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)