DATE=6/26/98
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-40797
TITLE=INDONESIA/ ETHNIC CHINESE
BYLINE=LISA WEAVER
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:

INTRO: THE EXODUS OF ETHNIC CHINESE FROM INDONESIA FOLLOWING THE RIOTING THAT LED FORMER PRESIDENT SUHARTO TO STEP DOWN TOOK AWAY A THRIVING SECTOR OF SOCIETY, BUT ALSO AN ESTIMATED 15 BILLION DOLLARS. AS LISA WEAVER REPORTS FROM JAKARTA, THE CHINESE WHO REMAIN SAY THEY ARE LEFT FEELING VULNERABLE, WITH LITTLE HOPE THE FUTURE WILL BRING MUCH CHANGE.

TEXT: WU YAO YAO IS COMING BACK TO LIVE IN HIS APARTMENT, A MONTH AFTER THE HIGH RISE COMPLEX WHERE HE LIVES WAS PARTIALLY BURNED AND RANSACKED BY ANGRY MOBS.

YAO ACT

(IN ENGLISH) YEAH, IN FACT WE FEEL THAT THIS IS OUR COUNTRY, ONLY A MATTER OF FACT THAT A PART OF THE INDONESIAN PEOPLE, THEY HAVE A NEGATIVE THINKING THAT ALL THE CHINESE ARE RICH, ALL THE CHINESE HAVE A BETTER LIFE THAN THEM, YOU KNOW. I THINK THAT IS WRONG THINKING – NOT ALL THE CHINESE ARE RICH.

END ACT

MANY OF INDONESIA'S WEALTHY CHINESE FLED THE COUNTRY IN THE WAKE OF RIOTING THAT LEFT HUNDREDS OF STORES AND HOMES DESTROYED. MR. WU, LIKE MANY IN THE MIDDLE CLASS, IS STAYING. BUT HE SAYS IF RIOTS BREAK OUT AGAIN, HE WILL MOVE HIS FAMILY TO MALAYSIA OR SINGAPORE.

MR. WU AND HIS NEIGHBORS ARE EAGER TO CONVEY A DEGREE OF NORMALCY IN THE MIDST OF CONTINUED CHAOS. THEY ARE RELUCTANT TO TALK ABOUT THE SUBJECT THAT HITS A SENSITIVE CHORD IN THEIR COMMUNITY – THE ALLEGED SYSTEMATIC RAPES OF HUNDREDS OF CHINESE WOMEN – IN MANY CASES, IN FRONT OF THEIR LOVED ONES.

ANOTHER CHINESE RESIDENT OF JAKARTA, RITONG WIJAYA, SAYS THIS IS AN ISSUE WITH WHICH MANY PEOPLE ARE HAVING TROUBLE COMING TO GRIPS.

ACT RITONG WIJAYA IN CHINESE – FADE UNDER TRANSLATION

“THERE WERE A LOT OF RAPES, BUT FEW PEOPLE WHO WILL TALK ABOUT IT,” HE SAYS.

HE INSISTS THERE WERE NO RAPES IN HIS APARTMENT COMPLEX – THE MITRA BAHARI APARTMENTS IN NORTH JAKARTA – AN ASSERTION DISPUTED BY A MANAGER AND OTHER RESIDENTS.

SOME MITRA BAHARI RESIDENTS MOVED TO A NEARBY APARTMENT COMPLEX AFTER THE RIOTS. LIM SHU LIAN SAYS WHEN SHE SAW THE LOWER FLOORS BEING BURNED AND HEARD MOBS BREAKING IN, SHE ESCAPED THROUGH THE BACK OF HER SIXTH STORY APARTMENT. SHE SAYS SHE HEARD ABOUT MASS RAPES, BUT DOES NOT KNOW THE DETAILS.

ACT LIM SHU LIEN IN CHINESE – FADE UNDER TRANSLATION

“IT'S HARD TO SAY. EVERYTHING WAS SO CHAOTIC DURING THE RIOTS – INDONESIA IS CHAOTIC EVEN NOW,” SHE SAYS. “I LIVE HERE, AND I'M AFRAID. IT'S ALREADY HAPPENED ONCE. WHAT ABOUT THE NEXT TIME?”

NADIA FROM KALYNANAMITRA, A WOMENS' SUPPORT GROUP, SAYS FEAR OF WHAT MAY HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE IS WHAT KEEPS WITNESSES AND VICTIMS SILENT. THE GROUP PLACED SEVERAL RAPE VICTIMS IN SAFE HOUSES AFTER THE RIOTS. SINCE THEN, NADIA SAYS SHE HAS RECEIVED THREATENING PHONE CALLS. A CATHOLIC PRIEST WHO ALSO HELPS RAPE VICTIMS REPORTS RECEIVING A BOX OF DUMMY HAND GRENADES IN THE MAIL.

NADIA ASSERTS THE RAPES, BURNING AND LOOTING WERE NOT RANDOM, BUT WERE ORGANIZED POLITICAL ACTS.

NADIA ACT

THE PATTERN OF HOW THEY ATTACK, HOW THEY BURN, IS THE SAME ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER PLACE. THERE WAS A GROUP OF MALES WHO TRAINED, I DON'T KNOW WITH WHOM, WHO HAVE A TASK TO BURN, TO ATTACK, TO RAPE THE CHINESE COMMUNITY.

END ACT

NADIA SAYS SHE KNOWS OF ONE OF THESE MEN – NOW IN HIDING – WHO SAYS HE WAS TRAINED BY ONE OF THE MILITARY'S SPECIAL FORCES REGIMENTS. ACTIVISTS WANT TO USE HIS TESTIMONY FOR AN INVESTIGATION THEY PLAN TO LAUNCH.

THE CHINESE PLAY AN ACTIVE ROLE IN THE INDONESIAN ECONOMY. TRADITIONALLY MERCHANTS AND BUSINESS OWNERS, THEIR ABSENCE HAS BEEN SORELY FELT. BUSINESSES HAVE SHUT DOWN AND MUCH NEEDED CAPITAL IS BEING DRAINED FROM THE COUNTRY. NOW SOME OF INDONESIA'S POWER ELITE IS TRYING TO LURE CHINESE CAPITAL BACK HOME.

ACT - PROMINENT COMMUNITY FIGURE READING A STATEMENT IN BAHASA INDONESIA

MUSLIM LEADER ABDURRANHAM WAHID RECENTLY JOINED A TOP INDONESIAN CHINESE BUSINESSMAN IN URGING THE SOME 120-THOUSAND ETHNIC CHINESE WHO REMAIN ABROAD TO RETURN.

THE ETHNIC CHINESE BUSINESSMAN, WILLIAM SEORWIDJAYA, FORMER OWNCER OF AN INDONESIAN CAR MANUFACTURER, SAYS IT IS IMPORTANT FOR THE RECOVERY OF THE INDONESIAN ECONOMY THEY RETURN.

SEORWIDJAYA ACT

I THINK FOR SURE, WE FOREIGN INVESTORS WHO WOULD LIKE TO INVEST IN INDONESIA WILL ALSO LOOK AT THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE FLEEING AWAY, TO THE SOONER THEY ARE COMING BACK THE BETTER FOR THE ECONOMIC SITUATION.

END ACT

MR. SEORWIDJAYA SAYS THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO REASSURE THE CHINESE THEY CAN COUNT ON PROTECTION. BUT HE ALSO SAYS PART OF THE REASON FOR THE RESENTMENT AGAINST THE CHINESE IS THAT THEY HAVE KEPT THEMSELVES SEPARATE FROM THE REST OF INDONESIAN SOCIETY. THE CHINESE MUST DO THEIR PART, HE SAYS, ADDING IT TAKES TWO HANDS TO CLAP.

IT MAY BE TOO SOON TO TELL WHETHER INDONESIA'S CHINESE COMMUNITY WILL FEEL WELCOMED WITH AN OPEN HAND – OR CONTINUE TO FEEL THREATENED WITH A CLOSED FIST. (SIGNED)

NEB/LW/GC/FC/MMK

26-Jun-98 9:47 AM EDT (1347 UTC) NNNN

Source: Voice of America

Back to top