Chinese-RI are victims<\/p>\n
In this day and age, it saddens to read a letter such as that
\nwritten by Sumarsono Sastrowardoyo The Jakarta Post, May 30,
\n1998, in which he criticized the Chinese-Indonesian who fled the
\ncountry during the recent riots.<\/p>\n
If only you had experienced your house or shop-office being
\nsurrounded by hundreds of people attempting to get in with fire
\nin their hands (God knows what they were going to do to your
\nfamily).<\/p>\n
If you heard from your relatives or friends that they lost
\neverything in a single day, or that your nephew was badly beaten
\nup and left for dead on the road, or that women were brutally
\ngang raped, or heard the constant screaming or crying of your
\nnext door neighbors at night when a mob came.<\/p>\n
If only you experience all this and then could judge for
\nyourself what course of action to take to safeguard your loved
\nones. Have you seen the Glodok, Angke and Pesing areas lately?
\nThen tell me that you think the Chinese are to blame for having
\nyour so-called \"seized\" mentality?<\/p>\n
It may be true that the riots were purely criminal in nature,
\nthat the masses woke up one day and had the urge to cause damage
\nwith no political instigation, nor hint of racism. Maybe some
\npeople just put out their peci (Moslem cap) or pray mats out to
\ndry on their windowsills because it was sunny day or they wanted
\nto be known as proreformists, pribumi (indigenous) Moslems or
\neven a Pak haji on that particular day. Maybe the \"friendly\" mobs
\nthat day stopped motorcyclists on the road demanding that they
\ntake off their helmets just in order to get to know them much
\nbetter. It's amazing that people on motorcycles or even minibus
\nwent from one place to another with rocks in their hands, calling
\nfor the masses to loot and burn. And yet no one has investigated
\nwho was the mastermind behind all these acts. It's amazing that
\nthese acts were not prevented for two straight days. Will the
\ngovernment seriously investigate all this?<\/p>\n
It maybe also true that Chinese-Indonesians never fought side
\nby side with pribumi against the Dutch. Does this mean we are
\nless nationalistic? Does this mean we don't contribute anything
\nto the nation? If this is so, it's a pity that people like Rudy
\nHartono, Susi Susanti, Tan Cheng Bok, Titiek Puspa are all of
\nChinese descent. It's a pity, too, that most Chinese here cannot
\neven speak Chinese or even write a single Chinese character, but
\nare fluent in Bahasa Indonesia or Javanese only.<\/p>\n
Stereotyping does not serve any beneficial purpose to anyone
\nand is even dangerous in the long run. Not all Chinese are rich
\nand pribumi poor. Not all Chinese are evil nor all pribumi good.
\nHumans are all alike. I regret that through the years the
\ngovernment has not shown any seriousness in narrowing the
\ndisparity gap between the rich and poor, changing the image of
\nthe Chinese minority group (as if all Chinese are Mr. Edy
\nTansil!) and most importantly putting a stop to making the
\nChinese scapegoats or the valve of frustration for the masses.<\/p>\n
Prejudice and discrimination left unchecked can only lead to
\nextreme excesses such as what occurred recently. I hope and pray
\nthat the racial subject of non-pribumi or pribumi will no longer
\nbe an issue to future generations, that those all born, living
\nand dying in this beloved nation are simply called Indonesians.<\/p>\n
WIDODO<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/chinese-ri-are-victims-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }