Chinese and privileges<\/p>\n
Ms. Donna K. Woodward, in her letter of Aug. 20, responding to
\nmy letter of July 31, did not address the very important question
\nI asked about where she got the data from for her allegation that
\nChinese-Indonesians are privileged in the economic sector.
\nInstead of producing a more compelling argument, she repeated the
\nsame folly again that in commerce, the Chinese ascended to the
\nposition of privilege.<\/p>\n
That assertion is as equally ludicrous and sloppy as the
\nunsubstantiated one that claims that 4 percent of Chinese-
\nIndonesians dominate 70 percent, 80 percent, or 90 percent (pick
\none as preferred) of the country's whole economy.<\/p>\n
I feel like a broken record already. However, in the spirit of
\neducating others, I'm willing to give her the benefit of the
\ndoubt that she probably has not had a chance to read some
\nbalanced analysis from credible economic and political observers,
\nsuch as George Aditjondro, Chritianto Wibisono or Kwik Kian Gie.
\nHence, please allow me to pose an oft-repeated question again.<\/p>\n
From about eight million ethnic Chinese in Indonesia,
\nspecifically a few million Chinese-Indonesian businesspeople, how
\nmany were really given the much-coveted privilege to easily win
\nlucrative projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars? Judging
\nfrom the same names that always appeared, it couldn't be more
\nthan 100 conglomerate owners. However, these people were rarely
\nalone in their gains because they were usually accompanied by
\ntheir \"influential\" indigenous business partners. It's true that
\nthey profited from this practice but there was little else they
\ncould in order to win projects or they would just survive.<\/p>\n
When their businesses had grown big, realistically they
\ncouldn't refuse the power holders' children's and cronies
\n\"offers\" of business cooperation, even though these people did
\nnot contribute a dime to the venture. Anybody in their position
\nwould have done the same thing under such an unfair and cold-
\nhearted system that employed stigmatization and victimization as
\na political tool to gain absolute submission from people. And
\nwhen these businesses violated ethics and laws, only the Chinese
\nshareholders were noticed by the public; the very case in point
\nhas been soundly displayed by Ms. Woodward with her inadequately
\npondered comments.<\/p>\n
The majority of middle-class ethnic Chinese businesspeople
\ndon't have the same privilege. Their financial success was not
\nhanded to them on a plate. It is laughable to even contemplate
\nthat those small to medium-sized shop owners who sweat over
\nmaking a living are privileged businesspeople. It does not do
\nthem justice to do that.<\/p>\n
In the case of Chinese-Indonesian tycoons, it is indisputable
\nthat privilege and collusion have allowed them tremendous growth.
\nHowever, with their business acumen, they would have succeeded
\nwithout these \"benefits\" anyway, albeit at a slower pace.
\nGranted, the most logical premise is that their economic success
\nis what makes them privileged or pandered to by corrupt
\ngovernment officials, not the other way around. The evidence for
\nthis is that there are unsuccessful Chinese businesses just as
\nthere are successful indigenous businesses. Consequently,
\nsuccessful indigenous businesspeople also have privileges. It
\ndoesn't make sense that corrupt officials would want to collude
\nwith poor businesspeople, Chinese or indigenous.<\/p>\n
RAHAYU RATNANINGSIH<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/chinese-and-privileges-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }