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)