RI's oppressed minorities<\/p>\n
The Chinese in Indonesia have been well served by the policies
\nof Indonesia's post-Independence governments, which have
\nmaintained a discriminatory, emasculating regulatory scheme that
\ndeprives Chinese-Indonesians of basic civil rights.<\/p>\n
Now the Chinese live in fear of physical attack from run-amok
\nmasses of pribumi (indigenous Indonesian) looters. Chinese-
\nIndonesians are a numerically very small ethnic minority in
\nIndonesia and doubly \"minoritized\" by the fact that they are
\ngenerally also adherents of one of the minority religions in a
\ncountry which highly values religious unity.<\/p>\n
But Chinese-Indonesians are different from minority groups in
\nother countries in a very significant way. Their minority status
\nand the consequent denial of civil rights and privileges has not
\nled to economic oppression as it has for minority populations in
\nvirtually every other nation.<\/p>\n
Usually, political power and economic strength go hand in
\nhand. For minorities in many places, political power has not been
\nso much an end in itself as the means to secure the economic
\nopportunities they have been denied. For Chinese-Indonesians,
\nhowever, economic opportunities have not been denied. In fact,
\nwhile privately criticizing the system which has denied them
\ncivil rights unlike other oppressed minority groups, Chinese-
\nIndonesians have largely demurred from taking concerted action in
\npursuit of political rights.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is atypical in that a minority group which has been
\ndenied civil rights has been able to flourish economically, to
\nthe point of holding the major share of the country's wealth. For
\nthis reason, the terms minority and oppression as they are
\ncustomarily used, may not be the most helpful language to use in
\nspeaking Indonesia's situation.<\/p>\n
Chinese-Indonesians are not typical of oppressed minorities.
\nIn many ways the pribumi are more oppressed though by economic
\ndeprivation rather than by the absence of civil rights. Many
\npribumi would, I venture to say, gladly trade their right to
\ngovernment employment, their possession of an uncoded identity
\ncard, their access to state universities for the freedom of
\nlifestyle that economic privilege can bring. The Chinese-
\nIndonesian minority might not be as interested in a corresponding
\ntrade-off of economic opportunities for civil rights.<\/p>\n
The reservoirs of resentment within both ethnic groups are
\ndeepening. As long as individuals are preoccupied with blaming
\nthe other group (\"The Indonesians deny us our full rights\"\/\"The
\nChinese control all the wealth\") the profounder causes of
\noppression and violence remain and are unaddressed.<\/p>\n
The enemy is not each other. Chinese-Indonesians and the
\npribumi need each other. The country needs the capital that the
\nChinese have built up, their business expertise and the
\ndistribution networks. Chinese-owned businesses need pribumi
\nmanpower and the pribumi consumer market. If the pribumi are
\ndriven to mass violence by unjustified price inflations and
\nsubstandard wages, or if the Chinese are driven away by large-
\nscale violence, everyone suffers.<\/p>\n
Violence. The person whose shop has been looted and burned,
\nthe rape victim, they are obvious, tragic victims of dramatic
\nviolence. The persons who labor in factories, mills and shrimp
\nfarms for wages so low they cannot support a family in dignity,
\nin a work environment where there is no regard for workers'
\nhealth and safety, these are also victims of violence. So are
\nthose whose life savings were wiped out in bank liquidations
\nresulting from white-collar crimes of corruption.<\/p>\n
Who are the oppressed? Who are the victims? The enemy is not
\neach other. Ordinary Chinese and pribumi are both victims of the
\ncollusive partnership between high-level pribumi officials and
\nChinese owners of Indonesia's megabusinesses. These partnerships
\nand the corruption they spawned have victimized the country
\nwithout regard for ethnic identity. This collusive partnership
\nsystem is the oppressor. Ordinary middle-class and poor pribumi
\nand Chinese alike are its victims. Can the two communities now
\ncooperate to recover from violence and oppression together?<\/p>\n
DONNA K. WOODWARD<\/p>\n
Medan, North Sumatra<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ris-oppressed-minorities-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }