The Chinese of Indonesia and Their Search for Identity: The Relat ...

in 1968 stipulated that the Chinese Indonesians would have to substitute Indonesian names for Chinese names to show their commitment to their country (Suryadinata, 1999). As a result of these restrictions, most Chinese people born after 1966² speak, write, and read only the Indonesian language, Bahasa Indonesia.

Although Chinese Indonesians adhered to this policy of forced assimilation for 33 years,³ there is evidence that the pribumi⁴ (the indigenous population) still see the Chinese as not fully integrated into the Indonesian society. The Chinese have been envied and vilified for their economic prowess as they are believed to control 70% of the country’s private economic sector and make up only 3% of the 240 million people who reside in Indonesia (Suryadinata, 1999). This imbalance of economic power relative to their size, along with suspicion of pribumi leaders regarding their loyalty to an external power (before Indonesia gained its independence, the Chinese were suspected of being allies to the Dutch and China. After independence, the pribumi leaders assumed that they preferred to be linked to China instead of Indonesia) are some of the reasons why the Chinese often became the targets of violence during each event of political turbulence in Indonesia’s history. The most recent example occurred in May 1998. Following the revolution that removed Suharto at the helm of power in May 1998, the riots erupted in Jakarta where mobs robbed, murdered, and raped hundreds of Chinese individuals.⁵ They also destroyed and pillaged Chinese homes and establishments. The May 1998 riots sadly revealed that the Chinese remained an unwanted part of Indonesian racial and cultural makeup despite their adherence to Suharto’s policy of assimilation. No matter how long they had spent in the country, the loyalties of the Chinese would always be questioned by most of the pribumis. Skinner (1967) referred