Minorities and nation-building

Minorities and nation-building

This is the second of two articles excerpted from a speech
delivered by Yayan G.H. Mulyana, chief of the Social Economic
Affairs Section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the second
Informal Seminar on Human Rights of the Asia-Europe Meeting
(ASEM) in Beijing on June 28 and June 30.

BEIJING: Indonesia, which has approximately 583 languages and
dialects, is one of the most ethnically, religiously and
linguistically pluralistic nation-states in the world.

Since its formation as a modern state, the country has been
pluralistic in nature. A study by Anthony Reid shows that
Indonesia in the "age of commerce" (15th-17th centuries) was
replete with centers of commerce which were not only locally
pluralistic but also cosmopolitan.

Pluralism is an inherent quality of the Indonesian nation-
state. Mechanisms that uphold mutual interaction, adjustment and
harmony operate within the pluralistic societal system. Some
mechanisms are genuinely built in the society, inspired by local
genius, while some others are established as a result of
interaction with outside cultures.

In general, there are two categories of minorities in
Indonesia: native minorities and non-native minorities.

The first category comprises all native ethnic groups
throughout the Indonesian archipelago. These groups are equally
"native" and "minority" and are successfully immersed into an
imagined community/nation-state under the name "Indonesia".

Non-native minorities consist of European, Arabian, Indian and
Chinese descendants.

The rest of this article will focus on the Chinese minority
and its opportunities and constraints in engaging and being
engaged in the Indonesian nation-building and national-
development process.

Contact between the Chinese and the Indonesians began around
the 13th century or earlier. A kingdom named Sriwijaya on
Sumatra, one of the main islands in modern Indonesia, is known as
a center for commerce and scientific advancement, where Chinese
scholars and Buddhist monks visited and resided for years. The
encounter led to fruitful interaction and mutual learning.
Sriwijaya was then known as a center for the study of Buddhism in
Southeast Asia.

In a later period, when Europeans began to land in the
Indonesian archipelago and when modern cities and centers of
commerce were growing, the Chinese continued to mingle and
mutually adapt with the native Indonesians.

A study by HJ de Graff, et al., shows that in the 16th and
18th centuries the Chinese were an important part of the existing
societies and ruling authorities. Bong Swi Hoo (better known as
Sunan Ampel), for example, was a leading Muslim leader in 16th-
century Java. Jin Bun (Raden Patah), also of Chinese origin, was
the first king of Demak in Java. Common people of Chinese origin
were as adaptable as those figures of Indonesian history.

In modern Indonesian history, particularly from the early
years of independence to the end of the late president Sukarno's
rule (1966), the process of engaging the Chinese in the national
development process was affected by the ideological conflicts of
the Cold War and the split of China into nationalist and
communist blocs.

The increasing influence of the Chinese communists in
Indonesia in the late 1950s and early 1960s amplified anti-
Chinese sentiments. Such sentiments were worsened by the severe
economic difficulties of the period.

In the era of president Soeharto (1966-1998), the Chinese-
Indonesians were actively engaged in the Indonesian economy. The
government's growth-oriented policy of the period resulted in
development projects and activities that led to the emergence of
privileged Chinese-Indonesians with wide economic access,
business concessions and political protection from the
authorities. This rich business class, or cukong, was able to
build political patronage with the ruling authorities. Under the
political aegis of the ruling authorities, the Chinese-
Indonesians were able to vibrantly engage in strategic sectors of
development and to advance businesses in most strategic sectors.

The cukong-type diversification and joint investment-levered
diversification were parallel with the increasing economic
liberalism through open-door policies in foreign capital
introduction and the foreign exchange system as well as import
substitution in intermediate and capital goods sectors. The
policy of economic liberalism unexpectedly caused the increase of
large Chinese-owned business groups and the decline of native
minorities' capital.

The mechanism of engaging Chinese-Indonesians in national
development in the period of the New Order (under president
Soeharto) was not viable as it ended up furthering the anti-
Chinese sentiment among the indigenous minorities. The ruling
government had a very hard time devising a mechanism that could
encourage creative diversity. The ramifications of the May 1998
riots are perhaps the most striking incident that proved the
mechanism inapplicable.

Hope for better engagement is obvious and ardent in the post-
New Order era. The succeeding government under President
Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie that began in May 1998 has a sincere
and strong commitment to devise a more viable mechanism to engage
the Chinese-Indonesians in as many aspects of nation-building and
as possible.

One first step that President Habibie has been taking toward a
more viable mechanism is legal reform. On Sept. 16, 1998, the
President issued instruction No. 26/1998 that prohibits
government agencies and officials from acts of discrimination
against any Indonesian based on his or her origin.

The President also instructed ministers, heads of state
agencies, governors, mayors and regents to refrain from using the
terms pribumi (native) and non-pribumi (non-native).

One big legal step just recently taken by the present
government is the ratification of the International Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 1965, with
Law No. 29/1999 on May 25, 1999. The government is also reviewing
and planning to revoke a number of "discriminatory" rules.

The end of president Soeharto's era in may 1998 has created
the most conducive environment for political participation of
native and non-native minorities since 1966.

The Chinese-Indonesians and other minorities -- native and
non-native -- can express their political freedom as much as they
wish and can have political orientations to as many of the 48
contesting political parties as possible. Major political parties
in the June 7 general election, such as the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), the National Awakening Party
(PKB) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) that have gained the
highest votes by far, are broad-based and all-inclusive parties.
Many of Indonesia's prominent ethnic Chinese are leading figures
in the parties.