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Web-only Exclusives November 30, 2000 From Our Correspondent: Hirohito and the War A conversation with biographer Herbert Bix From Our Correspondent: A Rough Road Ahead Bad news for the Philippines - and some others From Our Correspondent: Making Enemies Indonesia needs friends. So why is it picking fights? |
LETTERS AND COMMENT
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WHEN PEOPLE ASKED ME my nationality, I used to confidently and proudly answer, "Indonesian." That's before the mobs attacked my house and told us, "Chinese dogs, crawl back to China." That's before they hit my sister and aunt. That's before I saw singed buildings and broken windows and buildings daubed "Belongs to Pribumis" or "Belongs to Muslims." That's before I read in local newspapers about rape victims, who were mostly young Chinese women (even a 12 year old). The words pribumi (native) and keturunan (non-native) used to sound ridiculous to me. I have no problems socializing with pribumi friends. I often hang out with them. Some of my cousins are married to pribumis.
Bottom line, I used to feel confident about my Indonesian nationality until that awful night on May 14. A fast change of mind? Tell me how you would feel, if people, their eyes filled with hatred, shouted "Cina anjing, Cina bangsat, Cina babi" [China dogs, China lice, China pigs] in your face and spat on you? Or how would you feel if their hands were all over you, harassing you?
"Don't be a half-hearted Indonesian," wrote Iwan D. Diran addressing "Yenni Kwok and others" [LETTERS & COMMENT, June 12]. I sincerely hope he meant all Indonesians, native or non-native. Tell me, Mr. Diran, how much more do we have to do?
I'm not trying to put all the blame on the pribumis. It was my pribumi neighbors who saved us and have protected our house up until now. My pribumi friends are very supportive.
I have to admit that some Chinese can be oh-so-repulsive when it comes to racism. I'm just so fed up, reading remarks about how Chinese should mingle and "how low can you go," as if all the Chinese never mingle or feel proud of Indonesia, their country.
I've never felt so terrified and outraged. Horrified by the ordeal and unsure about the future of Chinese-Indonesians. Furious about the lack of consideration from some Indonesians, governments, and the international community. Is sufficient help being given to the rape victims? None of us deserves to be treated like that. But does anyone care?
Christine Susanna
via the Internet
UNTIL THAT FATEFUL MAY 14, I was general manager of a business hotel in Glodok, Chinatown. The 200-room hotel, together with shops on three lower floors, was gutted after looting by savage mobs. Some of the shops had been in business for over 100 years. Looting in the area around the hotel by tens of thousands of rioters went on in full view of armed security guards who had no orders to quell the violence. Firemen made no attempt to put out fires during two days of riots.
This Chinese enclave was only the worst hit by the unrest. Many thousands of ethnic Chinese in most parts of the city were made homeless or bankrupt in a matter of hours. Most of them are small businessmen, hard-working and honest, endowed with no special privileges from people on high. They lost all their possessions, and are suffering from trauma and shattered confidence.
Over 200 hotel employees have had to be laid-off. So have the employees of many shopkeepers. The ethnic Chinese bear the brunt whenever the government's economic policy fails. They have nobody to turn to for help, let alone protection. There is no-one in parliament representing them. They are denied positions in government offices. Entering the armed services is almost impossible for them.
The havoc wreaked by the rioting of May 14-15 was the most devastating in the history of the New Order government. In an effort to instill confidence in the community, President Habibie on May 26 visited Glodok and sympathized with the destitute shopkeepers in the shadow of the burnt-out hotel, which I had been with since its construction and managed for the last 25 years. Understandably, Habibie's message was not wholly successful.
Senior economic minister Ginandjar Kartasasmita was quoted on May 30 as saying "Indonesia vowed to provide security for the ethnic Chinese, the target of recent deadly riots." He said that usually the ethnic Chinese were able to overcome their problems by themselves, and had their own networks. "He stressed," an agency reported, "that the state was not making distinctions between Indonesians of different origins."
But justice must be seen to be done. I am skeptical about these statements. Things are easily said. I have changed my Chinese name as encouraged to by the government. Inasmuch as I am a fifth-generation Indonesian - my great-great-grandfather migrated here and my grandmother was indigenous - I am alienated from the indigenous people in many ways. The number of my identity card is discriminately coded to tell government officials and policemen that I am not indigenous. This is reminiscent of Hitler's way of identifying the Jews.
In 1967, a government decree changed the traditional, respectful word Tionghoa for Chinese to a Malay word Cina, which is derogatory for its connotation of hostility toward China. The Chinese have swallowed this in silence and hope now that the decree will be rescinded among other reforms.
Ginandjar said that "Indonesia's ethnic Chinese account for only 3.5% of the country's 202 million people, but they are believed to hold about three-quarters of the country's wealth." This I fear will fan anti-Chinese sentiment and stir further violence on the part of the masses who might be misled into believing that most Chinese, with the exception of a handful of unscrupulous, well-connected tycoons, hold more money than those Indonesians involved in corruption, collusion and nepotism.
Liem Sian Tie
Jakarta
LIKE ME AN ETHNIC Chinese Indonesian, Yenni Kwok pleaded for acceptance, and Iwan D. Diran responded as if he were a legitimate owner of Indonesia, giving advice. From my study, the Chinese are undeniably part of Indonesian history and the nation. As shown from:
1. The Body for Investigating Preparation Attempts of Indonesia's Independence (Badan Penyelidik Usaha-usaha Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia) included six Chinese who contributed to the drafting of the Constitution in 1945.
2. The first Indonesian grammar book (Tata Bahasa Melayu-Hindia Belanda) published in the late 19th century was written by an ethnic Chinese Indonesian.
3. Admiral John Lie, of the Indonesian navy, risked his life to penetrate the Dutch blockade to supply ammunition to the army fighting for Independence.
A nation can show the world that it is great by treating its minority well. Otherwise what is the difference between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Indonesia?
Heddy A. Theo
Laguna, Philippines
A Provocation That Backfired?
IF SUHARTO'S GOVERNMENT HAD met the needs of the poor, would there have been unrest among the people? All of the government's measures were counter to the interests of the poor and compelled them to revolt.Having provoked the revolt, the government raised a hue and cry about riots and anarchy. Those in government intended to crush it but were themselves swept away by demands for Suharto's resignation. The first duties of the new government must be to provide affordable basic necessities for the people and to stabilize the rupiah. Another important item on the agenda is immediate elections.
Pathoni
student, Jakarta
Getting Among the Best
I WAS VERY SURPRISED not to find our university among the top 30 specialized institutes ["Asia's Best Universities," May 15]. You did not name all the schools from which you sought information and how you selected those schools.
Omar Haider
Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology
Dhaka
ASIAWEEK EDITORS AND CORRESPONDENTS and universities already listed nominated the lists of schools from which the ranked institutions were drawn. We cannot include all schools in Asia as there are more than 7,000. In 1997, the first year of "Best Universities," we sent questionnaires to 78 schools. This year, questionnaires went to nearly double that number: 95 multi-disciplinary universities and 41 science & technology institutes, a total of 136 institutions. - Editors
Questioning Kim's 'Top 10' Place
I AM WONDERING ABOUT your choice for the fourth most powerful person in Asia, President Kim Dae Jung of South Korea ["The Asiaweek Power 50," May 29]. Considering the sorry state of the South Korean economy plus the uncertainties over an immediate rejuvenation of the country's industries, the choice is somewhat unsettling.Although President Kim is not new in the political arena (having been a dissident), running a country, especially in these trying times, is a herculean task. He has no administrative experience. It will be quite breathtaking to see the result.
The demonstrations by the labor movement add to the complexity of the scenario. How will the President deal with the issues of lay-offs and unemployment? With all the problems facing Kim and Korea, I don't think he qualifies for the top 10. In future, maybe.
Hisham Zahari
Kuala Lumpur
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