Megawati calls for social integration
Megawati calls for social integration
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri told Chinese-Indonesians on
Friday to stop complaining about discrimination against them and
open themselves up to other ethnic groups in the country.
Speaking in front of about 100 Chinese-Indonesian
intellectuals, the President said that while the government had
to revoke discriminatory rulings, Chinese-Indonesians must do
more to mingle with other ethnic groups.
"You always have to look at the other side of the coin: There
were times when you had economic privileges at the cost of
others, or when you excluded yourselves from the wider
community," Megawati said.
She said, as part of the nation, Chinese-Indonesians should
show a willingness to build a genuine brotherhood with people
from other ethnic groups.
During the meeting, the President related a story about the
experience of a friend of hers, who was from Padang, West
Sumatra, and who fell in love with a Chinese-Indonesian man.
"They couldn't get married because the Chinese family refused
to have indigenous Indonesian in-laws. You have to pay attention
to these kind of issues as well," she said.
Megawati said that if only both sides were ready to accept
each other, discrimination would end.
"If both sides have similar views, I'm sure harmony in
Indonesia would much more meaningful," the President said.
Relations between Chinese-Indonesians and others have always
been an issue for the country, especially after decades of
authoritarian leadership under former president Soeharto.
During his presidency, Chinese-Indonesians were not allowed to
join political parties or observe their culture or religious
practices.
Only after the fall of Soeharto in 1998, which marked the
beginning of the country's reform movement, did Chinese-
Indonesians dare to enter politics and fight for putting an end
to discriminatory rulings.
Chinese-Indonesians held a meeting with Megawati on Friday to
express their appreciation of government efforts to scrap the
Certificate of Indonesian Citizenship (SBKRI), which is still
required from Chinese-Indonesians when applying for official
documents such as passports.
Megawati has repeatedly said there is no need for Chinese-
Indonesians to present an SBKRI if they already possessed other
identification such as an Indonesian birth certificate or
identification card (KTP).
The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights is set to launch a
campaign next week on the abandonment of the SBKRI policy and to
establish hotlines to receive complaints on the matter.
In the meeting, Megawati promised to carefully assess the
implementation of a no-SBKRI policy for those who had Indonesian
citizenship.
Also attending the meeting were noted badminton player Susi
Susanti, her husband Alan Budikusuma and legislator from the
National Awakening Party (PKB) A.B. Soesanto.
"I have once again ordered related ministries to ensure that
none of their officials continue to take advantage of the SBKRI
issue," Megawati said.