Ethnic Chinese and discrimination: What next?

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailheadlines.asp?fileid=20070216.A05&irec=4

February 16, 2007
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.