Own up to ethnic problem<\/p>\n
Today, the Center for Information and Development Studies
\n(CIDES) is scheduled to hold a seminar to address a problem that
\nshould have been discussed a long time ago: Precarious ethnic
\nrelations, more specifically the relations between the dominant
\npribumi (indigenous ethnic groups) and the descendants of ethnic
\nChinese, the largest minority ethnic group in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The issue has always been considered too politically sensitive
\nto be discussed openly. It is considered taboo even as ethnic
\nrelations have reared their ugly heads in the form of riots with
\nanti-Chinese overtones. The official line has always been that
\nthese riots, which claimed lives and property on both sides of
\nthe ethnic divide, had nothing to do with race and the problem
\nwas left at that.<\/p>\n
CIDES, a think-tank arm of the influential Association of
\nIndonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI) should be commended for
\nits decision to discuss the problem in the open. Former minister
\nof home affairs Rudini, one of the speakers in today's seminar,
\nhas also given his endorsement to the seminar, saying that it was
\ntime that the nation owns up the problem once and for all,
\ninstead of sweeping it under the carpet. Rudini says that further
\npostponement would lead to national disintegration.<\/p>\n
The various anti-Chinese riots over these past months -- in
\nSitubondo, Tasikmalaya, Pekalongan, Rengasdengklok, and
\nUjungpandang -- have become too frequent to keep denying that
\nIndonesia does not have any problem with ethnic relations. And
\nwith each riot seemingly more violent than the previous one, our
\ngreatest worry now is less on when and where the next riot will
\nhit, but how severe it will be.<\/p>\n
While we praise Rudini for his statesmanship for being one of
\nthe first public figures to push the pribumi-nonpribumi issue to
\nthe forefront of the national agenda, we tend to disagree with
\nhis analysis, and much less with his proposal.<\/p>\n
Rudini argues that the wealth gap is at the root of the
\nproblem in ethnic relations, with the wealthy Chinese, who are
\ndominant in commerce, on one side, and the relatively poor
\npribumi on the other. Some of the anti-Chinese riots, he says,
\nhave been provoked by jealousy created by this gap, and by anger
\nthat the mighty Chinese traders were now intruding into small
\nbusinesses that had been the domain of the small pribumi
\nentrepreneurs. Rudini proposes that a law be enacted to preserve
\nthe businesses of pribumi entrepreneurs by barring Chinese
\ntraders from entering these sectors.<\/p>\n
The widening wealth gap has certainly played its part in some
\nof the attacks on Chinese descendants and their property, but it
\nwas not necessarily the decisive factor. It might have been the
\ndecisive factor in such riots in the 1970s and 1980s, but the
\nincome disparity that exists in Indonesia now is no longer along
\nthe old ethnic lines. There are now many conglomerates controlled
\nby pribumi who also hold monopolistic and oligopolistic powers
\njust as the Chinese-controlled conglomerates have. They can be
\njust as menacing to small-scale enterprises. With companies going
\npublic or forming joint ventures, it is even more difficult now
\nto identify the ownership of companies along ethnic lines.<\/p>\n
The chief problem facing small entrepreneurs is their lack of
\naccess to capital, technology and management. Now with the advent
\nof free trade and economic globalization, they are coming under
\neven greater pressure from competitors. Any desire to help them
\nshould focus on ensuring that they get the necessary access. This
\nmeans the enactment of a legislation on small and medium scale
\nenterprises that would apply across ethnic lines. To protect them
\nagainst monopolistic and oligopolistic practices, an antitrust
\nlaw should suffice, because it would prevent any tycoon, whatever
\ntheir color of skin, from intruding into small business sectors
\nin an unfair manner.<\/p>\n
A law that favors one ethnic group or discriminates against
\ncertain ethnic groups will be the first step toward
\ninstitutionalizing discrimination practices, something like
\nMalaysia has with its bumiputra policy but one that Indonesia has
\nmanaged to avert all this time. Even the United States is now
\nrethinking the effectiveness of its affirmative action policy
\ndesigned to promote the lot of the disadvantaged minority groups.<\/p>\n
Such a law in Indonesia would only strengthen ethnic divisions
\nand would take us further away from our goal of national
\nintegration. Even in the absence of such a legislation, the
\nethnic Chinese community has already had to take the brunt or
\nthe wrath of the people every time something goes wrong with this
\ncountry or the economy. Any discriminative legislation will only
\nstrengthen this kind of stereotyping, and may even encourage more
\nChinese bashing.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/own-up-to-ethnic-problem-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}