Our national unity<\/p>\n
It has been almost a month since the riots that rocked Jakarta
\nbetween May 13 and May 15. The wounds from the violence, arson
\nand looting of those days are, however, still far from healed.
\nWith a countless number of shops and businesses destroyed and
\ntheir owners having fled to other countries or safe havens here
\nin Indonesia, our daily commerce has yet to fully return to
\nnormal.<\/p>\n
Considering the fact that last month's riots left thousands of
\npeople without a job or livelihood, it would be wrong to say that
\nour fellow citizens of Chinese ancestry -- more popularly
\nreferred to as \"nonindigenous Indonesians\" -- were the exclusive
\ncasualties of the rioting. Nevertheless, Chinese-Indonesians were
\nthe ones who bore the brunt of the tragedy. Minority groups of
\nany category -- religious, ethnic or racial -- make easy targets
\nfor the airing of social discontent. This could explain the
\nfeelings of animosity, bred by envy, that exists among many
\nIndonesians toward those among them who are of Chinese descent.<\/p>\n
Such feelings of hostility and envy, as historians have often
\npointed out, existed among Indonesians even before the country
\nbecame independent. Chinese immigrants prospered under the old
\ncolonial system, while the indigenous population was left to
\noccupy the lowest rank on the social ladder. Since then, although
\naccess to better education and life opportunities have gradually
\nbecame available to more and more indigenous Indonesians, anti-
\nChinese sentiments have continued to ferment, especially among
\nless privileged Indonesians.<\/p>\n
The interesting question, however, remains: Why did such anti-
\nChinese sentiment in the past rarely explode with such calamitous
\nforce as was seen in Jakarta last month? The answer to this
\nquestion may be for our historians and sociologists to find. One
\nexplanation that has been offered, however, is that the dubious
\npractice of engaging certain well-liked Chinese-Indonesian
\nassociates as business partners of indigenous Indonesians in
\npower has widened the divide between Chinese and indigenous
\nIndonesians. The fact that their business dealings were often
\nperceived by the public as shady in nature, obviously did not
\nhelp to make things better.<\/p>\n
From the Chinese-Indonesian point of view, one complaint is
\nthat they have been practically shut out of all other fields
\nexcept business. They feel that this has contributed to their
\n\"economic animal\" image -- one that they, in fact, would like to
\nshed as soon as opportunity allows; hence the formation of an
\nChinese-Indonesian political party soon after Soeharto's fall.<\/p>\n
Whatever the actual reasons may be for the continuing
\nirrational anti-Chinese sentiment that widely exists among
\nindigenous Indonesians, it is high time that we begin making some
\nserious efforts to resolve the problem. Government and private
\nthink tanks could provide a valuable contribution by doing the
\nnecessary research. The Malaysian model of preserving harmony in
\na multiracial society may be worth studying in this context.<\/p>\n
To live as one nation, undivided by ethnicity, language, race
\nor religion is not only an ideal that is enshrined in our
\nnational philosophy Pancasila, it is also one that was publicly
\nproclaimed as early as 1928 in what has since become known as the
\n1928 Youths' Pledge. As a policy goal, that ideal was publicly
\npronounced in the early years of our independence by then vice
\npresident Mohammad Hatta. The job that awaits us now is to give
\nsubstance to that ideal. Unless we do so, racial strife and
\neconomic disruptions may continue to hound us, even as the new
\ncentury dawns and makes a mockery of our stated ideal to become a
\nmodern nation.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/our-national-unity-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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