Ethnic Chinese in Contemporary Indonesia

2. Chinese Indonesians in Indonesia and the Province of Riau Archipelago: A Demographic Analysis

17 2 CHINESE INDONESIANS IN INDONESIA AND THE PROVINCE OF RIAU ARCHIPELAGO: A DEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS1 Aris Ananta Evi Nurvidya Arifin Bakhtiar Introduction In฀spite฀of฀the฀joy฀ethnic฀Chinese฀in฀Indonesia฀have฀known฀in฀the฀last฀eight฀ years,฀the฀size฀of฀their฀population฀remains฀debatable.฀Not฀surprisingly,฀it฀ was฀difficult฀to฀find฀accurate฀statistics฀on฀Chinese฀Indonesians.฀It฀is฀not฀easy฀ to฀produce฀the฀statistics฀because฀there฀is฀still฀no฀consensus฀on฀who฀Chinese฀ Indonesians฀are,฀even฀among฀Chinese฀Indonesians฀themselves.฀Ethnic฀Chinese฀ have฀been฀living฀in฀Indonesia฀for฀many฀generations฀and฀have฀experienced฀ many฀different฀political฀attitudes฀towards฀them.2 Furthermore,฀it฀was฀even฀a฀political฀taboo฀to฀produce฀statistics฀on฀the฀ ethnic฀composition฀in฀Indonesia฀during฀the฀Soeharto฀period฀(1967–98)฀ for฀the฀sake฀of฀nation฀building฀under฀the฀slogan฀of฀Bhinneka฀Tunggal฀Ika,฀ or฀unity฀in฀diversity.฀Everything฀related฀to฀Chineseness฀had฀also฀been฀seen฀ with฀suspicion.฀Not฀surprisingly,฀the฀political฀system฀had฀resulted฀in฀an฀ unwillingness฀and฀a฀lack฀of฀confidence฀among฀Chinese฀Indonesians฀to฀identify฀ themselves฀publicly฀as฀Chinese฀during฀1967–98.฀This฀attitude฀towards฀the฀ 02฀Ethnicn.indd฀฀฀17 9/23/08฀฀฀2:43:08฀PM 18 Aris Ananta, Evi Nurvidya Arifin, Bakhtiar Chinese฀and฀Chineseness฀aggravated฀the฀problem฀of฀producing฀statistics฀on฀ Chinese฀Indonesians.฀ Soeharto’s฀fall฀from฀power฀was฀a฀turning฀point฀for฀the฀Chinese฀in฀ Indonesia.฀The฀country฀under฀President฀Abdurrahman฀Wahid฀(Gus฀Dur)฀took฀ a฀positive฀step฀by฀abolishing฀some฀of฀the฀discriminatory฀laws฀against฀Chinese฀ Indonesians.฀The฀Chinese฀Lunar฀New฀Year,฀known฀locally฀as฀Imlek,฀had฀been฀ freely฀celebrated฀until฀the฀abortive฀1965฀coup฀when฀it฀was฀banned฀for฀about฀ three฀decades.฀It฀was฀later฀made฀an฀optional฀holiday฀under฀the฀presidency฀of฀ Gus฀Dur.฀His฀successor,฀Megawati฀Sukarnoputri,฀further฀made฀it฀an฀official฀ national฀holiday฀in฀2002฀and฀it฀has฀been฀celebrated฀throughout฀Indonesia฀ since฀then.฀Lion฀dances฀and฀red฀lanterns฀proliferate฀in฀many฀cities฀during฀ Chinese฀New฀Year฀celebration.฀Mandarin฀courses,฀for฀example,฀have฀also฀been฀ mushrooming฀and฀there฀have฀been฀many฀non-Chinese฀Indonesians฀taking฀ the฀courses.฀More฀importantly,฀the฀new฀law฀on฀citizenship฀passed฀in฀2006,฀ seen฀as฀a฀revolutionary฀step฀in฀ending฀discrimination฀against฀certain฀groups฀ of฀Indonesians,3 ฀including฀Chinese฀Indonesians,฀has฀legally฀allowed฀Chinese฀ Indonesians฀to฀hold฀several฀government฀posts,฀including฀the฀possibility฀to฀be฀ the฀president฀of฀the฀Republic฀of฀Indonesia.฀The฀law฀removed฀the฀distinction฀ between฀“indigenous”฀and฀“non-indigenous”฀Indonesians฀by฀redefining฀ “indigenous฀Indonesian”฀to฀include฀all฀citizens฀who฀have฀never฀assumed฀ foreign฀citizenship.฀ With฀this฀new฀and฀positive฀attitude฀towards฀the฀Chinese฀and฀Chineseness,฀ Chinese฀Indonesians฀now฀have฀the฀confidence฀to฀state฀who฀they฀are,฀though฀ they฀themselves฀may฀be฀confused฀in฀their฀understanding฀of฀their฀ethnicity.฀The฀ Chinese฀in฀Central฀Java,฀for฀example,฀may฀identify฀themselves฀as฀Indonesian,฀ Chinese,฀or฀Javanese฀—฀but฀they฀may฀also฀use฀a฀different฀identification฀ depending฀on฀the฀situation.฀Chua฀(2004)฀hinted฀that฀the฀only฀clear฀thing฀ distinguishing฀them฀from฀the฀pribumi฀(indigenous)฀were฀their฀skin฀colour฀ and฀eye฀shape.฀Koning฀(2006)฀argued฀that฀some฀of฀them฀may฀not฀define฀ themselves฀as฀Chinese฀though฀there฀is฀no฀political฀pressure฀to฀do฀so.฀This฀is฀ the฀case฀not฀because฀of฀their฀lack฀of฀confidence,฀but฀because฀they฀feel฀they฀ do฀not฀belong฀to฀it.฀Turner฀and฀Allen฀(2007)฀interpreted฀this฀phenomenon฀as฀ the฀emergence฀of฀the฀process฀of฀re-identification฀among฀Chinese฀Indonesians.฀ It฀is฀no฀longer฀an฀enforced฀assimilation. Therefore,฀statistics฀on฀Chinese฀Indonesians฀after฀Soeharto฀stepped฀down,฀ particularly฀after฀2000,฀may฀not฀suffer฀from฀the฀problem฀of฀understatement฀ because฀of฀their฀unwillingness฀and฀lack฀of฀confidence฀among฀Chinese฀ Indonesians฀to฀state฀publicly฀who฀they฀are.฀Rather฀the฀statistics฀will฀exclude฀ those฀“Chinese”฀who,฀even฀without฀any฀political฀and฀social฀pressure฀being฀ applied฀on฀them,฀do฀not฀feel฀they฀are฀Chinese. 02฀Ethnicn.indd฀฀฀18 9/23/08฀฀฀2:43:08฀PM Demographic Analysis of Chinese Indonesians 19 However,฀the฀debate฀on฀identity฀is฀not฀strictly฀limited฀to฀Chinese฀ Indonesians.฀It฀also฀applies฀to฀other฀ethnic฀groups฀in฀Indonesia,฀and฀even฀to฀ many฀ethnic฀groups฀in฀other฀parts฀of฀the฀world.฀In฀this฀chapter,฀we฀will฀not฀ delve฀into฀the฀debate฀on฀the฀identity฀of฀Chinese฀Indonesians.฀We฀utilize฀the฀ definition฀of฀ethnicity฀used฀in฀Indonesian฀surveys/censuses฀data฀—฀that฀is,฀the฀ concept฀of฀self-identification.฀The฀ethnicity฀of฀a฀person฀is฀defined฀according฀ to฀what฀the฀person...