Govt asked to protect indigenous businesspeople<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A government ruling that keeps people of Chinese
\ndescent from business fields traditionally run by their
\nindigenous counterparts will avoid further ethnic tension, former
\nminister of home affairs Rudini suggested yesterday.<\/p>\n
Rudini said such a regulation would ensure that small
\nbusinesses would not succumb to big companies, especially those
\nowned by ethnic Chinese. The government could expand the
\nprotective measures to informal sectors, he added.<\/p>\n
"We have learned that it is shops and houses owned by ethnic
\nChinese that always become the target of vandalism in riots, no
\nmatter what triggered the riots," said Rudini, chairman of the
\nInstitute for Strategic Studies of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
He was speaking at a preview of a national dialog on a
\nharmonious relationship among various ethnic groups in Indonesia,
\nscheduled for next Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The dialog is organized by the Center for Information and
\nDevelopment Studies (CIDES), a think tank affiliated with the
\nAssociation of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI).<\/p>\n
Rudini, also a member of the ICMI board of patrons, said the
\nprotective regulation should clearly define areas in which ethnic
\nChinese were allowed to run their businesses.<\/p>\n
People of Chinese descent make up less than 5 percent of
\nIndonesia's population of 200 million people, but they control
\napproximately 60 percent of the national economy, causing
\nresentment in some layers of society.<\/p>\n
A series of sectarian riots in Java prior to the May 29
\ngeneral election deteriorated into anti-Chinese sentiment. A riot
\nbroke out last month in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, after a
\nmentally ill Chinese man killed a nine-year-old "indigenous"
\ngirl.<\/p>\n
At least eight nightclubs, a Buddhist temple, a Protestant
\nchurch, 25 shops, 10 cars and 58 motorcycles were burned and
\nanother 1,471 shops, 67 cars and 100 motorcycles were damaged in
\nthe Ujungpandang unrest.<\/p>\n
Rudini said ethnic Chinese businesspeople should also
\nencourage a more balanced economy by helping their indigenous
\ncounterparts improve their competitive power and increase their
\nincome.<\/p>\n
"The Chinese descents are Indonesian citizens who have to
\napply economic democracy as stipulated by the state ideology
\nPancasila," he said.<\/p>\n
Military experts Lt. Gen. (ret) Sayidiman Suryohadiprodjo and
\nMaj. Gen. (ret) Maulani Z.A., entrepreneurs Sofyan Wanandi and
\nJusuf Kalla, historian Ong Hok Ham, economic analyst Kwik Kian
\nGie and human rights campaigner Baharuddin Lopa are scheduled to
\nspeak at the one-day seminar. (amd)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-asked-to-protect-indigenous-businesspeople-1447893297",
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