From kongsi to sakan: tracking the transformation of chinese influence in the worker organization and tin production on Bangka Island

The history of Chinese ethnic migration to Bangka Island is inseparable from the history of economic expansion based on production from tin mining. Initially, the Chinese were brought as coolie to work in tin mines and then had a major influence on tin management in this area to date. This paper traces the transformation of Chinese influence in tin mining so that this paper will be focused on the organization and production process. This paper is obtained from the results of qualitative research that has an explorative pattern. This study found that the transformation of Chinese influence in tin mining occurred in at least two forms, namely transformation in worker organization, and transformation in the production process. In worker organizations, it was found that Chinese involvement in workers was organized by tiko in a kongsi form, in the form of a partnership. When the reforms began and open mining began to flourish, the ethnic Chinese were transformed into tin owners and traders, no longer as coolie. Transformation also occurs in the form of the use of Sa Kan technology in the production process that is used even more varied in the post-reform period of 1998. This study observed that the technology used since the early has contributed to the damage to the environment, although the rate of damage it is manual compared to newer and more masive technologies since the last of two decades