Law stipulates equal treatment<\/p>\n
By Benny Subianto<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): In his article published in The Jakarta Post on
\nDec. 3, 1997, Irman G. Lanti argued that CIDES' proposal of
\naffirmative action policy is not racist as I had suggested in my
\narticle published on Nov. 13 in this newspaper.<\/p>\n
I highly appreciate Irman's response as the head of the
\nresearch department at the Center for Information and Development
\nStudies, thus initiating a public debate on this serious issue.
\nHowever, I feel that Irman has failed to respond to the substance
\nof CIDES' racist presumption. He commented instead on some side
\nissues of my article.<\/p>\n
CIDES' proposed affirmative action policy obviously treats
\nIndonesian citizens of Chinese descent in a different way from
\nother Indonesian citizens, particularly in business preference.
\nThree out of four points of CIDES' policy recommendations
\nstipulate that the government should favor Indonesian
\nbusinesspeople.<\/p>\n
Apparently, CIDES presumes that Indonesians of Chinese descent
\ncontrol the Indonesian economy and, therefore, restricting the
\nbusinesses of those of Chinese descent will create social justice
\nand lessen economic disparity.<\/p>\n
Regretfully, CIDES' good intention to strengthen the position
\nof Indonesian businessmen is based on racial lines instead of
\neconomic ones. Indeed, the racial category often overlaps the
\neconomic category, however, disparity and social justice are more
\neconomic and political problems rather than racial and ethnic
\nones.<\/p>\n
Apparently, CIDES categorizes the actors of the Indonesian
\neconomy into two categories: Indonesians and Indonesians of
\nChinese descent. What is the basis of such categorization?<\/p>\n
Neither the Indonesian Constitution nor laws distinguish
\nbetween the two categories. However, some government regulations,
\nunofficial and unstated regulations, treat those of Chinese
\ndescent unequally compared to their fellow Indonesians. Many
\nbelieve that such regulations should be abandoned, since they
\nobviously violate the Constitution, laws, and human rights.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, Irman argues that \"Accumulation of economic
\nresources within such as small group is dangerous because the
\ngroup then has tremendous governance leverage and possesses the
\nability to disrupt the whole economy. Hence without regard to any
\nspecific group, this structure is perilous, undesirable, and
\ncritically needs to be corrected.\"<\/p>\n
It is understandable that Irman is worried about the
\n\"domination\" of the tycoons of Chinese descent in the Indonesian
\neconomy, and that this might create social injustice.<\/p>\n
Recently, Kwik Kian Gie, a critical economist, was questioned
\nabout such \"domination\". He argued that many Indonesian business
\npeople are actually behind the Chinese tycoons' companies.<\/p>\n
Even more, some Chinese businessmen are actually the operators
\nof businesses and companies belonging to Indonesians. At the same
\ntime he wonders why people still question the relations between
\nthose of Chinese descent and Indonesian businesses (Merdeka, Nov.
\n23, 1997).<\/p>\n
There is no doubt that CIDES' policy recommendation which aims
\nat promoting social justice and lessening economic disparity must
\nbe welcomed and supported. Social justice, however, must be
\napplied to all Indonesians. In this regard, it would make more
\nsense if CIDES' proposed affirmative action policy were favorable
\nto the underdog and underprivileged groups in the society
\nregardless their origins, race, ethnicity, religion, belief and
\ncustoms.<\/p>\n
Such a policy will automatically restrict the opportunity of
\nthose of Chinese descent in business, since they have enjoyed
\nprivileges and favoritism from the government for a long period.<\/p>\n
If CIDES' policy recommendation is implemented, to what sort
\nof Indonesian businessman will the government's favor go? It
\nmight go to the small and underprivileged businessmen, but at the
\nsame time it might go to influential businesspeople who have
\nenormous leverage with the political elite.<\/p>\n
Even worse, some of those of Chinese descent might name
\nIndonesians as the \"official owner\" of the company they control.
\nSuch practice is widely known as \"Ali Baba\" and was quite common
\nduring the Benteng Politics in the 1950s.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, CIDES launched the affirmative action policy at
\nan inappropriate time since Indonesia is facing a serious
\nmonetary crisis. This implies that government intervention should
\nbe reduced.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, one of CIDES' proposals was that the
\ngovernment provide huge tracts of land to Indonesian developers
\ninstead of the ones of Chinese descent. This might sound good,
\nbut at the same time we realize that the property sector is in
\nserious trouble, so the government should provide tracts of land
\nto any businesspeople who have a feasible project and are capable
\nin terms of business.<\/p>\n
A policy recommendation which clearly takes the side of the
\nunderprivileged will be more effective in creating social justice
\nand lessening disparity. At the same time it should be far from
\nracist, and guarantee that facilities and privileges will go to
\nthose who deserve them.<\/p>\n
Based on CIDES' research, Irman argued that economic disparity
\nbetween Indonesians and those of Chinese descent was one of the
\nmost compelling reasons behind the recent riots. Such an argument
\nis still debatable. Nevertheless, as I suggested in my previous
\narticle, economic disparity has no direct causal relation with
\nthe riots which rocked many parts of this country in the last few
\nyears, it is just a factor of precondition.<\/p>\n
Findings from field research on the riots in Tasikmalaya and
\nRengasdengklok which was conducted a few weeks after the riots
\nbroke out, showed that although economic disparity was actually
\npresent in the two small towns, the people attacking the Chinese
\nhouses, shops, temples and churches were far from thinking about
\nthat disparity.<\/p>\n
Both victims and rioters of the Rengasdengklok asserted that
\ndisparity has existed since the colonial period. They also argued
\nthat economic disparity is present in many parts of the world.<\/p>\n
CIDES seems to exaggerate the disparity as the prime cause of
\nthe riots. In addition, if CIDES' hypothesis is right, more riots
\nwould have occurred in Jakarta, since disparity in the city is
\nwider than any other place in this country.<\/p>\n
Putting it in another way, more riots would have broken out in
\nthe late 1970s and 1980s when disparity was wider than now in the
\n1990s.<\/p>\n
Research on the recent riots suggests that the lack of a
\npolitical outlet to channel people's aspirations is a significant
\nreason why people resort to attacking other people. Violence has
\nbeen the only way to express political dissatisfaction and
\nfrustration or in solving social conflict.<\/p>\n
At the same time, people (the rioters) no longer trust the
\nstate apparatus who are supposed to handle conflicts. This can be
\ntraced back to some attacks against police, military, and
\ngovernment offices, at least over the last two years.<\/p>\n
The Chinese and other minority groups become the intermediate
\ntarget of the riots simply because of their vulnerability in
\npolitics. Based on field research, there is no convincing
\nfindings which prove that the rioters attacked the victims
\nbecause of their racial, ethnic, or religious sentiment.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, a feeling of injustice is a compelling
\nreason for causing people's anger to boil over. This apparently
\nsuggests that any solution based on social justice is more
\nappropriate than one based on a racial line.<\/p>\n
Concerning people's lack of trust in the state apparatus, it
\nis pertinent to think of ways to make civil servants more
\nrespected and trusted by the people. One possibility is to
\nprovide them with a decent salary which will enable them to
\nsurvive without engaging in corruption and collusion.<\/p>\n
If the state apparatus works well, is impartial and all
\ncitizens are treated equally, the practice of collusion committed
\nby those of Chinese descent will lessen. At the same time
\ngovernment favor to the underprivileged will produce social
\njustice among the people.<\/p>\n
Racial relations are a problem in Indonesia. Such racial
\nrelations problems often relate and overlap with economic and
\nsocial justice issues, however, we should avoid confusing the two
\ncategories in our analysis.<\/p>\n
It is commonly agreed that economic problems cannot be solved
\nthrough a racial approach, and the other way round. CIDES' good
\nintention should be welcomed, but at the same time we should
\nstick to the idea that all citizens should be treated equally.<\/p>\n
The writer is an observer of political affairs based in
\nJakarta.<\/p>",
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