Chinese descent misconceptions<\/p>\n
Benny Subianto has accurately unveiled the love-hate
\nrelationship between Indonesians of Chinese descent and other
\nIndonesians. This is due to the authorities' attitude and
\npolicies dating back many years regarding people of Chinese
\ndescent.<\/p>\n
Allow me to quote Mr. Subianto's vivid description from his
\narticle No easy answer to racial issues (Nov. 14, 1997). \"In the
\nlast 30 years, the New Order government has opened big
\nopportunities to a small number of Chinese who have direct
\nconnections to the power elite to build their business
\nconglomerates. On the other hand, the Chinese have been excluded
\nfrom public activities, badly discriminated against by the
\nbureaucracy, and also in matters of education, and even worse,
\nthey have been a permanent target of racketeering by bureaucrats.<\/p>\n
\"They are also deprived of their cultural right such as the
\nprohibition of the circulation of books with Chinese characters,
\nthe establishment of Chinese schools and celebration of the
\nChinese New Year.<\/p>\n
\"The New Order seems to have an interest in maintaining the
\npowerful business skills and the networks of the Chinese, but at
\nthe same time to make them politically precarious, in order to
\nenable them to keep those of Chinese descent in control.\"<\/p>\n
In addition to that, we see other phenomena in action. When
\ncrimes, or misdemeanors are committed by individuals who happen
\nto be of Chinese descent, the issues tend to be blown up or
\novershadowed with racial sentiment rather than treated with a
\ndispassionately criminal outlook.<\/p>\n
But we tend to disregard their identity when Indonesians of
\nChinese descent excel in sports, art, academia, the economy or
\nany other areas that contribute to the nation. We close our eyes
\nto the fact that our compatriots of Chinese descent are not such
\nbad citizens after all; instead we prefer to keep in mind the
\nless good things about them. We seem to forget that good guys and
\nbad guys come from any race.<\/p>\n
We have been carrying misconceptions about all those of
\nChinese descent being rich and all their fellow Indonesians being
\npoor for too long. We've urged the rich Chinese to mingle with
\nthe poor Indonesians. The fact is that there are a lot of rich
\nIndonesians and there are also poor Chinese.<\/p>\n
Forcing the rich to mingle with the poor and vice versa, in my
\nopinion, sounds rather absurd. As the old saying goes: \"Birds of
\nthe same feathers flock together.\" The Indonesian tycoons can get
\nalong beautifully with their counterparts of Chinese descent.<\/p>\n
It is also true that low-income Indonesians of Chinese descent
\nand their Indonesian counterparts have integrated naturally and
\nharmoniously in rural villages as well as in cities. I don't
\nthink the rich Indonesians of Chinese descent can get along much
\nwith the poor people in their own community, let alone other
\ncommunities. Neither are the rich Indonesians interested in
\nmixing with poor Indonesians That is human nature, I suppose.<\/p>\n
The racial problem does not have a solution, the situation
\nwill not change unless the authorities, the intellectuals, and
\nthe media, are willing to correct their attitudes toward our
\ncompatriots of Chinese descent.<\/p>\n
They have to encourage people to have a better understanding
\nof and tolerance toward ethnic groups other than their own. Every
\none of us has to start thinking positively about each other. Then
\nwe can build trust between all Indonesians, whatever their
\nancestry.<\/p>\n
JENNY LAURITZ KHOENG<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/chinese-descent-misconceptions-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }