Benny struggles for social cohesion

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

If one were to make a list of those fighting to end discrimination in Indonesia against the ethnic Chinese, Benny G. Setiono would most likely appear at the top of the list.

One of the founders and chairman of the Chinese-Indonesian Association (INTI), Benny is also a co-founder of the National Studies Institute (ELKASA), a think tank on nation-building. His efforts against discrimination focus on constantly promoting a consciousness that the ethnic Chinese are an inseparable part of the national fabric.

He has also published Tionghoa dalam Pusaran Politik (The Ethnic Chinese Amid Political Turmoil), which has been widely acclaimed as a substantial work in deconstructing many misconceptions about the ethnic Chinese and unearths many facts previously unknown to most Indonesians.

Benny, however, modestly said that his activities were nothing special for anyone who was concerned about their nation.

"I'm just doing what I can, and sharing what I know."

Born on Oct. 31, 1943 in Ceracas-Cilimus village of Kuningan regency, West Java, Benny recalls his family as ordinary villagers living a simple, peaceful life.

But that peaceful life was violently disrupted in 1947, when his grandfather, Khouw Tjiauw Seng, was among those brutally murdered by rogue anti-Chinese gangs taking advantage of the absence of law and order at the time.

Fortunately, his mother managed to escape, and took Benny and his brother and sisters to Cirebon, West Java, where his father and his older brother lived. From there, they decided to move to Jakarta.

"We were virtually refugees back then. Arriving at a Jakarta port by boat, we had to live in the garage of my father's friend for some time before my father finally found a house to rent in the neighborhood," Benny recalled.

Having grown up in Kota, a West Jakarta district next to Glodok, which is known as Chinatown, Benny knew exactly how life was for the ethnic Chinese.

"Even today, if you take a stroll down the alleys of Kota and Glodok, you can see for yourself that many ethnic Chinese work hard while living modestly like any other Indonesian.

"Of course, there are wealthy Chinese-Indonesians -- as there are wealthy Indonesians of other ethnicities -- some of who may indeed be involved in corrupt practices, but they are a minority," Benny said, stressing that the wrongdoings of a few should not become the stereotype of all Chinese-Indonesians.

Benny himself had to work very hard through many hardships when he was forced to leave his studies in economics at the Res Publica University (Ureca, now Trisakti University), as his campus was burned down by anti-Chinese student militias during the 1965 political upheaval.

Twice experiencing personally the discrimination toward the ethnic Chinese, Benny finally felt called upon to do something when, in the May 1998 riots, Chinese-Indonesians were again victimized.

About a year after the tragedy, on Apr. 10, 1999, Benny and 16 other Chinese-Indonesian figures established INTI, with Eddie Lembong as chairman and Gilbert Wiryadinata as deputy chairman.

Benny was a chairman of INTI's central board, as well as chairman of its Jakarta chapter.

"INTI's main activity is educating its members on nation- building and social solidarity, to show that Chinese-Indonesians also have the potential to contribute to this country," he said, adding that its final goal was to reach a comprehensive solution in integrating the ethnic Chinese into Indonesia, and not merely eliminating discrimination.

"Do you think the problems faced by Chinese-Indonesians will vanish just like that after discriminatory laws are eliminated? Not without nation-building. Not without eliminating the paradigm of segregation created by the colonial Dutch, and continued by Soeharto's regime," he said.

As part of its divide et impera, or divide and rule, strategy, the Dutch discriminated against the ethnic Chinese among all other ethnic groups in Indonesia, fomenting a feeling of dissociation.

Continuing this trend, among the most discriminatory laws implemented by the Soeharto regime was the costly Indonesian citizenship certificate (SBKRI) required by every Chinese- Indonesian for all administrative processes, but not by any other ethnic group. The law was only abolished in July 1996.

Aside from monthly discussions, INTI also holds bimonthly community programs, such as free medication for the poor, as well as organizing football and badminton youth clubs.

"Discussions on socio-political issues attract the biggest audience," Benny said.

The latest discussion was on the 2004 elections, while the next is to discuss corruption and the recently formed Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

In August 2002, Benny continued with his nation-building efforts by co-founding ELKASA with Gilbert Wiryadinata and the recipient of the 2001 Yap Thiem Hien human rights award, Esther I. Yusuf, and others.

It was through this think tank that Benny published and released his first book on July 25, 2003.

"It took me about three years just to gather the material for the book," he said.

His work was not in vain, as the 1,156-page book -- "aside from minor printing errors" -- received good reviews from several noted scholars, including historian Asvi Warman Adam and political expert Daniel S. Lev, who wrote the Preface.

The book documents Indonesian history, from its prehistoric eras to the present, supplementing it with hitherto unknown -- and perhaps deliberately concealed -- facts on Chinese- Indonesians.

"There are several Muslim customs particular to Indonesia, such as the bedug, which draw upon Chinese culture, while several of the Wali Songo were of Chinese origin," Benny said.

Bedug is a kind of large drum at mosques that are sounded to signal prayer times, while the Wali Songo are the nine legendary preachers who spread Islam in Java.

Another interesting fact is that the Chinese-owned Sin Po daily was the first and only newspaper that dared print the lyrics of the national anthem, Indonesia Raya.

Indonesia Raya was composed by WR Supratman for the 1928 Youth Pledge, and became the national anthem after Indonesian independence in 1945. Benny's book mentions Supratman working as a reporter for the Sin Po daily.

He also explains the roots of some of the discriminatory misconceptions regarding the ethnic Chinese, particularly those which were deliberately created to relegate Chinese-Indonesians to the role of political scapegoats, and the black periods of anti-Chinese movements, including the 1740 massacre in Batavia (former name for Jakarta under the Dutch), the 1963 riot in Bandung, West Java, and the massacres of 1947, 1965 and 1998.

As to how he came to write such a book, Benny, who is neither a historian nor a scholar, simply said that he was probably influenced by his father, Endang Sunarko, who wrote several books and was a regular contributor to several dailies and magazines.

"I learned a lot from listening to my father's lengthy talks with fellow writers and journalists. Besides, I do like to read," Benny said, naming books on history, philosophy, geography and literature as among his favorites.

As for his future plans after INTI, ELKASA and his book, the father of five said he would like to retire as INTI chairman, "to let the younger generation carry on the journey of a thousand miles, the first steps of which my colleagues and I have taken", referring to a classical Chinese saying.

Benny also plans to write another book, although he has not decided what it will be about.

Considering that his first book is so well-written, it would not be unreasonable to expect another masterpiece from Benny.