'Current conditions are much better'

'Current conditions are much better'

On Saturday, the Chinese community will celebrate the Chinese New
Year or Imlek and it has even been nominally recognized as a
public holiday by the government. During the Soeharto regime,
nobody was even allowed to celebrate the holiday openly as the
government banned all things pertaining to the Chinese and their
culture. The Jakarta Post spoke to some Chinese-Indonesians to
get their ideas on the subject:

Chung Chen Mai, 43, a housewife who resides in Jelambar, West
Jakarta, with her husband and two children:

I feel grateful that the current government has given some
recognition of the Chinese New Year as one of the national
holidays. That's a good sign that the government is starting to
acknowledge our existence here.

But personally, I don't have any plans to celebrate it. I
would rather save my money for other things. Everything now is
very expensive, and worse still, we only rely on my husband's
monthly income. He is an employee at a shop in Glodok Market.

So I don't have a very large budget for our household. Perhaps
I will just buy new clothes for my children. That's all.

Not every Chinese family is well off. The rich Chinese might
spend millions for the Imlek celebration. But the poor ones like
me do not have that much money for it. Daily survival is much
more important for me.

I'm happy to be Chinese here as there is no more
discrimination against the Chinese. I wonder why we always have
to make a distinction between the natives and the non-natives. We
are all humans and we eat the same rice.

I guess, in general, the current conditions are much better
and safer than during the Soeharto era when the Chinese were
treated badly.

Mery, 54, a housewife who lives in Jelambar, West Jakarta,
with her husband and only son:

I'm happy to observe the upcoming Chinese New Year, at least
the government has granted its recognition to us, the Chinese.

However, I have no plans to make the day very special. It will
be like Idul Fitri, Christmas or New Year when I prepare some
cookies or special food for the family.

Perhaps the one thing that makes it special is that when we
visit all of our relatives. That's the happiest moment for us.

I feel that I rarely recieve discriminative treatment from the
other ethnic groups, except, of course, during the 1998 tragedy
here. At that time I felt scared to death.

Only one of my neighbors obviously discriminates against me
due to my ethnicity. She does not want to know me. But it's okay
for me. I get along well with all my other neighbors who are
mostly Chinese.

It again depends on the way we behave. We are all equal human
beings despite the different ethnic backgrounds.

My husband is the only Chinese-Indonesian among the thousands
of workers at his textile factory where he works at the moment.
But he gets along well with all his colleagues.

Apang, 40, a vendor selling ornamental fish in Cibinong, West
Java. He used to be a resident of Jembatan Lima, West Jakarta
with his wife and five children:

I feel nothing special despite the fact that the Chinese New
Year is drawing near. But it will make me happy to celebrate it.

At least the lion dance is now allowed to be performed in
public. It is not like years ago when the dance was only
performed in the Chinese temples.

Nevertheless, I'm not sure how long this sort of tolerance
will last. The current government has acknowledged it as one of
the national holidays, but it also depends on the next regime,
right?

I have felt lately, that there is no more discriminative
treatment among the Chinese and the other ethnicities in the
city. I feel all right to live among the non-Chinese in my
residential area.

I hope there will be no more riots and turbulence in the
future in which Chinese are again targeted for cruel treatment,
and the government continues to acknowledge Imlek as a valid,
legal Chinese tradition here in the country.

Rini, 29, a housewife who resides in Pademangan, North
Jakarta, with her husband and three children:

I don't know why I feel that there is nothing too special
about this year's Chinese New Year celebration. I won't be doing
anything extraordinary like serving special dishes. No. It'll
just be like another day.

But personally, I feel relieved because the Chinese have
official acknowledgement from the government, particularly with
the declaration of Imlek as a public holiday.

I don't really have any serious problems with discrimination
in my neighborhood because most of my neighbors are Chinese. In
public places I have never been treated discriminatively by other
ethnicities.

Only when the massive riots took place in 1998. Then, I was
worried a lot about my ethnicity. Thank God, now everybody is
equal. So I have no problem living in the city.

-- Leo Wahyudi S