Benny struggles for social cohesion<\/p>\n
Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
If one were to make a list of those fighting to end
\ndiscrimination in Indonesia against the ethnic Chinese, Benny G.
\nSetiono would most likely appear at the top of the list.<\/p>\n
One of the founders and chairman of the Chinese-Indonesian
\nAssociation (INTI), Benny is also a co-founder of the National
\nStudies Institute (ELKASA), a think tank on nation-building. His
\nefforts against discrimination focus on constantly promoting a
\nconsciousness that the ethnic Chinese are an inseparable part of
\nthe national fabric.<\/p>\n
He has also published Tionghoa dalam Pusaran Politik (The
\nEthnic Chinese Amid Political Turmoil), which has been widely
\nacclaimed as a substantial work in deconstructing many
\nmisconceptions about the ethnic Chinese and unearths many facts
\npreviously unknown to most Indonesians.<\/p>\n
Benny, however, modestly said that his activities were nothing
\nspecial for anyone who was concerned about their nation.<\/p>\n
\"I'm just doing what I can, and sharing what I know.\"<\/p>\n
Born on Oct. 31, 1943 in Ceracas-Cilimus village of Kuningan
\nregency, West Java, Benny recalls his family as ordinary
\nvillagers living a simple, peaceful life.<\/p>\n
But that peaceful life was violently disrupted in 1947, when
\nhis grandfather, Khouw Tjiauw Seng, was among those brutally
\nmurdered by rogue anti-Chinese gangs taking advantage of the
\nabsence of law and order at the time.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, his mother managed to escape, and took Benny and
\nhis brother and sisters to Cirebon, West Java, where his father
\nand his older brother lived. From there, they decided to move to
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
\"We were virtually refugees back then. Arriving at a Jakarta
\nport by boat, we had to live in the garage of my father's friend
\nfor some time before my father finally found a house to rent in
\nthe neighborhood,\" Benny recalled.<\/p>\n
Having grown up in Kota, a West Jakarta district next to
\nGlodok, which is known as Chinatown, Benny knew exactly how life
\nwas for the ethnic Chinese.<\/p>\n
\"Even today, if you take a stroll down the alleys of Kota and
\nGlodok, you can see for yourself that many ethnic Chinese work
\nhard while living modestly like any other Indonesian.<\/p>\n
\"Of course, there are wealthy Chinese-Indonesians -- as there
\nare wealthy Indonesians of other ethnicities -- some of who may
\nindeed be involved in corrupt practices, but they are a
\nminority,\" Benny said, stressing that the wrongdoings of a few
\nshould not become the stereotype of all Chinese-Indonesians.<\/p>\n
Benny himself had to work very hard through many hardships
\nwhen he was forced to leave his studies in economics at the Res
\nPublica University (Ureca, now Trisakti University), as his
\ncampus was burned down by anti-Chinese student militias during
\nthe 1965 political upheaval.<\/p>\n
Twice experiencing personally the discrimination toward the
\nethnic Chinese, Benny finally felt called upon to do something
\nwhen, in the May 1998 riots, Chinese-Indonesians were again
\nvictimized.<\/p>\n
About a year after the tragedy, on Apr. 10, 1999, Benny and 16
\nother Chinese-Indonesian figures established INTI, with Eddie
\nLembong as chairman and Gilbert Wiryadinata as deputy chairman.<\/p>\n
Benny was a chairman of INTI's central board, as well as
\nchairman of its Jakarta chapter.<\/p>\n
\"INTI's main activity is educating its members on nation-
\nbuilding and social solidarity, to show that Chinese-Indonesians
\nalso have the potential to contribute to this country,\" he said,
\nadding that its final goal was to reach a comprehensive solution
\nin integrating the ethnic Chinese into Indonesia, and not merely
\neliminating discrimination.<\/p>\n
\"Do you think the problems faced by Chinese-Indonesians will
\nvanish just like that after discriminatory laws are eliminated?
\nNot without nation-building. Not without eliminating the paradigm
\nof segregation created by the colonial Dutch, and continued by
\nSoeharto's regime,\" he said.<\/p>\n
As part of its divide et impera, or divide and rule, strategy,
\nthe Dutch discriminated against the ethnic Chinese among all
\nother ethnic groups in Indonesia, fomenting a feeling of
\ndissociation.<\/p>\n
Continuing this trend, among the most discriminatory laws
\nimplemented by the Soeharto regime was the costly Indonesian
\ncitizenship certificate (SBKRI) required by every Chinese-
\nIndonesian for all administrative processes, but not by any other
\nethnic group. The law was only abolished in July 1996.<\/p>\n
Aside from monthly discussions, INTI also holds bimonthly
\ncommunity programs, such as free medication for the poor, as well
\nas organizing football and badminton youth clubs.<\/p>\n
\"Discussions on socio-political issues attract the biggest
\naudience,\" Benny said.<\/p>\n
The latest discussion was on the 2004 elections, while the
\nnext is to discuss corruption and the recently formed Corruption
\nEradication Commission (KPK).<\/p>\n
In August 2002, Benny continued with his nation-building
\nefforts by co-founding ELKASA with Gilbert Wiryadinata and the
\nrecipient of the 2001 Yap Thiem Hien human rights award, Esther
\nI. Yusuf, and others.<\/p>\n
It was through this think tank that Benny published and
\nreleased his first book on July 25, 2003.<\/p>\n
\"It took me about three years just to gather the material for
\nthe book,\" he said.<\/p>\n
His work was not in vain, as the 1,156-page book -- \"aside
\nfrom minor printing errors\" -- received good reviews from several
\nnoted scholars, including historian Asvi Warman Adam and
\npolitical expert Daniel S. Lev, who wrote the Preface.<\/p>\n
The book documents Indonesian history, from its prehistoric
\neras to the present, supplementing it with hitherto unknown --
\nand perhaps deliberately concealed -- facts on Chinese-
\nIndonesians.<\/p>\n
\"There are several Muslim customs particular to Indonesia,
\nsuch as the bedug, which draw upon Chinese culture, while several
\nof the Wali Songo were of Chinese origin,\" Benny said.<\/p>\n
Bedug is a kind of large drum at mosques that are sounded to
\nsignal prayer times, while the Wali Songo are the nine legendary
\npreachers who spread Islam in Java.<\/p>\n
Another interesting fact is that the Chinese-owned Sin Po
\ndaily was the first and only newspaper that dared print the
\nlyrics of the national anthem, Indonesia Raya.<\/p>\n
Indonesia Raya was composed by WR Supratman for the 1928 Youth
\nPledge, and became the national anthem after Indonesian
\nindependence in 1945. Benny's book mentions Supratman working as
\na reporter for the Sin Po daily.<\/p>\n
He also explains the roots of some of the discriminatory
\nmisconceptions regarding the ethnic Chinese, particularly those
\nwhich were deliberately created to relegate Chinese-Indonesians
\nto the role of political scapegoats, and the black periods of
\nanti-Chinese movements, including the 1740 massacre in Batavia
\n(former name for Jakarta under the Dutch), the 1963 riot in
\nBandung, West Java, and the massacres of 1947, 1965 and 1998.<\/p>\n
As to how he came to write such a book, Benny, who is neither
\na historian nor a scholar, simply said that he was probably
\ninfluenced by his father, Endang Sunarko, who wrote several books
\nand was a regular contributor to several dailies and magazines.<\/p>\n
\"I learned a lot from listening to my father's lengthy talks
\nwith fellow writers and journalists. Besides, I do like to read,\"
\nBenny said, naming books on history, philosophy, geography and
\nliterature as among his favorites.<\/p>\n
As for his future plans after INTI, ELKASA and his book, the
\nfather of five said he would like to retire as INTI chairman, \"to
\nlet the younger generation carry on the journey of a thousand
\nmiles, the first steps of which my colleagues and I have taken\",
\nreferring to a classical Chinese saying.<\/p>\n
Benny also plans to write another book, although he has not
\ndecided what it will be about.<\/p>\n
Considering that his first book is so well-written, it would
\nnot be unreasonable to expect another masterpiece from Benny.<\/p>",
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