RI shuttlers
RI shuttlers
Indonesia won its first gold medal, in badminton, at the
current Asian Games. Millions of TV viewers saw the dedication of
the players who again showed their prowess in an international
arena. The same hope and pride was shown and felt by all ethnic
groups: Javanese, Sundanese, Madurese, Sulawesi people, Minang,
Irianese, Flores people, Timorese, etc. They were all willing the
Indonesian shuttlers to win. Also, Chinese-Indonesians in Bangkok
and at home concentrated their hope on the national shuttlers. We
saw how our players defended every inch of their territory to
beat their opponents. They were also encouraged by the small
presence of fellow countrymen in the stadium. This small crowd
of Indonesians repeatedly shouted Merdeka and loudly sang songs
like Halo Halo Bandung.
Fellow countrymen, do you realize who they are, the players
and the spectators at the stadium? A closer observation shows
that most of them were ethnic Chinese, the same part of our
population who have always been the targets of riots and the
scapegoats of many problems in this land. For the umpteenth time,
by defeating their ancestral land, China, in badminton, Chinese-
Indonesians defended the name of our great nation without
launching any protests, while at the same time some of their
relatives at home were being attacked and their shops being
burned. On the same day of the badminton event, riots had just
broken out in Blora, where again the possessions of the ethnic
Chinese were the target of the masses' anger. The athletes did
not heed this riot, just like all the earlier riots, including
the mid-May riots in Jakarta.
May we all agree that the recent victory, like past victories
by Susi Susanti and Alan Budikusuma in the Olympics, and other
victories by the likes of Tan Joe Hok, Rudy Hartono, Liem Swie
King, Christian Hadinata, Tjun Tjun, Johan Wahyudi, Imelda Wiguna
and many others, including Ivana Lie, who, after playing
badminton for her country, is still experiencing difficulties in
obtaining her Indonesian citizenship, is the result of hard work
and dedication based on the spirit of the ethnic Chinese to fight
for Indonesia. It means that they form an inseparable part of
pluralistic Indonesia.
THEODORUS WIDODO
Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara