Ethnic Chinese in Contemporary Indonesia

3. Indonesian Government Policies and the Ethnic Chinese: Some Recent Developments

48 3 INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND THE ETHNIC CHINESE: SOME RECENT DEVELOPMENTS Eddie Lembong This฀chapter฀aims฀to฀examine฀Indonesian฀government฀policies฀towards฀ethnic฀ Chinese฀with฀special฀reference฀to฀recent฀and฀new฀developments.฀However,฀ as฀Wang฀Gungwu฀has฀noted฀in฀one฀of฀his฀books,฀“[I]t฀is฀not฀really฀possible฀ to฀understand฀what฀seems฀to฀be฀new,฀without฀reference฀to฀the฀past.”1 ฀I฀shall฀ thus฀present฀a฀historical฀background฀before฀discussing฀the฀various฀government฀ policies. PRE-COLONIAL AND COLONIAL PERIODS: THE ORIGINS OF THE ETHNIC TENSION The฀Chinese฀had฀arrived฀in฀Southeast฀Asia฀in฀general฀and฀in฀Indonesia฀in฀ particular฀long฀before฀the฀coming฀of฀the฀Western฀powers.฀Some฀of฀them฀ were฀Muslims,฀and฀their฀numbers฀began฀to฀increase฀in฀the฀fifteenth฀century,฀ coinciding฀with฀the฀seven฀voyages฀(1405–32)฀of฀Admiral฀Zheng฀He.฀These฀ Chinese฀Muslims฀posed฀no฀problems฀for฀the฀Indonesian฀population฀as฀they฀ were฀able฀to฀assimilate฀into฀the฀local฀communities.2 However,฀the฀position฀of฀the฀Chinese฀began฀to฀change฀after฀the฀coming฀ of฀the฀West,฀especially฀after฀the฀Dutch฀had฀established฀their฀colonial฀rule.฀ 03฀Ethnicn.indd฀฀฀48 9/23/08฀฀฀2:44:44฀PM Recent Developments in Indonesian Government Policies Towards Ethnic Chinese 49 The฀Dutch฀divided฀the฀inhabitants฀in฀the฀Dutch฀East฀Indies฀(colonial฀ Indonesia)฀into฀at฀least฀three฀racial฀groups:฀Europeans฀(particularly฀Dutch),฀ foreign฀orientals฀(particularly฀Chinese),฀and฀the฀indigenous฀people.฀These฀ different฀racial฀groups฀played฀different฀economic฀roles.฀The฀Dutch฀were฀ in฀the฀wholesale฀business,฀the฀Chinese฀in฀intermediary฀trade฀(acting฀as฀ middlemen),฀while฀members฀of฀the฀indigenous฀population฀were฀farmers฀and฀ small฀traders.3 In฀fact,฀the฀Dutch฀introduced฀this฀“Divide฀et฀Imperia”฀(divide฀and฀rule)฀ policy฀to฀bolster฀their฀colonial฀rule.฀They฀feared฀that฀if฀there฀was฀racial฀unity฀ between฀the฀indigenous฀people฀and฀the฀Chinese,฀it฀would฀threaten฀and฀even฀ put฀an฀end฀to฀their฀colonial฀rule.฀ The฀separateness฀of฀the฀Chinese฀from฀other฀racial/ethnic฀groups฀in฀ colonial฀Indonesia฀was฀a฀fact฀of฀life.4 ฀However,฀the฀Chinese฀themselves฀were฀ divided฀into฀at฀least฀the฀singkeh฀(totok)฀and฀peranakan฀(local-born฀with฀mixed฀ blood).฀The฀rise฀of฀Chinese฀nationalism฀in฀the฀early฀twentieth฀century฀also฀ resulted฀in฀the฀reorientation฀of฀the฀Chinese฀in฀Indonesia฀towards฀China.฀ Modern฀Chinese฀schools฀were฀set฀up฀and฀many฀ethnic฀Chinese฀children฀began฀ to฀learn฀the฀Chinese฀language฀and฀Chinese฀culture.฀The฀Tiong฀Hoa฀Hwee฀ Koan฀(THHK)฀movement,฀often฀known฀as฀a฀pan-Chinese฀movement,฀broke฀ out฀in฀the฀Dutch฀East฀Indies.5 ฀The฀Dutch฀authorities฀attempted฀to฀suppress฀ this฀“overseas฀Chinese฀nationalism”฀by฀introducing฀the฀Dutch฀citizenship฀law฀ and฀establishing฀Dutch฀and฀native฀schools฀for฀Chinese฀children.6 ฀Politically฀ and฀culturally,฀the฀Chinese฀in฀colonial฀Indonesia฀were฀divided. Under฀the฀Japanese฀Occupation฀of฀Indonesia฀(1942–45),฀new฀policies฀ impacted฀the฀Chinese฀when฀the฀new฀rulers฀treated฀them฀as฀one฀population.฀ No฀Dutch฀schools฀were฀allowed฀and฀all฀Chinese฀children฀were฀forced฀to฀ learn฀Japanese฀and฀Chinese.7 ฀As฀such,฀peranakan฀Chinese฀children฀were฀put฀ through฀a฀“resinicization”฀process.฀ In฀August฀1945,฀Japan฀surrendered.฀The฀Dutch฀returned฀intending฀to฀ reinstate฀colonial฀rule฀to฀the฀whole฀of฀Dutch฀East฀Indies.฀However,฀Indonesian฀ nationalists฀refused฀to฀accept฀the฀Dutch.฀When฀clashes฀took฀place฀between฀ the฀indigenous฀Indonesians฀and฀the฀Dutch,฀the฀Chinese฀were฀caught฀in฀the฀ middle. Under฀colonial฀rule,฀the฀Chinese฀gradually฀developed฀into฀a฀trading฀ minority฀placed฀between฀the฀Dutch฀and฀the฀indigenous฀population.฀They฀ were฀often฀perceived฀by฀the฀indigenous฀population฀as฀“economic฀creatures”฀ and฀politically฀closer฀to฀the฀Dutch฀than฀to฀the฀indigenous฀population.฀During฀ the฀Indonesian฀revolution฀(1945–50),฀the฀Dutch฀authorities฀purposely฀created฀ the฀impression฀that฀the฀Chinese฀were฀on฀their฀side฀and฀against฀Indonesia’s฀ independence,฀thus฀inciting฀hatred฀among฀the฀indigenous฀people฀towards฀ 03฀Ethnicn.indd฀฀฀49 9/23/08฀฀฀2:44:44฀PM 50 Eddie Lembong the฀ethnic฀Chinese.฀A฀series฀of฀anti-Chinese฀incidents฀erupted.฀In฀fact,฀the฀ situation฀was฀much฀more฀complicated.฀The฀Chinese฀were฀not฀a฀homogeneous฀ group,฀and฀many฀sided฀with฀the฀indigenous฀population. INDEPENDENT INDONESIA: GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND ANTI-CHINESE VIOLENCE The Soekarno Period (1950–65): Early Discriminatory Policies If฀the฀ethnic฀Chinese฀were฀heterogeneous฀prior฀to฀Indonesia’s฀independence,฀ they฀were฀equally฀divided฀culturally฀and฀economically฀after฀Indonesia฀became฀ independent.฀Nevertheless,฀it฀appears฀that,฀in฀general,฀the฀economic฀strength฀of฀ the฀Chinese฀minority฀remained฀strong,฀if฀not฀stronger.฀As฀the฀young฀republic฀ gradually฀focused฀on฀nation฀building,฀it฀was฀undecided฀on฀its฀policy฀towards฀ the฀Chinese...