Everyone concerned about nation is `indigenous': Habibie

JAKARTA (JP): Every citizen concerned about and committed to improving the fate of the nation is indigenous, regardless of their ethnic group, President B.J. Habibie said here Saturday.

Habibie told a group of mass media leaders at the Wisma Negara state guesthouse that even a person of Bugis ethnicity from South Sulawesi was considered a nonindigenous "if he thinks only of himself and doesn't care about the nation's problems".

His comment was in response to a question on the widely perceived public and state discrimination against ethnic Chinese in the country, a minority most branded "nonindigenous" and which was the major target of assaults during days of unrest last month.

"There is no discrimination against the ethnic Chinese. I don't see any reason to close the door against any Indonesian citizen from becoming a civil servant or anything else," he said, responding to the question.

"One major general in the Army is from the ethnic Chinese community. There is no limitation for citizens who are ethnic Chinese," he said.

Habibie's answer was supported by Minister of Information Muhammad Yunus, an active Army lieutenant general formerly known as Yunus Yosfiah, who said: "The major general was in the same class as me (in the military academy)."

"So gentlemen, let's not make an issue out of this problem anymore, because the real Pancasila (state ideology) will not tolerate SARA of any form," he said, referring to animosity rooted from the issues of tribal affiliations, religion, race and societal groups.

Ethnic Chinese are traditionally the usual target for mob violence during times of hardship in Indonesia due to their perceived wealth and because they control much of the trade and commerce throughout the vast archipelago, although they only constitute about 4 percent of the 202 million population.

Shops and homes of ethnic Chinese were burned and looted during riots in Jakarta and elsewhere last month that helped topple former president Soeharto, who handed the reins over to Habibie on May 21.

Many women of ethnic Chinese were allegedly sexually abused by rioters in the days of violence, in which 1,200 people from various ethnic groups were killed.

There is still deep concern in the Chinese community over the future.

A group of Chinese-Indonesians declared on Friday their intention of setting up a political party to remove misconceptions between their community and native Indonesians.

The party will be called the Chinese-Indonesians for Reform Party, the group said. (prb/aan)