Racial Tension: Native Indonesians vs. Chinese Indonesians

The racial tension between the native Indonesians and the Chinese has been quite a great conflict for years. The Chinese people, who are a minority in Indonesia, happen to be the biggest contributor to the Indonesian economy.  In general, they tend to be better businessmen than the natives. Looking at this, I immediately thought that jealousy was the main reason of this racial conflict. Being an Indonesian Chinese myself, it’s only natural that I think the rest of the Indo-Chinese people aren’t at fault. But as I continue my research, my perspective gradually changed.

The wealth and the success of the Chinese people isn’t the issue here. It’s the attitude both parties have towards each other. The Chinese people think that the native Indonesians are poorly educated people with narrow minds who are jealous of their success in business.  The native Indonesians think that the Chinese are exclusive and arrogant people who do not want to mingle with anyone other than other Chinese people. Some natives also believe that the Chinese in Indonesia are still loyal to China and only sees Indonesia as a place to work.

Being born and raised in Indonesia I have observed that some of the things that the native Indonesians think about the Chinese is actually true. Some Chinese people really are arrogant.  They drive expensive cars, buy big houses and wear branded clothing. They don’t want to mingle with the natives because they think the natives are of “lower-class” being the maids and the drivers. But I also think that the Chinese act this way because they want to prove to the natives that they are not to be underestimated. Maybe the Chinese people feel tired of being the outcast in Indonesia or the victims (in the case of the 1998 riots, for example). If both parties just give each other a chance, I’m sure this conflict will be history sooner than we thought.

After studying and researching on this conflict quite thoroughly, my perspective has changed. Now I know the causes of the conflict. I no longer want to live under the stereotype that, as a Chinese, I am arrogant and exclusive. I no longer want to assume that all native Indonesians are poorly educated and narrow-minded. For all I know, Chinese people can be poorly educated and narrow-minded just as native Indonesians can be exclusive and arrogant. Every individual is different. It isn’t fair to judge them by their race. At the end of the day, we are all Indonesian citizens, and that’s all that matters.