Setting the Scene Speaking Out: Chinese Indonesians After Suharto

Abstract

This article is an initial analysis of new and re-emerging expressions of identity among ethnic Chinese in Indonesia's contemporary public domain. As long ago as Dutch colonial times in Indonesia, the ethnic Chinese have frequently been the scapegoats for violence, especially during times of political uncertainty and economic hardship. Under President Suharto's rule the identity of the Chinese was politically contested further as Suharto manipulated local understandings of the Chinese in the economic and political spheres. However, since the 1998 riots and the downfall of President Suharto, things have begun to change, and ethnic Chinese are speaking out. Alternative discourses of identity have surfaced through a multitude of different avenues. These have included the actions of a range of political parties, some based on ethnicity, and others more broad-based; non-political organisations including those fighting discrimination and others examining Chinese socio-cultural needs; literature; and the print and television media. It is now, through such means, that new and re-emerging ethnic Chinese identities, some suppressed for more than thirty years, are becoming apparent.