On doubtful citizenship<\/p>\n
From Surabaya Post<\/p>\n
A report in Surabaya Post of Sept. 6, under the title of
\n\"Doubtful citizenship of 20,000 Indonesian citizens of Chinese
\ndescent.\" has left me wondering: What is Wachid Hariyanto, a
\nmember of Commission A of the Provincial Legislative Council,
\nreally after?<\/p>\n
Wachid suggested that the applications for Indonesian
\ncitizenship filed in 1996 be reviewed because, he alleged, there
\nwas dishonesty on the part of many of the applicants. He also
\nsuggested that persons whose applications were found to be
\nincomplete should file new ones. In this way, he argued, the
\ngovernment could recoup its revenue, which would have been lost
\npermanently because of these incomplete applications.<\/p>\n
About this, I would like to tell Wachid strongly and firmly
\nthat he made a gross mistake here and that he has targeted the
\nwrong people. Common people should never be sacrificed because
\nthey are ignorant and poor.<\/p>\n
Wachid should address this matter to the district court and
\nthe Sub-Team of Assistance for Settlement of Applications for
\nNaturalization by Resident Chinese Aliens, which was headed by
\nDr. F.X. Wibiksana. It is this sub-team that the central
\ngovernment assigned to help carry out a simple naturalization
\nprogram specially intended for Chinese living in Indonesian for
\ngenerations.<\/p>\n
Ironically, even under this program, which was drawn up to
\nfacilitate naturalization among Chinese residents, each applicant
\nhad to pay Rp 430,000 plus a number of illegal levies for the
\napplication forms from various government agencies for this
\nnaturalization process. Obviously the imposition of these levies,
\nlegal and otherwise, were quite burdensome to the applicants, who
\nwere generally poor.<\/p>\n
So, is it fair that they have to be sacrificed again? Won't it
\nbe better for Wachid to ask the authorities to interrogate the
\nchairman of the sub-team referred to above and his cronies as
\nwell as relevant government officials about this matter? These
\npeople must account for the sums paid by all the naturalization
\napplicants, estimated to be billions of rupiah.<\/p>\n
The money must be recouped and then paid to the state's
\ncoffers. This will be more than enough to make up for some of the
\nnaturalization requirements that they failed to meet in their
\napplication.<\/p>\n
Please have respect for the decisions, the policies and the
\ngood will of our highest leadership in the past and at present to
\nensure that unity will be reality in our lives.<\/p>\n
BIAO WAN<\/p>\n
Address known to the editor<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/on-doubtful-citizenship-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }