A timid walk to a place free from discrimination

Evi Mariani and Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

For the past two years, Daniel Kristanto, 28, has not been afraid to get into a traffic argument in Jakarta despite his obvious ethnic Chinese appearance.

"If a car tries to cut me off in traffic, I will fight back regardless of the driver's ethnicity," he said.

This is something he would never have considered doing in, say, 1997, because such a simple act of defense (or offense) was sometimes enough to incite an ethnic riot.

"In big cities like Jakarta, I feel that my life as a Chinese- Indonesian has improved in recent years. I feel more freedom now, I can go anywhere without worrying about my Chinese look," Daniel told The Jakarta Post.

However, one morning, he was reminded of the problems facing ethnic Chinese while reading a national newspaper.

"There was an article about a graft suspect. The story mentioned the suspect's name as well as his Chinese name, something like 'Mr. X', whose real name is blah blah blah,'" Daniel said.

"What about other Chinese-Indonesians who give Indonesia a good name for the rest of the world? Like Susi Susanti, Alan Budikusuma or Agnes Monica. Does the media ever mention their Chinese names?" he asked, clearly irritated.

Since 2000, when then president Abdurrahman Wahid lifted the ban on celebrating the Chinese New Year, some Chinese-Indonesians have begun to emerge from the bitter past of violence and injustice.

At the same time, some non-ethnic Chinese have started to be more accepting of Chinese-Indonesians, walking side by side with them.

But what a long walk they must take, so after four years the road to a diverse and peaceful country still stretches far ahead of them.

"There are some obstacles on the road toward a world free of racial discrimination, it's true. But it's nothing to worry about because we are on the right track," Benny G. Setiono, the chairman of the Chinese-Indonesian Association, told the Post.

"Since the May riots in 1998, many Chinese-Indonesians have begun to be more inclusive. We show that we care for others. For example, we have sent dozens of medical workers to Meulaboh and we will send more," he said.

Ester Indahyani Yusuf, whose organization Solidarity for the Nation, works for a world without ethnic discrimination, agreed that simple acts of kindness from the Chinese-Indonesian community could tear down the walls of prejudice on both sides.

"For example, once a Chinese-Indonesian community helped out flood victims around the neighborhood. They received a warm response and a special speech from the community leader about accepting Chinese-Indonesians as friends," Ester said.

Among the people who do not anchor political or economic interests, discrimination and prejudice seem to be more easily vanquished. A pleasant smile, a simple "hi" to the neighbors and a brief chat usually do the trick.

But that often is not the case with the government and officials.

Chinese-Indonesians still are seen as cash cows for some government officials who make the process of applying for an identity card or a passport a tormenting labyrinth.

Apart from this extortion in the guise of bureaucracy, the government also has showed no interest in providing a clean and honest start to help the people end prejudice.

"There has been no political will to seriously investigate and seek justice for the May riots," said Ester, who has been working on the issue for almost seven years.

There has never been an explanation from the government about how the riots and the violence was able to take place under the nose of the military and the police.

Bernard Wijaya, 56, a community leader in a housing complex Pluit, North Jakarta, where 98 percent of the residents are Chinese-Indonesians, said he had overcome the trauma of those ugly events.

"We are glad that now we can celebrate the Chinese New Year without fear," he said.

Indeed, days before the Chinese New Year, some houses in his neighborhood are adorned with red lanterns, telling passersby the owners are going to celebrate the Year of the Rooster.

However, at the same time, the tall and sturdy gates erected after the riots are still standing, separating the housing complex from the surrounding neighborhood.

It is as if the red lanterns are saying, "Yes, we acknowledge we have been recognized and accepted and we're happy," while at the same time the gates say, "But prejudice lingers."