The saga on the political stage

The saga on the political stage

Lie Hua, Contributor, Jakarta

First impression: This is really a tome, in the real sense of the
word. When you consider the topic of discussion, it must be
agreed that a book 10 times as thick as this one would not be
enough to make an exhaustive discussion of the subject.

Chinese-Indonesians have their roots in this country as far
back as the 9th century A.D., when they began to arrive on this
foreign shore in search of a new life. Although the biggest waves
of Chinese immigrants were recorded in the late 19th and early
20th centuries, for over 1,200 years, Chinese-Indonesians have
been part of the Indonesian people, albeit with a great many
changes in fortune.

This book is interesting reading because it sets the
discussion of the lives of Chinese-Indonesians against the
backdrop of Indonesia's history. Readers can find the history of
this country unfolding before them and at the same time observe
how Chinese immigrants became established in this country.

A period of over 12 centuries is long enough for the inter-
relationship to develop between Chinese immigrants, their
descendants and the indigenous Indonesians, especially
considering that the first batches of Chinese immigrants were
males.

They married indigenous Indonesian women, with these unions
further strengthening ties between the newcomers and native
Indonesians.

Understandably, Chinese-Indonesians have played a role
alongside indigenous Indonesians in the historical stage of this
country. There are quite a lot of examples in this respect and
readers can find a fascinating description of how Chinese-
Indonesians have helped shape the history of this archipelago.

One obvious example is the contribution of Chinese-Indonesians
to the development of the Indonesian language. As Chinese
immigrants first settled in coastal areas and conducted trading
activities, they used Malay as the medium of communication,
thereby helping in its spread throughout the archipelago.

Linguistically, this kind of Malay -- the vernacular language
-- is called Low Malay, in contrast to High Malay, the language
used by more educated people. It is this Malay that later
developed as the present Indonesian language. Many things can be
explored in the language area that can show the important role
that Chinese immigrants played in the development of the
Indonesian language.

The book also gives copious examples of Chinese-Indonesian
literature, as well as evidence of Chinese-Indonesians' interest
in and concern for Indonesian affairs in general.

Another interesting feature of the book is its lengthy
discussion of the group's participation on Indonesia's political
stage, a subject which, as the title suggests, must be the main
reason for the writing of this book. In all phases of Indonesian
history -- before and after the country's declaration of
independence on Aug. 17, 1945 -- there are records of Chinese-
Indonesians' participation.

The book also gives quite a detailed account of how Dutch
colonial rule segregated Chinese-Indonesians from other
Indonesians. To be sure, this "divide and rule" policy has left a
legacy of unreasonable spite against Chinese-Indonesians.

Unfortunately, as the book says, Chinese-Indonesians used to
be divided into two camps -- the assimilationists and the
integrationists. The former believed that Chinese-Indonesians had
to abandon all things Chinese and assimilate into Indonesian
culture.

The latter countered by saying that Chinese-Indonesians had to
be integrated into the Indonesian community.
While retaining their Chinese tradition and mores, they, just
like any other ethnic group in multi-ethnic Indonesia, would
naturally become part of the Indonesian nation. Forcing them to
assimilate would always lead to the "Chinese issue". Their
argument was that Chinese-Indonesians had lived alongside
indigenous Indonesians for hundreds of years without causing much
trouble.

Of course, the presence of Chinese-Indonesians is a fact and
in the reform era, it must not be manipulated for certain
political motives. During the New Order era, the ruling regime
issued many regulations that prohibited Chinese-Indonesians from
sticking to their tradition and mores.

Instead of settling the problem once and for all, the issue
remained a thorn in the side of national development of the
country. The discriminative regulations just highlighted the
government's "special" treatment of Chinese-Indonesians.

If Chinese-Indonesians are allowed to lead their lives
normally like every other ethnic group in Indonesia -- reward
them for their merits and punish them for their transgressions --
the issue would disappear by itself.

The book does not explicitly say this, but it is the message
that one can interpret after examining the saga of Chinese-
Indonesians and how they have fared in their adopted homeland.

One word of warning: If you want to really digest the book,
read it slowly and carefully as it contains a huge number of
names that interact to weave a mosaic of how Chinese-Indonesians
have fared during their many centuries in Indonesia.

Despite the cynicism of their countrymen, many of them have
silently devoted their lives to increased prosperity and glory of
this country. Their traces can be found in many aspects of life
in this country, ranging from language, to architecture and food.

Such a thorough and detailed work is only to be expected from
Benny, himself a Chinese-Indonesian and the founder of the
Tionghoa Indonesia Association (INTI) and the Center for the
Study of Nationality Issues (ELKASA).

Tionghoa dalam Pusaran Politik (Chinese-Indonesians in the
Political Whirlwind), by Benny G. Setiono, ELKASA, no publication year
xv + 1,139 pp