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For decades, the use of Chinese characters was banned in Indonesia. But in 2004, even presidential candidates, such as Megawati Sukarnoputri and Wahid Hasyim, used them in their campaign posters for the presidential election.
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For decades, the use of Chinese characters was banned in Indonesia. But in 2004, even presidential candidates, such as Megawati Sukarnoputri and Wahid Hasyim, used them in their campaign posters for the presidential election.

The Indonesian Chinese (Mandarin: Yin du ni xi ya Huaren (印度尼西亞華人) Hakka: Thong ngin, Min: Teng lang, Bahasa Indonesia: Tionghoa Indonesia, or (derisively) China totok) are ethnically Chinese people living in Indonesia, as a result of hundreds of years of overseas Chinese migration.

Indonesian Chinese people are diverse in their origins, timing and circumstances of immigration to Indonesia, and level of ties to China. Many trace their origins to the southern parts of China, such as the Fujian, Hainan and Guangdong provinces. Broadly speaking, there were three waves of immigration of the ethnic Chinese to Southeast Asia in general and Indonesia in particular. The first wave was spurred by trading activities dating back to the time of Zheng He's voyage, the second wave around the time of the Opium War, and the third and last wave around the first half of the 20th century. Chinese Indonesians whose ancestors immigrated in the first and second waves, and have thus become creolised or hua-na (in Hokkien) by marriage and assimilation, are called Keturunan Chinese. The more recent Chinese immigrants and those who are still culturally Chinese, are called Orang Tiong Hoa. Although there used to be a sizable spread of Indonesian Chinese in the rural areas, the largest populations of Indonesian Chinese today are in the cities of Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, Pekan Baru, Semarang, Pontianak, Makassar, Palembang and Bandung, partially due to Anti-Chinese legislation in Indonesia.

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Demographics

The economic activities and wealth of the Chinese community in Indonesia is hugely diverse; many are farmers and small-scale merchants, and others are businessmen. Most are identified as ethnic Chinese in official documents, but many are not, for a variety of reasons. In many parts of Indonesia, however, they are represented among the wealthier classes out of proportion with their small numbers. According to a survey of corporations listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange, the Indonesian Chinese community was thought to own or operate a large fraction of major Indonesian corporations. This is a result of a long government restriction for Chinese Indonesians from going into academia, public service and other governmental occupations. However, some believe that this estimate overestimates the influence of the Indonesian Chinese on the economy: for example, despite being considered to be under control of the Indonesian Chinese in the research, the Salim Group is actually controlled by Liem Sioe Liong, two pribumi relatives of then President Suharto, and Ibrahim Risyad, an Acehnese associate of one of Suharto's cousins.

Such simplifications fuel the stereotype that Indonesian Chinese people are all extremely wealthy, a common perception in Indonesian society. In part as a result of this perceived dominance of the economy, Indonesian Chinese community has frequently been viewed with suspicion by indigenous (Pribumi) Indonesians.

Origins

Most Indonesian Chinese are descended from ethnic groups originally from the south-eastern part of China. These ethnic groups include:

Ethnic concentrations

History

Pre-independence History

Race relations between Indonesian Chinese and native Indonesians have always been problematic. Some commentators trace this to the Dutch era when colonial policy favored ethnic Chinese - and in so doing established their economic dominance over the region. The caste system established by the Dutch also made it disadvantageous for ethnic Chinese (and members of other races) to assimilate into the native population: this would mean being put in the third estate, the lowest one, together with the natives. Ethnic Chinese, on the other hand, together with Arabs and other Foreign Orientals were put in the second estate, just a notch beneath the first estate, a category reserved for Europeans and, ironically, Japanese and Siamese nationals as well.

Colonial race politics aside, many ethnic Chinese were supporters of colonial rule. Indeed, in the early years of the Netherlands East Indies, ethnic Chinese helped strengthen Dutch domination in the region. Souw Ben Kong, the Kapitan Cina of Banten, for example, organized a large-scale immigration of Chinese under his rule to Batavia in the seventeenth century. This significantly destabilized the Bantenese economy, thus facilitating Dutch conquest of the Sultanate. As a reward, Souw was made the first Kapitein der Chinezen of Batavia. His successors, the Kapiteins and, later, the Majoors der Chinezen of Batavia, were given landed fiefdoms and the hereditary title of Sia by the colonial government. Between them, these aristocratic Peranakan families controlled a great deal of Java's land and wealth. Through the officership system, moreover, they governed the Peranakan and ethnic Chinese population of Batavia. The system was later extended to other centers of Dutch power in Java and parts of the rest of the archipelago. [[Citing sources citation needed]]

Beginning in the late nineteenth century, most of these families underwent rapid westernization. By the early decades of the twentieth century, many of them (especially those domiciled around Batavia) had become more "Dutch" than the Dutch themselves: the Sias were consequently some of the strongest proponents of colonial rule. Their hold over the economy, however, was systematically destroyed by the very government they supported in the 1920s and 1930s. Following Queen Wilhelmina's speech to the Estates General, the Dutch Parliament, in which she insisted that a "moral debt" was owed to the people of the East Indies, the colonial government implemented its so-called "social policy". This was aimed at ending feudalism in Java and breaking up the large estates of the Peranakan aristocracy. At this period the native aristocracy did not own much land due to their belief that influence on citizens, rather than ownership of land, is the base of their power. The native aristocracy owes their employment to the Dutch in the civil service. The Dutch compulsory acquisition of Peranakan fiefdoms destroyed many of the older landowning families. While some managed to go into business successfully, most former Sias (their title became obsolete by the 1940s) were swamped in economic power by Totok Chinese. This latter group remains, even today, the most powerful economic group in Indonesia. [[Citing sources citation needed]]

The Chinese Indonesians built their first schools in Surabaya in the 1920s — one of the first non-Western schools in Java — and by the 1960s many Chinese schools had been established in the major cities. The first Chinese newspapers were also printed during this era, and several Chinese political parties were established. These political parties range from those who saw themselves as part of the Indonesian nationalism movement, and those who felt that Chinese Indonesians are still Chinese citizens, a question that was left unresolved for many decades. [[Citing sources citation needed]]

Indonesian National Revolution

During the Indonesian National Revolution many Chinese Indonesians supported the Independence movement. The BPUPKI -- Body for Investigating Preparation Attempts of Indonesia's Independence (Badan Penyelidik Usaha-usaha Persiapan Kemerdekaan Indonesia) -- included six ethnic Chinese members who contributed to the drafting of the Indonesian Constitution in 1945. Moreover, the Chinese weekly Sin Po was the first to openly publish the text to the national anthem Indonesia Raya in November 1928.

There was discussion on the formation of all-Indonesian Chinese units in the war for Independence [link], similar to the formation of the all-Japanese American Nisei units in World War Two. This suggestion was ultimately rejected, and the ethic Chinese were urged to instead join their local pro-Independence groups instead. In 1946 the Consul General of the Republic of China Chiang Chia Tung expressed in Malang that the ROC supported Indonesia's independence.

Post-independence and New Order Era

In the 1960s many government regulations, such as PP 10/1959, restricted the Indonesian Chinese from the rural areas, and forced many to relocate to the big cities. Moreover, political pressures in the 1970s and 1980s restricted the role of the Indonesian Chinese in politics, academics and the military. As a result, they were since then constrained professionally to becoming entrepreneurs and professional managers in trade, manufacturing, and banking. In the 1970s, following the failed alleged Communist coup attempt in 1965, there was a strong sentiment against the Indonesian Chinese, who were accused of being Communist collaborators.

Most Indonesian Chinese are not Muslim, further fomenting negative sentiments from the mostly Muslim native Indonesians. This is ironic in light of the fact that some of the earliest Muslim evangelists in Java (who were called the Wali Songo or 'The Nine Ambassadors') were of Chinese ancestry. A historical theory even suggests that the first people who brought Islamic faith to Indonesia were the Chinese traders, especially those who came to Semarang under the leadership of Sam Po Kong or Admiral Zheng He (Zheng He himself was not a Han, but a Muslim from a minority ethnic group in China).

Various government policies banned Chinese language teaching, speaking, and publication. Established schools and colleges run by Chinese-Indonesian foundations were nationalized and their facilities seized without compensation and converted to state or pribumi-run schools, such as Universitas Res Publica, which became Universitas Trisakti. A presidential directive forced Indonesian Chinese to abandon their Chinese names and adopt Indonesian names. Anti-Chinese sentiments increased among the pribumi Indonesians and anti-Chinese pogroms were frequent. In identity cards, all Chinese Indonesians were designated as "WNI" (Warga Negara Indonesia = Citizen of Indonesia), a euphemism for "ethnic Chinese" as opposed to just "Indonesian" for the pribumi Indonesians. This made it easy for government officials to extract bribes and side payments, and has been compared to Jews under Hitler being required to wear the Star of David badge on their chests. Ethnic Chinese must hold certificates of having rejected Chinese citizenship, despite being native-born and having lived in Indonesia for generations.

These highly discriminatory laws are believed by some as a concerted government effort at cultural genocide. Those Chinese Indonesians who could not stand the discrimination fled. The Totoks returned to mainland China (only to catch themselves trapped in Cultural Revolution), and the Peranakans to the old masters' country, the Netherlands.

In 1998, preceding the fall of Suharto's 32-year presidency, big riots targeted the Chinese Indonesians, pogrom style. It is verified and confirmed that Chinese homes were looted and burned, and many Chinese people were raped or killed[link]. The events in 1998 were significant because unlike earlier pogroms against Indonesian Chinese, due to the Internet this incident spread world wide in real-time, arousing the interest and feelings of the ethnic Chinese in China and other countries, leading to demonstrations against Indonesia in many countries with significant Chinese populations and protests to the government of Indonesia. After the tragedy, a large number of Chinese Indonesians fled to other countries, such as USA, Australia, Singapore, and the Netherlands. Adding insult to injury, Habibie, the unpopular president after Suharto, ridiculed the fleeing Chinese as being unpatriotic. Ironically, Habibie himself left Indonesia to live in Germany after his performance report (pidato pertanggungjawaban) was rejected by the new, democratically elected parliament in 1999.

Because of discrimination, most Chinese Indonesians were not politically active and could not lobby for legislation to protect their own interests despite their economical affluence. The situation is different in neighboring Malaysia where the overseas Chinese have been both politically and economically active despite being a minority in a similar environment (better off economically in a Muslim majority country).

Despite laws and sentiments against the Indonesian Chinese, many have succeeded in fields other than business, most notably in the sport of badminton, the most popular competitive sport in Indonesia. Indonesian athletes dominated the sport from the 1960s to the 1990s. Many of the beloved players and coaches are Chinese Indonesians, such as Tan Joe Hok, Rudy Hartono, Christian Hadinata, Tjun Tjun, Johan Wahjudi, Ade Chandra, Liem Swie King, Ivana Lie, Verawaty, Susi Susanti, Alan Budikusuma, Ardy Wiranata, and Heryanto Arbi.

Recent history

The condition for Indonesian Chinese has improved, with new government regulations that allow the practice of Chinese cultures without prior limitations, and efforts to improve race relationships. The Chinese culture is starting to be embraced by even the popular media, widely covering Chinese New Year celebrations and even TV shows on Feng Shui. The formerly derogatory term referring to Chinese Indonesians -- Cina -- is slowly being replaced by the old term Tionghoa. A small number of Indonesian Chinese are now involved in Indonesian politics, one of whom (Kwik Kian Gie) was appointed minister in 1999.

The reversal of key discriminating laws which were intended to force assimilation into the local culture means that the Indonesian Chinese are now in an era of re-discovery. Mandarin language lessons are widely available and are popular not only among the Indonesian Chinese. Mandarin has become a popular foreign language option in Indonesian schools. Attending an extensive program in a language school in Beijing or other cities is also a popular option for many Indonesian Chinese who were barred from learning Chinese during their formative years.

See also

References

 

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