Ethnic Chinese in Contemporary Indonesia

4. No More Discrimination Against the Chinese

57 4 NO MORE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THE CHINESE Frans H. Winarta THE HISTORY OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THE CHINESE The Dutch Government Era Indonesia฀ did฀ not฀ have฀ regulations฀ of฀ citizenship฀ during฀ the฀ Dutch฀ colonization฀period฀that฀started฀with฀the฀establishment฀of฀the฀old฀Dutch฀ Association฀of฀East฀Indies฀Company฀(Vereenigde฀Oostindische฀Compagnie฀or฀ VOC )฀in฀1815.฀The฀population฀then฀was฀not฀classified฀into฀“indigenous฀ people”฀and฀“foreigners”,฀but฀according฀to฀physical฀appearances฀and฀other฀ criteria฀such฀as฀status,฀for฀example,฀a฀VOC฀official฀(compagniesdienaren),฀ a฀freeman,฀or฀a฀slave.฀Another฀classification฀was฀based฀on฀religion฀such฀as฀ “Christian”฀(christenen)฀or฀“non-Christian”฀(onchristenen฀blinde฀heidenen).฀ The฀race฀or฀ethnicity฀of฀a฀person฀was฀acknowledged,฀but฀without฀distinctions฀ made,฀for฀example,฀a฀Chinese฀was฀entitled฀to฀declare฀himself฀a฀Chinese฀at฀ that฀time.฀ This฀segregation฀policy฀started฀when฀the฀government฀of฀the฀NetherlandsIndies ฀took฀over฀the฀colony฀from฀the฀VOC.฀The฀segregation฀problem฀and฀ its฀negative฀consequences฀which฀are฀being฀seen฀nowadays฀are฀due฀to฀the฀ “divide฀and฀conquer”฀policy฀inherited฀from฀the฀Netherlands-Indies฀that฀was฀ effected฀through฀the฀issuance฀of฀the฀163฀Netherlands-Indies฀State฀Regulation฀ (Indische฀Staatsregelling),฀dated฀2฀September฀1854,฀Ned.฀S.฀154–2,฀S.฀1855–2฀ 04฀Ethnic.indd฀฀฀57 9/9/08฀฀฀4:43:28฀PM 58 Frans H. Winarta jo.฀1,฀which฀segregated฀the฀population฀into฀three฀groups:฀(1)฀Europeans;฀ (2)฀Foreign฀Orientals฀such฀as฀the฀Chinese,฀Indians,฀Arabs;฀and฀(3)฀the฀ indigenous.1 ฀The฀segregation฀policy฀was฀also฀found฀in฀Civil฀Registration,฀ such฀as฀State฀Regulation฀1849–25฀of฀year฀1849,฀regarding฀Civil฀Registration฀ for฀Europeans;฀State฀Regulation฀1917–130฀of฀year฀1917,฀regarding฀Civil฀ Registration฀for฀Chinese฀Foreign฀Easterners;฀State฀Regulation฀1920–751฀of฀ year฀1920฀concerning฀Civil฀Registration฀for฀Muslim฀Indigenous฀People;฀and฀ State฀Regulation฀1933–75฀of฀year฀1933฀on฀Civil฀Registration฀for฀Christian฀ Indigenous฀People. This฀ segregation฀ policy฀ was฀ introduced฀ by฀ the฀ Netherlands-Indies฀ Government,฀which฀gave฀the฀Europeans฀the฀highest฀status฀and฀distinguished฀ rights฀to฀the฀best฀facilities฀in฀society.฀The฀Chinese฀were฀recognized฀at฀that฀ time฀as฀Foreign฀Orientals฀(vreemde฀oosterlingen)฀who฀were฀inferior฀to฀the฀ Europeans.฀The฀Indigenous฀People฀(inlander)฀were฀given฀the฀lowest฀status,฀ with฀the฀exception฀of฀the฀royal฀family฀who฀shared฀the฀same฀status฀as฀the฀ Europeans.฀Such฀segregation฀aligned฀with฀the฀“divide฀and฀conquer”฀policy฀ of฀the฀Netherlands-Indies฀Government.2 The฀ Netherlands-Indies฀ Government฀ believed฀ that฀ they฀ would฀ be฀ threatened฀if฀the฀indigenous฀people฀joined฀the฀Chinese฀to฀oppose฀the฀ government.3 ฀Thus,฀the฀population฀was฀segregated฀into฀three฀groups,฀each฀ differing฀in฀role฀and฀economic฀conditions.฀The฀government฀was฀then฀able฀to฀ apply฀the฀“divide฀and฀conquer”฀principle฀to฀the฀indigenous฀people฀and฀the฀ Chinese,฀causing฀distrust฀which฀generated฀constant฀hatred฀between฀them. The฀indigenous฀people฀considered฀this฀unjust฀and฀were฀jealous฀and฀angry.฀ Not฀only฀did฀the฀segregation฀policy฀make฀them฀suspicious,฀but฀the฀process฀ of฀segregation฀and฀the฀growing฀prejudice฀were฀intentionally฀created฀by฀the฀ Netherlands-Indies฀Government.฀This฀condition฀has฀persisted฀until฀now. During฀this฀period,฀the฀peranakan฀Chinese฀were฀segregated฀into฀two฀ political฀groups:฀the฀first฀group฀was฀the฀Chung฀Hwa฀Hui฀(CHH),฀which฀ supported฀the฀Dutch฀Colonial฀Government;4 ฀the฀second฀group฀was฀the฀Partai฀ Tionghoa฀Indonesia฀(PTI),฀which฀supported฀the฀Indonesian฀Independence฀ Movement.5 ฀Some฀of฀their฀prominent฀figures฀fought฀together฀with฀other฀nonIndonesian ฀Chinese฀leaders฀for฀the฀independence฀of฀Indonesia.฀However,฀this฀ fact฀has฀been฀ignored฀by฀Indonesian฀society฀and฀historians.6 The Japanese Government Era The฀“divide฀and฀rule”฀policy฀against฀the฀Chinese฀continued฀into฀the฀Japanese฀ Occupation฀during฀the฀Second฀World฀War฀(WWII).฀The฀Japanese฀had฀ deliberately฀forced฀and฀segregated฀the฀Chinese,฀forcing฀them฀to฀study฀in฀a฀ 04฀Ethnic.indd฀฀฀58 9/9/08฀฀฀4:43:29฀PM No More Discrimination Against The Chinese 59 particular฀school฀established฀for฀them฀which฀used฀the฀Chinese฀language฀in฀the฀ classroom.7 ฀Furthermore,฀they฀were฀forced฀to฀speak฀Chinese฀outside฀school.฀ Some฀of฀them฀were฀recruited฀by฀the฀Japanese฀for฀espionage,฀which฀worsened฀ the฀image฀of฀Chinese฀Indonesians฀because฀they฀were฀accused฀of฀collaborating฀ with฀the฀vicious฀Japanese฀against฀the฀indigenous฀people. The฀Chinese฀were฀having฀difficulties฀and฀hesitated฀to฀determine฀their฀ future฀as฀citizens.฀Some฀of฀them฀believed฀they฀were฀foreigners฀although฀they฀ had฀settled฀in฀Indonesia฀as฀they฀had฀experienced฀segregation฀during฀the฀Dutch฀ and฀Japanese฀colonial฀periods.฀Although,฀they฀had฀settled฀in฀Indonesia,฀their฀ status฀was฀unclear.฀They฀also฀had฀emotional฀ties฀with฀what฀they...