13th May 98 is one of the darker days in indonesian history. Buildings burnt, shops looted,
chaos ensued everywhere. It's also the day I became fully aware of my ethnicity.
Before May 98 I had always seen myself as 100 % full Indonesian, I was born and grew up there,
it's the only country i ever knew at the time. Sure my parents speak mandarin to each other
but I had always assumed it's because they spent good years of their life
in mandarin speaking school before the new order regime closed it down. Yeah just like the majority
of Chinese Indonesian in Jakarta I had been called names but i didn't think much about it i thought
they're just a bunch of idiots. In this video i'm going to share my story about jJakarta riot in
mMay 98 as a Chinese ethnic minority, why Chinese being targeted and what lessons we need to learn.
And to be clear, Chinese is not the only victims during the riots a lot of non Chinese Indonesian
or pribumi died. I hate the term pribumi, for me if someone was born and grew up in Indonesia
and committed to Indonesia then he or she is a pribumi, period. A bit of background for those who
are not familiar with the May 98 riot. It began as a peaceful student protest to demand a reform
or reformasi to fix skyrocketing mass unemployment and living costs and stamp out corruptions.
Riot broke out and spread to other cities when armies start to fire at students i'll leave in
the link in description if you want to know more. I live in jakarta china's town Glodok Pancoran at
the time so it was pretty up close. I remember seeing a street hawker screaming for help blood
powering down from his head he's a regular in our neighbourhood he came he always came to sell
snacks sweets but no one dared to leave their house to help and i'm still wondering till
this day what happened to him because he never came after that we could also see smokes coming
from the burnt buildings and people carrying fridges and electronics passing by our house
but luckily they didn't have a chance to loot our neighbourhood thanks to a lone army man
coming out of nowhere firing of warning shot to disperse the crowds a friend of mine now living
in Sydney is not not so lucky he almost lost his life he rode a motorcycle at that time and a crowd
coming to him demanding to take off his helmet as a as a minority he was ready to die on the spot
but suddenly a car coming out of nowhere ran between him and the crowd leaving him a chance to
to escape till this day he believed that God sent the car to spare his life once things
start to settle down my parents told us Chinese scapegoating happened every 20 to 30 years roughly
it happened before in 1965 and they get jumpy every time politicians use the race card
during the elections also when there is some political tension between mainland China and
Indonesia i know it's funny right i mean we never been to the mainland china before but
somehow it affects us they reckon no matter how hard we try to assimilate
we will never be Indonesian enough because of our ethnicity i disagree but i don't blame them
either they just want the best for the kids. But why Chinese scapegoating? There are two factors
first because of the divide et empira politics by the dutch in the past so Indonesian society
was divided into three categories at that time europeans or westerners at the top followed by
other foreigners like Arabs or Chinese and then followed by indigenous people or native
even though it's a thing in the past i suspect that it still leaves us us versus them
mentality among some Indonesians second there is a perception that all Chinese Indonesian are rich
thanks to the closeness of Lim Siao Leong or Sudono Salim and Suharto at the time
also you can see that the top 10 rich Indonesian in 2021 by Forbes magazine are mostly Chinese
now you may ask how come an ethnic minority doing so well economically well it's out of necessity
and lack of choice Chinese were only allowed to work in economic space during the Suharto regime
so meaning becoming a police officer minister or government job is completely out of question
at the time of course not all Chinese are rich just like this family here in Singkawang
they are poor just the rest of the neighbourhood and you probably figure out that i'm not rich
either that's why i'm starting this youtube channel so please give it like and subscribe
majority of my friends or family in my inner circles are either running a small shop or
a salaryman middle class May 98 Legacy May 98 riot is a dark chapter in indonesian history
but also but it's also a catalyst for chance for what it means for being an Indonesian first the
term pribumi and is now prohibited by Habibi's presidential instruction after the riot second
government launched a massive campaign to promote multicultural harmony on television
third for the first time ever Chinese Indonesian can express their cultural heritage without fear
and lunar new year become a public holiday in muslim majority populated country Indonesia
thanks to no small part to our fourth president Abdurrahman Wahid or as we call him Gus Dur
he's probably the first Indonesian president who reflects our national diversity
his family is Javanes, ethnically Javanese of mixed Chinese and Arab origins Chinese
Indonesian regard him as a Bapak Tionghoa Indonesia the father of Chinese Indonesians
and last thing i want to say is no one can choose the colour of the skin or the country of birth
and I can't believe I'm still saying this in 2022 but the fact is racism exists in every country to
varying degree it's probably an ugly part of our primal human nature mainly the May 98 survivors
I spoke to they don't want revenge oh yes bringing the perpetrators to justice is nice
to have but come on we all know that that's not realistic in current political climate
they just want to live their life in peace and be accepted for who they are that's it for me guys
please give it a like and subscribe if you learned something new and i'll see you next time bye