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Chinese-Indonesians: No need to be wary of politics

This “fear” and perception, though, is very counterproductive, and is quite far from the truth. It is open to debate but the following are arguments why I think it is inaccurate and unwise for those of Chinese descent in Indonesia to take on this view.

Tobias Basuki (The Jakarta Post)
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Jakarta
Mon, February 13, 2017

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Chinese-Indonesians: No need to be wary of politics Visitors enjoy the three-day Obar Abir (Colorful) Festival at Semawis Imlek Market in the East Wotgandul area in Semarang, Central Java, ahead of Chinese New Year in January. (JP/Suherdjoko)

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few days ago in this newspaper Sylvie Tanaga wrote an article titled “Chinese-Indonesians caught up in the storm of identity politics,” which raised many questions. It certainly captured the mixed feelings of hope and fear Chinese-Indonesians in Indonesia have had since the 1998 reform era in light of recent events.

I do, however, differ strongly from the author’s assertion that “Chinese-Indonesians continue to be perceived as a common enemy, if not a threat, to the status quo.” It is certainly a feeling perceived by many Chinese-Indonesians, especially those aware of the long history of anti-Chinese sentiments and riots.

This “fear” and perception, though, is very counterproductive, and is quite far from the truth. It is open to debate but the following are arguments why I think it is inaccurate and unwise for those of Chinese descent in Indonesia to take on this view.

First of all, racism in Indonesia is very different from that of, for example, the United States. Racism has seemed to run deeper in a genuine bottom-up feeling in the US during its various stages of history. As Africans were “imported” as slaves into the continent, they were perceived to be lower human beings.

In Indonesia it is quite different. In its initial history the migration of the ethnic Chinese as well as Islam into the archipelago was marked by trade and generally a sense of a common need to survive. Historical archives and anecdotes attest to this sense of embeddedness of the Chinese among various “indigenous” groups throughout the archipelago. One particularly strong anecdotal example is the Peranakan culture: an indigenized Chinese culture mainly in Java.

Second, in my study of the ethnic Chinese identity and various political turmoils in three main periods — colonial and pre-independence, and the Sukarno and Soeharto eras — there had never been a clear variable that explained the source of so-called resentment against the Chinese and subsequent violence. There was never a genuine bottom-up resentment based on either cultural, religious or even economic differences.

The explanatory causes or catalysts had always shifted.

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