Chinese in Indonesia need more than Chinese dragon dance

Chinese in Indonesia need more than Chinese dragon dance

T. Sima Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, sima@thejakartapost.com

A Chinese dragon dance highlighted the beginning of the
celebrations for the 476th anniversary of Jakarta last weekend
(May 31). The crowd cheered and clapped their hands for the
fabulous show, which featured a 226-meter-long liong (dragon).

It was not so long ago that Indonesians could not see the
internationally famous dragon dance and lion dance (barongsai).
During former president Soeharto's reign, Chinese arts and
culture were banned, and even speaking Chinese in public was
taboo.

After the downfall of Soeharto five years ago following anti-
Chinese riots and massive student demonstrations, the door opened
for Chinese arts and culture. Chinese-Indonesians were no longer
afraid to celebrate the Chinese New Year. They could listen to
Chinese music on the radio, watch the news in Chinese on
television and read an independent Chinese-language newspaper.

Chinese-Indonesians also had the opportunity to play an active
role in politics. They were able to establish a political party,
become members of the House of Representatives or the Cabinet.
Even the possibility of becoming president is not closed, though
it is admittedly unlikely.

Does all this mean the ethnic Chinese are finally being
treated as the equals of other Indonesians?

Unfortunately, no.

Discrimination against ethnic Chinese still prevails. A
Javanese friend who is married to an ethnic Chinese woman said he
had to pay higher administration fees when he registered the
birth of his baby at the population office in East Jakarta last
month.

He was told that if both the husband and wife were native
Indonesians, the fee was Rp 125,000. If one of the parents was
ethnic Chinese the fee was Rp 150,000, and if both were Chinese-
Indonesians it would cost another Rp 50,000 to register their
baby.

And the discrimination did not stop there. The official asked
for the wife's name-change document and citizenship certificate,
or Surat Bukti Kewarganegaraan Republik Indonesia (SBKRI).

"But she doesn't have those papers, so I had to bring the
documents of her parents. It was ridiculous, but what could I do?
Otherwise, things would have been more complicated.

"In fact, we also faced arduous bureaucracy when we registered
our marriage two years ago," he said.

During his administration, Soeharto implemented a policy of
assimilation for the Chinese. Instead of recognizing the
differences of the ethnic Chinese, they were forced to
assimilate. The government tried hard to "cut" the relationship
between the Chinese-Indonesians and their ancestors, in order to
make them forget about their being Chinese. That is why Chinese
schools were closed down and Chinese arts and culture banned. The
Chinese were even told to change their names.

The regulation on the SBKRI was issued by Soeharto in 1968,
following the severing of diplomatic ties between Jakarta and
Beijing in the wake of the Indonesian Communist Party's attempted
coup. Indonesia restored the ties in 1990.

Six years after the ties were restored, Soeharto issued a
decree waiving the requirement for the wife and children of
naturalized citizens to obtain an SBKRI. His successor, B.J.
Habibie, strengthened the decree. In 1998 and 1999 he issued two
decrees which required government officials to treat all
Indonesians equally and banned discrimination based on ethnicity.

Habibie's successor, Abdurrahman Wahid, repealed Soeharto's
1967 decree banning all activities related to Chinese culture and
Confucianism. Abdurrahman, who claimed to have Chinese blood,
allowed ethnic Chinese to practice their religion and perform
traditional Chinese ceremonies openly.

Beginning this year, Chinese-Indonesians have been able to
celebrate the Chinese New Year, or Imlek, thanks to President
Megawati Soekarnoputri who last year declared it a national
holiday.

However, there are still dozens of laws and regulations that
discriminate against the Chinese, including Presidential Decree
No. 240/1966, which obliges all those of Chinese descent to adopt
Indonesian names, and Ministry of Home Affairs Decree No.
455.2/1998 on the management of temples.

Many parties have called on the government to revise or
abolish all anti-Chinese laws and rulings.

But the case of my friend trying to register his child shows
that even if a regulation has been revoked, it is no guarantee
that the discrimination will not continue as usual. Chinese-
Indonesians are still required to show the SBKRI when applying
for an ID card, a passport or a bank loan -- even from a private
bank.

Something is wrong here. It is estimated that the ethnic
Chinese make up about 3 percent of Indonesia's 215 million
population, but they are believed to dominate many areas of the
country's economy. This has bred hostility among some of the less
affluent non-Chinese.

There is also a stereotype of the Chinese as thrifty and well-
off. On the other hand, some ethnic Chinese, who consider
themselves hardworkers, see the non-Chinese as lazy and
offensive.

Corrupt officials have made use of these perceptions to make
the Chinese their milch cow, while some Chinese have colluded
with the officials to strengthen their businesses.

Many ethnic Chinese are still afraid to go out alone,
especially using public transportation. Feeling unsafe among
native Indonesians, they tend to mingle among themselves, giving
the impression of an exclusive group.

Anti-Chinese laws and rulings must be abolished, but the
government must be consistent. Abolishing these laws should be
followed up by creating a conducive climate and other policies to
alleviate the prejudice against the Chinese, and vise versa.

Since early childhood, Indonesian children learn from their
parents and their teachers that Indonesia's motto is "bhineka
tunggal ika", or "unity in diversity". This is used to explain
that despite all of the different ethnic groups in the country,
Indonesia is unified.

Children learn that Indonesia consists of many ethnic groups,
like the Javanese, Bataks, Balinese or Manadonese. Minorities
such as the Chinese will, however, remain excluded, unless
Indonesia's new generations truly attempt to understand bhineka
tunggal ika.