Chinese-Indonesian form organization
JAKARTA (JP): A group of Chinese-Indonesians established a new organization on Saturday, stressing they did not want to participate solely in business.
The chairman of the newly founded Chinese-Indonesian Association (INTI), Eddie Lembong, stressed that Indonesia was their first and last commitment, and that they would work closely with other Indonesians to develop "a new Indonesia".
"In this reform era, we people of Chinese descent feel it is our calling and determination to use our potential, as part of the nation's assets, in serving the nation," Lembong said in his address. The organization's secretary-general is Michael Utama Purnama. Well-known tycoons were absent.
The association, with 17 founders, celebrated its establishment at the Hailai International Executive Club in North Jakarta.
Lembong told the packed gathering that Chinese-Indonesians would prove that they were not only "economic animals" in search of profit. He added that membership was not limited to people of Chinese ancestry. He said the organization would launch several activities to give job training to the poor to help them earn a living.
Chinese-Indonesians make up only about 7.8 million of the country's 210 million population. Analysts have said the belief that they control the economy is the main reason Chinese were targeted in recent riots.
Last May's riots, which triggered the fall of president Soeharto, saw at least 2,000 killed. Dozens of women were raped and killed, most of them Chinese-Indonesians.
Many Chinese-Indonesians fled the country to seek safety, while others accused them of being less loyal to the country in crisis.
Lembong referred to early policies that discriminated against the Chinese here which he said led to current conditions. The policy of Dutch colonial masters in which inhabitants were segregated, and in which Chinese were used as "tools of the colonial economy" led to the gap between them and indigenous people, he said.
He added that in 53 years, efforts to overcome the "Chinese problem", both by the government and the Chinese, have not reaped satisfactory results.
INTI hopes for "total" but "natural" assimilation, he said, which would be reflected in the participation of Chinese- Indonesians in all spheres of life, including defense and the bureaucracy.
Government policies included the banning of Chinese-language schools and the banning of Chinese calligraphy and all arts considered to be Chinese. Chinese-Indonesians also found the bureaucracy and the military were virtually closed to them.
A few tried to set up a political party last year, called the Chinese-Indonesians Reform Party (Parti), but it failed to meet requirements to contest this year's polls.
"We will also fight for the abolition of any laws which directly or indirectly trigger discrimination," Lembong said.
President B.J. Habibie signed last September a decree for the elimination of all forms of discrimination, followed this month with the ratification of the international convention against discrimination.
Among attendants on Saturday were Muslim scholar Said Aqil Siradj of the National Awakening Party (PKB), former minister of religious affairs Tarmizi Taher and Sabam Sirait of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).
The gathering on Saturday was entertained by a display of the wushu martial arts and a musical stint with Chinese-Indonesian youngsters portrayed as students and factory workers, among other things. (prb/msa)