Seeing red over locals' Chinese New Year behavior<\/p>\n
Natalia Soebagjo, Center for Chinese Studies, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Everyone saw red on Chinese New Year's Day. Walk into any
\nshopping mall and you could see the place festooned with red
\nlanterns, red mock firecrackers, red paper decorations and red
\nbanners with gold characters wishing you prosperity. You could
\nnot get away from the color red. Likewise on television. The
\ncolor red jumped at you from almost all the channels.<\/p>\n
Presenters and celebrities wore mandarin collars, and funny,
\nlittle round hats. One presenter even wore a Chinese bridal
\ncostume with what looked like a chopstick jutting out from her
\nhair bun. In short, anything Chinese suddenly became a novelty.
\nChinoiserie is now officially \"in\".<\/p>\n
I too was seeing red in the real sense of the idiom, angry and
\nannoyed, because this sudden awareness of the existence of the
\nethnic Chinese living among us only underscores the insensitivity
\nand ignorance of the majority of Indonesians. It is as if we are
\nable to recognize the ethnic Chinese Indonesians, their
\ntraditions and their way of life only because it is so decreed by
\nthe government, which finally declared Chinese New Year a public
\nholiday.<\/p>\n
Have we been totally blind to the fact that our nation's
\nhistory has always been closely linked to China and the ethnic
\nChinese, or, as in Onghokham's words, that the Chinese are \"an
\nintegral part of the Indonesian nation as any other group\"?
\nApparently so.<\/p>\n
Thousands of years ago, and, some even say, as early as 1000
\nBC, migrants from China had already arrived on our shores. Even
\nour great kingdom of Sriwijaya became known to historians and the
\nworld through Chinese accounts. For centuries since we have
\ntraded with the Chinese, while some settled here and intermarried
\nwith the natives, blending different lifestyles together.<\/p>\n
To this day we can still see traces of Chinese influence in
\nour own \"Indonesian\" culture, local customs and even language.
\nEthnic Chinese have also made their contributions and left their
\nmark in our political and economic histories.<\/p>\n
Admittedly, this evolutionary assimilation process was long in
\nthe making but was resilient enough to weather the political
\nturbulence throughout our history. Unfortunately, this gradual
\nevolution was disrupted by Soeharto's policy of forced
\nassimilation.<\/p>\n
His policy dulled our sensitivities and forced us into denial
\nfor some 30 years. Ethnic Chinese Indonesians had to deny their
\ncultural and historical roots, whilst the rest of us had to deny
\nthat they also helped build this nation.<\/p>\n
Now we have swung to the other extreme and are left with
\nconfusion. The May 1998 tragedy shocked the ethnic Chinese into
\nan awareness of their ethnicity but since then, and particularly
\nwith the fall of Soeharto, there have been stronger demands for
\nthe recognition of their rights.<\/p>\n
For many, it was a traumatic way of rediscovering one's
\nidentity. The recent acknowledgement of Chinese New Year as a
\npublic holiday, however, is a much more pleasant way to remind
\nthe ethnic Chinese of their heritage.<\/p>\n
Is it a public holiday based on religious or cultural grounds?
\nIf it is based on religious grounds the government is indirectly
\nacknowledging that Confucianism is an official religion. If so,
\nwhy are so many ethnic Chinese couples who profess Confucianism
\nas their faith still unacceptable and have such difficulty in
\ngetting married?<\/p>\n
If the acknowledgement is for cultural reasons -- as the
\nChinese worldwide consider the coming of spring a time of
\ncelebration and renewal -- what is there to stop other ethnic
\ngroups from demanding their own public holiday? But such
\nquestions are brushed off as minor details that should not get in
\nthe way of the greater intention of recognizing our pluralism.<\/p>\n
The irony is that there are many ethnic Chinese who are also
\nconfused by this state of affairs. With the pribumi's sudden
\ncuriosity of all things Chinese, our fellow Indonesians who
\nappear to be of ethnic Chinese ancestry are being asked all sorts
\nof questions about Chinese New Year and how they celebrate it,
\nwhen all the while many have never observed it in the
\ntraditionally prescribed manner.<\/p>\n
Many do not even know what they are supposed to do as the new
\nyear approaches; they do not quite understand the significance of
\nreunion dinners with their families on Chinese New Year's eve and
\nthe symbolic meaning of special New Year cuisine. Many no longer
\ncarry out the customs of New Year's day, such as a prohibition on
\nthe use of coarse language and that all debts must be paid off.<\/p>\n
Few of the younger generation pay their respects to their
\nelders without prompting and elders do not practice the giving of
\nred packets to the young and unmarried. How many know that the
\nseventh day of the Chinese New Year is considered the birthday of
\nall people and is celebrated by the tossing of raw fish salad or
\nthat the New Year celebrations last for 15 days?<\/p>\n
What we have now is the commercialism of Chinese New Year,
\nwhich unfortunately has manifested itself everywhere. However,
\nthis excess is understandable given the suppression of past
\ndecades.<\/p>\n
It is as if the Chinese cultural revival is coming out in full
\nvengeance, with Mandarin films, serials and pop groups constantly
\non television, Mandarin newspapers and books freely sold in
\nbookshops, Mandarin language courses openly offered and even a
\nradio station that airs in Mandarin.<\/p>\n
Once the partying is over, however, we should examine deeper
\nthe more important issue of resolving the discrimination still
\nfaced by ethnic Chinese Indonesians today.<\/p>\n
Many discriminatory policies still need to be revoked, and, if
\nalready revoked, need to be resolutely enforced. It is so
\nembarrassing that even prominent individuals who have contributed
\nto our nation's achievements and prestige still have difficulty
\nobtaining their citizenship documents (SBKRI) as in the recent
\ncase of Hendrawan and Ivana Lie in the past.<\/p>\n
Such cases only serve to show that the ethnic Chinese are
\noften perceived as cash cows and easy prey for extortion by the
\nbureaucracy. Some even wonder how long this current wave of
\ntolerance will last and fear that it might create a backlash if
\nthere is a sudden change in the regime or political mood.<\/p>\n
Our nationhood is so fragile that every effort should be made
\nto move forward, away from just recognition and tolerance
\ntoward full acceptance. Acceptance also means genuine respect
\nfor our differences, not condescension.<\/p>\n
We should refrain from stereotyping and from making a mockery
\nof the differences, whether in private or in public. Chinese New
\nYear is not simply a matter of seeing red all around but a time
\nfor renewed hope and working together for a better future. A
\nfuture which should include everyone and build upon the long
\naccumulated wealth of knowledge and experience of all in our
\ncolorful ethnic patchwork that we call Indonesia.<\/p>",
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