Ethnic Chinese in Contemporary Indonesia

10. Is there a Future for Chinese Indonesians?

177 10 IS THERE A FUTURE FOR CHINESE INDONESIANS? Jamie Mackie What฀kind฀of฀future฀can฀be฀foreseen฀in฀the฀decades฀ahead฀of฀us,฀or฀hoped฀ for,฀by฀the฀Chinese฀Indonesians฀(or฀Sino-Indonesians,฀as฀I฀feel฀they฀would฀be฀ better฀named,฀by฀analogy฀with฀terms฀such฀as฀Sino-Thai฀and฀Sino-Americans)?฀ Will฀it฀be฀smoother฀than฀the฀bumpy฀ride฀they฀have฀experienced฀since฀1945,฀ or฀even฀more฀troubled฀and฀insecure?฀Nobody฀can฀possibly฀know,฀of฀course;฀ but฀some฀guesses฀may฀be฀better฀than฀others฀and฀it฀is฀worth฀trying฀to฀work฀ out฀which฀factors฀are฀likely฀to฀influence฀the฀outcome฀most฀strongly.฀Moreover,฀ the฀task฀of฀trying฀to฀analyse฀how฀far฀current฀trends฀are฀likely฀to฀persist฀or฀ change฀in฀the฀years฀ahead฀(even฀those฀rooted฀far฀back฀in฀the฀past)฀is฀itself฀a฀ challenging,฀and฀at฀times,฀controversial,฀exercise,฀yet฀crucial฀for฀any฀serious฀ attempt฀to฀think฀about฀their฀future. For฀that฀purpose,฀my฀aim฀here฀is฀to฀start฀by฀looking฀at฀some฀of฀the฀ currently฀observable฀trends฀that฀are฀likely฀to฀exert฀an฀impact฀on฀the฀future฀ course฀of฀ethnic฀relations฀affecting฀the฀situation฀of฀the฀Sino-Indonesians฀(or฀ SI,฀as฀I฀will฀refer฀to฀them฀henceforth),฀then฀to฀assess฀what฀may฀be฀the฀most฀ probable฀determinants฀of฀any฀future฀course฀of฀events฀relevant฀to฀that,฀the฀ least฀desirable฀as฀well฀as฀the฀most;฀finally฀to฀consider฀what฀factors฀are฀likely฀ to฀influence฀pribumi฀attitudes฀towards฀the฀SI฀and,฀conversely,฀what฀kinds฀of฀ responses฀and฀attitudes฀are฀likely฀to฀emerge฀among฀the฀SI฀themselves. Before฀embarking฀on฀those฀substantive฀issues,฀however,฀I฀must฀say฀ something฀about฀my฀use฀of฀some฀of฀the฀terminologies฀here฀and฀about฀the฀basic฀ 10฀Ethnic.indd฀฀฀177 9/9/08฀฀฀4:45:41฀PM 178 Jamie Mackie reasoning฀that฀underlies฀my฀own฀approach฀to฀this฀subject.1 ฀Even฀the฀adjective฀ “Chinese”฀or฀the฀term฀“Sino-Indonesian”฀can฀be฀problematic฀since฀in฀the฀last฀ resort,฀it฀must฀be฀a฀matter฀of฀self-identification฀by฀the฀person(s)฀concerned,฀ as฀was฀found฀by฀the฀designers฀of฀the฀2000฀Census฀in฀Indonesia฀when฀they฀ had฀to฀formulate฀a฀question฀about฀the฀ethnicity฀of฀its฀respondents฀for฀the฀first฀ time฀since฀the฀1930฀Census.฀It฀is฀not฀just฀a฀matter฀of฀one’s฀name฀or฀language,฀ or฀religion,฀or฀socio-cultural฀characteristics฀—฀what฀Geertz฀usefully฀called฀ “primordial฀loyalties”฀—฀although฀these฀are฀often฀used฀as฀rough฀markers฀for฀ various฀purposes.2 ฀On฀the฀other฀hand,฀self-identification฀is฀not฀simply฀a฀matter฀ of฀subjective฀choice;฀descent฀or฀ancestry฀is฀a฀crucial,฀even฀inescapable,฀factor฀in฀ the฀equation.฀Many฀pribumi,฀perhaps฀most,฀are฀inclined฀to฀see฀the฀issue฀simply฀ in฀racial฀terms,฀unfortunately,฀and฀in฀many฀cases฀even฀to฀regard฀the฀SI฀still฀ as฀asing฀(aliens),฀not฀“real฀Indonesians”฀(asli),฀without฀adequately฀recognizing฀ that฀nearly฀all฀of฀them฀are฀now฀Indonesian฀citizens,฀born฀and฀educated฀in฀ Indonesia,฀and฀that฀they฀now฀identify฀themselves฀as฀Indonesians฀rather฀than฀ Chinese,฀albeit฀of฀a฀distinctive฀ethnic฀stock.฀Yet฀their฀Chinese฀ancestry฀and฀ cultural฀background฀is฀still฀a฀source฀of฀great฀pride฀to฀most฀of฀them,฀which฀ they฀are฀reluctant฀to฀abandon฀—฀just฀as฀Americans฀and฀Australians฀of฀British฀ ancestry฀were฀a฀few฀generations฀back,฀or฀those฀of฀Italian,฀German,฀or฀Polish฀ ancestry฀(and฀others)฀in฀the฀U.S.,฀who฀retain฀varying฀degrees฀of฀pride฀in฀ their฀ethnic฀background฀and฀culture.฀Becoming฀more฀and฀more฀American฀ or฀Australian฀over฀the฀years฀has฀not฀entirely฀eliminated฀that.฀ The฀old฀notion฀of฀a฀“melting฀pot”฀which฀would฀fuse฀them฀all฀into฀broadly฀ homogeneous฀Americans฀or฀Australians฀in฀a฀process฀of฀“assimilation”฀has฀ long฀ago฀been฀abandoned฀as฀fallacious.฀Assimilation฀is฀a฀word฀which฀literally฀ implies฀“making฀similar”฀in฀some฀vague,฀but฀overarching฀sense,฀an฀almost฀ impossible฀dream฀for฀impoverished฀immigrants฀in฀most฀cases.฀The฀many฀ groups฀of฀“hyphenated”฀Americans,฀Australians,฀or฀Canadians฀(and฀similar฀ immigrant฀groups฀in฀many฀other฀countries฀in฀this฀era฀of฀mass฀international฀ migration)฀who฀retain฀their฀sense฀of฀ethnic฀origins฀while฀becoming฀full- fledged฀and฀loyal฀citizens฀of฀the฀country฀they฀have฀settled฀in฀—฀a฀process฀ called฀“multiculturalism”฀in฀some฀countries,฀although฀it฀is฀not฀an฀entirely฀ satisfactory฀term,฀and฀hardly฀appropriate฀at฀all฀to฀Indonesia’s฀unique฀nation฀ building฀operation฀—฀provide฀us฀with฀better฀examples฀of฀how฀such฀groups฀ can฀be฀absorbed฀into฀the฀wider฀society฀of฀their฀new฀land฀than฀do฀such฀terms฀ as฀“melting-pot”฀or฀“assimilation”.฀The฀notion฀of฀“hybridity”฀is฀a฀feature฀of฀ many฀countries฀worldwide฀in฀this฀age฀of...