Open letter to ethnic Chinese<\/p>\n
From Pikiran Rakyat<\/p>\n
As a Moslem I wish to apologize sincerely to my brothers and
\nsisters of Chinese ancestry who were the victims of brutality and
\nterror from my brothers who are said to call themselves Moslems.<\/p>\n
I cannot imagine the sadness and pain in your hearts caused by
\nthe reality that your existence is seemingly not recognized in
\nthe country where you were born, but only because you happen to
\nbe citizens of Chinese descent.<\/p>\n
However, have trust that not all of us hate you. We are aware
\nthat not all ethnic Chinese take an attitude of isolating
\nthemselves, justify every means when conducting business, etc. If
\nnegative acts have been committed by a few Chinese Indonesians,
\nwe pray that by the various tragedies they have now become aware
\nof their deeds and are ready to correct themselves, so that their
\nbrothers and sisters are not victimized because of the deeds they
\nhave never committed.<\/p>\n
Perhaps as from now we try to be more open, paying respect to
\neach other, appreciating each other and casting off the
\npartitions of mistrusting each other. Thus, finally there will be
\nno more terms like indigenous and nonindigenous because, after
\nall, the difference lies in physical characteristics only.<\/p>\n
To my fellow Moslem brothers who joined in the looting and
\nacts of violence, are you not aware that your actions are the
\nsame as hurting our Prophet, the Messenger of God?<\/p>\n
Didn't He order us to honor and not to hurt our neighbors?
\n(regardless of whether our neighbors are Moslems or non-Moslems).<\/p>\n
However bad the economic situation is, we should not direct
\nour disappointment to our brothers and sisters of Chinese
\ndescent, because in fact they are only the "victims" of the
\nsystem maintained by the power holders.<\/p>\n
We have always felt we are being oppressed, mistreated and
\ndeprived of our rights but in the meantime we do the same toward
\nothers.<\/p>\n
To my Chinese-Indonesian brothers and sisters, once again
\nforgive us. Perhaps through the momentum of reform we will
\ntogether eradicate the individualistic and racist characteristics
\nin us.<\/p>\n
In fact, you, I and all of us are in one big family called
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
SYAHYURLI AB<\/p>\n
STISI (KISI) Moslem Students Association<\/p>\n
Indonesian Art and Design College<\/p>\n
Bandung, West Java<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/open-letter-to-ethnic-chinese-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }