Story

Singkawang (Selako Dayak: Sakawokng), or San-Khew-Jong, is a coastal city and port located in the province of West Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo in Indonesia. It is located at about 145 km north of Pontianak, the provincial capital, and is surrounded by the Pasi, Poteng, and Sakkok mountains. The name Singkawang is derived from the Salako language, which refers to a very wide area of swamps (all swamps). In addition, the ancestors of the Hakka Chinese community in Sakawokng also named this area in Hakka as "San-Khew-Jong" (Mount-Mouth-Sea), which means "A city located at the foot of a mountain near the sea and has a river that flows up to the mouth of the river (estuary)."

The city was created on 21 June 2001 by separation from Bengkayang Regency. It is bordered to the east and south by Bengkayang Regency, to the west by the South China Sea, and to the north by Sambas Regency. It covers an area of 550.19 km2 and had a population of 186,462 at the 2010 Census and 235,064 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2025 was 253,812 (comprising 129,606 males and 124,206 females).

Because over 70% of the population of this city is of Chinese Indonesian descent, most people in this city speak Chinese (Hakka). Singkawang people use Indonesian as the primary language in conversation or trading and also use their own mother tongue. As Singkawang consists of three major ethnic groups, Chinese, Malays and Dayaks, the majority of Singkawang people use either Indonesian or Hakka Chinese for conversation. The Indonesian used in Singkawang commonly for daily conversation is not standard Indonesian, but has some Malay influence on vocabulary as Malay is the closest language to Indonesian and the Singkawang people have for years been accustomed to Malay.

Cap Go Meh Festival in Singkawang, 2020 Cap Go Meh is celebrated on the 15th and last day of Chinese New Year, the main spotlight of the day is Tatung festival, a mixed Chinese and Dayak people rituals; Qingming Festival or locally known as Cheng Beng, celebrated on 4–5 April in a given year; May: Gawai Dayak Naik Dango is celebrated by the Dayak in the opening of the rice harvest to thank the Gods; June 1: Ngabayotn is celebrated by the Dayak people to celebrate the closing form of rice harvest and beginning of the cultivation season; August: Wayang Gantung; August 17: The Celebration of Indonesian Independence day; October: Singkawang 10 km running contest is held on Singkawang's anniversary; October: Dragon Cup soccer championship gathers the clubs from the surrounding districts to celebrate Singkawang's anniversary; October: Pawai Takbir; Festival Bedug on Idul Adha day; Karnaval Muharram celebrates Islamic new year

The name Singkawang came from the Hakka language: "San", meaning mountain and forest, "Khew" meaning the mouth of the river, and "Jong" meaning the sea. The miners and traders who came mostly from China, before they headed towards Monterado, first rested in Singkawang, while gold miners from Monterado often rested in Singkawang to remove their tiredness, while Singkawang also served as the transit point for the transportation of gold dust. At that time, they called it Sakawokng (Salakko Dayak language), which means a very wide swampy swamp area located on the beach. Dayak Salako are part of the soldiers and intelligence of the Sultanate of Sambas which was given territorial territory in Binua Sarauntung Sakawokng.

Basically the Salako Dayak tribe has long inhabited the Sakawokng area before it became a bustling trading area. The Hakka Chinese who came from South China, who were mostly farmers, traders, and gold miners at that time entered the Sakawokng area through small rivers in the Sado (Sedau) area. At first, the Singkawang area was still a vast wilderness filled with swamps. Due to its geographical location, the Hakka Chinese immigrants named this area in Hakka as "San Khew Jong".

These three syllables really describe the geographical location of Singkawang which is surrounded by mountains and adjacent to the sea and has a river that flows from upstream to downstream and empties into the mouth of the river (estuary). Coincidentally or not, the name San Khew Jong given by the Hakka Chinese immigrants has the same sound and meaning as the name Sakawokng, which was first named by the Salako Dayak ancestors. This shows that there has been a well-established interaction since time immemorial between the Chinese Hakka community and the indigenous Dayak Salako Sakawokng, especially in terms of language and culture.

Singkawang was previously the administrative centre of Sambas Regency under the status of Singkawang District. On 12 December 1981, Singkawang became an administrative city within that regency. On 27 April 1999, when Bengkayang Regency was established, Singkawang became part of that regency, while the administrative centre of Sambas Regency was moved back to Sambas from the city on 15 July. The city was formed as an autonomous city on 21 June 2001 by separation from Bengkayang Regency.

Singkawang has a tropical rainforest climate (Af) with heavy to very heavy rainfall year-round.