Give-and-take a key to racial harmony

Give-and-take a key to racial harmony

Chinese-Indonesians have been the prime targets of violence
and sexual abuse in recent riots as if they were state enemies.
In reality, there are those who have contributed a lot to the
country. These people tend to be forgotten at a time like this.

Tan Joe Hok is one of them. His phenomenal talent in
badminton made him the first Indonesian to become All England
champion in 1959. That year marks the birth of Indonesia as a
world giant in the game which continues unabated to this day.

Joe Hok defended his country in various games up to 1967,
including the Thomas Cup tournaments, while introducing "power
badminton" to the world. As a coach, he led Indonesia to win in
various competitions up to 1984.

Today he lives in Jakarta with his family and is still a
coach. He shares his feelings with The Jakarta Post about the
recent riots.

Question: Do you think the government has taken adequate
measures to prevent the recurrence of violence and sexual abuse
against ethnic Chinese?

Tan: I think the government has done what it should --
condemning the rioting and sexual harassment as well as trying to
investigate anyone involved in them, including their masterminds.

The slow movement of the government in responding to requests
for the investigation and legal action against those involved in
the tragic mid-May rioting in Jakarta and other cities might have
disappointed the victims, but I can understand that the
government needs to be accurate in its steps.

However, I suggest that the government take thorough measures
in handling these cases as soon as possible, so that it can
regain confidence from both domestic and international
communities.

Q: Do we need an antidiscrimination law to protect the interests
of minority groups, including Chinese-Indonesians?

T: Article 27 of the 1945 Constitution recognizes only Indonesian
and foreign citizens, without mentioning their races. This will
be enough and we do not need any special law on
antidiscrimination. The most important thing is the recognition
of the existence of minority groups, who need no special
treatment.

If the constitution is considered unclear on minority groups'
rights, we'd better explain some of its articles related to such
groups.

Q: What discriminative treatment do Chinese-Indonesians
experience in their daily life from the government and other
society members?

A: Since the start of the New Order government (in 1966),
Chinese-Indonesians have experienced discriminative treatment in
several sectors.

In citizenship administration, for example, ethnic Chinese are
required to equip themselves with a lot of documents, such as
birth certificates, documents stating that they are not citizens
of the People's Republic of China, certificates on the use of
Indonesian names and Indonesian citizenship certificates,
whenever they need the issuance of new documents. So, Chinese-
Indonesians are equipped with more complete documents than other
citizens who generally have only identity cards.

In education, Chinese-Indonesians are forced to send their
children to particular schools that can accommodate them. Even as
a citizen who has been honored with several medals of merit from
the government, I myself found difficulties in sending my
children to school. After being refused by a nearby school for an
unspecified reason, I was forced to send my son to a school far
away from my home.

Chinese-Indonesians are also not allowed to establish their
own schools or even use Chinese characters in any publication.

In the cultural sector, ethnic Chinese are not allowed to
perform any Chinese-related cultural events, such as a spring
festival at the start of the lunar new year.

In sports, there is no racial problem in badminton. But in
soccer and other sports involving bodily contact, many Chinese
youths complain of being "kicked" around by other players.

I have also heard complaints from my colleagues that they
experienced difficulties in becoming professionals, like lawyers
and medical doctors, just because they are ethnic Chinese. Some
of them can work as medical doctors because they graduated from
overseas universities.

My impression is that the ethnic Chinese are conditioned to
focus their activities on trading.

Q: Do you see any historical background for such discriminative
treatment?

T: I don't know exactly. There is, perhaps, a political
background but I am afraid I don't want to recall the old pain.

Q: Do you have any suggestions on how to reestablish racial
harmony in the country?

T: I think there should be reciprocal measures from both the
Chinese-Indonesians on the one hand, and the government and the
other citizens on the other.

Ethnic Chinese need to be introspective because the
undesirable attitude of a few of them has damaged the image of
all Chinese-Indonesians. A few Chinese businesspeople, for
example, have been involved in monopolistic industrial practices
by dominating product lines from the upstream to the downstream.
And some others are involved in corruption, collusion and
nepotistic practices in cooperation with government officials or
their families. Some companies owned by ethnic Chinese adopt
discriminatory policies by offering better compensation to
Chinese-Indonesian employees than other employees in similar
positions. Some Chinese-Indonesians treat their servants and
nannies unfairly. All such practices must be ended if the ethnic
Chinese want to see racial harmony in this pluralistic country.

On the other hand, Chinese-Indonesians also have the right to
fair treatment from the government and the other citizens as
their existence is recognized by the constitution. They, for
instance, must be given equal rights in obtaining education at
Indonesian schools and universities even though their number is
limited by an announced proportional quota.

Government officials must also be careful in making public
statements. A minister's recent statement that producers of
edible oil have preferred to sell their products abroad even
though they benefited from subsidized banking loans, for example,
may incite emotional reactions against ethnic Chinese.

President B.J. Habibie, whose position requires him to embrace
all groups of the nation, should also have made more polished
statements when he commented on ethnic Chinese businesspeople
fleeing the country after the mid-May rioting. He should have
known that those who fled have been traumatized by the violence
committed against them.

Q: Will the establishment of political parties by ethnic Chinese
help promote the protection of minority groups' interests?

T: It might end up being counterproductive because ethnic Chinese
have faced difficulties even without being exclusive. I don't
think such parties will win wide public support and I myself will
never join one. As a member of a pluralistic nation, I prefer to
have an existing party to accommodate my political interests.
(riz)