Material on Chinese-Indonesians

JAKARTA (JP): The National Committee for the Nation's Cultural Empowerment will soon launch a series of books, photo albums and a laser disc documenting the history of Chinese-Indonesians.

Members of the committee, chaired by Bintang Adi, visited Governor Sutiyoso on Thursday to invite him to the launching of the documents, scheduled for March 17.

"The governor's response was very positive. Since the mass riots began to hit the city, hitting Chinese-Indonesians' particularly hard, he has tried very hard to prevent the riots from spreading," Bintang said.

"The committee's 29 members have worked hard to make the launch of these materials a reality," he added.

He explained that the materials would detail the history of Chinese-Indonesians, including those who fought for Indonesia's independence from the Dutch colonists.

He said that the aim of the documents was to show indigenous Indonesians the struggles faced by Chinese-Indonesians during the preindependence and postindependence eras.

"The Chinese-Indonesians fought for this nation's independence. We also want to show the number of Chinese- Indonesian today who live in poverty...," Bintang said.

"Not all Chinese-Indonesians are rich, as is the general belief," he added. (ylt)