Ethnic Chinese<\/p>\n
The feature article titled Poor Chinese, natives live in
\nharmony in Jembatan Lima (The Jakarta Post, Jan. 3, 1999) is both
\ninteresting and touching. In small towns and rural areas across
\nthe country, the relationship between Chinese-Indonesians and
\nindigenous Indonesians is, in fact, quite harmonious.<\/p>\n
Mixed marriages like that between Nenny and Wie no longer pose
\nany problems. The majority of Chinese-Indonesians are
\nprofessionals, small-scale merchants and employees of private
\ncompanies. They all work hard and honestly to earn a living and
\ncollect their assets bit by bit. But these people can go nowhere
\nfor shelter every time there is a riot, in which they are always
\ntargeted (no matter what caused the riot), their houses burned,
\ntheir shops looted and they themselves tortured.<\/p>\n
Many of these Chinese-Indonesians no longer deem it relevant
\nto tell their children they are really of "Chinese descent".
\nHowever, after all sorts of racist riots, these children have
\n"new awareness". They have to face the fact they belong to a
\ndifferent social group, a group in the community invariably set
\nas a target for looting, violence, harassment and hatred, not
\nowing to their personal mistakes. It is obviously beyond one's
\nwish to be born Arabic, Chinese, Indian, Javanese, etc. Such is
\nGod's gift. What distinguishes all of us before Him is our deeds.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, it is the government that has sharpened the
\ndifferences in life views between nonindigenous and the
\nindigenous Indonesians. Such an attitude has been adopted by the
\ngovernment because it is the easiest way to divert attention from
\nvarious problems created by the government itself.<\/p>\n
An example of the government's inconsistency is Presidential
\nDecree No. 56\/1996 on "Evidence of Citizenship of the Republic of
\nIndonesia", in which one of the stipulations is that children
\nwhose parents are Indonesian citizens need no longer possess a
\ncertificate of evidence of citizenship (SBKRI) and that a birth
\ncertificate will suffice to prove someone's Indonesian
\ncitizenship. Unfortunately, the immigration office still sets the
\nSBKRI as one of the requirements for a passport application.<\/p>\n
On this occasion, allow me to call on the justice minister,
\nthe minister of education and culture (in connection with
\nrequirements to enter a university) and other relevant ministers
\nto firmly instruct their ranks to consistently execute
\nPresidential Decree No. 56\/1996 to prevent differences between
\nnonindigenous and indigenous citizens from becoming wider.<\/p>\n
ANDREAS RAHMANTO<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ethnic-chinese-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }