DISCRIMINATION IN INDONESIA: HOW A MINORITY THINKS OF ITSELF

by Rahmad Nasution

Discrimination is likely a natural phenomenon in any country in the world. Like the logic of a community, who often identifies who belongs to it and who does not, this racial problem can happen anywhere and to anybody.

No matter whether a country has been classified into "developed" or remains "developing/less developed", discrimination can occur in its society.

Australia, one of the developed countries in the world which has even been promoting multiculturalism in its society since dismantling its policy of accepting only European immigrants about 32 years ago, had once received a "racist label" from the United Nations.

At least this information was told by the country's documentary film maker John Pilger in his website http://pilger.carlton.com/print/30056).

However, discrimination problems in the Australian society are handled seriously by the Australian Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Commission, a body founded by the Australian government in 1986 to ensure the enforcement of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975, Sex Discrimination Act 1984, Disability Discrimination Act 1992, and Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986.

As Judith Besant and Rob Watts argued in Sociology Australia (2002), in a sociological point of view, racism began with tendencies inherent in most human groups. Those tendencies included constructing belief systems based on generalizations about those who were part of the in-group and those who were others.

How about Indonesia? In this sprawling archipelago, despite the fact that more freedom is enjoyed by the Indonesians of Chinese descent to express their cultural identity as a result of the 1998 reform movement, like celebrating the lunar new year and performing the Barongsai (dragon) dance, this minority group remains legally discriminated in some areas.

Due to the absence of organizations like the Australian Human Rights & Equal Opportunity Commission, many of them can not expect that their complaints will be heard and handled properly by the government.

Andy Susilo is one of the unfortunate Chinese Indonesians, who should struggle harder than his colleagues from other ethnic groups, always dubbed as pribumi (native), for a passport to go to Brisbane for study at the University of Queensland (UQ) since last January.

"In trying to obtain a passport, for instance, I feel I am treated discriminatively (by the Immigration) compared to other Indonesians (the pribumis) though I don't understand about the meaning of 'pribumi' (native) here."

"I must prepare various documents that, I think, are irrelevant for a passport. I cannot imagine, I must enclose the Republic of Indonesia Citizenship Certificate (SBKRI) of my parents though I was born in Indonesia, grown up in Indonesia, and I do not speak Chinese. But, I feel I am still regarded as a second class citizen. The total amount of money that I have to pay for my passport is also higher," he said.

In fact, the discriminative acts against the Chinese minority, which currently totals more than six million of Indonesia's 210 million population, are not only experienced by ordinary people like Andy, but also by noted Chinese Indonesian badminton players who have made the nation famous in world championships like Thomas and Uber Cups. The SBKRI-related problem, for instance, had once also happened to Hendrawan, a male badminton player who brought victory to Indonesia's Thomas Cup team in Guangzhou, China, in May 2002.

A few days before his departure for the championship, the status of his citizenship remained unclear because the immigration office where he applied for a SBKRI had yet to issue the document.

The problem of Hendrawan, who was the winner of the world badminton championship in 2000 for singles and also contributed a silver medal to Indonesia in the Sydney Olympic games, was finally handled after President Megawati Soekarnoputri interfered.

In fact, the SBKRI made effective by the New Order regime through the Citizenship Law No.62/1958 had been abolished by now former president BJ Habibie through presidential decree No.4/1999.

What makes Australia and Indonesia different in responding to these cases of racism? For Adrianus Halim, another Indonesian of Chinese descent who is also studying at UQ, the Australian government handled this problem institutionally and the Australian people were willing to talk about this matter openly and fairly.

"When I felt that someone treated me unfairly here, like my supervisor or administrative staff, I could directly talk to that person. They could understand me and apologized to me. That's it. That's why, I said I was respected here."

"Many such things should also be done in Indonesia. I think Indonesia is the most complex multicultural nation in the world because of its different ethnicities and cultures. The Chinese Indonesian is not the only minority treated discriminatively in the country," Adrianus said.

In solving the Chinese problem, Chairman of the Chinese-Indonesian Association (INTI), Eddie Lembong, was quoted by The Jakarta Post (April 22, 2004) as suggesting Chinese Indonesians be accepted as part of the Indonesian nation.

"There should be no discrimination and we need to remove the wall that separates us from the others. Internally, we (INTI) also want to make the Chinese aware of their duties and responsibilities. Cooperation with other components is imperative," he said.

Living in peaceful co-existence without discrimination can be a dream of minorities anywhere, including those in Australia and Indonesia. For Indonesians, Australia's way to handle this problem institutionally can be a good example.

Apart from this, efforts to promote anti-discrimination acts should be made by any individual by training themselves to respect "others of their own communities" without religious, cultural and racial prejudice, Adrianus said.

*) Published by ANTARA on July 4, 2004.