Nonindigenous Indonesians

Nonindigenous Indonesians

From Kompas

I am not an Indonesian of foreign descent but an ethnic
Javanese-Indonesian. In the recent riots, many Chinese-
Indonesians were hurt. They saw their houses and shops burned
down. They experienced great fear and heavy stress, they were
frightened that their houses would be invaded by looters and
torched. Out of fear, many of them fled temporarily to Singapore,
Hong Kong and Perth.

Many among them are actually Indonesian nationals bearing
Indonesian names. As Indonesian citizens they certainly have the
same rights and obligations as their fellow countrymen. Indonesia
upholds the principle of Unity in Diversity. It should not
differentiate between ethnic groups, religions or ancestry.
Indonesia knows citizens of, among others, Chinese, Arab and
Dutch descent.

There are ethnic Chinese who have contributed to the glory of
the Republic of Indonesia, for example, in the field of sports,
including badminton, swimming and tennis.

Let us hope there will be no more destruction, looting and
burning against nonindigenous Indonesians because such actions
have an immense impact here and abroad, to the detriment of the
government.

F. PUDIYANTO

Jakarta