LIPI team conducts study on interethnic relations<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A study on how members of ethnic groups in the
\ncountry relate to one another is currently being conducted by the
\nNational Institute of Science (LIPI), it was reported on Friday.<\/p>\n
The head of a 12-member LIPI research team, Rusdi Muchtar,
\nsaid he hoped the study would yield results that could be used by
\nthe government to improve its policies with regards to the issue.<\/p>\n
\"The recent racially-motivated riots raised many questions,
\nchiefly abroad,\" communications expert Rusdi said in Bandung,
\nAntara reported.<\/p>\n
Rusdi said he hoped his team would provide an insight into the
\nMay riots in which over 1,200 people died and over 100 Chinese-
\nIndonesian women were reportedly gang-raped.<\/p>\n
The team includes noted scholars, researchers and historians
\nincluding Taufik Abdullah, Mohamad Sobary, Soewarsono, Ninuk
\nKleden, Thung Ju Lan, Abdul Rachman Patji, Ibnu Qoyim,
\nRochmawati, Hayaruddin Siagian, Pauline R. Hendrati and
\nWidjajanti.<\/p>\n
Rusdi, the team's coordinator, said the team has been working
\non the study since July.<\/p>\n
We are currently making field observations in areas selected
\nfor study. The areas are in Jakarta, the West Java towns of
\nBekasi, Tangerang and Bandung, Semarang in Central Java, Surabaya
\nin East Java and Lampung on the island of Sumatra.<\/p>\n
Rusdi said the team would make the results of the study public
\nnext March.<\/p>\n
He said the study aimed to obtain \"concepts and strategies\" on
\nhow to address problems arising from the relationships between
\ndifferent ethnic groups in the country. Special attention will be
\ngiven to Chinese-Indonesians and their relationship with other
\nethnic groups.<\/p>\n
The study will also seek to identify \"deviations in the
\nprocess of assimilation between ethnic groups,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Making all ethnic groups in the country a part of the nation
\nis essential, Rusdi said, adding that it was an ideal to which
\nthe country had aspired even before independence was proclaimed
\nin 1945.<\/p>\n
The team also plans to look at issues associated with the
\nsocial and economic gap in the country that he said had created
\n\"ethnic pyramids\".<\/p>\n
Although making up only 4 percent of the population, Chinese-
\nIndonesians are perceived to be the dominant force in the
\ncountry's economy.<\/p>\n
The recent riots, in which they were targeted by violent mobs,
\nhas driven a significant number of them out of business.<\/p>\n
Rusdi said the team would examine how Chinese-Indonesians were
\nperceived by other ethnic groups and the influence exerted on
\nthese perceptions by the country's political and economic elite.
\n(aan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/lipi-team-conducts-study-on-interethnic-relations-1447893297",
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