I :SCAPEGOAT
The downfall of Indonesia’s economy in 1998 caused the pribumi to involve the Chinese as the scapegoat of the monetary crisis. The Chinese was involved economically because, “During the New Order Era, the Chinese were always made into an object to be blamed because they are better economically compare to other ethnics in Indonesia” (Go). It can be seen that the strong feeling of jealousy and anti-Chinese sentiment within the Indonesian people were used to blame the economy crisis towards the Chinese and triggered riots that jeopardized them. Although the monetary crisis in Indonesia happened due to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recovery plan that was applied ineffectively by the government and also the lack of an effective government policy response, they also blamed the economy crisis to the Chinese (Sherlock). Armed forces members and even President Soeharto himself accused some of the Chinese businessmen for triggering the crisis (Budiman). This shows how the Chinese minorities were actually used by the government to divert the rage, dissatisfaction and attention of their own people to the Chinese instead of to the government itself, which means that the government also contributed to the cause of the anti-Chinese riots.
The 1998 Riots. People were burning buildings and things
Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27991754
II :DISCRIMINATION
It is important to know that the 1998 riots were the peak of the discrimination and social sentiment to the Chinese that had built up years before the crisis. The anti Chinese racism was proven by “Soeharto’s Basic Policy for the Solution of the Chinese Problem” in 1967, which did not allow Chinese people to celebrate Chinese New Year, practice their religious beliefs, and also forbid Chinese language schools along with Chinese characters (Symonds). The prejudiced treatment of the government towards the Chinese certainly worsens the anti-Chinese sentiment of the pribumi and led to the blaming of the Chinese for the economic crisis. This discrimination certainly affected the Chinese minorities psychologically, as they had never been truly accepted as Indonesia citizens. In the interview, Mr. Arief Go shared that the Chinese could not work in the government sectors. He must also have proof of citizenship to indicate that he is an Indonesian although he was born and raised in Indonesia. Furthermore, he said that, “Sometimes, we even had to change our name” (Go). This discrimination certainly affected the 1998 riots emotionally and sparks the feeling of fear within the Chinese, since they knew that the rioters targeted the Chinese more than the government.
Letter of Proof of Citizenship of the Republic of Indonesia that had to be owned by Chinese Indonesians
Source: http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Discrimination_against_Chinese_Indonesians
Letter of Proof of Citizenship of the Republic of Indonesia that had to be owned by Chinese Indonesians
Source: http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Discrimination_against_Chinese_Indonesians
IV :FEAR
These riots certainly affected the Chinese greatly as at that time, they lived in fear. In the interview, Mrs. Meylina said that after the riots, “[She] packed up [her] things hastily and go back to [her] hometown, Makassar in Sulawesi to rest for a few months because [she] was traumatized by the riots” (Liauw). The rioting in Jakarta also led some 150,000 residents – mostly ethnic Chinese and Western expatriates – to flee the country, mostly by air to nearby Singapore or Hong Kong (Budiman). But one of the most tragic events that happened during the riots was the mass rape of eighty-five to four hundred ethnically Chinese women (Winarnita), This events certainly have impacted the psychological aspect of the Indonesia Chinese women as they were traumatized with the events and continually live in fear.
A lot of Chinese people left Indonesia
Source: http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Discrimination_against_Chinese_Indonesians
III :TAKING ADVANTAGE
The riots were very chaotic in which people took advantage of the uncontrollable situation to do immoral things that focused more on the ethnically Chinese people. During the riots, the Chinese could not do anything as there were large mass that looted their shops and destroyed their property by burning it, resulting in more than thousand people died. According to Professor Dadan Umar Daihani, Director of Trisakti Research Institute, and Angus Budi Purnomo, “The damage to buildings during the May 1998 riot was concentrated in ethnic Chinese villages with dominant commercial activity” (Daihani, Purnomo). The rioters destroyed and looted Chinese owned business, primarily in Glodok, the Chinese town of Jakarta, because they were desperate in economics and they did not want the Chinese, whom they blamed as a cause of the economy crisis to raise the prices. As a result, the Chinese were the ones who suffered a big loss at their economy.
The attacked areas were the areas where the Chinese and their commercial activities were located
Source: http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/fall01articles/may1998riot.html
A Chinese man whose shop was looted and destroyed
Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-27991754
The Asian Financial Crisis caused economy crisis in Indonesia in 1997 and 1998. The living condition in Indonesia decreased drastically and it was reported that, “The value of the rupiah fell by 75%, inflation rose by 39%, business was almost totally destroyed, and millions of workers lost their jobs”(Refugee Review Tribunal). Demonstration and riots happened everywhere, especially in Jakarta – demanding a reformation from the government and resignation from President Soeharto. However, the 1998 tragedy was not just a mere political protest of people’s unsatisfaction towards the government. It was also about people’s desperation on their economy along with their anti-Chinese sentiment, which led them to blame the Chinese and to take advantages of the riots that affected the Chinese massively in many ways, both in 1998 and after the attack.
“Because I am Chinese, wherever I go, I feel like I am being observed by many people, I feel like I could be tortured again at any time, aaaah... I feel like they are all tigers about to pounce”
-Siska
It is important for the generation to know how the Chinese were economically and psychologically involved and affected by the 1998 riots, for people need to reflect on how terrible it was, so that they can learn from past mistakes, move forward to be a better country and prevent worse future atrocities to occur. This is proven by the increasing tolerance within Indonesian people as well as the discrimination against the ethnically Chinese Indonesian that has diminished gradually over the years. A prominent evidence can be seen by the Chinese that now can work in the government, for example Ahok – the governor of Jakarta. Having knowledge about these traumatic events also helps other people, especially the victims of the riots, because when people are oblivious to the ordeal, then there would never be justice in the world and the atrocities could be repeated. The acts of listening, learning and remembering are important to develop empathy and to honor other individuals with their cultures and pain they have been through. By remembering these past memories, people would be more observant and trying to fight for justice towards the similar events that happened in the world, such as the crisis and discrimination between Israel and Palestine as well as the Rohingya crisis. Knowing about this topic also has helped me to appreciate how much luck I have to live in this era. My gratefulness will also be expressed through learning to respect people of all religion and ethnic, because peace can only be reached if people does not label each other and instead learn to be respectful towards each other despite our beliefs.
In conclusion,
The 1998 tragedies have involved the Chinese economically as they were the scapegoat of the monetary crisis. They also involved the Chinese emotionally as the anti-Chinese sentiment had existed years before the riots. On the other side, the riots also affected the Chinese economically since their properties and business were destroyed as well as emotionally since they were traumatized by the event, including the mass raping.
To make this research more objective, I should have interview a person that are not ethnically Chinese so I can know the how the events went through from a different perspective, because there is always two sides of a story. I also wanted to say that I do not want to generalize that all pribumis are horrible people due to the riots, because I found that there were actually provocateurs behind these riots. Unfortunately, there is no evidence about it and the accused provocateurs also keeps denying it until now, so I cannot include that into my research paper. Most of all, this website is made to remind everyone that these tragedies shall not be repeated.