Toward a true unitary nation

By Harkiman Racheman

MEDAN (JP): Cultural rights guarantee every human being to live any chosen lifestyle, and to satisfy his or her cultural identity, without experiencing discrimination from others, especially the state.

With the unexpected shift in national leadership from the now- defunct New Order to the current slightly reformed government in the background, a few well-educated Indonesians of Chinese descent have asked: What is going to happen to the basic rights of ethnic Chinese? Are their cultural rights going to be equally acknowledged and protected in the way of indigenous Indonesians?

To answer this, it is best to bear in mind that while the Javanese culture is instrumental to the social wellbeing of Javanese people and likewise the Batak culture is to Batak people, so is the Chinese culture important to the 10-million-or- so Indonesians of Chinese descent (now one of the five largest ethnic groups in the country).

A conceptual comprehension and absolute willingness from the entire populace in admitting that there is, in principle, such a symmetrical cultural need between the indigenous people and the Chinese, and that no one necessarily deserves more appreciation than the other, is indeed conducive to generating better quality multi-ethnic unity in Indonesia.

However, as a continuing result of the widespread political brainwashing by the New Order regime affecting the way of thinking and living of the indigenous masses, respect for human cultural equality has not developed. The majority of indigenous people in Indonesia do not have the faintest idea or, worse still, the least intention to fully grasp what the political analyst Christianto Wibisono has shrewdly called the virtual "inner suffering" of Chinese Indonesians.

In his article Searching for Real Racial Unity in The Jakarta Post (June 12, 1999), for example, a typical indigenous writer in the person of Sri Pamoedjo Rahardjo has failed to acknowledge the essence of the ethnic Chinese social and political sufferings. In fact, he typically joined with his indigenous peers in suggesting that ethnic Chinese should be de-powered with deliberate affirmative action "disincentives" because they advanced far too quickly in all spheres of life compared with the indigenous Indonesians.

"The national government," Rahardjo argued, "must have the courage to pass affirmative action programs to help improve the status of indigenous Indonesians. These policies should help expand the potential of indigenous Indonesians vis-a-vis Chinese Indonesians."

Even though the New Order's anti-Chinese cultural injustice, oppression and exploitation (among the reasons causing it to fall from grace) have now been formally abolished, the average indigenous Indonesian has not seemed to learn enough of the fact that the Chinese Indonesian's numerous sufferings under the corrupt regime did indeed far exceed their own.

During the New Order's administration, only the cultural expectations of indigenous groups were officially admitted and fulfilled. Those of Chinese Indonesians were blatantly disregarded, rejected or, worse still, systematically terminated. The indigenous majority seems to have denied that ethnic Chinese are also Indonesian citizens through and through, who have every reason to deserve equal political justice, guaranteed social security and indiscriminate cultural recognition.

It is even more saddening whenever the desire of the ethnic Chinese to plead for an equal cultural right was construed unfairly as an "anti-nationalism act" (read: a cliched pretext). This could be seen from the obvious objection by the New Order government officials (and, later on, by indigenous groups too) to public celebrations of Chinese New Year and other cultural festivals.

Thus, when these important celebrations were officially banned by small-minded authoritarian power holders, the Chinese could not help thinking that this was, in fact, a genuine case of cultural barbarism. It can be perhaps compared to having non- Muslims disallow the Idul Fitri observance or having non- Christians prohibit the observation of Christmas and other New Year's rituals.

That is why minority activist Junus Yahya's proposition to ban all Chinese culture in Indonesia would make very little sense at all. His total abandonment of his own Chinese religious and cultural background, something which will not gain immediate admiration from the Chinese community, cannot be taken as a precedent to deprive all other Chinese Indonesians of their cultural attachments. Representing absolutely nobody but himself, Junus Yahya has no right to suggest that the government de-power the ethnic community culturally by disallowing their open cultural observances.

Yahya's undemocratic proposition was unfortunately followed by the New Order government, which mistook the silent objection of the majority of Chinese Indonesians as voluntary approval. Like most indigenous Indonesians, he has turned a blind eye to the deeply felt cultural suffering of ethnic Chinese. In fact, Yahya's advice, as it turned out, only triggered the legalized practice of cultural genocide of Chinese Indonesians.

Fully encouraged and supported by Yahya's group and other so- called assimilationists (who constitute a sheer minority within the Chinese Indonesian community), the New Order bureaucrats uncompromisingly prohibited the Chinese from following their cultural rituals. On the Feb. 14, 1996, to mention but one example, the governor of Jakarta issued a decree banning Chinese New Year's celebrations throughout the capital.

It is not surprising, therefore, that in his sensational Kompas article of June 12, 1999, titled Kapok Jadi Nonpri (I have learned my lesson of being Chinese), the renowned social anthropologist Ariel Heryanto likened this type of official ban to that imposed on narcotic drugs, explosives and pornography in Indonesia.

While open protests would be impossible, the frustrated Chinese Indonesians would only blame racist regulations as the main source of their miseries. However, it would be utterly naive to assume that the Chinese could not identify such a structural mistreatment.

One of the numerous racist regulations which openly facilitated the open practice of cultural genocide against Chinese Indonesians was Presidential Decree No. 14/1967. This decree clearly prohibits any Chinese religious or customary observances.

Ironically, the indigenous people who often boast of their high level of cultural awareness seem to have shown no objection to this insensible discrimination. On the contrary, they even conditioned themselves to adopt an anti-Chinese stance and consequently, showed frequent groundless enmity toward elements of the Chinese Indonesian culture.

To mention one important example, until now indigenous Indonesians have not been willing to accept Chinese Malay literature (1870-1945), written in Bazaar Malay prior to the emergence of modern Indonesian literature in the 20th century. This huge body of literature has been only poorly acknowledged by a handful of indigenous literary authorities in the country.

The pivotal contribution of this vast literature (supported by 806 Chinese Indonesian authors and translators producing no less than 3304 pieces of literary work) toward the emergence and formation of modern Indonesian literature and press in bahasa Indonesia has been underestimated by indigenous historians. This pre-independence literary period, if it is properly researched, would indicate a very important starting point in what we later knew as modern Indonesian culture.

Fortunately, with the fall of the New Order regime and the rise of Habibie's transitional government such political malpractice has been fully identified. Even though there are still some objections (especially from those who have been taking advantage of the three-decade-long anti-Chinese racism), at least the Habibie government's recognition of essential multiculturalism would constitute an ideal political compromise for the Indonesians of Chinese descent.

Even though antiminority sentiments will continue to take hold of the socio-cultural discourses in the country (as the consequence of a slow and arbitrary transition), the formalized abolition of racial discrimination regulations by Habibie's administration would constitute an essential point of departure in molding a more acceptable code of ethics toward Chinese Indonesians.

One of the points expected to be on the agenda of the new reformist government in the near future should, therefore, be its permanent support for the idea that we are a unitary nation, despite our diverse ethnic and customary differences. And, all these different elements, rather than disintegrate, would unite the whole country within its renewed cultural patchwork known as the brand new Indonesian culture.

In the present reform era, in which many Chinese Indonesians have played diverse roles in accordance with their respective circumstances and capacities, though this may often be forgotten easily, let it be known that this minority community would like to see that their basic rights are finally acknowledged as well as protected.

Therefore, many thanks to Amien Rais' National Mandate Party and Gus Dur's National Awakening Party for taking the initial steps to fully grasping the Chinese Indonesians' "inner suffering" by promising publicly to protect their fundamental rights.

And, if the next government wants to remain consistent with the popular expectation for a modern democratic Indonesia, which upholds the principles of human rights and the supremacy of law, there will be no choice for them but to make ethnic Chinese a legitimate part of the Indonesian community.

One way to do that is for them to empower Chinese Indonesians culturally. But, if this right is to be overlooked, rest assured that the next government will be as vulnerable as the previous ones.

The writer is a graduate of Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. Based in Medan, he is currently a freelance writer and university lecturer.