A Chinese-Indonesian history of discrimination
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
For more than 40 years, Hariyanto has been judged by his ethnicity.
During the anti-communist pogrom in the mid-1960s, the native of Tanah
Abang was accused of being a communist simply because he was a Chinese
Indonesian.
Even today, his religion, Taoism, is constantly confused with
Confucianism and his ID card says he is a Buddhist.
Years of official discrimination against Chinese-Indonesian citizens
prompted Hariyanto and thousands of others to put Buddhism, one of the
five religions then recognized by the government, on their ID cards.
While it may just be an imprint on a piece of paper, its consequences
are serious.
"We all have to disguise what faiths we practice because we fear that
government officials will meddle in our religious affairs," Hariyanto
told The Jakarta Post.
When he went to worship -- the sign on the Taoist temple's main gate
also stated it was a Buddhist institution.
Despite this insult, ethnic Chinese like Hariyanto are so used to
discrimination that they accept it as the norm.
"I personally don't care anymore whether or not the government
recognizes Taoism or Confucianism as religions. These are our beliefs,
not theirs," Hariyanto said.
"I don't want to talk too much about the discrimination or else I will
be accused of being a communist once again," he said.
A member of the Army-sponsored Student Action Front during the 1960s,
Hariyanto was labeled a communist because he was reluctant to join a
campaign to crush the Indonesian Communist Party.
After the fall of the New Order regime, the government officially
recognized Confucianism as an established religions in the country,
aside from Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Hinduism and Buddhism.
However, this acceptance has not filtered down to the lower levels of
bureaucracy.
Unfortunately for Hariyanto, Taoism, an offshoot of Confucianism, was
not recognized. Most people here confuse Confucianism and Taoism
because both are beliefs originally from mainland China.
However, Taoist texts reject many of the basic assumptions of
Confucianism.
During his presidency, Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid tried to end
discrimination against ethnic Chinese by officially recognizing their
beliefs and culture.
However, despite the policy change, most ethnic Chinese say little has
changed.
Daniel Lesmana, who lives in Palmerah in West Jakarta, says that being
a Chinese Confucian means he is often extorted by government officials.
The 45-year-old said that even if he wanted to state his real religion
on his ID card, the process would be slow, costly and uncertain.
"Issuing ID cards and other documents to Chinese people has become a
way for government officials to make money. That is why it is
difficult to change their attitudes to us," he told the Post.
Daniel feels Chinese Indonesians here are being unfairly singled out
by officials in the country, unlike Indonesian Arabs or Muslims from
other ethnic groups.
Communities here are often targeted by officialdom in random ID card
sweeps, especially when alleged wrongdoing by Chinese Indonesians is
exposed in the media.
This happened earlier this month in Makassar, South Sulawesi, where
tensions in the area were high following the death of a housemaid who
worked for a Chinese family.
Milis Wanita Muslimah
Membangun citra wanita muslimah dalam diri, keluarga, maupun masyarakat.
Situs Web: http://www.wanita-muslimah.com
ARSIP DISKUSI : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wanita-muslimah/messages
Kirim Posting mailto:wanita-muslimah@yahoogroups.com
Berhenti mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Milis Keluarga Sejahtera mailto:keluarga-sejahtera@yahoogroups.com
Milis Anak Muda Islam mailto:majelismuda@yahoogroups.com
This mailing list has a special spell casted to reject any attachment ....
SPONSORED LINKS
| Women | Different religions beliefs | Islam |
| Muslimah | Women in islam |
YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
- Visit your group "wanita-muslimah" on the web.
- To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
- Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
