Govt hinders natural acculturation

Govt hinders natural acculturation

Harry Bhaskara, The Jakarta Post, Semarang

Abdul Djamil throws stones at shop windows like everyone else in
the anti-Chinese mob. When he goes home, another mob spots him
walking leisurely along the street and someone shouts: "There's a
lost Chinese." In a panic, Djamil retorts: "Allahu Akbar" (God is
great), and he is left alone, the mob believing he is not of
Chinese descent.

The above incident occurred in Semarang in the 1980s. Djamil,
now rector of the State Institute for Islamic Studies (IAIN),
looks Chinese. He related the story as a speaker at a discussion
following a book launch here on Saturday.

The story summed up the uneasy relations between Chinese-
Indonesians and indigenous Indonesians as well as between
Chinese-Indonesians and Muslims. Djamil is one of four speakers
in the discussion.

One participant at the discussion, Sudiarto, a history
professor at Semarang's Diponegoro University, said that
Indonesians tended to be hostile toward China because they
believed Islam was unknown in the country.

"The fact is Islam is also embraced in China. Indonesians
should shed this (false) perception," Sudiarto said.

Speakers at the book launch told a packed audience at Graha
Santika Hotel that Islam arrived in China in the seventh century
in the days of Prophet Muhammad.

The discussion was held after Telapak Sejarah Sam Po Kong
(Historical Footsteps of Sam Po Kong) was launched in conjunction
with the week-long 600th anniversary of Zheng He's first voyage
to Semarang. Zheng He was a Chinese admiral who visited Indonesia
in the early 15th century. Some historians believe that Zheng He
stopped in Semarang and camped on Simongan Hill, now the location
of the famous Sam Poo Kong temple.

Adhy Trisnanto of the Chinese-Indonesian Muslim Association
(PITI), another speaker at the discussion, said he believed a lot
of Chinese Muslims in Indonesia were instrumental in spreading
the religion but remained unknown to the public.

Earlier, the speakers said they did not doubt that Zheng He
was a Muslim, a controversial topic that continues to this day.
The controversy was partly fueled by fear, one of the speakers
said, referring to Chinese-Indonesians who were afraid their
temple would be converted into a mosque once they acknowledged
that Zheng He was a Muslim.

Djamil said the good relations between Chinese-Indonesians and
indigenous Indonesians were destroyed by the government's
political policies.

"At some point in time the natural acculturation between the
Chinese culture and indigenous Indonesians was stopped. It is our
job to reverse this trend," Djamil said.