New Hero Soeharto: I was wrong to be born as a Chinese Indonesian

It is done. What until now could only be felt and not explicitly said, now there is no doubt anymore: Chinese Indonesians do not have a place in Indonesia. 

By declaring the very president that led the actual genocide in 1965 and passed laws that could be considered as cultural genocide in form of a “forced assimilation” – which was recognized as a form of war crime in the Geneva Convention – as a national hero, the Indonesian government is proudly and openly stating to Chinese Indonesians that we were actually wrong to be born with as Chinese Indonesians, and the national hero was right to try and – to some extent – has successfully eradicated our connection with our own culture and ancestors. 

During his authoritarian regime, Soeharto created many legislations against Chinese Indonesians – prohibiting us from using our own names because it is not Indonesian enough, from speaking in our own dialect because it is considered as a foreign language, and even worse, from celebrating our own important traditions due to fears that those were some kind of communist propaganda imported from China. It is maybe only one of his sins, but it is the one that is very close to me. 

I do not know who I am, because of him.

I did not know that I was of Chinese descent until I was 13 years old. I don't bear a proud surname passed on through generations, I cannot speak my own dialect, and after the mass riots in 1998 that targeted Chinese Indonesians, being Chinese meant being taught in my family to be very careful to have friends outside of “our own” because they may hurt us in the future like they did several years ago. Looking back, there was just a minimal chance for me, for us, to be able to participate in this society. We do not know who we are anymore, the only thing that connected us was deep trauma, and now seeing the perpetrator became a national hero, only worsens it.

Now I believe that many of us have successfully connected and become part of Indonesian society, partly because of Gus Dur’s referendum to end the humanitarian crime committed against us but also partly to the open arms of our fellow Indonesians, who believe that we are part of them and deserve to be treated equally. Thank you for the kindness, now we must not fear our fellow citizens anymore, now we can finally be part of Indonesia. Perhaps, we Indonesians are now bonding over a new shared trauma? Seeing the Indonesian government continuously reward and honor wrongdoings, and let noble people not only go unrewarded and forgotten, but even punished, for bringing light in this country - it makes one wonder if they have truly lost their concept of what is right and wrong

Until right is right and wrong is wrong in this country, I as a Chinese Indonesian will stand together with my fellow Indonesians to keep pursuing it. I will not let my place in this society be taken again!

Author:

Evan Yonathan is a cybersecurity and data privacy specialist based in Munich. He works at a financial institution, ensuring that sensitive information is safeguarded and data protection standards meet EU regulations.