The Presence of Social Space

Abstract

Kampung Keling, once a residential area in Medan, has advanced significantly into an elite commercial area over the last century. Initially, this region was a residential district of Tamil community, but since the 1960s was turned into the commercial area which then was dominated by the Chinese community. Accordingly, the use-value of daily life in Kampung Keling of Tamil community has changed into the exchange-value of the abstract space of the Chinese community that oriented to material advantage. The result of the research shows that the cultural heterogeneity of Tamil and Chinese communities in Kampung Keling have the potential to build a harmonious social relationship. The social relationship which occurs between the two communities then creates a new social space. The Tamils run their non-permanent firework stalls along the pedestrian pathways in front of Chinese’s shop houses.