Activist donates all salary to the poor

Activist donates all salary to the poor

Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung

The winds of change in the reform era has led to the establishment of branches in Bandarlampung of Chinese-Indonesian social and political organizations headquartered in Jakarta.

One of these, the Chinese-Indonesian Social Association (PSMTI), for example, has frequently organized cultural events like lion dances or "Miss and Mister" (Abang and None)" contests for local Chinese-Indonesians.

Many Chinese-Indonesians in Bandarlampung are actively involved in an interfaith, multiethnic and intercultural organization, the Social Forum for Close Relationships Between Religious Communities in Bandarlampung (Faskaubal).

Local Chinese-Indonesians are active not only in social and cultural affairs but also in the political arena. Yuliani Wijaya, (born Wong Li Mei), for example, was a member of Bandarlampung Legislative Council from 1999 to 2004.

Two local Chinese-Indonesians have made it to the municipal council for the 2004 to 2009 period. They are Effendi Taslim (Kwang Hui) and Mungliana, representing the Freedom Bull National Party (PNBK) and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) respectively.

Taslim, inaugurated as a legislator along with 44 others on August 18, 2004, said that his involvement in politics was due to his search for a balance in life. A successful businessman, Taslim, affectionately called Kangkang, said he pursued politics to give him a more balanced life.

He said at one point in life a person would feel he had gained everything possible in a particular area and would need something else to seek equilibrium.

"When we get to this saturation point, we do not know where else to go. In my case, I need balance. I want to be more useful to the community through politics," he said.

He added that he was not involved in politics to pursue a particular position or accumulate wealth. Through politics, he said, he would be able to learn more about social problems and help solve them.

When he first decided to join a political party and then ran for election as a legislator, he made up his mind not to earn a living from his position as a legislator. He said his mission was to improve the image of the legislative assembly.

The public, he said, generally had an unfavorable opinion about the institution. In this respect, he vowed, when campaigning, that he would donate his salary as a legislator to the poor.

He has kept his word. He received his first salary as a legislator in September this year. Taslim used his entire salary -- Rp 4.5 million -- to purchase basic necessities and anonymously distributed them to 350 families in Lingkungan III, Durianpayung subdistrict, Central Tanjungkarang.

But when he distributed the basic goods, which he had bought with his second month's salary on Oct. 13, to 400 families in Jl. Jati and Sukajawa subdistrict, some reporters got wind of this and immediately the news spread far and wide.

Though realizing what he had done was just like throwing salt into the sea, he reiterated that he would always be true to his promise to donate his salary to the poor, even if later his salary were raised.

He added that Kencana Sukma, chairman of PSMTI's Bandarlampung chapter, even asked him to help repair the public's unfavorable opinion of the legislative council and maintain the integrity of Chinese-Indonesians.

He expressed optimism that with the other members of the legislative council, who are mostly in their thirties and forties, he would be able to succeed in this mission.

Kangkang also said that he would never get involved in government contracts. His business activities -- transportation, freight forwarding, trading and property -- do not generally have much to do with government projects.

As Kangkang has mixed with non-Chinese locals nearly all his life, his election as a legislator from West Tanjungkarang district, an area where there are only a few Chinese-Indonesians, has not come as a surprise.

Born and bred in Kampung Tengsen, Sinar Banten village, Durian Payung subdistrict, Kangkang chose to live there after his marriage. "I come from the village and mixed with people from other ethnic groups -- people from Lampung, Java, Banten, Batak people, Sundanese, Minang and many others -- you name it," said Kangkang, now a father of four.

As he is close to the village locals, he is proud to be called Kangkang, a name that emerged because locals found it difficult to pronounce his Chinese name, Kwang Hui.

Kangkang realizes it is not easy to push fellow Chinese- Indonesians to integrate with non-Chinese locals. Many Chinese- Indonesians consider him rather reckless, living in a depressed area prone to conflict.

It takes time to convince Chinese-Indonesians that assimilation is very important for them, he said. "We can't, for example, ask Chinese-Indonesians to abandon their luxury homes.

"For over 32 years the Chinese in Indonesia were segregated. We can persuade them only gradually to take part in social activities or establish social foundations."

Kangkang pins his hopes on younger Chinese-Indonesians. If they participate in a variety of activities in society, there will be interethnic openness that will eventually lead to changes.

"With regard to reform, many Chinese-Indonesians simply adopt a wait-and-see attitude. Some even believe it is too early to have a Chinese-Indonesian legislator."

As a Chinese-Indonesian, Kangkang, however, considers himself the representative of the people of Bandarlampung.

"I will work in the interests of all Bandarlampung people, although in some cases I will pursue matters related to the interests of Chinese-Indonesians, for example the Indonesian citizen certificate.

Although the government has revoked the law that requires Chinese-Indonesians to possess this certificate, many officials still abuse it to extort money from Chinese-Indonesians.

"This is one of the reasons why democracy has not proceeded properly. Things like this need to be disseminated. I even had to produce this certificate when I applied for a passport," he said.

In his opinion, the public perception of Chinese-Indonesians is an important factor in the assimilation of Chinese- Indonesians. If they were not discriminated against, Chinese- Indonesians would not migrate aboard.

"Why should we move overseas? We were born and bred here. We have a family and earn a living here. We respect the land where we live," he said.

He believes that to ensure assimilation is successful, all means -- political, economic, cultural, and others -- have to be pursued.

Most importantly, he said, the process has to start from the top and should not be orchestrated, as happened during the New Order era.