Improving RI's race relations<\/p>\n
By S. Belen<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): For three decades the New Order government
\ninsisted on retaining policies aimed at forcing Chinese-
\nIndonesians to become assimilated into mainstream society.<\/p>\n
Essentially the policies were designed to make Chinese-
\nIndonesians abandon their original customs and practices and
\nadapt their behavior to suit the prevalent values and norms in
\nIndonesia. For example, Chinese-Indonesians were encouraged to
\nchange their Chinese names into Indonesia names.<\/p>\n
Given this state of affairs, why weren't people of Arabic
\ndescent like Ali Alatas, Quraish Shihab and Saleh Affif asked to
\nchange their Arabic sounding names. Why haven't those of Indian
\ndescent been asked to change their names, or Joop Ave and Mario
\nVegas Carrascalao told to cast off their western names?<\/p>\n
The printing of newspapers, magazines and books in Chinese
\nscript is forbidden and the use of Cantonese and Mandarin is
\ndiscouraged. Schools using Chinese as a language of instruction
\nare also banned. By banning and discouraging the use of Chinese
\nlanguages members of that ethnic group have been uprooted from
\ntheir culture.<\/p>\n
These policies are underpinned by the unsubstantiated notion
\nthat the more deeply a \"foreigner\" leaves behind his or her
\nculture and language, the more loyal they become to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
If this is so, why doesn't the government forbid those of Arab
\ndescent from speaking and writing in the language of their
\nancestors. Similarly, why doesn't the government forbid the use
\nof Hindi and ban Gandhi schools?<\/p>\n
Furthermore, why does the government provide optional local
\nlanguage curricula for elementary school children from other
\nethnic groups?<\/p>\n
The government also encourages Chinese-Indonesians to avoid
\nbecoming segregated in exclusively Chinese areas, but at the same
\ntime has no objection to allowing the development of an Arab
\nquarter, or exclusively Javanese, Timorese or Macassarese
\nkampongs in almost every town and city in the country. Also
\ncontradictory to this stance against segregation is the
\ngovernment's efforts to resettle people from the crowded islands
\nof Java, Bali and Madura into single ethnic group settlements in
\nthe less densely populated areas of Sumatra, Kalimantan and Irian
\nJaya?<\/p>\n
The government does not recognize marriages conducted
\naccording to Confucian tradition, while at the same time will
\naccept Islamic, Christian, Buddhist and Hindu unions.<\/p>\n
Chinese gravestones are not tolerated but Islamic and
\nChristian tombs are. Public celebration of the Chinese New Year
\nis forbidden, but events to mark Idul Fitri, I Muharam, Christmas
\nDay, New Year's Day, Galungan and Kuningan are perfectly
\nacceptable.<\/p>\n
Those of Chinese descent must negotiate a bureaucratic
\nminefield to gain Indonesian nationality, and before they do so
\nare in fact stateless. This is inhuman treatment and Article 8 of
\nthe 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) clearly
\nstipulates that the state has an obligation to protect, and if
\nnecessary, reestablish basic aspects of all children's identity,
\nincluding name, nationality and family ties.<\/p>\n
The above examples show that the New Order government does not
\nrespect the principle of nondiscrimination that underlies the
\nUniversal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the International
\nConvention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimina
\ntion (1965), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
\nCultural Rights (1966), and The Vienna Declaration and Program of
\nAction (1993).<\/p>\n
The last sternly states that: \"The persons belonging to
\nminorities have the right to enjoy their own culture, to profess
\nand practice their own religion and to use their own language in
\nprivate and in public, freely and without interference or any
\nform of discrimination,\" (Article 19).<\/p>\n
An alternative to this assimilation model which is frequently
\nused to describe the development of ethnic relations is that of
\nthe melting pot. Rather than customs and traditions of immigrant
\ngroups being annihilated by the dominant cultural groups,
\ndifferent ethnic groups exert a mutual influence on each other
\nand their customs and traditions blend together to form new
\ncultural patterns (Gordon 1978 in Giddens 1991).<\/p>\n
Elements of Chinese arts which can be seen in Betawi culture
\ninclude certain musical instruments, dances and ondel-ondel
\n(giant puppet used in parades). Elements of Arab culture can be
\nseen in music, mosque architecture and calligraphy. Indian
\nculture has heavily influenced the Javanese, Sundanese and
\nBalinese arts, particularly in the wayang (puppet) performances,
\ngamelan, dance styles and dangdut music.<\/p>\n
Western cultural elements appear in modern Indonesian
\npainting, drama (theater), dance, music, including keroncong
\nmusic, which has Portuguese influences, national song and
\nliterature.<\/p>\n
Chinese food such as bakso, kwe tiau, bakpau, fu yung hai, cap
\ncai, jenang,, food cooked in the West Sumatran Padang style,
\nJava's gado-gado, soybeans and tempe, and Western bread have all
\nenriched what is known as Indonesian food.<\/p>\n
Chinese motives and colors can be identified in the
\ntraditional dress of Minang and Palembang. Arabic influence can
\nbe seen in Moslem attire and Western clothing can be seen in all
\nparts of the archipelago.<\/p>\n
Chinese medicinal herbs and acupuncture, Javanese medicinal
\nherbs, and Western medicine are spread all over the country.
\nBahasa Indonesia, the modern language of the country, has been
\nenriched with Chinese, Arabic, Sanskrit, Portuguese, Dutch and
\nEnglish words.<\/p>\n
Chinese qualities like taking care spending money, saving to
\ninvest, and the willingness to take a risk have all been
\nincorporated into mainstream Indonesian society.<\/p>\n
Arabic values such as the belief that God will help people who
\ntry hard to forgive others are widely accepted and Hindu
\nteachings of dharma (good virtue) and karma (what goes around
\ncomes around), and Western qualities of transparency, democracy
\nand respect for the opinions of others are all qualities which
\ncharacterize good Indonesian citizens.<\/p>\n
Indonesian society has been a melting pot for centuries and
\nthis process has been accepted democratically and without
\ndiscriminative engineering. Some of its evolving elements such as
\nbakso, gado-gado, bread, acupuncture, Bahasa Indonesia,
\nliterature, batik, national songs, kopiah (caps worn by Moslem
\nmen), keroncong music and dangdut music have been so widely
\naccepted that we all consider them to be part of the national
\nculture.<\/p>\n
A third model of the development of cultural relations is the
\nmost appropriate way to foster the development of a genuinely
\nplural society in which the equal validity of numerous different
\nsubcultures is recognized. This model aims to achieve \"distinct
\nbut equal\" status for ethnic minorities (Giddens 1991).<\/p>\n
If we were to follow this path the government would need to
\nhelp those of Chinese descent achieve a distinct status by
\nallowing them to retain their Chinese names in the same way as
\nthose of Arab, Indian and European descent currently are. The
\nChinese would also have to be permitted to speak and to print
\nnewspapers, magazines and books in Cantonese and Mandarin. They
\nwould be free to run their own schools, live and run their
\nbusinesses in exclusively Chinese areas, practice their own
\ncustoms and traditions, and observe their own festivals.
\nConfucian marriages would have to be recognized and gravestone
\narchitecture of any sort would have to be allowed.<\/p>\n
To work toward realizing this equal status, the government
\nshould end the practice of marking the identity cards of Chinese-
\nIndonesians, and provide them with an equal opportunity to join
\nthe civil service, the armed forces, and the legal and teaching
\nprofessions. They should also be allowed to establish their own
\npolitical party and been free to run for high political office.
\nThey should be granted an equal opportunity to enter state
\nuniversities and be free to pursue their own religious beliefs.<\/p>\n
In the Indonesian context, a the mixture of all three of these
\nmodels would be the best way to solve the racial problems
\nsurrounding the Chinese-Indonesian minority.<\/p>\n
The emphasis on the assimilation model has been proved wrong,
\nmainly because it sets out to end discriminatory racial practices
\nby using yet more discriminative measures that violate human
\nrights.<\/p>\n
The melting pot model has to be continued because it has
\nproved to be effective and does not violate the human rights of
\nethnic minorities.<\/p>\n
Placing the emphasis on the cultural pluralism model is the
\nbest way to proceed because Indonesia consists of a tremendous
\nnumber of ethnic groups, none of which are entirely dominant.
\nMost importantly, this model is in line with the motto of
\nbhinneka tunggal ika (unity in diversity).<\/p>\n
By coming to view those of Chinese descent, or any other
\nethnic or religious minority, as \"distinct but equal\" then human
\nrights and democratic principles will be strengthened and the
\ncharacter and future profile of the nation will be given more
\nthan a little splash of color.<\/p>\n
S. Belen, PhD is a social sciences graduate from South Bank
\nUniversity, London<\/p>\n
Window: These policies are underpinned by the unsubstantiated
\nnotion that the more deeply a \"foreigner\" leaves behind his
\nor her culture and language, the more loyal they become to
\nIndonesia.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/improving-ris-race-relations-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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