Soeharto stresses equal rights for all

Soeharto stresses equal rights for all

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto has appealed to Indonesia's
minority ethnic groups to strengthen nationalism and work
together with the rest of the nation to face the challenges of
the 21st century.

In a meeting with representatives of the groups Tuesday night,
Soeharto said every citizen, irrespective of their ethnic
background, had equal rights and obligations, Minister/State
Secretary Moerdiono said yesterday.

"All Indonesian citizens have equal positions in law,
politics, economy and in social affairs," Moerdiono said, quoting
the President.

On Tuesday night Soeharto met with leaders of Bakom PKB, a
forum of public figures from various ethnic groups established in
1977 to promote national unity.

They included tycoon Soedono Salim and his son Anthony Salim,
hotelier Sukamdani Sahid Gitosardjono, banker Usman Admadjaja,
scholar Juwono Sudarsono, businesswoman Rosita Sofjan Noer, civil
servant Harbrinderjit Singh Dilon, scholar Bachtiar Aly,
M.Indradi Kusuma and K.Sindhunatha, one of the group's founders.

Moerdiono met with some of them again at his office yesterday.

Indonesia's ethnic Chinese make up 5 percent of the 200
million population and is the largest of the minority ethnic
groups. Other major groups include Arabs and Indians.

The majority ethnic groups are Malays in the west, and
Melanesians in the east.

Soeharto stressed the importance of building a state founded
on nationalism in anticipation of the free trade era. "If we fail
to compete, our country will be flooded with foreign goods. We
will face unemployment and other social problems," he said,
according to Moerdiono.

Soedono Salim, also known by his Chinese name Liem Sioe Liong,
said yesterday that most ethnic Chinese were in business because
they had not been able to work in government offices.

"If a Chinese person wants to work in a government office,
would he be allowed to?" Liem asked in broken Indonesian.

Liem, Indonesia's biggest taxpayer, considered himself more
Indonesian than Chinese because he had spent 61 years of his life
in Indonesia and only 21 years in his "native land".

"I work here, I do business here, I got married here... so do
you see me as Chinese or Indonesian? Where have I spent most of
my time?

"When it comes to speaking, I'm not fluent. That's because I
spent 21 years there (in China)," Liem said.

"I have more than 225,000 employees, only a small percentage
of them are Chinese. I am proud to be an Indonesian, and I am a
patriot," he added.

Juwono, chairman of the forum, said the ethnic groups were not
required to shed their identity in embracing nationalism.

"Take East Timor as an example. There have been fears that
migrants will dilute the local culture. We do not wish for any
local culture, no matter how small, to disappear.

"We want them to feel safe and protected within this nation-
state," Juwono said.

When asked about the absence of any ethnic Chinese minister in
subsequent cabinets of President Soeharto, Juwono said: "That's a
matter of policy. But what is most important is that everybody is
treated equally before the law." (06)