Who to blame?
Who to blame?
I am not a Chinese nor a pribumi (indigenous Indonesian). But
what I read in The Jakarta Post disturbs me and I think I have
lived in Indonesia long enough to understand the sentiments of
both sides. Correct me if I am wrong.
The pribumi blame the Chinese for their economic hardships.
The Chinese could not care less because they believe, at least
the Chinese working class do, that their money is hard earned.
The Chinese blame the pribumi for not accepting them as
Indonesians. The pribumi, however, believe it is the Chinese's
own doing by living in areas with a high concentration of
Chinese, like in West Jakarta.
Everyone is familiar with words like 'dasar Cina' (lowly
Chinese) from the pribumi while you will often hear Chinese
people say "typically pribumi". Both are normally said with
sarcasm.
In daily life in Indonesia, there is no way one lives a day
without dealing with a Chinese. From the most expensive appliance
to a bowl of meat balls, the person behind the counter is the
yellow race. And it is in this face, in my analysis, that the
root of the sentiments lie.
When a pribumi who is trying to bargain in Glodok is snubbed
and arrogantly asked to bargain elsewhere, he will develop a bud
of bad sentiment toward the Chinese. It is then compounded when
he goes to another store and faces another Chinese who sticks to
the same price. In his heart, he calls it Chinese Mafia with the
power to dictate the price. While for the Chinese, it is a simple
business strategy to prevent a price war. This kind of daily
encounter builds a mountain of bad sentiments.
Decades pass, the bud blooms. A group of irresponsible people
with their own political agenda pulls the trigger. The bomb
exploded on that fateful day in May. The Chinese were burned out
and raped. Who to blame? In my analysis, not the pribumi, not the
Chinese, but the government.
The government is there to safeguard its people. Obviously it
failed to protect the physical well-being of the Chinese and the
economic existence of the pribumi. And it also failed to stop the
people who pulled the trigger.
This failure caused priceless losses, and yet it seems nobody
learned anything. Nobody is trying to cure the disease. Everybody
is after the symptoms. The government is busy chasing the Chinese
entrepreneurs who got out of the country while investigating the
perpetrators of the burning and rape.
If only the government concentrated on curing the disease, it
would not have to worry about the symptoms. And the cure is to
merge these two peoples. Assimilating them into one community to
create a combined culture which would guarantee a peaceful
coexistence. To establish an atmosphere which accepts their basic
differences, to freely discuss it, debate on it and at the end of
the day sleep with it as one community.
To attain this objective, the government has to discourage the
a concentration of Chinese in one area. May it be a housing
complex, business centers. Eliminate all hindrances that block
the intermarriage between them like the law on marriage and
religion. Establish an acceptable ratio in the employ of private
and government establishments, including the military. And since
business is at present dominated by the Chinese, special
government incentives must be provided for pribumi to enter and
compete.
Political parties should be based on political agenda, not by
race. To allow a Chinese-dominated political party is again a
step to isolate the Chinese, not just to the benefit of
politicians but at the expense of the Chinese working class. The
history of Kwik Gian Gie is an ideal example of the role the
Chinese must have. They must be identified not as a Chinese but
instead for their political beliefs.
PONG C. POLICAR
Jakarta