Over the past thirty years, a large number of migrant workers have come to
Taiwan for employment, among whom Indonesians form the largest group. In
the “Indonesian Street” near Taipei Main Station, one can easily hear creative
works and popular songs from Indonesia, forming a unique soundscape in
Taiwan (Schafer 1977). In the eateries along Indonesian Street, many migrant
workers sing and have fun with karaoke in semi-open restaurants. Does the
singing of these migrant workers—who came to Taiwan as a result of national
policies—contain elements of decolonization or recolonization? For instance,
bands formed in Taiwan may be more easily heard, while karaoke
performances in “Indonesia Street” often receive less attention. And within
Indonesia Street itself, what is the political nature of these sonic spaces? The
author is curious whether the sounds emerging from these migrant gathering
spaces contain elements of decolonization and recolonization, and what kinds
of politics are embedded within their sonic spaces.

Through interacting and interviewing various groups frequenting Indonesian
Street, the author observes the everyday and non-everyday lives of
Indonesian migrant workers, attempting to trace the complex emotions and
social relations hidden within their music. Drawing on Yamauchi Fumitaka’s
(2019) concept of the “nation–region–global” framework, the research
examines how technologies, repertoires, and institutions circulate across
multiple nodes to shape migrant communities. It also engages with concepts
proposed by Joys H. Y. Cheung and Alison McQueen Tokita (2017),
investigating how Indonesian migrant karaoke songs are adopted,
transformed, and recreated within colonial and postcolonial contexts.
This paper seeks to outline these observations and to explore alternative
possibilities for cultural exchange within Taiwan’s contemporary multicultural
landscape.