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Chinese Indonesians' president?
I this newspaper's June 24 edition, Mario Rustan wrote a piece on the Chinese Indonesians' dilemma in voting for the president and, while acknowledging the diversity of Chinese Indonesian's political preferences, went further, describing what he called the community's "general attitude and behavior in politics"
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this newspaper's June 24 edition, Mario Rustan wrote a piece on the Chinese Indonesians' dilemma in voting for the president and, while acknowledging the diversity of Chinese Indonesian's political preferences, went further, describing what he called the community's "general attitude and behavior in politics".
The general message of Rustan's article is that there has been a heightened sense of political awareness and assertiveness amongst Chinese Indonesians.
Rustan's article made a fair assessment of the political preferences of some, but definitely not all, Chinese Indonesians. His arguments regarding the Chinese Indonesian's inclination that Megawati was the "obvious choice" in 2004 need to be further pondered. Furthermore, we need to be extra-critical in pondering the assessment he made on the current elections.
It is regrettable that Rustan pointed out that, in the eyes of Chinese Indonesians in general, Prabowo "is the hardest-working candidate when it comes to approaching Chinese community leaders" and "could convince people that he is Chinese-friendly". Or that, in the eyes of Chinese Indonesians, Jusuf Kalla is viewed as "a racist and an Islamist" or that "Yudhoyono would still be popular for many Chinese who don't know and don't care much for politics, but only wish for security, safety, and order."
Chinese Indonesians, like other brothers and sisters of different ethnicities, are divided in their preferences for this year's presidential elections. There is no accurate evidence that indicates vote distribution based on ethnicity - be it Chinese, Javanese, Minangs, etc.
The closest one can try is to attempt to monitor electoral booths in areas which have a higher concentration of Chinese Indonesians. This is often done by Chinese Indonesian associations. The assumption may be probable, yet is still highly debatable.
It would be more useful, perhaps, if we assess elements that affect the electoral and political dynamics of Chinese Indonesian, or how different Chinese Indonesians engage with the agendas presented by each candidate, rather than simply predicting or assuming which candidate is preferred by Chinese Indonesians.
Rustan has made a fair effort at identifying the issues that matter to Chinese Indonesians, namely security (May 1998 violence), pluralism (racism and religion), and the economy. He also pointed out interesting external factors that influence their political preference. The author would like complement his assessment on issues that matters to the Chinese Indonesian community and discuss them further.
Of the many Chinese Indonesians involved in the May 1998 violence, only very few, notably Ester Jusuf of Solidaritas Nusa Bangsa, have struggled to make the issue part of the bigger issue of human rights and not have it cast as an isolated anti-Chinese incident. We cannot deny the strong anti-Chinese stench from the tragic incident, yet we must not perpetuate the image of the lone Chinese Indonesian ranger seeking partial justice. The on-going struggle of Ester and others is just one of numerous examples of Chinese Indonesian political mainstreaming in its infancy. It is indeed an encouraging phenomenon manifesting the long-held desire of Chinese Indonesians to be an integral part of Indonesia.
Finally, we should not be so quick to dismiss the number of Chinese Indonesian voters as "insignificant" and "expendable".
First, there is a possibility that the elections is equally divided, thus such small numbers may be the tipping factor that determines the outcome of the election.
Second, assuming that there are some well-learned Chinese Indonesian voters, these people can spread out their influence through public debates and create a multiplier effect. Democracy is not the monopoly of the majority. Minorities, be that based on ethnicity, religion, ideologies, gender, etc, can define the quality of our democracy.
The writer is a researcher (on study leave) at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta. She is currently a PhD candidate at the School of International Studies, Peking University, China.
