Chinese-Indonesians want discrimination abolished

Chinese-Indonesians want discrimination abolished

Urip Hudiono, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With the elections fast approaching, Indonesians of Chinese
origin have set conditions for legislative and presidential
candidates to win their support, namely the ending of all
discriminatory policies and regulations.

"We will support candidates who work to abolish the excessive
number of permits and licenses imposed on us," said Agus Susanto,
the caretaker of a Confucian temple in Glodok, West Jakarta, over
the weekend.

Indonesia will hold a legislative election in April 2004, and
direct presidential election in July 2004. A total of 24
political parties have been declared eligible to contest the
legislative election.

Agus was referring to the controversial Certificate of
Citizenship (SBKRI) required of Indonesians of ethnic Chinese
origin.

Although the SBKRI has been officially abolished, it is still
required of Indonesians of ethnic Chinese origin if they want to
obtain identity cards, passports, and registration forms to enter
state-owned universities.

Aside from ensnaring people in complex bureaucracy, the SBKRI
also imposes a financial burden for Indonesians of ethnic Chinese
origin due to the high prices, sometimes millions of rupiah, they
have to pay to obtain the certificate.

Chinese-Indonesians are also required to state ethnicity in
their birth certificates, something that other ethnic groups are
not required to do.

Since Confucianism, the traditional religion for many
Indonesians of ethnic Chinese origin, has not been recognized by
the state, there have also been cases of Chinese-Indonesian
marriages not being registered by the Civil Registration Office,
with children from these marriages simply considered to have been
born out of wedlock.

"We were born here, work here, live here and blend in well
with other ethnics here. So why are we still treated differently?
I really hope the next government sincerely addresses this
issue," said Rina Komala, a doctor living in Kota.

Skepticism over the commitment of candidates to fulfilling
their promises, however, remains high among Chinese-Indonesians.

"That's politics. Politicians say one thing and then forget
about it. What can we do?" Agus said exasperatedly.

Meanwhile, political apathy was shown by Irwan Kurnia, an
electronics vendor in Glodok, though he said that he would still
cast his vote in the upcoming elections.

"I don't really know about politics. I just hope the elections
will run smoothly and things will get better afterwards," said
Irwan Kurnia.

During a discussion organized by the Tionghoa Indonesian
Association (Inti) on Friday, many Chinese Indonesians attending
the event enthusiastically asked panelists Bara Hasibuan, Faisol
Reza and Benny Susetyo whether they should support candidates
with a military background, since they were seen as being more
capable in ensuring security and stability in the country.

Responding to the question, Bara Hasibuan, a former National
Mandate Party (PAN) activist now active in the Preparatory
Committee for the Indonesian Movement (KPPI), pointed to the May
1998 mayhem had targeted Chinese Indonesians.

"Where was the military then? They were too busy with their
own power struggles that they forgot their responsibility to
ensuring the security of the nation, and, in this particular
case, the security of Chinese-Indonesians," he said.

Faisol Reza, former leader of the Democratic People's Party
(PRD), warned that though military figures portrayed themselves
as being capable of ensuring security and stability in the
country, "the military is still the military with all its
authoritarian traits, which if given access to the nation's
sociopolitical scene will pose a threat to democracy in the
country."

Benny Susetyo from the Indonesian Bishops Conference (KWI)
Crisis Center, meanwhile, proposed that the public closely
scrutinize all legislative and presidential candidates, and black
list those with bad track records.

"Any candidate who appears to have been involved in corruption
and human rights violations must be kept out and not voted for,"
he said.

Chinese-Indonesians account for around 3 percent of the
country's 215 million population but control a big percentage of
the country's economy.