工事件、1886年水月宮建廟、1935年建街、1985年通車，2009年守護家鄉，這些事件分別象徵著族群、社會、商業起落、文化認同等層面的力量，形塑著當代的新堯灣的面貌。然而，剝開這一變遷的表象，從信仰觀點考察，新堯灣和海峽兩岸華人社會並無本質與結構上的不同，是個相當成熟的漢人地方社會。素來中華中心主義的「華僑」與「離散」理論，或者「幫」「會」觀點，向來支配東南亞華人研究，但類似新堯灣這一類具體的地方社會，顯然召喚另一種典範或視野。

Siniawan, built in the 1840s, is a small town of 8,000 residents located 25 km southwest of Kuching City, Sarawak. Communities in Siniawan are composed of Bidayuh, Chinese and Malay and are represented by a ratio of 6: 3: 1, with the Chinese being Hakka with Hepo accents. For the Chinese community, historical events of particular note have been: the Belida campaign in 1840; the gold miners' attack in 1857; the foundation of Water-Moon Temple in 1886; the building of pasar in 1935; the construction of a highway in 1985 and the Hometown Guardian Movement in 2009. Each of these significant events have contributed to shaping the ethnic, social, economic and cultural identity of contemporary Siniawan. However, from the point of view of folklore belief, there are no natural and structural differences between Siniawan and Chinese communities in the Mainland or Taiwan. While overseas or diaspora theories have always dominated Chinese Studies in Southeast Asia, in Siniawan's local community another vision or paradigm has apparently been produced.