Kampung, Islam and State in Urban Java

Abstract

the author notes that his respondents were reluctant to talk about their lives in Singapore, greater exploration of these issues is essential if we are to accept the claims made about the central role that Batam plays in the lives of Singaporean Malay working-class men. Overall, I was disappointed that Lindquist was unable to move beyond the narrow focus of his doctoral work and situate this study in its historical and ethnographic context. As a study of one group of marginalised working-class migrants in Indonesia, the book is insightful and well-written. As a study of migration and tourism in the Indonesian borderlands it lacks sufficient attention to the complex interplay of local and global forces that shape life in the Riau Islands.