The Jakarta Post, February 16, 2007
Ethnic Chinese and discrimination: What next?
Inter-ethnic relations remain a thorny issue in the country despite the enactment of
last year's citizenship law, which criminalized discrimination and scrapped the
"non-indigenous" citizen status. Ahead of the Chinese New Year The Jakarta Post's
Kornelius Purba and Dwi Atmanta interviewed law expert Frans Hendra Winata and
lawmaker Fahri Hamzah of the Prosperous Justice Party on the issue of inter-ethnic
relations in Indonesia.
Question: Do you think discrimination against Chinese Indonesians still occurs here?
From a legal point of view, the issue of discrimination has been settled beyond doubt
since the citizenship bill was passed last year. State does not tolerate at all any form
of discrimination. But we have to acknowledge that social problems, be they the
legacy of the past regime or a current phenomena, will always emerge and will involve
elements of discrimination.
We can make improvements in the implementation of our political decisions and
legislation, so that people will be aware of discriminatory practices and the heavy
penalties they may face for violating the law. Apart from efforts to enlighten the public,
there must be concrete measures to prove that perpetrators of discrimination will be
punished.
When we decided to endorse the law, we thought about the future of this big and
plural nation, which comprises 17,000 islands and thousands of ethnic groups. We
realized then that discrimination would remain a lasting issue. The law is therefore the
answer to skepticism about the commitment of the political elite to
anti-discrimination.
The problem lies in implementation. The government is too slow to issue operational
regulations; and officials in the field do not care much about discrimination. Educating
officials is imperative, but it's more important that leaders be able to set a good
example by drawing the line when it comes to attacks on ethnic groups or communal
clashes. The government cannot take half-hearted action against discrimination.
On top of that, people have to realize that our plurality is a valuable asset. They must
not be afraid of expressing differences or mingling with people of a different ethnicity or
religion.
We need to prove to the world that Indonesia is the best example of inter-ethnic,
inter-racial and inter-religious management. Indonesia could fare better than the U.S.,
which is known for its melting pot, in that sense. Our plurality is given and natural, not
the result of migration. How about ethnic prejudice against Chinese Indonesians,
particularly when it comes to business?
It's a natural instinct. A sense of ethnicity cannot be denied. Intimacy based on
ethnicity is a certainty, but we must know how far it can go. There is no problem if
ethnic intimacy or exclusiveness prevails within a family. But problems can arise
when ethnic intimacy reaches out into enterprises or public institutions. We cannot
tolerate such practices, even in a family business, because they affect the public
interest.
We are not intelligent enough to manage such an issue. Such practices actually
break no law but they have emerged as a sensitive ethnic issue. That's what happens
here. A businessman of a certain ethnicity runs a company and it turns out that he or
she only employs people of the same ethnicity or pay them better than other
employees of different ethnicity.
How do we overcome this prejudice?
First of all the law must be strictly enforced. But we have to develop ethics as a basis
for our inter-ethnic relations.
While political democracy is well in place, we still need to consolidate our economic
democracy. When the government launched a campaign for the use of biofuel, only
certain businesspeople come up with bids to take part in the project. The recipients of
trillions of rupiah in bank loans for the biofuel program are limited to old players.
Cultural democracy faces the same problem. Who dominates TV programs? We
know the artists who star in TV serials are those with Western faces. Local cultures
are dying, and global culture takes their place. Are we aiming to turn into an alien
nation?
That's why the government has to make full use of its mandate to implement the law
and uphold economic and cultural democracy. Do you see any progress in the fight
against discrimination in the country after the reform movement of 1998?
The reform movement gave the government momentum to help people who are
"disoriented" or unprepared for the fight against discrimination. There is a need to
promote common sense and move in a progressive way to put an end to all forms of
discrimination.
I think the most dangerous form of discrimination occurs between the central and
regional governments. Despite the regional autonomy law, development still centers
on Jakarta. Most regional governments survive from state budgets. The success of a
regional government is measured by how much state money a governor, regent or
mayor can bring back home from Jakarta.
Regional governments have been frustrated. People in the regions are like baby birds
who are fed by -- and dependent on -- their hunting mother to survive. The Prosperous
Justice Party has proposed an extension of the anti-discrimination law so that it can
deal with discrimination against regional governments. How come after 61 years of
independence, we still find people in East Nusa Tenggara dying of starvation?
Should we learn from Malaysia's protection of indigenous people?
Discrimination is totally unacceptable. Even Malaysia is facing problems as minority
groups react strongly to that policy. What we need to do is look for the fairest playing
field and formulate it together. All groups must feel they are given an equal
opportunity. That will make us a big nation.
We need to forget the past and old grudges. What made Chinese Indonesians
successful entrepreneurs were ancient rules that prevented them from running for
political posts or nurturing careers in the police or military. But old vengeance recurred
when some (Chinese Indonesian) business tycoons (accused of graft) showed their
lack of nationalism by fleeing the country to escape justice, taking state money with
them. That did not happen all of sudden, but as part of a long process. Therefore we
need to give all groups equal room so we can have proper dialog.
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