Indonesians of Chinese descent told to get political

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 05/11/2007 7:32 AM

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Chinese-Indonesians are being encouraged to get involved in politics, but there's no need to establish a Chinese-based political party, says the chairman of the Chinese-Indonesian Association, Eddie Lembong.

""Chinese Indonesians need to learn the science of politics... to be a knowledge-based politician in that sense. However, I do not agree with establishing an ethnic-based political party,"" Eddie told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

""Most Chinese-Indonesians still regard politics as a taboo matter. They fear talking about politics, let alone being involved in it.""

Speaking on the sidelines of a discussion celebrating the seventh anniversary of the Indonesia Shang Bao daily, Eddie said this fear was related to traumas that Chinese-Indonesians have experienced since the Dutch colonial era.

The Dutch colonial legal system discriminated against people on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, territory and social status.

However, Eddie said that there was now light at the end of the tunnel for Chinese-Indonesians.

""After the enactment of the citizenship law and civil registry law, both in 2006, the root of all discriminatory treatment against Caucasians, Chinese-Indonesians and Christian Indonesians was formally removed,"" he said.

The removal of the ethnicity-based civil registration system is acknowledged in the civil registry law.

Eddie said Chinese-Indonesians should engage themselves in more reading on political theories, the history of democracy and the republic, as well as how nationalism grows.

""It is more important to master the knowledge of politics than to merely jump into practical politics by establishing or entering a political party,"" he said.

He pointed out that Chinese-Indonesians make up only 3 percent of the whole country's population. ""So a political party should not be established based on ethnicity, but rather on an ideology supported by the people.""

Also present at the event were former president Abdurrahman Wahid and House of Representatives Deputy Speaker AM Fatwa.

Fatwa warned the bureaucracy not to repeat what the Dutch colonists had done in the past by positioning Chinese-Indonesians as holders of economic power who stood alone.

Quoting the civil registry law, Fatwa said: ""There are legal sanctions for any public officials that still require Chinese-Indonesians to show their Indonesian Citizenship Letters.""

Until recently, many public official still asked for the letter. Fatwa said the problem lay in both their mentalities and their lack of awareness on the law.

Praised for removing most discriminatory regulations during his short presidency, Wahid said there had never been any consistency in actions in Indonesia.

Fatwa also mentioned inter-ethnic marriages as one of the ways to facilitate the assimilation of various ethnic groups.

Eddie, however, disagreed, saying that inter-ethnic marriages could not be regarded as a means to solve the problem.

""But successful (inter-ethnic) marriages will positively affect inter-ethnic relations,"" he said.

Wahid concluded that it was not a matter of how to eliminate ethnic differences, but how those various ethnicities could live together in harmony. (07)

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