Govt's antidiscrimination commitment questioned

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

For Chinese-Indonesians, albeit a minority, the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's pledge to fight discrimination is not convincing.

During a discussion held by the Chinese-Indonesian Association (INTI) on Saturday, a number of participants recalled the controversial remarks made by Vice President Jusuf Kalla on the government's plan to help native Indonesians in the economic sector.

"Honestly, we're cautious about JK's statement that the government will introduce a policy to help small-scale enterprise businesses, which is likely to sideline us," a businessman, Budy, said, referring to Kalla by his initials.

Kalla was a renowned businessman from South Sulawesi.

Another participant, Sunarti, said Chinese-Indonesians were not "100 percent sure" the president could take firm decisions regarding all forms of discrimination following his failure to meet his promise to announce his Cabinet lineup on Oct. 20.

"Some say he (Susilo) is indecisive. We're afraid he could not do anything to protect the rights of minority groups like us here," she said.

Susilo unveiled his United Indonesian Cabinet on Oct. 21, which many have seen more as a compromise.

Under founding president Sukarno, Indonesia once adopted an economic system which protected indigenous entrepreneurs called Politik Benteng (Fort Politics). But when his successor Soeharto took office, Chinese-Indonesian businesspeople ruled the roost.

Chinese-Indonesians account for about 4 percent of the country's population of 215 million.

Melly G. Tan, a Chinese-Indonesian sociologist, confirmed the anxiety among the non-indigenous community.

"There is distrust among Chinese-Indonesians, that's the major challenge the new government has to deal with," she said.

Political expert J. Kristiadi of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) acknowledged concern about discrimination which remains unabated.

"Most Chinese-Indonesians are still traumatized by state- endorsed discrimination which has been in place for years," he said.

Kristiadi suggested that Susilo be firm in protecting the rights of all citizens, including minority groups, in a bid to win popular support.

"Susilo could start with revocation of all regulations deemed discriminatory against the minority groups," Kristiadi said. He pointed at the citizenship certificate required in obtaining immigration documents for Chinese-Indonesians called SBKRI, which remains effective in practice despite the central government's decision to scrap it.

Economist Faisal Basri said Chinese-Indonesians, who cast their votes in the legislative and presidential elections, could press the government and the House of Representatives to live up to their expectations.

"They are now sitting on their respective chairs thanks to your votes. Don't be afraid to push them to end discrimination against you," he suggested.

Kristiadi also asked Chinese-Indonesians not to be easily satisfied by the previous governments which allowed them to celebrate Chinese New Year and declared it a national holiday.

"The government has scrapped discriminatory policies. You still have to fight against other forms of discrimination which infringe on your rights as citizens," he said.