Many hope that the Rabbit, which symbolizes happiness and good fortune, will bring peace and prosperity to the world after the Tiger brought terrifying earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, corruption and bitter political conflicts.  

Over the past 12 years, the Chinese-Indonesians who constitute an estimated 5 percent of Indonesia’s 237 million people, have been able to celebrate the important event with open feasts.

Lavish parties, family gatherings and the unmistakable barongsai and liong dances performed in public areas are a display of freedom from the cultural and political discrimination they suffered before the fall of the New Order regime in 1998.

As we know, the New Order under Soeharto forbade the Chinese from openly practicing their traditions and displaying their cultural symbols. They were required to have an SBKRI, which was an official document proving their Indonesian citizenship, even if their great, great grandparents had been born, lived, died and were buried in Indonesia.

Although some patriotic Chinese-Indonesians fought for an independent Indonesia along with youths from various “indigenous” ethnic groups, discrimination against them by both the state and other ethnic groups has remained.

In 1959, president Sukarno, for instance, limited Chinese-Indonesian retail businesses to the regency and municipal levels in a measure to protect indigenous entrepreneurs. His successor Soeharto treated Chinese-Indonesians even more harshly due to suspicions that many supported communism in Indonesia in the 1960s.

SBKRI was used to extort money from Chinese-Indonesians whenever they required official documents, such as passports and birth certificates. Even now, long after the policy has been scrapped, complaints about government officials extorting Chinese-Indonesians still persist.

Discrimination explains why the Chinese are generally reluctant to venture out of their exclusive business comfort zones.

The political freedom that dawned with reform movement in 1998 has allowed an increasing number of Chinese-Indonesians to enter the political arena. They founded political parties in 1999, including the Indonesian Tionghoa Reform Party, Indonesian Reform Party and the Bhinneka Tunggal Ika Party.

Unfortunately only Tunggal Ika won representation at the House of Representatives.

It is less important that Chinese-Indonesian parties lack seats in the House now because these citizens are comfortable joining other more popular political parties. In fact, more and more Chinese-Indonesians are present in both the legislative and executive branches of government.

Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu stands out as the only Chinese-Indonesian Cabinet minister. In regions with large Chinese communities, such as West Kalimantan and Bangka Belitung, many Chinese-Indonesians hold key posts in local government. Now that Indonesia enjoys a high degree of political freedom, the time is right for more Chinese-Indonesians to play assertive roles in politics and the public sector, and also to change the image of the “ruthless businessman” who conspires with corrupt bureaucrats.

For their part, Chinese-Indonesian businesses are often accused of practicing discrimination in their companies by reserving key positions for fellow Chinese-Indonesian staff.

History has taught us that distorted ethnic profiling only worsens the latent anti-Chinese sentiments, as has been reflected in the past by numerous anti-Chinese riots. Adequate representation in political institutions will allow Chinese-Indonesians to defend the interests not only of their ethnic fellows, but also collective interests of the general public.  Chinese-Indonesians have a better chance than ever now to serve in public institutions to help develop a better, non-discriminatory Indonesia.  Gong Xi Fa Cai!

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