For most of my friends,

have you ever search for our heritage, as a Chinese-Indonesian?

try wiki’s version here

Lots of facts maybe you’ve never heard before, such as, do you know that four of the Wali Songo are Chinese? They even have Chinese names…even I don’t have one. Quite ironic, isn’t it? Mostly Muslim people have negative sentiments for us, if we look back (or maybe till now?).

And maybe our ancestors’ history in Indonesia? Including in Soeharto’s period when Chinese schools are banned, Chinese language is forbidden, people cannot use their Chinese names, and other discriminations. That’s why I don’t have Chinese name and many of Chinese-Indonesians here have difficulties in language (especially those who come from big cities in Java). Chinese Singaporeans usually thought we can speak Mandarin, or at least Hokkien because of our Chinese face.

Also in badminton, a sport where the world acknowledge Indonesia’s reputation, most of the athletes are Chinese Indonesians.

The article is quite long, but a good one. Worth to read.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. -George Santayana-

P.S: these are the related comments from my friends & some of my responses:

• mikebm April 20, 2008 at 8:52 pm
  we are not trying to forget that we are of chinese descendant…
  but we are getting more indonesian than chinese.
  btw, i still have that 3 letters name… hehehe
• livergirl April 20, 2008 at 9:07 pm

  haha…I’m not saying that we’re trying to forget…yah but I’m sure most of us don’t really know our ancestors’ history…so maybe it’s a good idea to take a look…

  waks! yeah maybe because you’re older than me…my older cousins have their Chinese names…sometimes I want one too…haha…here in Singapore Chinese people cannot say my name correctly…swt…

• Gibran April 20, 2008 at 10:24 pm

  Most of the negative sentiments came during the era of colonialism. That’s what I heard. The Chinese were not very loyal. And there went the parable: “karena nila setitik, rusak susu sebelanga”. And somehow, the Chinese were more successful in economy. That maybe brought jealousy. Well…. But, let’s not talk about races here…. If they are Indonesian, they are all indonesian.

  I agree with you, Cok, those who do not learn from history will tend to repeat the same mistake. And if there are people who cannot see the light of the others (in this case, race), they actually hinder the growth of the community as a whole (in this case, indonesia).

• WeHa April 21, 2008 at 7:04 am

  I’ve heard someone said that the reason Chinese-Indonesian people are more successful in business is because, every morning when they wake up, the first thing they thing about is money and how to make money. LOL. I have the three letter name. YAY!!

  And yeah, whatever my ethnic/race is, I was born in Indonesia. My home is in Indonesia. My school was in Indonesia. So I should be proud being and Indonesian. In fact, I AM.

  “We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” =T.S. Elliot=

• Benaga April 23, 2008 at 6:41 pm

  waduh2.. artikelnya sensitif euy.. XD

  btw btw, kalo menurut perspektif gw, kenapa hal2 beginian bisa terjadi tuh cuman karena satu hal sih.. sesuatu yg menurut Gie adalah hal yg amat kotor, yup, namanya politik.
  Coba kita liat2 sejarah lagi deh, semuanya itu berawal dari hal2 politis: dari politik pecah belah (devide et impera) Belanda, politiknya Suharto, sampe politik – oleh orang yg ampe sekarang masi misteri- pas lagi jamannya Suharto lengser..
  Dan dikarenakan lagi masyarakat Indonesia banyak yg miskin dan kurang edukasi, makanya ya.. mudah terprovokasi (yg notabenenya atas alasan politik tp mrk ga tau).

  Maka dari itulah, di jaman reformasi ini, marilah kite sama2 think positively btwn each other and be compassionate. Dan kita bersama hapuskan kemiskinan dan improve education di indo.
  susah memang, tapi bukankah hal2 seperti ini yg pahalanya paling gede? haha

  cheers,
  Ben

• livergirl April 23, 2008 at 6:52 pm

  yep btul…disesalkan banget deh hal2 kyk gitu terjadi…padahal ada sumpah pemuda, 1 bangsa katanya…seharusnya kita smua menyadari betul kalo kita orang Indonesia, dan masalah ras nggak usah dipermasalahkan…

  gw setuju banget ben kalo sekarang mesti bareng2 improve education di Indo…

  tp ya seperti quote yg gw selipin di post nya, orang yang nggak menghargai sejarah bakal ngulangin itu lagi. gw ngepost ini bukan buat ngangkat topik ini & jadi perdebatan dst dst. maksud gw cuma supaya kita liat balik ke sejarah, and learn something from it.

  btw gw bener2 kaget loh waktu tau wali songo trnyata cina…hahahaha…

• Benaga April 23, 2008 at 7:23 pm

  hahaha.. gw udah tau sih.. cuman gara2 POLITIK lagi (pas jamannya suharto itutuh), jadinya di buku2 sejarah ditutup2in. soale pas jamannya dia, yg berbau china itu dibanned supaya pengaruh dia ttp ada terusss (i.e. spy kita ttp diingetin kalo dia adalah “penyelamat bangsa” thdp bahayalaten komunis bangsa china,, *cuih*.)

• duca™ April 26, 2008 at 2:54 pm

  bikin aja 3 nama sendiri. Sporean jg suka kasih2 nama inggris sendiri. With google u can do anything, cari aja hanzinya.

  Confucian worldview ada yg namanya filial piety, jadi pertama2 memastikan keluarga safe dulu, sebelum bisa bantu negara ato melakukan hal lain. Makanya demi safe ini, nafkah sering mendahului culture (rela ikut belanda pd jaman kolonial, rela buang bahasa pas orde baru, rela meninggalkan negara pas mei98.) Semuanya demi keluarga and loved ones.