Pramoedya's view of ethnic Chinese still apt

Hoakiau in Indonesia; (Overseas Chinese in Indonesia); By Pramoedya Ananta Toer; Garba Budaya, Jakarta, 1998; xi + 293 pp

JAKARTA (JP): This book was originally a long essay in the form of letters -- nine all together -- addressed to a certain Hs-y (later identified as Chen Hsia-yu or Chen Xiaru, his interpreter in a 1958 visit to China, with whom he later established a close friendship) and published in Bintang Minggu between November 1959 and early March 1960.

As this epistolary essay later came out in 10 other newspapers, Pramoedya saw the need to have it published in book form.

So Hoakiau saw the light of day as a book some time in March 1960. It was published in 10,000 copies, translated into Chinese and distributed in Indonesia, Burma (now Myanmar), Cambodia and China.

As Hoakiau was obviously Pramoedya's immediate reaction to the issuance of the Government Regulation No. 10/1959 which banned Chinese-Indonesians from doing business in rural areas. The policy led to large scale voluntary repatriation.

The book was banned almost as soon as it was published and the writer incarcerated for close to a year.

As is stated in the publisher's foreword, Hoakiau has now been re-published because the subject matter that Pramoedya dwells on is still relevant today, especially in the context of the tragic May 13 to May 15, 1998 anti-Chinese mass rioting in Jakarta.

In Hoakiau Pramoedya tries to trace back the position of ethnic Chinese in Indonesia's history in order to find out the root cause of anti-Chinese sentiment which has often been fanned for some ulterior motives by the powers that be. In the third letter he writes:

"Hs-y, the anti-Chinese cliche, which was first implanted by the colonial rulers because of their fear of being pushed away from their position -- although the Chinese themselves have never proved the correctness of this prejudice -- was later passed on and expanded to the non-Chinese bourgeoisie". (p. 82)

Obviously, Pramoedya is convinced that the anti-Chinese feeling has never been part of the Indonesian people and writes in the same letter that:

"Before the establishment of VOC (the Dutch East Indies Trading Company) there never was any confusion in the relation ship between the people and ethnic Chinese." (p. 77)

In Hoakiau Pramoedya argues that the Indonesian people do not generally harbor anti-Chinese sentiment.

".... In the midst of their hard work, the people do not see any need to develop a sentiment against another race, as long as there are no destructive elements manipulating the honesty of these people." (p. 50)

To Pramoedya, the indigenous Indonesians and the ethnic Chinese do not really have problems in their relationship until some people with destructive ulterior motives come along and fan the anti-Chinese sentiment.

Hoakiau also gives readers ample information about what the ethnic Chinese in Indonesia did for the good of the country in the past and how they fought along the indigenous Indonesians against colonial powers.

In plain language Pramoedya describes how the ethnic Chinese in Indonesia began to get a firm foothold in the trade and business sectors and how they also began to find their place in the existing social system. All this dated back long before the presence of the Dutch colonialism in Indonesia.

Although Pramoedya is not writing a scientific book, his Hoakiau is rich in detailed sociohistorical explanation about the presence of ethnic Chinese in Indonesia. In this way he wants the readers to see that ethnic Chinese are actually not to blame for the sins they are usually accused of. Very touchingly he writes:

"In the serenity of Christmas Eve, I sincerely pray that all political commanders today are bestowed with sufficient courage to be able to deal with current difficulties, and do not postpone or run away from their problems by sacrificing certain groups in society, ..." (p. 102).

To him, the banning of some 500,000 ethnic Chinese from doing business in rural areas, as prompted by the enforcement of Government Regulation No. 10/1959, was only an unjust act to run away from the real problems by scapegoating other people. In this context, the ethnic Chinese have always served as fitting and regular scapegoats for the government. Therefore, the anti- Chinese problem will disappear once the government decides to no longer treat the ethnic Chinese as its political scapegoats.

About how the anti-Chinese sentiment will fare, Pramoedya aptly writes:

"We must come forward and state that anything violating humanity is savagery. And as a human being must be one with humanity, a human being devoid of any humanity is only half- human. The other half is beastly ...

"A certain policy devoid of humanity may temporarily succeed. Perhaps. But this success is not intended for the people, because anywhere, in any country, people never harbor an enmity against other people in any other country. And anywhere people faithfully devote themselves to humanity, it is that they give life to mankind on earth. So, whatever the political moves will be that the power holders and high-ranking officials may make, we must ask whether these moves benefit the people or only pretend to benefit them ...

"...I also view the Hoakiau question from the point of view of the people's interest, because I am myself part of the people and do not belong to the powerholder or high-ranking official class." (pp 273-274).

Apparently Pramoedya is convinced that once the government decides to do everything exactly in the interest of the people, the question of the ethnic Chinese will disappear by itself.

-- Lie Hua

(The reviewer teaches at the Department of English, School of Letters, private National University, Jakarta).