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.