Definition

Before we move further, I feel that we should properly define what Chibayanese is and who constitutes the Chibayan culture.

Etymology

If you haven’t guessed it, Chibayanese is short of Surabayan-Chinese, a subculture of Chinese people who dwell in East Java, mostly in Surabaya. We are best characterized by our casual use of the “Chinese” language, or so we thought. Other characterizations may apply such as

• Narrow-mindedness and judgmental attitude
• Inability to hide one’s Schadenfreude
• Disproportionate amount of fascism and self-worship as a group
• Unhealthy desire to please everyone and their mothers (literally… since other people’s mothers are usually the source of judgments for failing to do so)
• Preference to everything Asian and nothing Western (seriously, what’s with the tight-shirt craze?)

Q: I am Chinese but I don’t live in Surabaya. However, I still relate to all characteristics above. Am I a Chibayanese?
A: You don’t have to live in Surabaya to be a Chibayanese, just as you don’t have to live in China to be a Chinese. If any one of your ancestors lived in Surabaya, most likely you would have been raised as a Chibayanese. Our culture does tend to be stronger than the rest of the nation and thus always win in a cross-cultural marriage.

Q: Those descriptions do define my family well, but I don’t think I’m a Chibayanese.
A: First of all, that’s not a question. Secondly, these characteristics apply to most Chinese Indonesians in general, but displayed in greater proportions among Chibayanese. So while it might be true that you’re not a Chibayanese simply because these apply to you, you would still benefit from reading this blog further.

Q: I’m a Chibayanese, but my family and my jingjik are all open-minded and understanding, even when some of my life choices are controversial. How come?
A: Lucky you…. Can we switch lives?

Q: What kind of “Chinese” are they really using?
A: Ah, that brings us to the next section

Language

While a majority of us think that we speak Chinese and we use it extensively to distinguish ourselves from the rest of Surabayans, we actually don’t. If you’re wondering what kind of Chinese we speak, use the following formula to translate any Indonesian sentence into Chibayan.

1. Think of the sentence in Indonesian. Actually, Javanese works better.
2. Translate the sentence word-by-word (yes, word-by-word) into Chinese, but only for the ones you know. It’s perfectly acceptable and even encouraged to translate only half of the sentence. Translating an entire phrase, or even an entire sentence, correctly not only will result in you being perceived as showing off, but may actually the listener to not understand you. Word-by-word, that’s the golden rule.
3. Write those translations in Wade-Giles pinyin. Hanyu pinyin does not work so well.
4. Strip off all the tones.
5. Read it with full Javanese rigor (or some Jakartans might say “medok”). The more glottal attacks and endings you use, the better. Your chest should vibrate vigorously during this process, otherwise you’re not doing it right.

Examples

This is how Chibayan language counts one to ten:
Ik (with glottal ending), Ol (with glottal attack), San, Si, U, Liok, Jik, Pak, Cyu, Sek.

Actual sentence overheard in a souvenir shop in Bali:
Bali ren iki lek ngomong kok ndak koyok women women gini ya.
（Bali 人 iki lek ngomong kok ndak koyok 我们我们 gini ya）

Other examples:

• A: Lho bengyu ne iku semok ren? （Lho 朋友 ne iku 什么人?）
  B: Oh korea ren. （Oh korea 人）
  
• Mosok omahe kate ditinggal gitu tok. Lek yu semok semok cemokyang?
  （Lek 有什么什么怎么样?）
  
• Yo areke pancene seneng sing nak yang nak yang nako….
  （Yo areke pancene seneng sing 那样那样那个….）
  
• Papamu co apa nyo?
  （爸爸mu 做 apa nyo?）
  

First Post

Based on popular requests (that means two) I finally started this blog as an outlet to talk about, discuss, laugh, cry, and feel superior to the prevalent Chibayanese culture around the world, wherever we are. There is basically no real purpose of this blog other than to document some thoughts that us, sons and daughters of Chibayanese, have collected via numerous (sometimes real-live) chats and discussions. It's a free for all forum of complaint if you will, so if you wish to contribute to this blog please just email me with your Google account information and I can add you as an authorized author. That being said, there are some ground rules on how the blog should operate

Content
Warning: if you have a soft and tender heart, you are advised not to read this blog, as a large majority of content will be sharp and biting in nature. We are who we are, Chibayanese. We are brought up feeling superior to others (often times unwarranted) and being critical (sometimes it means looking for fault in others). I'm guessing that, in due time, some of the recurring themes in this blog would be: Schadenfreude, nyinyir, nyolotism, bichism, etc. You have been warned.

While a large majority of our subject will be ai ai, we are by no means limited to talking about them. After all, narrow-mindedness and judgmentalism is a prevalent trait among all Indonesians, Chibayanese or not. However, we will try our best to be fair and objective when evaluating things on this site. We ought to be and will be the harshest critics of ourselves. When we are, our criticism of others will be that much more convincing and accurate. After all, a wise person once said this in his Facebook status:

What's worse than being narrow-minded? Being so narrow-minded that you think everyone else is narrow-minded.


Language
The framework of posts here will be in English, as it is rather impossible to have an intelligent discussion otherwise. But many MANY dialogs, phrases, and words will be in Chibayans, as no other language in the world conveys the same punch when it comes to ngilokno others. If you happen to understand Chibayan, then you're one of us. If you don't understand it, that's okay. As a group, we really are not the most understanding people in the world, so we should not expect people to understand us either (language or otherwise).

On the romanization of the Javanese used here, you would find that sometimes we have conflicting romanizations for the same word. That is because:
1. There are multiple popular and yet agreed upon romanizations that are simultaneously used in Central and East Java. The Javanese language is richer than Indonesian in that there are so many subtle vowel and consonant differences, and these subtleties are often butchered by non-Javanese speakers.
2. A lot of us have never learned proper Javanese as it is taught in school. We learned it from our bukren, parents, and friends. So sometimes we're just transliterating certain words as how it would sound in Indonesian, without using proper Javanese notation.
3. When talking in Chibayan, there really is no rule. Yao swok semok semok ya ge i asal sing diajak swok itu tong. Transcription: 要说什么什么 ya 可以 asal sing diajak 说 itu 懂. I'm not going to translate that. Gosh I should really add to the warning section above that proper Chinese speakers might cringe a lot when reading this blog.