Saturday, September 22, 2007 by g3 blog
We have discussed the roles of minangkabau woman in Negeri Sembilan. Now we shall explore the roles of minangkabau woman who are overseas. Also, we shall touch on the reasons for the changes in their roles.
5.1. Women in Power
In the past, women were considered the weaker and more vulnerable gender and therefore were given the privilege and authority in some ways. The Minangkabau practices a matrilineal kinship system whereby children follow the mother’s clan as it is important for them to pass down the clan’s name. The women possess power only when it only comes to having the final say or the final decision. Though decision making is made largely by the females there, they must still consult the men. Men from the mother’s side also bear more responsibility.
On the other hand, men, referring to those who are born into the family, have no say in the family. They cannot live inside the house nor monopolize the house. Men can stay for a while in the rumah gadang (family house) but are not allowed to do anything to the property such as sell, rent or demolish for any other purposes. Doing so would only cause one to be cursed.
5.2. Inheritance
As mentioned earlier, females possess more power than men and therefore only females in the family will get the inheritance (harta pusaka) which consists of wealth and customary land. In an event whereby there are no daughters in the family, which means inheritance line ends there and is cut off, inheritance will be passed to the nearest matrilineal kin (sister’s daughter). This is similar to Mdm. Maryam case. She has two sons and no daughters. She attributed the cause of not trying any to bear any more children to the government’s ‘Stop at two’ child policy. The policy was introduced in the 1960s to curb birth rate. The government encouraged couples to have only two children. This shows that woman’s role of transmitting clan’s name is gradually fading away due to Singapore’s policies.
Another way in which woman’s central position has changed overseas is due to the different in the method of dividing property. For minangkabau people living in West Sumatra, they still practice Adat Perpatih’s way dividing property. On the contrary, those whom have migrated overseas in search of wealth follow the Muslim Faraid law. According to Faraid law, men get twice as much as women; in the ratio of 2:1. They say that it is impossible to divide property according to Adat Perpatih method. Mdm. Mardiana said that, “Our ceiling is someone’s floor, our floor is someone’s ceiling and our walls are someone’s walls. So what is ours? The door? ” The situation in Singapore’s makes it impossible to do so. While they are unable to practice their own law of inheritance in Singapore, women still have a piece of land back home. Compared to Singaporeans, whose wealth will eventually dry out, minangkabau property will not. It will be passed down from one generation to another. That is what makes Minangkabau culture very special.
5.3. Wedding
Normally, brides initiate to look for their husband and they will bring lots of things to the guy’s family and attract him over to hers. When the man initiates the relationship, the mother has to ask the woman’s uncle for permission instead of her parents to allow the son to marry in to their family. This shows that the uncle holds an important role in deciding whether or not to bring the man into the family. The woman will approach her uncle called the “ninik mamak” to have a discussion with the son’s mother so that decision can be made by them.
If an overseas minangkabau woman gets married, their type of marriage is determined by the man they marry. If they marry a minangkabau man, marriage procedures will be like back home. However, if they marry a non-minang man they will have to follow the man’s procedures. In Singapore, people just register their names at the Registry of Marriages (ROM). Minangs, on the hand, have to undergo meetings which may stretch to days or even months. In each meet, different people will bring different foods there and will be served in a special tray called the “dulang”. And by mentioning all this, you could see there is a lot of interaction between the two families.
5.4. Personality
Overseas minang woman are said to be enterprising, loves to venture, seek business for money and were global in their mindset. Not forgetting their roots and to prove to be successful, they will return to their homeland when they are much older in age.
Overseas minang woman are forced to adapt to the environment they are in. As Mdm. Mardiana said, “Masuk ke kandang kerbau, jadi kerbau.” You have to adapt to the society if you want to thrive well in it. Although they do not practice Adat Perpatih in Singapore, they do not forget it values and principles. When they are back in their homeland, they continue the practice of Adat Perpatih.
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