Enough is enough for RI Chinese

By Rahayu Ratnaningsih

This is the first of two articles on the relationship between people of Chinese and Malay descent in the country.

JAKARTA (JP): I strongly identified myself with the majority of Indonesian people in their struggle to fight the oppressive and corrupt regime of Soeharto. I "cried" with them when four Trisakti students were murdered and have never condoned the corrupt practices that benefited only certain privileged groups of people.

However, only recently it dawned on me that I was suffering from a major crisis of identity, that is shared by many of my kind, and has manifested itself as a huge sense of rejection.

I would like to articulate what is currently burning inside me. I am experiencing a nagging disappointment with the only homeland I know, an experience shared by every other person of Chinese descent in Indonesia.

For an Indonesian, or Chinese-Indonesian to be more precise, what is now left to be proud of? Virtually nothing.

This is the country which I long believed to be the most tolerant Moslem society in the world, the multicultural and multiethnic make-up of which embodied its rich natural beauty. Now the same country appears to some to be another Nazi regime in the making, with the Chinese taking the place of the Jews.

Many Chinese-Indonesians who fled the country are still scared to return. They feel the racial persecution which they recently suffered is a recurring disease with roots which can be traced back to the Dutch colonial era. It reared its ugly head during Sukarno's reign and became progressively more pervasive and systemic throughout Soeharto's time in office.

Many believe it will erupt once again in the not-too-distant future. Those wealthy Chinese-Indonesians who are currently abroad probably won't have anything to worry about, but the vast majority don't have economic means to escape, especially since much of their property was burned and looted in the May riots. Now they have to live their lives in fear of the next uprising.

The last 60 days have been filled with polemic discussing Chinese-Indonesians' alleged role in their own persecution, narrated over the deafening silence on the part of the government and the vast majority of Indonesian citizens.

In an attempt to distract attention from the gravity of the recent human rights violations, many have resorted to the tired old generalization that the majority of Chinese are money- oriented, filthy rich, greedy, less patriotic, and prone to collusion.

Astonishingly, a similar justification was broadcast on state- owned TVRI in its recent special report entitled Nuansa Reformasi. The channel is essentially the government's spokesperson.

It also aired a commentary by former minister of religious affairs Tarmizi Taher, who implied that the main reason why Chinese-Indonesians were persecuted was because they tended to seek allies with the powerful, rather than the common people.

I believe this man, who has published a book on the history of the Chinese in Indonesia, needs to conduct a lot more research to validate his claims before he can style himself as an expert on race relations in the country.

The Program's narrator summarized the report by saying Chinese-Indonesians should try harder to assimilate with other Indonesians, avoid building luxurious houses with high fences, and join in with community night patrols.

The fact that most rich Malays also build mansions and most middle and upper class Malays never join in night patrols were, of course, beside the point and not worth mentioning.

The most ludicrous, hypocritical and blatant racist act of the Indonesian government, in this case under Soeharto's rule, was to tell the Chinese to deny their roots and cultural heritage in order to assimilate more quickly with mainstream Indonesian society.

Having obediently followed every single decree forced upon them -- from obligatory changes to their names to dismissing their tradition, language and faith -- Chinese-Indonesians still find themselves bombarded with discriminatory treatment.

The result is a confused generation, of which I am a part, who at times are embarrassed to admit they are of Chinese descent, as if being Chinese was an awful disgrace.

Such people have never known any other homeland, predominantly speak Bahasa Indonesia, were raised and educated in Indonesia, and work and mingle with indigenous Indonesians, yet they are still outcasts because of their ethnic origins.

Unlike Malaysia, which depicts itself as an integrated community consisting of three main ethnic groups -- Malay, Chinese and Indian -- Indonesian students are taught of their country's diverse ethnicity and culture, but not in a single school book is it mentioned that Chinese are an integral part of the Indonesian nation.

Given these facts, is it that strange for the Chinese to remain unsure of their status and position, despite the fact that they are formally citizens of the Republic of Indonesia?

Realistically, how can the Chinese community be asked to show their patriotism if they are made to feel they don't belong in the nation of their birth?

As I recall, in the 1970's when barongsai and liong (traditional Chinese dragon dances) was still allowed, both Malays and Chinese shared joyous moments during these cultural fiestas. Some non-Chinese even danced in the performances. Cultural relations were much more harmonious at that time.

The forced denial and self-deprivation of one's cultural heritage under the false presumption that it is for the best is, I believe, a type of persecution that should not have a place in a country that calls itself civilized.

It is akin to the apartheid system adopted by the former South African regime. Hence, racism in Indonesia is not just about a few isolated bigots, it is systematic and structural.

In stark contrast to government rhetoric on ethnic and racial conflicts, the segregation of the Chinese from other racial groups in the country was deliberately engineered by Soeharto's regime through its "divide and conquer" policy.

The first advantage of this strategy is that it allows those in power to take advantage of Chinese business acumen and political vulnerability, a combination which opens the door to rich pickings from blackmail and extortion.

The second advantage is that it allows the government to deflect attention away from its own incompetence toward the powerless Chinese. This ironically makes the Chinese community more dependent on the government for protection and provides more leverage for blackmail.

By banning all Chinese cultural icons, Soeharto sowed the seeds of suspicion among other racial and cultural groups in the country.

This led to the perception that everything related to Chinese culture was a potential source of discord and catastrophe, one example being the threat of communism.

As we have seen, Soeharto remained silent when many Chinese were being raped and butchered throughout the country, both last year and in May. Leaving the Chinese to fend for themselves was one of his worst political crimes.

This astutely well-disguised oppression ironically made the Chinese more dependent on Soeharto's administration. They were convinced that only his regime could save them from the hostility which mainstream Muslim society frequently directed at them.

Soeharto skillfully played this psychological game with his jingoistic rhetoric on nationalism.

Now that Chinese-Indonesian businesses have been largely destroyed, people are beginning to feel the impact this will have on the economy.

The ambivalence of the attitude of mainstream Indonesian society to the Chinese minority can now be seen very clearly. While on the one hand many people object to the Chinese dominating the economy, they now realize that despite accusations that most Chinese businesses thrived through collusion with government officials, they can't start rebuilding the economy without the Chinese.

It should not, logically speaking, be a problem for Malay businesspeople to rebuild the economy and simultaneously replace the Chinese in sectors which they formerly dominated. In fact, this is their big chance to prove they can do the job just as well as the Chinese.

So, why than are there still angry voices condemning the Chinese-Indonesians who escaped the turmoil with their money, and their lives?

I marvel at the fact that after 60 days of intense pressure from the National Commission of Human Rights and a number of NGOs, not a word of an apology has been forthcoming from Habibie or the Commander of the Armed Forces. Their only gesture has been a plea to the Chinese who fled the country to return and restart their businesses. How convenient. You can't have your cake and eat it. After witnessing members of their families' being tortured and killed, and their womenfolk gang raped, the Chinese community is now being told to remain patriotic and nationalistic.

This is the time to say enough is enough. Our respectable leaders should halt all discussion regarding nationalist sentiment among Chinese-Indonesian's until they have been given the equal rights as citizens which they deserve.

Furthermore, Chinese-Indonesians should not even consider restarting business until the government has retracted all the racist policies which were introduced over the last 32 years by Soeharto's regime and the new government has guaranteed their safety.

They must stop treating the Chinese community like dairy cows which can be milked at will. On their part, the Chinese should stop giving other Indonesians derogatory nicknames and adopt a less condescending attitude toward them. We have learned the painful way how it feels to be stereotyped and discriminated against and so we must not inflict this horrible act upon others.

The writer is a human resources consultant based in Jakarta.

Window: This is the country which I long believed to be the most tolerant Moslem country in the world, the multicultural and multiethnic make-up of which embodied its rich beauty. Now the same country appears to some to be another Nazi regime in which Chinese are the Jews.