Ethnic Chinese at fault for riots
Ethnic Chinese at fault for riots
By Masli Arman
JAKARTA (JP): The May 13-14 violent riots here could well
prove to be a major watershed in the history of the relationship
between indigenous Indonesians and those of Chinese descent. The
government must see to it that the culprits are quickly
identified, taken to court and punished severely according to the
law.
Some observers have commented that the riots were a result of
economic disparity regardless of the racial origin of the
opposing groups. I do not think so.
Economic inequity could have been a contributing factor, but
the root of the problem lies in what might be tersely described
as a racially derived arrogant attitude and superiority complex
on the part of the Chinese.
If the conflict was a result of economic imbalance, why were
the mansions and other property of very wealthy indigenous
Indonesians hardly touched?
And inversely, why were many shops owned by not-so-rich
Chinese-Indonesians extensively destroyed?
The following cases show how little economic resentment was
evident, while the Chinese do appear to be harboring a feeling of
superiority, arrogance or even contempt toward the indigenous
people:
* One day in November 1995, a Chinese shopkeeper in
Purwakarta, West Java, wantonly accused a young indigenous
Indonesian girl wearing Islamic dress of stealing in the shop.
Without bothering to find any proof or leaving the matter to the
police, the shopkeeper had the poor girl paraded around the shop
and at the same time made her admit she was a thief.
The girl was later forced to clean the toilet and mop the
dirty floor while still wearing her full Islamic dress. As may be
expected, Purwakarta later experienced vicious rioting for at
least two days, during which hundreds of Chinese properties were
burned or destroyed.
* One early morning in December 1996, a Chinese family in
Rengasdengklok, West Java, made some highly insulting remarks to
a group of rather noisy Moslem youths near a mosque just before
dawn prayers.
Without going into the details of the predictable riots that
ensued that day, I think that this type of Chinese-Indonesian who
does not like the way Moslems congregate or conduct their prayers
should not live near a mosque at all.
But more importantly, they should for their own sake be more
tolerant toward Islam and Moslems in general because there are
bound to be millions of Moslems and thousands of mosques wherever
they go in West Java.
* Several years earlier, a young Indonesian housemaid in
Surabaya was tortured by her Chinese employer with a hot iron rod
for obviously no justifiable reason. She suffered many burns all
over her body.
* A few months ago, as widely reported in the media, another
Indonesian housemaid was cruelly forced by her ethnic Chinese
employer in Singapore to eat dog's feces which resulted in
serious illness.
Without in any way trying to belittle the deep trauma and
humiliation experienced by the Chinese girls and women raped
during the May riots, the equally deep suffering and humiliation
felt by the Indonesian girl in the Purwakarta example as well as
those in the Surabaya and Singapore cases was not dissimilar in
nature to what the Chinese women experienced.
* An Indonesian-Chinese woman (Yeni Kwok) wrote in the May 29,
1998, issue of the Hong Kong-based magazine Asiaweek that her
family and relatives in Jakarta often refer to indigenous
Indonesians as fangui, meaning inferior.
She also wrote that many Chinese-Indonesians simply had no
social contact with indigenous Indonesians except for their
household staff.
My comment is that if the Chinese really want to be accepted,
they should cast off any ill-conceived superiority complex they
might have and mingle more freely with indigenous Indonesians.
* A news item with cultural significance was published a few
weeks ago in the Republika daily concerning a meeting between the
head of the Supreme Advisory Council, A.A. Baramuli, and more
than a hundred members of the Chinese community.
The daily reported that the Chinese present were clearly heard
speaking in Chinese whenever they talked to each other, obviously
preferring it to Indonesian.
This flagrant example of disrespect of our national language
in a public place strongly reminds me of a very strange
suggestion made recently by a well-known person of Chinese
descent who often speaks in Chinese.
He hinted that the public use of the Chinese language and
Chinese characters should be reintroduced in Indonesia and public
performances of Chinese cultural dances should be allowed in the
streets of Jakarta.
I am sure no responsible government of this country would
accept such an amazing suggestion because it would easily result
in a severe backlash or even rioting.
* One conflict which I will never forget is the famous Kuala
Lumpur riot. It was caused by the outrageous and uncalled-for
provocations by thousands of parading Chinese who became so
bigheaded after what they thought was a significant gain made by
their political party in a recent general election.
On a number of occasions the Chinese opened their trouser
flies took out their penises, showed them off to the unfortunate
Malay men and women who happened to be around at the time and
told them to get out of Kuala Lumpur and go back to their
supposedly natural habitat in the jungle.
Sure enough, the following day thousands of Malays (plus some
Indonesian sympathizers) retaliated furiously and massacred
hundreds of Chinese men, women and children.
* In the Purwakarta, Rengasdengklok and Kuala Lumpur riots the
Chinese were clearly the guilty party as their arrogant acts
provoked the indigenous people to retaliate. The May riots in
Jakarta were not as clear cut.
However, I believe the basic underlying causes are still
linked to the Chinese, such as the accumulated grievances over
the years about the slights, discourtesies and even rude
treatment encountered from time to time by ordinary Indonesians
when visiting Chinese shops in the Glodok area and elsewhere.
Also, a general dislike of the Chinese has built up because of
their disinclination to mix socially with Indonesians and their
clannish preference to live exclusively with each other in
certain residential areas.
But I think the most pertinent Chinese-related cause of the
riots was the realization that many Chinese conglomerates were
unable to repay their huge international and domestic debts.
Added to this was anger that the deliberately manipulative
tactics of some Chinese foreign exchange speculators had played
a major role in bringing about the current economic crisis, the
collapse of the rupiah and soaring food prices.
At any rate, while the above-mentioned cases evidently
originate with Chinese-Indonesians, the immediate cause that
actually triggered the riots seems to be the confusing tension
created by the Trisakti shooting of May 12. This clearly had
nothing to do with the Chinese.
There is no doubt in my mind that public resentment against
the arrogance of the Chinese and their large responsibility for
the recent deterioration in the economy was so deep and so
widespread across much of the country that it would not have
needed a big organization to deliberately instigate the people to
riot.
Generally, however, the riots in Purwakarta, Rengasdengklok,
Kuala Lumpur and even in Jakarta (including the rapes) would not
have happened in the first place had the Chinese shown greater
sensitivity to indigenous people.
I would like in this connection to make the following
illustration. In West Sumatra, where I come from, there is an
ancient Minangkabau proverb which seems to be specially
applicable to the local people who, for centuries, have liked to
travel and emigrate to places and regions far away from home.
It says: Dimana bumi dipijak, disitu langit dijunjung. In more
simple and less allegorical language, this means that wherever
you travel and settle down, always endear yourself to the local
people and adjust yourself to the culture and traditions of your
newly adopted land.
It is rather like a precept on how a guest should behave
toward his host and hostess. I believe the Chinese could learn
one or two things from this proverb in order to assimilate
themselves better.
For instance, they should renounce much of their "Chineseness"
such as the Chinese language, Chinese characters, Chinese names
etc. I am sure these are only a very small price to pay for the
privilege and benefits of having Indonesian citizenship.
According to my rough estimate, about 70 percent of the
approximately six million ethnic Chinese in Indonesia at present
are already fairly well assimilated, while the other 30 percent
are either indifferent to or reject the idea of assimilation.
I earnestly hope that by the next generation, that is by the
year 2020, all or the vast majority of Chinese-Indonesians will
have been thoroughly assimilated and acculturated.
At that point in time, it will be pointless and meaningless to
refer to them as nonindigenous or as Indonesian citizens of
Chinese or Tionghoa decent.
I would simply call them Indonesians, indeed good Indonesians,
and I'm sure some of them could be appointed cabinet ministers,
ambassadors, directors-general and even three-star or four-star
generals.
As for the minority who may still persist in refusing to
assimilate and continue with their superior attitude, I would
suggest that they relinquish their Indonesian citizenship and
live elsewhere.
I am not a narrow-minded or chauvinistic indigenous Indonesian
as some readers might suspect. Since obtaining my undergraduate
and postgraduate degrees from an Australian university in the
1950s, I worked until recently for a number of large mining and
oil companies in several countries.
This entailed working closely with many people of different
nationalities and ethnic backgrounds, including a dozen or so
Southeast Asian Chinese professionals with whom I had enjoyable
working relationships.
Also, after the terrible riots in Jakarta last May, when the
house of a Chinese friend of ours was burned down by a rampaging
mob, I gave them financial assistance to help alleviate this
opinion which is not intended to be an object of heated polemic
in the near future but, I hope, could be taken as an input by the
Chinese community in their introspection and deliberation as
suggested recently by one of their leaders, businessman William
Soerjadjaja.
Window: As for the minority who may still persist in refusing to
assimilate and continue with their superior attitude, I would
suggest that they relinquish their Indonesian citizenship and
live elsewhere.