A narrow-minded attitude
Over eight million harrowed Chinese-Indonesians owe their heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Andreas F. Limin of Medan (Aug. 3), a simple ethnic Chinese who has articulately out-Englished an English-educated academician and has outwitted this anti-Chinese intellectual with a volley in a dry style, laconic civility and with humility.
Also with a spirit of righteousness, Mr. Susanto (Aug. 3), Mr. Rudy Gunawan (Aug. 1) and Mr. Rochili (Aug. 1), all of Jakarta, have severely hit out at Mr. Masli Arman. Perhaps dozens others, if not hundreds, have indignantly voiced their resentment against this Australian trained engineer, whose chauvinistic perception of the Chinese-Indonesian has grievously hurt his "adversaries".
It is worthy to note that Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad, who possesses a wider and farther vision than most Indonesian leaders, has openly admitted that the Malaysian design of assimilation has failed in toto for the simple reason that the Chinese-Malaysians have inherited a culture of 5,000 years, which is older than any in the world. So, "let nature take its course," conceded Dr. Mahathir in fairness.
If every indigenous Indonesian is part of "birds of a feather" with this senior geologist, all Chinese-Indonesians will be buried alive in a mass grave in a site he knows best.
Fortunately, I can take heart with truly learned academicians in the person of Professor Sarlito Wirawan, a psychologist, dean of the Faculty of Psychology at University of Indonesia, who dared to openly criticize the New Order government's folly for its Assimilation Policy, which has become the crux of antagonism between races.
We must all be thankful to such humane people with benevolence, including Father Sandyawan, Madam Ita Nadia and countless others. They have intrepidly, undauntedly, and with unbending courage, come to the aid of the helpless rape victims of unprecedented barbarism. They are the reverse of dangerously ignorant elements in our society.
Mr. Bart van Assen (Aug. 3), who joined the bandwagon in denouncing this writer with his Dutch altruism, has come forward heroically to fight injustice. He has landed a deadly blow to Mr. Masli Arman's eye. But all Chinese must beware that the shame sustained from a white man may drive a wounded boar to become a vicious demon.
LIEM SIAN TIE
Jakarta