Enough is enough for RI Chinese

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.