Teresa Ariella Latief

The Cultural Politics of the 21st Century

CLC3107-01-00

Comparative Literature and Culture

Sookyung Lee

Ethnic and Political Tension in Indonesia

as Reflected in the 2019 Indonesian Election

Abstract

With the Indonesian election that had happened on the 17th of April of 2019, tension rose

leading up to the election, during the election process, and after the election. These tensions

rose between the supporters of the two candidates that were running for the election; Joko

Widodo (Jokowi) and Ma’aruf Amin as the first candidate, and Prabowo Subianto (Prabowo)

and Sandiaga Uno (Sandi) as the second candidate. These tensions rose due to the strong anti-

Chinese sentiments and that arose from the supporters of Prabowo and Sandi. These anti-

Chinese sentiments are not new in the context of Indonesian history, while there are

improvements regarding it, they still linger within today’s context. Furthermore, this became

even more apparent around the time of the election. Here we will explore these anti-Chinese

sentiments through history and how it reflects the ethnic and political tension in Indonesia in

the recent election.

Introduction

With a population of 263 million people, Indonesia has earned itself being the top four most

populous country in the world. Located in the middle of Singapore and Australia, Indonesia

has become a fascinating country for people to peer into as Indonesia is rich with culture,

history, and natural resources. While the majority of the population are Muslims, Indonesia

houses five other religions that they recognise as national religions which are; Protestant,

Roman Catholic, Hindu, Buddhism, and Confucianism.

Percentage

(Based from the total population)

Muslim 87.2%

Christian 6.9%

Roman Catholic 2.9%

Hinduism 1.7%

Buddhism 0.7%

Confucianism 0.05%

Fig. 1 Translated from Badan Pusat Statistik, Population Census of 2010

With “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika”, which derived from Old Javanese that meant unity in diversity,

the said slogan became the country’s motto after their Independence from their colonial rulers.

The sentiment behind this motto prides itself in Indonesia’s diversity, considering that

Indonesia as a country is culturally multi-faceted. However, despite the archipelago’s motto,

this mind set isn’t shared by everyone within the country, as there are ethnic disputes between

the radical Indonesian-Indonesians; which will be referred to as the radical Natives from this

point on, and the Chinese-Indonesians, as the radical Natives shows anti-Chinese sentiment

that had manifested from the Colonial period of Indonesia up until today and has been a big

issue within the country since its emergence.

While progress regarding this issue have been made, the same sentiment and terror still lingers

in today’s society. This issue itself became a pivotal point regarding the 2019 Indonesian

Presidential that had recently occurred on the 17th of April, as there are cases that erupted

leading up to the election and after the election that came from these anti-Chinese sentiments;

specifically, from the Prabowo-Sandi supporters that makes 44.59% of the voters of the recent

election.

With such a big number of supporters, one would wonder about what would come for the future

of Indonesia in regards to these anti-Chinese sentiments that are still present. Will this

discrimination would eventually die down upon realising the stem of this issue? And what

would come for the future of the Chinese-Indonesians.

Brief History of Indonesia

Colonial Period

Historically speaking, Indonesia has been colonised by three countries; The Portuguese, The

Dutch, and The Japanese. The Portuguese, despite being the first colony to come to Indonesia

in the early 16th century, they lost their position in the early 17th century to Dutch. From then

on, the Dutch created the Dutch East Indies Company and took control over the trade business

in Indonesia.

The Dutch imperial was stopped briefly when the British came to Indonesia and went to war

with the British in 1811. This war ended with the British winning and took all the Dutch

possession along with them. During this time, the British government abolished slavery in

Indonesia that was initiated by the Dutch. However, by the 1816 the British government had

decided to hand Indonesia back to the Dutch, which resulted with many Indonesians opposing

to this decision but ultimately lose to the Dutch. Having their power over Indonesia re-instated,

the Dutch continued their reign within the archipelago and exploited the Indonesians along

with it.

By the 1830, the Dutch implemented the cultural system, in which the Indonesians farmers

were forced to put 20% of their land aside to be exported. These farmers were forced to grow

crops such as coffee, indigo, pepper, tea, cinnamon, and sugar only for a nominal sum of money.

In the 1870 however, the Dutch decidedly to change to a free market system instead, but didn’t

meant that the Indonesians were better off as they continued to be exploited as coolies for the

plantations that were monopolised by the Dutch.

Moving on to the 20th century when the Dutch had decided to treat the Indonesian more “fairly”

by introducing the ethical policy which led to the construction of school, capitalised health care,

sanitation, and irrigation. However, this policy created a division within the country as it only

effected only a small percentage of Indonesians. Despite how unfair it might be, the system

still impacted the Indonesians in a way that those who managed to receive and became highly

educated through this system, they managed to form nationalist groups as they were introduced

to ideas such as liberalism and socialism, and they began to cry for independence.

The Dutch’s colonial rule eventually fell in the 1940s as German occupied Holland and the

Japanese came to invade Indonesia in 1942, defeating the Dutch along the way. At the

beginning of the Japanese occupation, the Indonesians sees them as liberators, but they were

quickly disillusioned as the Japanese began to ruthlessly exploited Indonesia’s resources and

were brutal towards the Indonesian.

Independence

With the Japanese admitting to their surrender one the 15th of August of 1945, the Indonesian

nationalist began to secure their independence before the Dutch would decidedly come back

and invade the country once more. With Soekarno and Hatta; two Indonesian nationalist figures,

becoming the first Indonesian President and Vice-President, Indonesia had finally declared

their independence on the 17th of August 1945.

However, despite being declared to be independent, this didn’t stop the Dutch to continue on

pursuing Indonesia once more, and this time the British also followed along. When the British

troops had first arrived in Indonesia this time around, they tried to seemingly be neutral at first,

but eventually civil wars broke out and the British eventually left. With the British being gone,

the Dutch came back to Indonesia once more in 1946 and this time they came with more troops.

The Dutch continued to invade Indonesia back, invading independent areas in 1947 and by

1948 the Dutch faced Indonesia’s guerrilla warfare. With the guerrilla warfare, Indonesia

managed to take over their country once more, and with the strong condemnation the Dutch

received from strong world powers such as America, they realised that they won’t be able to

win the war. By the 2nd of November of 1949, the Dutch had finally recognised Indonesia’s

Independence, and they left the archipelago by December of the same year.

History of Chinese Indonesians and the Origin of the Anti-Chinese Sentiment

Based on the book written by Susan Blackburn entitled Jakarta: Sejarah 400 Tahun (Jakarta:

400 Year History), it was mentioned that originally before the Dutch occupation, the

relationship between the Chinese who had immigrated to Indonesia and the Indonesians can be

viewed that they were of equal standing. However, when the Dutch came to Indonesia, they

took advantage of the Chinese merchants that were there and began creating a division amongst

the two-ethnic groups as the Chinese were given special treatment unlike the Indonesians.

During this time, the Chinese can be seen to have had power over the commerce and trading in

Indonesia.

During the time of the Dutch, the Chinese were given an array of prestigious titles, however

this gesture wasn’t extended to the Indonesians. The Dutch’s special treatment continued on

with the publishing of the Indische Staatsregeling 163 which implemented the hierarchy

system that was based on race. This hierarchy goes as: the Europeans, the East; which included

the Chinese, Arabs, and Indians, and the Indonesians. With this new system being implemented,

it placed the Indonesians onto a group lower than the Chinese, which further shows how the

Chinese were treated in a way that was the opposite of how the Dutch treated the Indonesians;

enslaved and discriminated.

During the Japanese occupation in Indonesia some of the Chinese had actually formed anti-

fascist leagues and had also fought vigorously alongside the Indonesians against the Japanese.

On the other hand, however, during this period there were also instances were some Chinese

sided with the Japanese and collaborated with them.

The position of the Chinese in Indonesia during the time of the colonial period can be seen to

be fascinating. As seen above, there are two narratives regarding the Chinese’s political

position that remained present during this era, which was: while there are those who fought

against the Imperialist governments that were present in Indonesia throughout the history; such

as the Battle of Surabaya in October 1945 against the British troops and the support from

Angkatan Moeda Tionghwa (Chinese Youth Organisation) towards the Indonesians, there are

also those who collaborated and sides with the Imperialist powers such as joining the

Netherlands Indies Civil Administration that was hated by the Indonesians.

However, there are also many Chinese who tried to remain neutral regarding the conflict

between the Dutch and the Indonesians. This neutrality along with the Chinese attitude and

pattern to side with the Imperialist power; refusing to support the Indonesians, and with the

economical privileges that were given towards the Chinese, this can be seen as one of the few

reasons that fuelled the anti-Chinese Indonesian sentiment in Indonesia.

Discrimination of Chinese Indonesians in Indonesia

Leading Up to the Orde Baru Era

Tension grew within the nation especially between the military and the communists, as the

military, Islamic groups, and nationalists weren’t fond on the idea of the communist group in

Indonesia that was protected under Soekarno was gaining power as it grew bigger. The 30th

September Movement, also known as the G30S / PKI movement became a pivotal point within

history and within Soekarno’s legacy as it revolves around the death of six Indonesian general

that happened before the dawn of the 1st of October 1965, which led to the coup of Soekarno

and the genocide that took place within 1965 to 1966.

The genocide that took place during this time was considered as an attempt to eradicate

members who are within the PKI (Partai Komunis Indonesia, Indonesian Communist Party)

and their supporters. However, this eradication quickly escalated as their target had moved pass

from the members of the PKI and towards those who are ethnically Chinese, and they were

often executed first before being questioned. This genocide resulted with Half-Million people

being tortured and killed, and the effects of it still continued to be prevalent throughout history,

especially towards the Chinese-Indonesians.

Orde Baru Era

In 1967, Indonesia came to a new era that will be forever known in history as the Orde Baru

(New Order, in which from here on out will be referred as so) era. The New Order era was led

by none other than Suharto, who became Indonesia’s second President after the coup of

Soekarno and held office for thirty-one years. And under the authoritarian rule of Suharto, the

anti-Chinese sentiment and discrimination towards the Chinese Indonesians grew stronger

especially after the events that had led up to this point of time.

During this era, any semblance of Chinese-ness was deemed to be unlawful. The government

created laws that would restricts those who were of Chinese descent. These restricts the general

movement of the Chinese with the Indonesian society. One form of these restriction would be

that the Chinese could only be allowed to partake in the business or economy related jobs,

while the Indonesians were free to move about in their own way. With this restriction it ignited

the long-fuelled division between the two ethnicity that was instilled during the Dutch colonial

rule, as the New Order government prefers the Chinese minority as they were seen to be more

efficient and influential, and dominated the business sector. Seeing this, the Indonesians were

frustrated and would target the Chinese as the source of their frustration.

Paradoxically, despite the government favours the Chinese when it came down to business as

they have benefited to the works of the Chinese, they would continue on fuelling the racism

that was already ignited amongst the citizens, as they see this as a way to have the Chinese rely

on their “protection” while at the same time gaining a percentage of their revenue.

Aside from policing the place of the Chinese-Indonesians within the society, the government

also had them ethnically erase their Chinese identity culture under the pretence of assimilation.

During this era those who hold Chinese names were told to change their names to a name that

sounded more Indonesian. Those who believed in Confucianism converted their religion to

Christianity, Catholicism, or Buddhism, as Confucianism was illegalised by the government.

Celebrations of Chinese holidays were deemed unlawful, and the usage of the Chinese

language in any type of form, along with Chinese schools and mass organisations were banned

as they were deemed to be unlawful.

The Fall of the Orde Baru

The end thirty-one years long regime of the New Order ended in 1998 with the May 1988 riots.

During this time, Indonesia faced the monetary crisis that was rampant throughout Asia at the

time. With the sudden drop of the Indonesian Rupiah, the economy and the people of Indonesia

grew unrest. With Indonesia’s economy in crisis, this cause a relapse in the never-ending cycle

of blaming the Chinese-Indonesians, and the radical Indonesian-Indonesians decided to target

them once again.

The May 1998 riots went on for two days and it was situated predominantly at Indonesia’s

capital, Jakarta. The riots resulted with approximately having lost 2.5 Trillion Rupiah, 2,224

people killed, and 168 cases where women were raped; which most of them being of Chinese

descent. The riots in general impacted Indonesia within a major scale, but the blow of it all was

undoubtedly affected the Chinese Indonesians the most. Being that they were the target of the

riots, shops that were owned by the Chinese were looted, ransacked, and burnt. This treatment

was also replicated towards the houses of those who were of Chinese descent, as people looted,

ransacked, and burnt their property.

On top of it all, the case where the rioters raped 168 women, who the majority of them were of

Chinese descent, impacted the community the most. The government and the news outlet didn’t

report about this incident until far later after it had happened, as people were more focused on

the issue that Suharto was resigning. However, when the topic was brought up, there were

officials who denied the claims, “As long as there is no evidence, the rapes never took place,”

said Roesmanhadi, who was the police chief of that time, on Tempo magazine that was

published on the 12th October 1988. Many sceptics within the nation tried to continuously

denied that it had happened, from claiming claims it was psychologically impossible to

claiming that the accusation was defaming the nation.

This particular riot was also the cause why there were large number of Chinese-Indonesians

left Indonesia during the time, as they went abroad to countries such as Singapore and Australia

to seek for asylum.

After Orde Baru

After the fall of the New Order regime, with Suharto resigning his position, came in the

reformation period. From here on out, laws that targeted the Chinese-Indonesians and was

implemented during Suharto’s authoritarian regime were abolished. From this period on,

expressions of Chinese culture were no longer deemed to be unlawful, and the Chinese-

Indonesians were now recognised as Indonesian citizens in their identification, when previous

it would be written as Indonesian citizen of foreign descent.

However, despite being given the same rights and were considered as Indonesian citizens in

the eyes of the government, they were still discriminated in one way or another. One point that

occurred just after the May 1998 riots, was the sudden deflation of the Indonesian economy.

This deflation would be pointed towards the Chinese-Indonesians, as the Indonesians blamed

it on the Chinese-Indonesians who fled out of the country during the time of the riots.

Present Day

• Ahok Case

On the 9th of May 2017, Jakarta’s then Governor, Basuki Tjahja Purnama (also known as Ahok,

and will be refrred as Ahok from here on out), was sentenced to jail under the charge of

blasphemy. This case became not only became massive in Indonesia, but also internationally,

as this case in particular showcased the ethnic and political tension in Indonesia between the

radical Indonesian-Indonesians and the Chinese Indonesian considering that Ahok was the first

Chinese-Christian governor to have ever hold office in Jakarta.

Ahok’s position in office was interesting as he wasn’t elected by the public as how it would

usually be conducted. Prior to being the governor of Jakarta, Ahok was the Vice-Governor of

Jakarta alongside of Jokowi. During their term, Jokowi managed to get elected to be President,

hence it led to Ahok stepping into Jokowi’s Governor position while he became President.

Determined, Ahok decidedly to run for the governmental office in the 2017 Governmental

Election, going against Anies Baswedan and Sadiaga Uno. With this decision however, it

caused an uproar within the public as the radical Indonesian-Indonesians were oppose to him

running the election. Along with it marked the beginning of Ahok’s blasphemy case, where he

was accused of mocking the Al-Quran.

During one of his campaign trails in September, Ahok had boldly told voters to not be deceived

by Muslim religious leaders who often use this passage as means to manipulate their followers

to vote based on the candidate’s religion and to justify the claim that Muslims should not be

led by someone who’s non-Muslim. However, an edited clip of his speech was later on

uploaded onto the internet, where it was edited in a way that showed Ahok claiming that the

verse was misleading, and not the religious leaders. The video sparked anger amongst the

radical Indonesian-Indonesians, and they demanded for him to be prosecuted under the

blasphemy law that’s still in effect in Indonesia.

Despite the evidence that showed for Ahok’s innocence and his apologies to the public, the

judges still put him under trial and verdict that he was guilty under the blasphemous law. One

judge stated that “As part of a religious society, the defendant should be careful to not use

words with negative connotations regarding the symbols of religions, including the religion of

the defendant himself.”, while another stated “the defendant did not feel guilt, the defendant’s

act has caused anxiety and hurt Muslims”.

• Meliana Case

In 2016 at Tanjungbalai city in North Sumatra, a Buddhist woman named Meliana complained

to a member of the public regarding the volume of the Mosque’s call to prayer (which would

be played five times on a daily basis) that’s located nearby her house was being too loud and

that the noise began to hurt her ear. The news about her complain eventually got spread

throughout the community as some provocateurs had begun to provoke the public to a point

that claimed that her complain was considered to be blasphemous towards the Muslim

community. This provocation eventually led to the attack of Meliana’s house and also to at

least fourteen Buddhist Viharas that are located in the city.

Similar to the Ahok case, Meliana got sentenced to prison for eighteen months as of August

2018, while those who vandalised the Buddhist Viharas were sentenced for a month on average.

Anti-Chinese Sentiment Rooted from Economy

“The Chinese are rich, while us Indonesians are poor” is an often-used phrase in Indonesia

that shows the conflict and the sentiment amongst the Chinese-Indonesians against the radical

Indonesian-Indonesians. As exhibited earlier on, one can conclude that one of the root issues

of the anti-Chinese sentiment in Indonesia would be the political economic power that’s

prevalent in Indonesia that came from since the Dutch colonial period.

While there are no official statistics to illustrate the economical gap between the Chinese-

Indonesians and the Indonesian-Indonesians, based on observations one can distinguish that

poverty in Indonesia largely effects the Indonesian-Indonesians rather than the Chinese-

Indonesians. However, this doesn’t mean that there are none Indonesian-Indonesians who are

economically privileged, as large companies that are in Indonesia are both equally owned by

Chinese-Indonesians and Indonesian-Indonesians, and that there are none Chinese-Indonesians

that struggle with poverty.

The Hypocrisy

The anti-Chinese sentiment, along with the resentment and hypocrisy exhibited from the

government and the radical Indonesian-Indonesia are prevalent even within today’s society.

Despite having equal rights like any other Indonesian citizens, the Chinese-Indonesians still

face discrimination. However, the discrimination that they encounter can be said that it’s

different from how African-Americans are discriminated against in America.

The discrimination that are face in Indonesia would often come from a place that’s either

religiously charged or ethnically charged. As presented through the Ahok Case and the Meliana

Case, both of them became victims of the blasphemy law that is still present within the context

of today’s Indonesian society. Despite them being innocent, they still received a guilty verdict

due to the uproar that came from the radical Indonesian-Indonesians, which resulted them to

be thrown into imprisonment.

While the government sentence both Ahok and Meliana for imprisonment for the “crime” that

they’ve done, the same treatment that they received wasn’t extended to those who have

committed crimes against religions that are non-Muslims. As shown in the Meliana case, the

rioters who were responsible for the destruction of the fourteen Viharas were only given the

sentence of one month on an average, while Meliana who simply complained about the noise

of the Mosque and asked for the volume to be lowered down got sentenced 18 months instead.

The blasphemy law has exhibited that it only benefit the radical Muslim Indonesian-

Indonesians, rather than the whole general public as there are numerous instances where

religious leaders would tarnish other holy texts (usually the Bible), to radical Muslims

conducting religiously charged offences such as destroying and burning religious sites that are

not related to Islam, but instead of getting sent to prison or be heavily charged, more often than

usual they get to walk away for free.

While on the first glance, these religious charged crimes are simply seen to stemmed from

religion, there’s actually more into it other than religion. Upon further inspection, these crime

would also be considered to come off on a ethnically charge stance, as predominantly those

who are Catholics, Christian, and other non-Muslim religions would often be Chinese-

Indonesians.

Exit, Voice, Loyalty: The Chinese Indonesian’s Coping Mechanism Towards

Discrimination

Based on an article by Ignatius Wibowo, the Chinese Indonesians coping mechanism when

faced with acts of discrimination can be categorised into three groups; Exit, Voice, and Loyalty.

These three coping mechanisms can be seen to still be seen within the context of today’s society.

To elaborate, “Exit” refers to the Chinese Indonesians who choose to move out during the 1998

riots to either a different country or to other parts of Indonesia that can be seen safe for the

Chinese-Indonesian’s livelihood. However, in today’s society, “exit” comes in the form of

mostly young Indonesians who seek out for education and a better life outside of Indonesia.

“Voice”, just like how the term suggest would refer to voicing out their discrimination.

Generally, this would come through the form of political movements and group within the

country. Ever since the fall of the New Order regime, there are instances where Chinese-

Indonesians can be seen to enter the political world to help out other Indonesian to voice out

their opinions and struggles that they have faced. There are instances where Chinese-

Indonesians have become government officers. Especially nowadays with the invention of

social media, voicing out one’s opinion became even more rampant.

While “Exit” and “Voice” could be seen as a form of rebellion, “Loyalty” can be seen as a

form of submission to the discrimination. By far, “Loyalty” is the most intriguing and complex

coping mechanism when it comes to it. Just as the name suggest, “Loyalty” in this context

refers to how the Chinese-Indonesians would remain loyal to the Indonesian government

despite the situation and the discrimination that they face. Often times, those who choose to

cope with “Loyalty” have the sentiment that “this too shall pass with time” as they try to

continue their day to day lives as best as they could. This “Loyalty” attitude is quite prevalent

within the Indonesian society today, as they would try to move on due to the social conditioning

that had been implemented for years.

Why is This a Big Issue in the 2019 Indonesian Election

The anti-Chinese sentiment became a big issue in the 2019 Presidential Indonesian election

mostly due to the growth of radical Indonesian-Indonesians who can be seen as the far right in

terms of Indonesian politics. These radical Indonesian-Indonesians can be often seen as

conservatives, and can be said that they’re the ones who played a major part in terms of Ahok’s

sentence. These radical groups have shown to have started riots during the past few years,

whenever they feel “attacked”, which resulted a level of unrest throughout Indonesia.

Prior to the Election

• Jokowi’s Decision to Pick Ma’aruf as His Running Mate

Jokowi’s decision on choosing Ma’aruf Amin; who’s known to be a politician and also an

Islamic clergy, can be seen as a political move to keep those who are radical Muslims in

Indonesia at rest. With the presence of Ma’aruf, it gives Jokowi the sense that while he tries to

stay neutral, he would also consider his Islamic roots to say the least. This move was of course

made due to the large number of supporters his opposing candidate, Prabowo-Sandi, had and

that majority of their supporters were known to be conservatives and radical Muslims.

However, despite his attempts, the anti-Chinese and anti-non-Muslims sentiments still linger

throughout the election, as the supporter of Prabowo and Sandi were adamant about why they

decidedly support Probowo-Sandi, who’s known to support the two mentioned sentiment.

• Jokowi’s Silence During Ahok’s Trial

As Ahok’s trial were around the same time Jokowi was in preparations for his Presidential Re-

election, Jokowi has been thoroughly silent throughout the process of his ex-Vice Governor’s

trial. Whenever Jokowi was questioned by the press regarding to Ahok’s case, he neither

support nor condemn the decision to sentenced Ahok for jail time. Jokowi was seen often

diverting the question or the conversation by simply saying that the people should respect and

stay lawful throughout the process of the trial.

The silence that Jokowi exhibits during this time can be seen as a way of compliance towards

the radical Indonesian-Indonesians who are against Ahok. This behaviour indicates that while

someone who has a position of power in Indonesia, they’re still subjected to the radicals and

unable to fully defend the innocent, as there’s the possibility that there would be an outbreak

of riots.

The 21st to 22nd of May 2019 Riots

The 21st to the 22nd May of 2019 riots occurred right after the announcement of Jokowi-Ma’aruf

winning the Presidential election. Unhappy with the result, supporters of Probowo and Sandi

took it to the streets of Jakarta and rioted to show their opposition towards the result of the

Presidential Election. Around 30,000 police and military troops were sent down to Jakarta

while parts of the city were on lockdown and any form of social media acces was block

nationwide as the government feared that the riots would escalate due to false news. During

the riots, protesters threw rocks, launched fireworks, along with enacting an array form of

violence. The two-day riot resulted with six death and 200 citizens being injured.

Despite how miniscule the riot was when compared to the ones that broke out in 1998, the same

sentiment continued to linger around. People, often the Chinese-Indonesians, would always

mention the 1998 riots in comparison to any type of riot that breaks out within the country.

During this time, while there are some who proceed with their daily lives, there are those who

decided to stay within the vicinity of their house as they were scared and terrorised that history

would repeat itself.

Conclusion

One may wonder, how does this issue would be able to get resolved, especially when Indonesia

is at a time where its political tension can be turbulent. Throughout this research, we’ve

managed to found out the root of its issue, which was that it’s mostly economically driven and

that it came from a place of resentment and entitlement from the radical Indonesian-

Indonesians. It’s not clear whether this dispute that had originated from the Dutch colonial

period would be able to be solved entirely, considering that history has shown that the anti-

Chinese sentiment fluctuates from time to time.

History has also showcased that the discrimination that the Chinese-Indonesians have

experienced needs to be stopped, as terror continues to linger around the nation ever since the

New Order regime, up until today’s society. While one may suggest that voicing their opinions

can be seen as a way, however as shown through the Ahok and Meliana case, the Chinese-

Indonesians are not as protected as the government may imply and that it could also start

another riot.

The future of Chinese-Indonesians in Indonesia regarding the anti-Chinese sentiment may be

uncertain due to how the government can be seen to not be involved with this said issue.

However, as these anti-Chinese sentiments continues to linger within today’s society and that

the radical Indonesian-Indonesians are not prosecuted correctly, it’s easy to assume that terror

would continue to linger as the Chinese-Indonesians continue to cope with the discrimination

that they face within the country.

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