King's 'Dream' fits for Chinese-Indonesians

King's 'Dream' fits for Chinese-Indonesians

JAKARTA (JP): Today, the issue of racial discrimination
anywhere in the world seems to be inseparable from Martin Luther
King's speech delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in
Washington D.C. on Aug. 28, 1963.

Although there is a marked difference in terms of economic
status and political history between the Chinese in Indonesia and
the African-Americans in the United States, it is still relevant
to refer to King's I have a Dream speech.

The issue is that discrimination based on race breeds racial
prejudices that lead to ethnic tensions, and it does not matter
whether the race in question is of high, middle or low economic
status. However, it is certainly those of the lower economic
strata that feel the burden of the discrimination.

Many Chinese-Indonesians have a dream much like King's. They,
too, dream that one day right down in Cengkareng, West Jakarta,
little pribumi (indigenous) boys and Chinese-Indonesian girls
will be able to join hands with little Chinese-Indonesian boys
and pribumi girls as sisters and brothers. They too dream that
their little children will one day live as a nation where they
will not be judged by the color of their skin but by their
character.

One day, a well-respected Indonesian businessman, who has
developed a successful housing complex on the outskirts of
Jakarta, said he hoped that the community around the complex
would also be able to enjoy the benefits of the facilities that
he has built, which included a shopping mall, schools, a
university, a hospital and other facilities.

He wanted to pour back his profits into the community. He
wanted to show people in the community that the Chinese also
wanted to provide the local community with the benefits of the
public facilities, and that the Chinese were not merely
interested in making money.

Although to some it may sound like he was perpetuating racial
tendencies, what he actually hoped was that the racially biased
perception of the Chinese would change.

During the mid-May riots, this businessman's shopping mall was
completely looted and heavily damaged by mobs more than 1,000
strong. Structural cracks can be seen on the walls of the many
parts of the mall that were burned. Most, if not all, of the
shops in the mall were also destroyed and looted.

It will take a fortune to restore the mall to its former
glory, but that is perhaps the easiest part of rebuilding the
business. It will also take great courage for the shop owners to
open their businesses once again. Yet, despite the damage, the
mall will be repaired. This shows that the dream of the Chinese-
Indonesians remains in their hearts and souls.

Even a poor Chinese-Indonesian in the Central Java town of
Surakarta (one of the areas worst hit by the riots), who lost her
small shophouse during the violent unrest, still has a dream that
someday, little Indonesian boys and girls of Chinese descent will
be able to join hands with little pribumi boys and girls as true
sisters and brothers.

She is also dreaming that the Chinese will no longer be judged
by the color of their skin or the squint of their eyes, but by
their character. However, perhaps at the moment she has no choice
but to continue to imagine this hopeful dream.

-- Amir Sidharta