Misconcept of assimilation

The meeting of some "prominent" Chinese-Indonesians as reported in The Jakarta Post article of Aug. 13, 1999 was quite interesting. It felt like deja vu: Sindhunata, a former Navy officer, was the founder and promoter of the Institute for the Development of National Unity (LPKB), a rival of another group for ethnic Chinese assimilation, Baperki, during the Soekarno era.

Junus Jahja (Lauw Chuan To) was Sindhunata's second man in LPKB. Instead of "natural (uncoerced) integration" promoted by the Baperki, Sindhunata's LPKB strongly advocated "assimilation by intermarriage", with or without coercion, as the only way to become Indonesian. When Baperki was banned after Soekarno's downfall, Sindhunata declared his (i.e., LPKB's) mission accomplished, and subsequently changed the name of his organization to something like the Foundation of the Nation's Youth.

Sindhunata's LPKB concept of assimilation agrees with, or is even part of the New Order's policy towards the Indonesian- Chinese minority. The May 1998 riot, which was more or less a consequence of LPKB's policy under a desperately struggling New Order, is clear evidence that Sindhunata-Junus Jahja's concept of "assimilation" was, and is, miserably wrong. Was the brutal mass rape of May 1998 the "assimilation" desired by Sindhunata-Junus Jahja's LPKB?

It is therefore quite amazing that those two "prominent" Chinese-Indonesians, Junus Jahja and Sindhunata, still have the courage to once again sing their old false tune in public. Joining this out of tune chorus was Siswono Yudhohusodo, who was considered one of the main organizers of the 10 May 1963 riot in Bandung, which I feel was the mother of all anti-Chinese riots. Junus Jahja's plea, "let bygones be bygones", was apparently addressed to their own (Jahja-Sindhunata-Siswono's) crimes in the past. As for Jakob Oetama, a disciple of the late Mr. Auwyong Peng Koen, his evaluation of the May 1998 riots as a "blessing in disguise" would of made his beloved mentor turn in his grave. But this also revealed Mr. Jakob's stance as a follower of Sindhunata and Junus Jahja.

How could a human being claim such a terrible disaster -- both physical and mental -- suffered by fellow human beings such as the victims of the brutal mass rapes of May 1998 and their parents, families, relatives, and friends, as a "blessing" of any kind? Maybe he meant a "blessing" not from God, but from something else more familiar to him?

One really wonders, if Chinese-Indonesians would be willing to follow these "prominent leaders" towards another disaster similar to the May 1998 riots, if not something more terrible. Commensurate with the escalating sequence, May 10, 1963, ..., May 20-24, 1998, ... There is a conventional wisdom, even a donkey would not fall into the same pit for a second time. I am pretty sure, Chinese-Indonesians are no donkeys.

BERNARD E. SOUW

Jakarta