Teddy speaks out for Chinese-Indonesians

Teddy speaks out for Chinese-Indonesians

David Kennedy
Contributor
Jakarta
d_kenn@yahoo.com

Him Tek Ji was 10 years old when he saw his first real soldiers
at an Indonesian Military (TNI) camp stationed near his school in
North Jakarta where he grew up. Every day he went to watch them
train and he knew one day he would be a soldier.

True to his childhood dream, Him Tek Ji enrolled in the
military academy when he finished school. He graduated in 1965 as
Lt. Teddy Jusuf.

His change of name was suggested by the governor of the
academy who was concerned about reactions to Chinese-Indonesians
joining the army.

Today the 59-year-old grandfather and chairman of the
Indonesian Chinese Social Association (Paguyuban Sosial Marga
Tionghoa Indonesia) looks back to the 1960s with a sense of
disbelief.

"Law (Presidential Instruction) No. 14/1967 prohibited the
public practice of Chinese language, customs and religious
beliefs, closed down organizations and schools and restricted
Chinese-Indonesians to the commercial sector. It was part of
international politics and the Cold War. I thought then that it
would be only for a short time like five to 10 years," he told
The Jakarta Post.

The decision to change the official term for people of Chinese
descent in Indonesia from Tionghoa (Chinese) to Cina (China) at
that time also had a far reaching effect, Teddy said, as it
labeled Chinese-Indonesians as outsiders with no stake in the
country even if their families had lived here for hundreds of
years.

"It meant that you were not seen as part of the nation of
Indonesia but part of the Peoples Republic of China. This
confusion between nation and people created a conflict in
people's minds," said Teddy who was born in Bogor to a Chinese-
born father and an Indonesian-born mother.

This conflict spilt on to the streets of Jakarta and other
Indonesian cities in May 1998 when hundreds lost their lives and
even more were injured and intimidated. Chinese-Indonesian
businesses were targeted during widespread rioting and looting
that followed student demonstrations calling for the resignation
of president Soeharto.

In times of crisis communities tend to look inwards. The
Indonesian Chinese Social Association was set up in the wake of
those events in 1998 and Teddy Jusuf emerged as its natural
leader.

Despite enduring a lot of discrimination in his early days in
the army, Teddy rose through the ranks, becoming a general in
1983 and even served as a senior staff member in army
intelligence. He puts his success down to hard work, discipline
and patience, qualities which would serve him well later in
establishing the association.

"People wanted a Chinese-Indonesian association with a
chairman who could protect them. I had a patriotic record and the
government trusted me."

The first task of the association was to create a support
network for Chinese-Indonesians to help deal with the aftermath
of the riots. Branches were set up in 25 provinces and 117 cities
across the country.

Reversing discriminative laws governing Chinese religion,
beliefs and traditional customs was also a high priority. Teddy
believes progress has been made in law reform since the
presidency of Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid. Laws restricting
Chinese culture were revoked in 2000. But he stresses that there
needs to be a continuous trend toward encouraging the full
participation of everyone in the economy and the state.

"Indonesians of Chinese descent should not be so concentrated
in one sector. They should be involved in more areas than just
business. There are many who would like to be in the military,
the police or to be a judge."

While the association sees the importance of working at a
grassroots level with social events and projects to promote
interethnic cooperation, Teddy stresses that the signal for
change must come from the top.

This year's Chinese New Year, better known here as Imlek, was
celebrated for the first time as an official national holiday.
However, Teddy and many other commentators lamented the absence
of a formal commitment to tackling remaining areas of
discrimination.

"As chairman of the Indonesian Chinese Social Association I
saw no special emphasis on promoting the new Chinese-Indonesian
identity or on giving the community a bigger role so they can
prove they are truly Indonesian citizens."

Teddy attended both national and Chinese language schools as a
boy and speaks Mandarin but feels the younger generation today is
confused and has lost much of their culture. This is well
illustrated on social occasions such as weddings when they are
often not sure what kind of dress they should wear: traditional
Chinese, traditional Javanese or something completely different?
In the end, he said, many now opt for Western dress.

There is a lot to be done, Teddy argues, before people can
really feel at ease being ethnic Chinese in Indonesia. Too many
questions remain unanswered surrounding the events of May 1998.
Teddy has been a regular attendee at meetings of the National
Commission for Human Rights (KomnasHAM). As chairman of the
Indonesian Chinese Social Association he has urged it to uphold
the rule of law.

"We are not looking for compensation. People just need to know
why the events of May 1998 happened and then forgive and forget.
We will keep reminding the government that this was a crime
against humanity that damaged the social cohesion of the
country."

Though he claims to have had his fill of politics when he was
a member of the legislature as an army officer from 1991 to 1997,
Teddy argues that all candidates for the presidency must show a
commitment to equal opportunities for all Indonesians.

Teddy is optimistic about the future. He sees progress in
events such as the annual Koko and Cici pageant, now in its
second year. This pageant, established to promote interethnic
relations, elects a "brother" and "sister" to act as ambassadors
from the ethnic Chinese community during civic occasions in
Jakarta.

Recently, his association has been invited to develop a
Chinese Museum on two hectares of land in Taman Mini Indonesia
Indah in East Jakarta. The museum, which is scheduled to open in
2005, will document the history of Chinese settlements in
Indonesia and show their contribution to the nation.