The fate of ethnic Chinese

The fate of ethnic Chinese

I am writing in response to Sumarsono Sastrowardoyo's letter
of May 30. Mr. Sumarsono prefers to blame the victim rather than
look in the mirror and realize that because of people with an
attitude like his, Indonesia is a country where the ethnic
minority is systematically persecuted and lives under the
constant threat of racial terror.

First, it needs to be stated that many Chinese-Indonesians did
not leave the country before the riots broke out, and we all know
the consequences they suffered. Rampaging mobs stopped cars and
motorcycles, and if the passengers were ethnic Chinese, the
vehicles were burned on the spot and the passengers beaten.

Reports of rape of Chinese-Indonesian women by rioters are
also widespread. Many ruko (shop-house) were ransacked and
burned. Unfortunately, in such a building the owner and his
family often inhabit the top floor, and if rioters set the bottom
floor ablaze we can only wonder at the fate of its inhabitants
trapped on the top floor. Even private residences were not exempt
in last month's rioting, with whole housing complexes being
invaded and ransacked by mobs.

It is easy to see why Chinese-Indonesians would try to escape
in a crisis. They are discriminated against on every level of
government and society. Differentiated from "natives" by their
identification card numbers, they must pay extra legal fees to
process even the simplest of documents. They are subject to
restrictive quotas by government as well as private universities
and excluded from employment in the civil service and the Armed
Forces. Is it any wonder that they choose to become
entrepreneurs?

The differentiation between native and nonnative is especially
ironic considering that some of Indonesia's most famous citizens
on the international level, such as Onghokham, Kwik Kian Gie and
Susi Susanti, are of Chinese descent but they still have to
suffer from this double standard.

I think that in the spirit of reform it is time that all
Indonesians contemplate the true meaning of the concepts of human
rights and democracy as well as how to apply them universally and
fairly to all layers and segments of society, including ethnic
Chinese. Until this society does so, real democracy and genuinely
universal human rights will remain an elusive dream and innocent
people will continue to be persecuted.

JIWAY FRANCIS TUNG

Jakarta