Comparative Case Study of Constructions of Ethnicity in Indonesia and Malaysia
... a small percentage of the total population in Indonesia, they are an important minority in the country. Throughout the country, they can be found in many major cities. Roots of most Chinese in Indonesia can be traced to Southern China and are originally of Hokkien, Cantonese or Hakka ethnic stock. Usually, the Chinese Indonesian population is made up of two groups namely the Totok Chinese and the Peranakan Chinese. Being pure Chinese, the Totoks (first or second generation newcomers) retain a strong affiliation with Chinese culture. Meanwhile, having a mixed Indonesian and Chinese background, the Peranakans use Indonesian as their home language and most often have adopted cultural traditions of Indonesia. Even if they only comprise 3.5% of the population, they are phenomenally wealthy controlling more than 70% of the country’s non-land, corporate wealth. However, the government treats Indonesia’s Chinese unfairly, thus, they face one of the most culturally oppressive regimes anywhere. Due to the legacy of many years of discrimination, several Chinese in Indonesia re reluctant and hesitant to describe themselves as Chinese. People think that as payment for the Chinese power in economy,their financial acumen and their being a close-knit community, they should be treated unfairly and should be discriminated against. In October 1965, an Indonesian military coup happened in Indonesia. This coup (Cavanagh 1991) was the result of a well-panned and carefully-orchestrated operation by the US-trained and backed commanders of the Indonesian armed forces and the Criminal Investigation Agency (CIA). Slaughtering more than a million workers and peasants, the coup swept aside the shaky bourgeois regime of President Sukarno. Further, the rising movement of the Indonesian masses was crushed to put up a brutal military dictatorship. Those who were massacred were peasants and workers suspected of supporting the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). During the time of the coup, PKI had more than 20 million members and active supporters and was considered, outside China and Soviet Union, as the largest Stalinist party in the world. But by the end of 1965, CIA officers and US diplomats worked with Suharto’s death squads to kill every known supporter and member of PKI. Some PKI members and supporters were detained in concentration camps. Many Chinese were killed in this carnage. Ever since the 1965 coup attempt was blamed on the Chinese-backed PKI, there is a decree in Indonesia which restricted the holding of Chinese traditions and religious rituals. During Chinese New Year or any other time, all Chinese celebrations or symbols (including lion dances on streets) related to Chinese culture are banned. Also after the 1965 coup, Chinese were treated with hatred, mistrust and suspicion. They were cruelly treated through actions such as banning and destroying of Chinese texts, disallowing them to attain high positions in the military and government, changing their names to indigenous equivalents, forcing them to have a special code on their passports and mandatory identity cards identifying their descent, and banning Chinese language schools, among others. A 10% intake limit on ethnic Chinese students was imposed on university courses in engineering, medicine, law and science. During an anti-government demonstration at Trisakti University in Jakarta on May 13-15, 1998, riots broke out across the country after four students were fatally shot by security forces. Organized mass riots, masterminded to deliberately target the ethnic Chinese minority, ensued and horrifying atrocities happened. Their businesses and houses were looted and burned and scores of ethnic Chinese girls and women (ages 9 to 55) were savagely gang-raped in public. However, Suharto’s so-called New Order regime (Johnston) was ended during these riots. He was forced to resign n My 21, 1998 which enabled the country to hold its first free elections in almost 50 years. It was only in February 2000 when Abdurrahman Wahid (Indonesia’s fourth head of state) revoked the said decree that the ethnic Chinese in Indonesia were allowed to publicly celebrate their New Year for the first time. Moreover, during a Chinese New Year celebration organized in Jakarta on year 2002, Indonesia’s fifth head of state Megawati Soekarnoputri announced the new public holiday. This development altered everything because after these reforms, many members of the ethnic Chinese community gained a renewed confidence. The current atmosphere of harmony between races will bring the country towards integration. Eventhough there is still a deep-seated resentment and official discrimination still exists in immigration and declaration forms, ethnic Chinese are gradually being treated with respect, Chinese language courses are now being offered in many universities and there are now several Chinese language publications. Construction of Ethnicity in Malaysia Between 2500 and 1500 B.C. (encarta.msn.com), the ancestors of the people that now inhabit the Malaysian peninsula first migrated to Malaysia. Early contact with Chinese and Indians were made by those living in the coastal regions. Ethnic groups in Malaysia include ethnic Malays and Malayan peoples (65%), ethnic Chinese (26%) and ethnic Indians (8%), although small numbers of Thai, Australians, Indonesians and Europeans also live in Malaysia. According to Belle, the Japanese invasion of the Malay Peninsula in 1941 sparked the politics of ethnicity, which dominates all facets of Malaysian life. During this period, the broad racial identities of Malays, Chinese and Indian emerged (Lee 1986). Ethnicity (Kua) remains enshrined in Malaysian life, and all excahnges are conducted and established through economic filters. After the country gained independence (encarta.msn.com), significant differences in the social standing of the three main ethnic groups namely the indigenous bumiputras (mostly Malays), ethnic Chinese and Indians were noticed. In the areas of politics and government, Malays are superior, while in terms of economy, the ethnic Chinese and Indians are successful. Because ethnic Chinese dominated the economy both in the rural and urban areas, this has been contested by many bumiputras. The structure of a traditional Chinese family is patrilineal and patriarchal, meaning in order to maintain the family surname through descent, sons are preferred over daughters. Further, among the extended Chinese family, kinship ties are very strong and are being carried into the business environment. These ties hamper occupational mobility among Malays since ethnic Chinese own many businesses in Malaysia. So by the late 1960’s, the country was torn by communal rioting directed against Indians and Chinese, who controlled a disproportionate share of Malaysia’s wealth. To resolve this, the government came up with the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1970 to get rid of the relationship between income and ethnicity. Some marked improvements such as reduction of people living at or below poverty level (from 52% in 1970 to 17% in 1990) were noticed. However, the income gap between bumiputras and ethnic Chinese remained significant. The New Development policy (NDP) was introduced in 1991 as NEP’s successor, strongly emphasizing increas...