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.