The Minangkabau people are an indigenous tribe in Indonesia who have a strong business spirit and instinct and can compete with Chinese entrepreneurs. . Although originating from the province of West Sumatra, Minangkabau skuku are spread across all regions in Indonesia and some even reach foreign countries.
Due to their expertise in trading and having a “migrating” spirit, it is not surprising that the two tribes are arguably many financially stable. The success of these two ethnic groups in mastering the “economic field” attracted the attention of various groups.
Why do Minang people like to trade?
The motivation of the Minang people to trade is because they want to fight against the world of others, a philosophy that contains the mandate to live in competition to achieve glory, fame, intelligence and wealth.
For the Chinese, the trajectory through which it penetrated the world exceeds that of the Minang nomads. In any part of the world, we find the Chinese working as traders. In particular, they make and produce trinkets that are characteristic of the countries of the world for the purposes of tourists, spare parts and other materials, which are produced from their countries.
The philosophy of the Chinese nation in trading is definitely different from the Minang people. The Minang people are based on the principle of profit sharing in the landlady and landlady system. Meanwhile, the Chinese people adhere to a tiered pattern.
Whereas for Minang people, the profession as a trader is one of the actualizations of the functional role in earning a living. Becoming a merchant, is an ideal. This function will be different among other professions, because some become; farmers, craftsmen, chiefs, scholars, etc.
The natural philosophy that guides the life of the “Minang people”, namely;
“Nak mulia batabua urai, Nak tuah tagak di nan manang, Nak cadiek sungguah baguru, Nak kayo kuaik mancari.”
This means that everyone will do everything in their power to obtain dignity and a meaningful and important position.
The advantage of Minang people in trading is that they have to sell their products outside Nagari. In the past, the way of doing business started with carrying goods on the shoulder or by carrying a shoulder, so as not to be robbed on the way.
Then the term trading developed into various terms according to their merchandise, such as;
– merchants who specialize in buying and selling glassware are called “manggaleh”,
– sellers of livestock and meat are called jagal – jaga – bajaga.
– For Minang people, those who sell by upholding a basket of goods (katidiang) above their head are called jojo – bajojo (jaja).
What is traded is any individual business activity in the form of handicrafts and industrial goods, such as; production equipment, household utensils including food and cooking.
There are so many advantages of Minang merchandise from ancient times until now, this ethnic group is known to be resilient, so that it can compete with Chinese traders.
Now the term trading activities carried out by Merchants has changed to “Entrepreneurs”, whose activities are entrepreneurship, private entrepreneurship. In addition, there are also professions developed from certain disciplines, such as: Notary, advocate and lawyer, accountant, etc. It seems like being a professional is more suitable for “urang Minang” to fight against the world of people. Then spread thee, O “urang Minang” But always remember the realm of your Minang. Hopefully this article can add to your insight. Come on, get interesting information from Indonesiar.com.
