For decades, the use of Chinese characters were banned in Indonesia. But in 2004, even presidential candidates, such as Megawati Sukarnoputri and Hasyim Muzadi, used them in their campaign posters for the presidential election
Post-independence and New Order Era
During the 1945-1950 National Revolution to defend the independence from Dutch, surprisingly few Chinese Indonesians were involved in the liberation army. At that time, the economy plummeted and the taxes went sky high. Even everyday goods, such as soaps and spoons, were very rare as Dutch and Japanese confiscated many of them for their own army. Chinese Indonesian contribution in this era was in the smuggling of these goods. However, smuggling became increasingly difficult as Japan continued to affirm their foothold in Indonesia. Armed conflicts were inevitable. Nevertheless, Chinese Indonesians risked their lives for it.
After independence, the Japanese and Dutch were routed. Their companies were vacant or sold at very cheap prices. As Chinese Indonesians were apt at trades, they quickly assimilated these companies. However, many pribumis were dissatisfied with the outcome and sought to curb this effort. They were successful in accusing that Chinese Indonesian were rarely involved in armed conflicts and thereby the fledgling Indonesian government forced Chinese Indonesians to relinquish some of them. This upset many Chinese Indonesians. Some reduced their activities in politics, but some were still active and even served as ministers to the newly established republic.
The pribumis still felt left out and discriminated as the economy was increasingly dominated by Chinese Indonesians. The pribumis decried the government’s lackluster effort to provide a level playing field and sought even more aggressive predicaments. This further escalated the tension of the already uneasy relationship between pribumis and Chinese Indonesian. Pribumis always considered Chinese Indonesians as the agents of the colonials. The tendency of Chinese Indonesians flocking together in Pecinan or Chinatowns, segregated from the pribumis, exacerbated it.
They succeeded. In 1959, President Soekarno approved PP 10/1959 that forced Chinese Indonesians to close their businesses in rural areas and relocate into urban areas in the hope of giving a competitive advantage for the pribumis to open their businesses in rural areas as the economy was agriculturally driven. This upset many Chinese Indonesians. They felt betrayed that their nationalism and heroism were not recognized at all. Moreover, the enforcement was brutal; many of them were slaughtered in the effort.
Many Cina Totoks “returned home” in protest to either mainland China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan, only to find that they were not as welcomed there either. Ironically, they were not regarded as “pure Chinese” regardless of their effort of maintaining a “pure Chinese breed”. The unfortunate news of the early migrants was widespread among the ones in Indonesia. They soon found themselves as neither Indonesian nor Chinese and thus were in deep identity crisis. Some decided to move to some other places, like Singapore or Malaysia, but some uneasily decided to stay in Indonesia.
In the 1960s, many government regulations, such as PP 10/1959, restricted the Chinese Indonesians 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 Chinese Indonesian in politics, academics, and the military. As a result, they were thereafter 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 Chinese Indonesians who were accused of being Communist collaborators.
Most Chinese Indonesian are not Muslim, further generating 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 Chinese Indonesian 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 their family 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[6]. The events in 1998 were significant because unlike earlier pogroms against Chinese Indonesians, due to the Internet, this incident spread world wide in real-time, and aroused the interest and feelings of the ethnic Chinese in China and other countries, which led 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 the USA, Australia, Singapore, and the Netherlands.
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 Chinese Indonesians, 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.