Singkawang


Singkawang, or San-Khew-Jong, is a coastal city and port located in the province of West Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo in Indonesia. It is located at about 145 km north of Pontianak, the provincial capital, and is surrounded by the Pasi, Poteng, and Sakkok mountains. The name Singkawang is derived from the Salako language, which refers to a very wide area of swamps. In addition, the ancestors of the Hakka Chinese community in Sakawokng also named this area in Hakka as "San-Khew-Jong", which means "A city located at the foot of a mountain near the sea and has a river that flows up to the mouth of the river."
The city was created on 21 June 2001 by separation from Bengkayang Regency. It is bordered to the east and south by Bengkayang Regency, to the west by the South China Sea, and to the north by Sambas Regency. It covers an area of 550.19 km2 and had a population of 186,462 at the 2010 Census and 235,064 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2024 was 249,998.

History

The name Singkawang came from the Hakka language: "San" , meaning mountain and forest, "Khew" meaning the mouth of the river, and "Jong" meaning the sea. The miners and traders who came mostly from China, before they headed towards Monterado, first rested in Singkawang, while gold miners from Monterado often rested in Singkawang to remove their tiredness, while Singkawang also served as the transit point for the transportation of gold dust. At that time, they called it Sakawokng , which means a very wide swampy swamp area located on the beach. Dayak Salako are part of the soldiers and intelligence of the Sultanate of Sambas which was given territorial territory in Binua Sarauntung Sakawokng.
Basically the Salako Dayak tribe has long inhabited the Sakawokng area before it became a bustling trading area. The Hakka Chinese who came from South China, who were mostly farmers, traders, and gold miners at that time entered the Sakawokng area through small rivers in the Sado area. At first, the Singkawang area was still a vast wilderness filled with swamps. Due to its geographical location, the Hakka Chinese immigrants named this area in Hakka as "San Khew Jong" .
These three syllables really describe the geographical location of Singkawang which is surrounded by mountains and adjacent to the sea and has a river that flows from upstream to downstream and empties into the mouth of the river. Coincidentally or not, the name San Khew Jong given by the Hakka Chinese immigrants has the same sound and meaning as the name Sakawokng, which was first named by the Salako Dayak ancestors. This shows that there has been a well-established interaction since time immemorial between the Chinese Hakka community and the indigenous Dayak Salako Sakawokng, especially in terms of language and culture.
Singkawang was previously the administrative centre of Sambas Regency under the status of Singkawang District. On 12 December 1981, Singkawang became an administrative city within that regency. On 27 April 1999, when Bengkayang Regency was established, Singkawang became part of that regency, while the administrative centre of Sambas Regency was moved back to Sambas from the city on 15 July. The city was formed as an autonomous city on 21 June 2001 by separation from Bengkayang Regency.

Administrative districts

Prior to decentralization before it was established as an independent city in 2001, the city had three administrative districts, Roban, Pasiran and Tujuhbelas. These three districts were previously part of an undivided Singkawang District until 1981. In 2003, the districts were reorganized by splitting the Tujuhbelas District into three new districts, while the residual districts of Roban and Pasiran were renamed as Central Singkawang and West Singkawang, respectively.
The city is divided into five administrative districts, listed below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census and the 2020 Census, together with the official estimates as at mid 2024. The table also includes the number of urban villages in each district, and its post codes.
Kode
Wilayah		Name of
District
Area
in
km2		Pop'n
Census
2010		Pop'n
Census
2020		Pop'n
Estimate
mid 2024		No.
of
villages		Post
code
61.72.05Singkawang Selatan
207.8941,43254,91059,485479163
61.72.03Singkawang Timur
221.8219,26323,36624,460579251
61.72.04Singkawang Utara
80.3821,97730,99434,394779151
61.72.02Singkawang Barat
13.6846,89055,47757,517579121 - 79124
61.72.01Singkawang Tengah
26.4156,90070,31774,142679111 - 79116
Totals550.19186,462235,064249,99826

Note: including the offshore island of Pulau Simping.

Climate

Singkawang has a tropical rainforest climate with heavy to very heavy rainfall year-round.

Demographics

Most of the population are of Chinese descent. The largest group of Chinese descent is Hakka people. The other major group of Chinese descent is Chaozhou People which is better known as Teochew. The rest are Malay, Dayak, Javanese, and other ethnicities. The total population was 235,064 at the 2020 Census, and reached 250,000 in mid 2024.
The distribution of the religion practically follows the distribution of the ethnic groups; the largest groups are Islam followed by Buddhism, Catholic, Protestant and Confucianism.

Food

Chinese food especially Hakka style dominates the food stalls or small restaurants, but Teochew style is also available. Minang style food can also be found here. Unique food like Rujak Ju Hie is one of delicacies in Singkawang. Tofu Singkawang is famous in West Kalimantan, also Kembang Tahu is very popular in this city. Singkawang is also famous for its cakes. The variety of cakes is surprising and available from early morning till midnight. Choi Pan is one of the many special traditional Chinese delicacies. Believed to be of Hakka origin, it consists mainly of fragrantly stir-fried yam bean wrapped in a slightly chewy translucent skin and is steamed to perfection. There are also have several Malay food such as Bubur Paddas, Pedak and Nasi Lemak. Kopi tiam with strong bitter robusta coffee can be found every where.

Chinatown

Besides being well known as the City of Thousands Temples, as there are many small and large temples in any part of the Singkawang region, Singkawang is also known as one of the Indonesian Chinatowns since the majority of the population is of Chinese descent, consisting of mostly Hakka and some other sub-group of Han Chinese. They reside in all areas in the city. They still practice their culture in any ceremony or official events, from weddings to funeral ceremonies. The culture is seen as the closest to the original tradition of Chinese people, making Singkawang known as the Indonesian Chinatown.

Languages

Because over 70% of the population of this city is of Chinese Indonesian descent, most people in this city speak Chinese. Singkawang people use Indonesian as the primary language in conversation or trading and also use their own mother tongue. As Singkawang consists of three major ethnic groups, Chinese, Malays and Dayaks, the majority of Singkawang people use either Indonesian or Hakka Chinese for conversation. The Indonesian used in Singkawang commonly for daily conversation is not standard Indonesian, but has some Malay influence on vocabulary as Malay is the closest language to Indonesian and the Singkawang people have for years been accustomed to Malay.

Transportation

Recently, Singkawang has had their own airport, around 20 to 25 minutes from the centre. Singkawang is connected by road and can be reached by bus or taxi from Pontianak covering a distance of 150 km. It is also connected by road to Kuching in Malaysia via the Aruk/Biawak border and Sambas. A toll road to Pontianak is under consideration.
A new international airport, which will serve Singkawang and become an alternative for Pontianak airport, is under construction. It will be built in two phases, out of which the first phase is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

Festivals

  • Cap Go Meh is celebrated on the 15th and last day of Chinese New Year, the main spotlight of the day is Tatung festival, a mixed Chinese and Dayak people rituals;
  • Qingming Festival or locally known as Cheng Beng, celebrated on 4–5 April in a given year;
  • May: Gawai Dayak Naik Dango is celebrated by the Dayak in the opening of the rice harvest to thank the Gods;
  • June 1: Ngabayotn is celebrated by the Dayak people to celebrate the closing form of rice harvest and beginning of the cultivation season;
  • August: Wayang Gantung;
  • August 17: The Celebration of Indonesian Independence day;
  • October: Singkawang 10 km running contest is held on Singkawang's anniversary;
  • October: Dragon Cup soccer championship gathers the clubs from the surrounding districts to celebrate Singkawang's anniversary;
  • October: Pawai Takbir;
  • Festival Bedug on Idul Adha day;
  • Karnaval Muharram celebrates Islamic new year

    Around Singkawang

Places of interest around the city are:
  • Simping Island, the smallest island in the world with an area of less than 0.5 hectares.
  • Seran Tangan Lake, surrounded by shady trees give a fantastic impression and are very refreshing to the eye.
  • Bukit Bougenville, a botanical garden about 6 km south of Singkawang;
  • Chidayu Indah, is a similar garden to that of Bougenville, and lies right next to it;
  • Sungai Hangmoy, a river used for bathing mainly by the Hakka population;
  • Kawasan Wisata, a white sanded beach 8 km south of Singkawang;
  • Teratai Indah, an artificial lake used for recreation by the locals; lies only 2 km south of Singkawang;
  • Thai Pak Kung Temple
  • Vihara Chikung, the largest Taoist temple in the area, funded by Singaporeans, located 3 km south of the city;
  • Gunung Roban, a mount with a tiled path up the mountain used by the locals for easy hiking; located 4 km to the east.
  • Batu Belimbing, or Starfruit Rock, a rock that resembles a starfruit. lies 8 km east of the city;
  • Gunung Poteng is one of the main water resources for the city, and lies 7 km east. The mountain is a Natural Reserve where unique flora such as the Rafflesia Tuan Mudae grows;
  • Sinka Island Park location at south of Singkawang in Teluk Karang has access to small Simping Island, recreational park, swimming pool and mini zoo around a hill.

    Mail order bride scandal

There have been allegations of human trafficking in Singkawang, based upon the town's mail order bride illegal business. Most of the men who travel to Singkawang looking for young women to marry are from Taiwan, Mainland China, or Singapore. These men arrive and get in touch with brokers, these brokers then approach families with suitably aged daughters and generally offers these parents about 6 million rupiahs for each girl.
It is most normal for a majority of these foreign clients to pay an amount exceedingly more than what is requested by the brokers and most payments are at an average of 30 million rupiahs. Contracts are often drawn between the brokers and the clients. It is a fact that each contract includes a time period clause and most of these marriages are contractually bound for 2 to 4 years, some for even shorter periods of time. It is also common for these relationships to not be legally bound marriages.
Indonesian police actively arrest the offender of mail order bride.

Sister cities