Ethnic Chinese in Contemporary Indonesia

1. Chinese Indonesians in an Era of Glbalization: Some Major Characteristics

1 1 CHINESE INDONESIANS IN AN ERA OF GLOBALIZATION: SOME MAJOR CHARACTERISTICS Leo Suryadinata Indonesia฀is฀the฀largest฀country฀in฀Southeast฀Asia,฀and฀the฀absolute฀number฀ of฀Indonesian฀Chinese฀was฀believed฀to฀be฀the฀largest฀in฀the฀region;฀that฀is,฀ between฀three฀and฀five฀per฀cent.฀Recent฀studies฀based฀on฀the฀census฀show฀ that฀the฀number฀is฀not฀as฀large฀as฀previously฀estimated฀(between฀1.5฀and฀ ฀ 2฀per฀cent),฀but฀it฀is฀still฀large฀enough฀for฀them฀to฀play฀a฀significant฀role฀in฀ various฀fields,฀especially฀in฀the฀economic,฀social,฀and฀cultural฀fields,฀if฀not฀ in฀the฀political฀field.฀ Due฀to฀political฀and฀economic฀reasons,฀the฀Chinese฀in฀Indonesia฀became฀ the฀target฀of฀mob฀violence฀in฀May฀1998,฀when฀anti-Chinese฀riots฀were฀ rampant฀with฀looting,฀raping,฀and฀killing฀taking฀place.฀This฀May฀tragedy฀ shocked฀the฀world.฀However,฀with฀the฀fall฀of฀Soeharto,฀the฀conditions฀of฀the฀ Chinese฀in฀Indonesia฀have฀vastly฀improved,฀and฀many฀are฀of฀the฀view฀that฀ they฀never฀enjoyed฀such฀a฀position฀in฀the฀Indonesian฀recent฀history.฀What฀ are฀the฀real฀position฀and฀conditions฀of฀the฀ethnic฀Chinese฀in฀Indonesia? As฀I฀see฀it,฀the฀Chinese฀in฀Indonesia฀have฀the฀following฀major฀characteristics. Heterogeneity of the Ethnic Chinese in Indonesia Chinese฀Indonesians฀are฀not฀a฀homogeneous฀group.฀They฀are฀divided฀by฀ culture,฀ political฀ orientations,฀ economic฀ background,฀ and฀ citizenship.฀ 01฀Ethnicn.indd฀฀฀1 9/23/08฀฀฀2:41:00฀PM 2 Leo Suryadinata Culturally,฀the฀Chinese฀were฀divided฀in฀the฀past฀into฀locally฀born,฀Indonesianspeaking ฀peranakans฀and฀foreign฀born฀Chinese-speaking฀totoks.฀But฀nowadays฀ the฀absolute฀majority฀is฀either฀peranakans฀or฀peranakanized฀totoks.฀In฀terms฀ of฀religion,฀some฀are฀either฀Buddhists,฀Confucians,฀or฀the฀followers฀of฀a฀ mixture฀of฀Buddhism,฀Taoism,฀and฀Confucianism;฀some฀are฀Christians,฀and฀ others฀are฀Muslims.฀Politically,฀they฀are฀divided฀into฀pro-Jakarta,฀pro-Beijing฀ and฀pro-Taipei,฀but฀the฀majority฀is฀pro-Jakarta.฀Economically,฀they฀are฀also฀ divided฀into฀upper฀class,฀middle฀class,฀and฀the฀lower฀class,฀and฀it฀appears฀ that฀the฀middle฀class฀forms฀the฀majority.฀In฀terms฀of฀citizenship,฀they฀are฀ divided฀into฀Indonesian฀citizens฀and฀foreigners,฀with฀the฀majority฀holding฀ Indonesian฀citizenship.฀ Despite฀ the฀ heterogeneous฀ nature฀ of฀ the฀ Chinese฀ community,฀ the฀ Indonesian฀authorities฀in฀the฀past,฀if฀not฀now,฀considered฀them฀a฀homogeneous ฀group.฀They฀regarded฀the฀ethnic฀Chinese฀to฀be฀loyal฀to฀China฀(especially฀ Beijing),฀not฀to฀Jakarta.฀They฀considered฀the฀Chinese฀a฀“foreign฀minority”฀who฀ should฀become฀part฀of฀the฀indigenous฀population฀through฀total฀assimilation.฀ This฀is฀particularly฀the฀case฀during฀Soeharto’s฀rule. LEGACY OF THE SOEHARTO ERA Soeharto’s฀Assimilation฀Policy:฀The฀thirty-two฀years฀of฀Soeharto฀rule฀has฀had฀ a฀major฀impact฀on฀the฀Chinese฀in฀Indonesia.฀The฀three฀pillars฀of฀Chinese฀ culture฀were฀eradicated:฀Chinese฀schools฀were฀closed฀down,฀Chinese฀mass฀ media฀were฀banned,฀and฀ethnic฀Chinese฀organizations฀were฀dissolved.฀In฀ addition,฀the฀name-changing฀policy฀was฀introduced.฀Chinese฀Indonesians฀were฀ advised฀to฀change฀their฀names฀into฀Indonesian฀names.฀What฀is฀an฀Indonesian฀ name?฀Anything฀as฀long฀as฀it฀is฀non-Chinese. Indigenous฀Indonesian฀nation:฀During฀the฀Soeharto฀era,฀the฀ethnic฀ Chinese฀were฀expected฀to฀be฀absorbed฀into฀an฀Indonesian฀nation,฀defined฀ by฀the฀government฀as฀the฀pribumi฀(indigenes)-based฀nation.฀To฀become฀ members฀of฀this฀“indigenous฀nation”,฀the฀Chinese฀Indonesians฀were฀expected฀ to฀abandon฀their฀“Chinese-ness”.฀To฀a฀large฀extent,฀a฀large฀number฀of฀Chinese฀ Indonesians฀have฀been฀Indonesianized,฀if฀not฀indigenized.฀Put฀differently,฀ many฀totok฀Chinese,฀especially฀their฀children,฀have฀been฀peranakanized,฀while฀ peranakan฀Chinese฀have฀been฀further฀Indonesianized. The฀Soeharto฀government฀intentionally฀confined฀the฀Chinese฀to฀the฀ economic฀sector฀and฀made฀it฀difficult฀for฀them฀to฀enter฀other฀sectors.฀As฀a฀ result,฀the฀Chinese฀have฀inadvertently฀become฀richer,฀and฀their฀economic฀ power฀has฀become฀stronger.฀During฀the฀New฀Order,฀one฀could฀find฀Chinese฀ economic฀elite,฀but฀no฀Chinese฀political฀elite,฀meaning,฀ethnic฀Chinese฀ 01฀Ethnicn.indd฀฀฀2 9/23/08฀฀฀2:41:00฀PM Major Characteristics of Chinese Indonesians in a Globalization Era 3 political฀leaders.฀Those฀Chinese฀who฀were฀interested฀in฀politics฀could฀only฀ join฀three฀New฀Order฀political฀parties฀or฀“broker-type”฀organizations.฀These฀ political฀leaders฀did฀not฀represent฀Chinese฀Indonesians.฀Not฀surprisingly,฀after฀ the฀fall฀of฀Soeharto,฀there฀were฀no฀recognized฀Chinese฀political฀leaders฀who฀ could฀lead฀ethnic฀Chinese-dominated฀parties. ETHNIC CHINESE ORGANIZATIONS The฀fall฀of฀Soeharto฀has฀given฀rise฀to฀three฀Chinese฀cultural฀pillars:฀Chinese฀ organizations฀(both฀ethnic฀political฀parties฀and฀ethnic฀Chinese฀NGOs,฀ Chinese฀clan฀and...