| The Indonesian Ethnic Chinese And The View Of Nationhood |
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The view of nationhood of Indonesian Chinese can be understood through the history. PRE-COLONIAL ERA There is little known about Chinese involvement before the Dutch invaded Indonesia other than few emissaries, such as Fa Hien (Faxian, 法顯) as a Buddhist Monk in the 5th century. Kingdoms of Indonesia and China had some relationships that thrived during the Tang Dynasty . Starting from the voyage of Zheng He (郑和) in the 15th century, many Chinese considered Indonesia as an attractive trading partner. COLONIAL ERA TO EARLY 20TH CENTURY (1500S-1900S) The largest waves of Chinese migration happened during early to middle Dutch colonial era, from about 16th to 19th century, to find new opportunities to trade. In those times, they had much closer ties toward the mainland China . This was manifested in strong desires to return home and considered Indonesia as yet another temporary settlement. Starting from the middle 18th century, the Qing Emperor of the time, Qian Long , considered these expatriates as turncoats and thereby a threat to China. Although Emperor Qian Long adopted closed-door policy, there was no evidence that Chinese expatriates were banned. Many of them, however, found Indonesia as an increasingly attractive settlement. The hostile and oppressive Manchurian government of Qing dynasty brought even more migrants from China. This was further magnified with Dutch favor toward Indonesian Chinese, mainly because they were intelligent, diligent, and capable to oversee Dutch plantations. Lulled by comfortable lives, some of them no longer associated themselves with mainland China. They were called ''Cina Baba'' s or Peranakan s. ''Cina Baba''s often intermarry with indigenous Indonesian (''pribumi''s). Some of them identified themselves as Dutchmen, embraced Christianity and generally enjoyed higher education and social status, and thereby considered themselves as more culturally refined. They were called ''Qiao Sheng'' (僑生, ''lit.'' foreign-borned). Those who still maintained ties toward China, whose main belief was Confucianism , considered ''Cina Baba''s and ''Qiao Sheng''s unfilial. Even more so because ''Cina Baba''s and ''Qiao Sheng''s typically shunned Chinese tradition. The ones who still maintained "purity" were called ''Cina Totok''s. These three groups of Indonesian Chinese had starkly different nationalistic views. At the time, ''Qiao Sheng''s were more inclined toward the Dutch; ''Cina Totok''s were more inclined toward mainland China; and ''Cina Baba''s were more toward Indonesia. EARLY 20TH CENTURY TO INDEPENDENCE (1900S-1945) Later waves of migrants still maintained ties to China, especially by supporting Chinese nationalistic movements to overthrow Qing dynasty. Although the support was mainly monetary, some Indonesian Chinese were actively involved in the inside politics, especially so during and Communistic (Gong Chan Dang) . At the turn of the 20th century, however, ''Cina Totok''s were increasingly assimilated into Indonesian culture. Younger generations still tried to maintain ties with China, but considered themselves as Indonesians and therefore adopted more Indonesian-Chinese nationalistic views. Although the Dutch gave Indonesian Chinese special status, the Dutch were increasingly oppresive and discriminative against all Indonesian Chinese. So, all three groups ''Qiao Sheng''s, ''Cina Baba''s, and ''Cina Totok''s, were more and more cooperative toward Indonesian nationalistic movement, especially in giving monetary support. More and more Indonesian Chinese were involved in Indonesian politics. ''Cina Totok''s typically set up political parties which aimed toward Indonesia-China alliance and established newspapers. ''Cina Baba''s and ''Qiao Sheng''s typically joined other nationalistic parties and even assisted nationalistic movement parties as Dutch or Japanese officers. All three groups were the pioneers of the usage of Indonesian language, even eclipsed the ''pribumi''s in terms of quantity of publication. They were also among the pioneers of Indonesian newspapers. They published their political thoughts along with contributions from other Indonesian writers in their fledgling publishing companies. They even risked their lives as the Dutch banned nationalistic publications. Indonesian Chinese were very active in supporting independence movement during the 1940s, as Japan absolved all but one Indonesian Chinese political party, Huaqiao Zhonghui (华侨中会). Some notable ones were Siauw Giok Tjhan and Liem Koen Hian . Some of them, such as Yap Tjwan Bing , became Japanese officers along with other Indonesians to form the agency that later oversees the independence effort, BPUPKI. Their effort culminated into assisting the preparation of the declaration of Indonesian independence at 17 August 1945. INDEPENDENCE TO NEW ORDER (1945-1965) During the 1940-1945 war of independence and through the war to defend the independence from Dutch until 1950, surprisingly few Indonesian Chinese were involved in the liberation army. At that time, the economy plummeted and the taxes went sky high. Even everyday goods, such as soaps and spoons, were very rare as Dutch and Japanese confiscated many of them for their own army. Indonesian Chinese contribution in this era was in the smuggling of these goods. However, smuggling was increasingly difficult as Japan affirmed their foothold in Indonesia. Armed conflicts were inevitable. Nevertheless, Indonesian Chinese risked their lives for it. After the independence, the Japanese and Dutch were routed. Their companies were vacant or sold in very cheap prices. As Indonesian Chinese were apt at trades, they quickly assimilated these companies. However, many ''pribumi''s were dissatisfied with the outcome and sought to curb this effort. They were successful in accusing that Indonesian Chinese were rarely involved in armed conflicts and thereby the fledgling Indonesian government forced Indonesian Chinese to relinquish some of them. This upset many Indonesian Chinese. Some reduced their activities in politics, but some were still active and even served as ministers to the newly established republic. The ''pribumi''s still felt left out and discriminated as the economy was increasingly dominated by Indonesian Chinese. The ''pribumi''s decried the government's lackluster effort to provide level playing field and sought even more aggressive predicaments. This further escalated the tension of the already uneasy relationship between ''pribumi''s and Indonesian Chinese. ''Pribumi''s always considered Indonesian Chinese as the agents of the colonials. The tendency of Indonesian Chinese flocking together in ''Pecinan'' or Chinatown s, segregated from the ''pribumi''s, exacerbated it. They succeeded. In 1959, President Soekarno approved PP 10/1959 that forced Indonesian Chinese to close their businesses in rural areas and relocate into urban areas in the hope of giving a competitive advantage for the ''pribumi''s to open their businesses in rural areas as the economy was agriculture driven. This upset many Indonesian Chinese. They felt betrayed that their nationalism and heroism were not reckoned with at all. Moreover, the enforcement was brutal; many of them were slaughtered in the effort. Many ''Cina Totok''s "returned home" in protest to either mainland China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan, only to find that they were not as welcomed there either. Ironically, they were not regarded as "pure Chinese" regardless of their effort of maintaining "pure Chinese breed". The unfortunate news of the early migrants was widespread among the ones in Indonesia. They soon found themselves as neither Indonesian nor Chinese and thus were in deep identity crisis. Some decided to move some other places, like Singapore or Malaysia, but some uneasily decided to stay in Indonesia. NEW ORDER TO EARLY REFORM (1965-2000) By the time Soeharto came to power, Indonesian Chinese were increasingly discriminated against. With the pretense of denouncing Chinese communism, Soeharto not only closed communist-leaning parties, but also extended his reach toward all Indonesian Chinese parties and all aspects of Indonesian Chinese socio-culture. Soeharto effectively stripped off Indonesian Chinese of power, banned them from politics and military. He championed forced assimilation policy against Indonesian Chinese so that they would forget their ties to China. This policy spring forth many Anti Chinese Legislation s. Soeharto passed and enacted very discriminatory citizenship laws, such as forcing Indonesian Chinese to reregister themselves as Indonesian citizens by renouncing their alleged Chinese citizenship regardless of the validity of the Indonesian citizenship they may already have. He denounced Chinese cultures and banned Chinese characters and literature. Allegedly, Soeharto was also the mastermind of 1965 slaughter of millions of Indonesian Chinese, purportedly to eradicate Communist Party Of Indonesia (PKI). Group divisions among ''Cina Baba''s, ''Qiao Sheng''s, and ''Cina Totok''s were blurred because Soeharto treated them alike. They were all Forced To Change Their Names to Indonesian Sounding Ones . This law is considered as one of the most humiliating ones to Chinese community in Indonesia since by doing so, they are forced to lose their family name. Between 1965 to 1975, army and police officers were rampant in abusing Indonesian Chinese, such as openly robbing and raping their families without due justice. During this time, police may abuse any people using Chinese language. The only measure to survive during this harsh period was by using bribes. In addition, those who were considered as heroes of Indonesian independence, such as Siauw Giok Tjhan and Liem Koen Hian , were either brutally executed, exiled, or jailed. Those who protested were silently murdered. None of them were bestowed national hero status. It effectively discouraged any Indonesian Chinese of the time to dedicate their lifes for Indonesia. Since Indonesian Chinese were banned from all aspects of life except from economy and industry, they concentrated their effort in those areas and became remarkably successful. It opened opportunities for government and military officers to levy bribes from Indonesian Chinese businessmen. Bribes and corruption soon became a norm. This widened the gap between them and ''pribumi''s. The ''pribumi''s accused Indonesian Chinese colluding with the government and thereby poisoning the entire political system. On the other hand, Indonesian Chinese felt that they were treated unfairly and the government was much more lenient toward the ''pribumi''s. As more and more discrimination and enmity heaped up, Indonesian Chinese increasingly identified themselves as a separate group and did not like to be called as "Indonesians". Although younger generations did not as strictly followed traditions as the older ones, they still felt they were different from Indonesians. During this era, younger generations adopted western culture more and more as they perceived it as being more superior. They were more aligned toward western countries such as United States or United Kingdom . The westernization became so popular as many parents sent their children abroad to western countries. Jakarta Riot Of 1998 targeted many Indonesian Chinese. The riot itself drew condemnations from Chinese speaking countries. Soeharto was allegedly the mastermind of this riot, but it misfired. Suffering from lootings and arsons, many Indonesian Chinese fled from Indonesia. Ironically, they found western countries were more accepting than Indonesia, the country they were born. Even after the riot subsided, many of them did not want to return. Those who decided to stay in Indonesia found a huge relief as Soeharto stepped down as president. They never forget the two genocidal riots associated with him, the ones in 1965 and 1998. They hoped that the new president would restore their status and ended the enmity of centuries long. Early in the reform era, the government focused on stabilizing the economy and security. Discrimination was still rampant. However, Indonesian Chinese gained courage to express themselves in limited ways, which were otherwise impossible in Soeharto era in fear of his heavy-handed tactics. Unfortunately, there were still many officers loyal to Soeharto who enforced the discriminatory laws. It was not for the ideology sake, but rather for their own benefits. REFORM ERA (2000-TODAY) Soon after Abdurrahman Wahid came into power, he quickly abolished some of the discriminatory laws. He encouraged Indonesian Chinese literature and culture. He also designated Chinese Lunar New Year as national holiday. This was warmly welcomed by many Indonesian Chinese. Indonesian Chinese are now in the era of rediscovery. Many younger generations choose to learn Mandarin as many learning centers open throughout the country. Many of them can not speak Mandarin due to the ban decades earlier. Stores now can openly show Chinese characters. Dragon Dance s and Lion Dance s are shown in public in many places without special permits or supervisions. Some of them regained the courage to get involved in politics and created new political parties. Indonesian Chinese adopted the term ''Tionghoa'' (Zhong Hua, 中华, Central Glory) to identify themselves. The term ''Cina'' is deemed derogatory today due to unfortunate derogatory use in the past. Many of them believe that they are now one distinct part of Indonesia. After the election of 2004, many Indonesian Chinese were worried toward the outcome as the elect vice president, Jusuf Kalla was known as openly discriminatory toward Indonesian Chinese. He espoused discriminatory treatments against Indonesian Chinese businessmen in order to level off the playing field. He considered that the May riot of 1998 was the result of people's anger and it was all because of the Indonesian Chinese fault. In a 12 October 2004 Sinar Harapan newspaper interview , Kalla said to Indonesian Chinese businessmen, "Which one do you prefer: To be discriminated or burnt out?" Although Kalla denied discriminatory allegations, Indonesian Chinese remain uneasy today. REFERENCES
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