Bacaan bagus, mungkin bisa kita pahami sedikit kehidupan menjadi seorang
keturunan, bukan dari kacamata ala Adi "Racis" Sasono, ala empunya toko di
Glodok, Senen, Kelapa Gading, dan Pasar Mesteer, bukan dari keglamoran
keturunan macam Liem Sioe Liong di Gunung Sahari,
Mari kita coba rasakan dan pahami, gimana sih jadi Cina itu sebenarnya,
jangan muluk-muluk, tinggal di Pondok Indah, pemilik perusahaan
konglomelorot plus kkn dengan anak-cucu Soeharto, sekolah di pelita
atau di Amerika sini,
tapi cukup hanya dengan berdagang seadanya, tinggal membaur dengan
sesama pribumi, menyekolahkan anak-anak di sekolah negeri, kendaraan
transportasi hanyak mikrolet dan ojek.
Kasihan mereka, yang cina kaya sih gampang, lari keluar negeri, amerika
juga mau terima, asal dollar nya mencukupi bayar pajak. lha
yang cina miskin kebanyakan, malah di palakin, rumah dibakarin,
anak perawannya di perkosaiin, keluar diteriakin atau diancam.
coba bayangin sedetik deh...gimana sih jadi cina itu, atau gimana sih
jadi minoritas itu, sama seperti gimana jadi Arab Muslim di Amerika
yang katanya mayoritas Kristen itu.
Hanya sebuat renungan menjelang natal.
Andrew Pattiwael
The Military College of Vermont
Norwich University Corps of Cadets
Harassment of Spouse, Children Chills Jakarta Mixed Marriage
By Keith B. Richburg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, December 23, 1998; Page A19
JAKARTA, Indonesia-Yunita L. Riana doesn't consider herself a
revolutionary. But 11 years ago, she committed what for many in
Indonesia's indigenous population might be considered an act of
revolutionary proportions: She fell in love with, and married, an
ethnic Chinese man.
She was 17 when she became involved with Paul Tenggana, who is 10
years her elder. Her relatives were aghast. His wealthy family was not
much better. They opposed the marriage, and still, she said, "I do not
get along with his family."
But what has been worse for her has been the insults, the threats, and
the constant harassment she faces living as part of a mixed couple in
ethnically divided Indonesia. Every day, she said, she fears for the
safety of her two young sons.
She described how even driving down the street in the family car can
be a traumatic experience. "Every time we go anywhere, and my husband
makes a little mistake driving, people say, 'Chinese! Stupid Chinese!
I'll burn down your house.' "
"I get so depressed," she said. "Every time the same thing. 'I will
burn down your house!' 'I will burn your car!' 'I will kidnap your
children!' " She stopped briefly, tears welling in her eyes, her voice
softly breaking as she tried to continue.
"I'm very upset," she said at last. "It's always been that way. But
now, since May, it's become more frequent. If I have a problem with
one of the housekeepers and I have to scold them, I think twice -- I
don't want them to do anything stupid because this is a Chinese house.
They might burn the house or kidnap the children, because it's a
Chinese house."
Her story gets worse. Lately, since the riots of May, people have been
showing up at her front door every week, demanding money. And of
course she gives the money, because she is afraid. "I've become like
Santa Claus," she said.
Not even the children are immune; young neighborhood toughs have
showed up at the gates of her eldest son's Catholic junior high
school, deriding the Chinese children for being rich in poor
Indonesia, and demanding cash.
She said it was love that drove her to marry Paul, when she was just
21. But now at 32, what love there was has been worn down by the
constant struggle. "If I had a second chance," she conceded, "I
wouldn't marry a Chinese. No way. It's too much trouble. Right now, I
think love is stupid. I'm worried about my sons' safety."
"I do have regrets," she said, gently weeping. "I cannot talk to
anyone -- not my husband, not my sons, because I don't want them to
feel bad about being Chinese. I keep it in my heart."
She has applied for a job in Ireland, in the tourism industry. But she
knows her husband will not go, because even with the harassment and
threats, he feels he belongs here.
"He says, 'I was born here, my parents were born here. I don't even
know where China is. I have an Indonesian passport,' " she said. But
of her husband's patriotism, "It's crazy," she said, "stupid."
