Ethnic Chinese in Contemporary Indonesia

8. Ethnic Chinese and Ethnic Indonesians: A Love-Hate Relationship

137 8 ETHNIC CHINESE AND ETHNIC INDONESIANS: A LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP1 Natalia Soebagjo Almost฀ten฀years฀ago,฀ethnic฀Chinese฀became฀the฀systematic฀target฀and฀ victims฀of฀mass฀rioting.฀Even฀if฀the฀May฀’98฀riots฀were฀incited฀by฀as฀yet฀ unidentified฀“provocateurs”,฀they฀would฀not฀have฀developed฀so฀intensely฀and฀ so฀quickly฀if฀there฀were฀no฀underlying฀anti-Chinese฀sentiment฀among฀the฀ masses.2 ฀More฀than฀10,000฀were฀killed,฀including฀non-Chinese;฀primarily฀ ethnic฀Chinese฀women฀were฀gang-raped;฀and฀losses฀of฀around฀US$187.5฀ million฀were฀incurred,฀but฀to฀this฀day฀no฀decisive฀action฀has฀been฀taken฀to฀ follow฀up฀on฀reports฀and฀calls฀for฀accountability฀by฀the฀Indonesian฀Human฀ Rights฀Commission฀and฀other฀NGOs.฀The฀authorities’฀disinterest฀in฀finding฀ out฀the฀truth฀behind฀the฀riots฀only฀gives฀credence฀to฀the฀perception฀that฀the฀ Chinese฀are฀dispensable.฀ Hence,฀to฀be฀able฀to฀begin฀to฀resolve฀the฀problem฀of฀the฀Chinese฀in฀ Indonesia,฀we฀have฀to฀first฀accept฀the฀fact฀that฀there฀remains฀some฀ambivalence฀ on฀how฀the฀non-Chinese฀and฀Chinese฀respond฀to฀each฀other.฀One฀cannot฀ help฀but฀agree฀with฀social฀scientist,฀Dr฀Thung฀Yulan,฀who฀believes฀that฀“the฀ recognition฀of฀the฀existence฀of฀the฀identity฀of฀‘Chineseness’฀of฀the฀ethnic฀ Chinese฀is฀the฀necessary฀first฀step฀to฀take”,฀in฀any฀attempt฀to฀accept฀the฀ethnic฀ Chinese฀as฀part฀of฀the฀Indonesian฀make-up.3 ฀So฀far,฀the฀pribumi฀have฀only฀ been฀able฀to฀do฀this฀very฀reluctantly. 08฀Ethnic.indd฀฀฀137 9/9/08฀฀฀4:44:56฀PM 138 Natalia Soebagjo The฀study฀of฀ethnic฀relations฀in฀Indonesia฀after฀the฀fall฀of฀Soeharto฀is฀ now฀certainly฀more฀interesting,฀if฀not฀equally฀complicated.฀Whereas฀previously฀ all฀talk฀on฀matters฀related฀to฀“SARA”,฀namely฀ethnicity,฀religion,฀race,฀and฀ inter-group฀differences,฀was฀repressed,฀in฀the฀current฀era฀of฀Reformasi฀it฀is฀ a฀free-for-all:฀anyone฀can฀say฀anything฀about฀everything,฀including฀subjects฀ that฀were฀once฀considered฀divisive฀and฀dangerous.฀In฀the฀post-Soeharto฀era฀ of฀openness฀and฀freedom฀of฀expression,฀the฀pent-up฀primordial฀sentiments฀ lurking฀ominously฀behind฀Indonesia’s฀“unity”฀of฀ethnic฀diversity฀and฀religious฀ fervour฀are฀let฀loose.฀Therefore,฀we฀are฀faced฀not฀only฀with฀the฀problem฀ of฀continuing฀tension฀between฀ethnic฀Chinese฀and฀non-Chinese,฀but฀also฀ of฀inter-group฀and฀intra-group฀ethnic฀tension฀and฀religious฀intolerance,฀ such฀as฀what฀we฀have฀painfully฀witnessed฀in฀Maluku,฀in฀Poso,฀between฀ the฀Maduranese฀and฀the฀Javanese,฀for฀example.฀On฀top฀of฀this,฀there฀is฀the฀ problem฀of฀economic฀hardship฀and฀gaping฀socio-economic฀inequality.฀Amidst฀ all฀this฀turmoil,฀the฀age-long฀“Chinese฀problem”฀has฀just฀become฀another฀ item฀on฀the฀long฀list฀of฀problems฀Indonesia฀currently฀faces฀and฀an฀item฀going฀ further฀down฀the฀list.฀ This฀freedom฀that฀the฀Indonesians฀are฀now฀enjoying,฀however,฀came฀ at฀a฀price.฀As฀Soeharto฀began฀to฀lose฀his฀grip฀on฀power฀due฀to฀his฀inability฀ to฀understand฀or฀control,฀much฀less฀influence,฀events฀swirling฀around฀him฀ in฀the฀last฀few฀years฀of฀his฀rule,฀opposition฀forces฀emerged฀calling฀for฀his฀ resignation.4 ฀The฀anti-Soeharto฀student฀movement฀in฀May฀1998฀in฀Jakarta฀ suddenly฀erupted฀into฀anti-Chinese฀riots฀which฀shocked฀Jakartans฀who฀never฀ believed฀that฀the฀violence฀they฀saw฀happening฀in฀the฀provinces฀would฀occur฀in฀ the฀capital฀city,฀leaving฀thousands฀dead฀and฀more฀fleeing฀in฀fear฀and฀panic.฀ Hence,฀Soeharto’s฀rule฀came฀full฀circle.฀His฀rise฀and฀fall฀were฀both฀marked฀ by฀violence฀and฀bloodshed:฀the฀1965฀attempted฀coup฀ushered฀his฀entrance,฀ and฀the฀1998฀May฀riots฀escorted฀his฀exit.฀Ethnic฀Chinese฀were฀the฀targeted฀ victims฀of฀both฀episodes.฀ A LOOK BACK A฀ consequence฀ of฀ 1965฀ was฀ the฀ continued฀ nurturing฀ of฀ anti-Chinese฀ sentiments฀which฀had฀been฀festering,฀in฀some฀form฀or฀other,฀since฀1740฀when฀ 10,000฀Chinese฀were฀massacred฀in฀Batavia฀by฀colonial฀soldiers,฀and฀driven฀ out฀of฀the฀walled฀city.฀Then,฀as฀in฀1998,฀the฀Chinese฀quarter฀was฀burnt฀down฀ and฀shops฀were฀looted,฀and฀the฀Chinese฀fled.฀ Under฀the฀Dutch฀colonial฀system,฀the฀status฀of฀ethnic฀Chinese฀was฀ clear฀cut.฀They฀were฀“Foreign฀Orientals”,฀just฀like฀those฀of฀Arab฀or฀Indian฀ descent,฀a฀notch฀or฀more฀below฀the฀Europeans฀and฀Westerners,฀but฀above฀the฀ 08฀Ethnic.indd฀฀฀138 9/9/08฀฀฀4:44:56฀PM Love-Hate Relationship of Ethnic Chinese and Ethnic Indonesians 139 indigenous฀people.฀After฀the฀1740฀Chinese฀Rebellion,฀their฀role฀was฀limited฀ to฀keeping฀the฀colonial฀economic฀machinery฀going.฀They฀were฀organized฀ under฀a฀“kapitan...