Citizenship law breaks down barriers for ethnic Chinese
A new citizenship bill passed by parliament has raised the hopes of Chinese-Indonesians that decades of institutionalised discrimination will end.
At the core of the law is Article 2, which recognises as Indonesian anyone who is born to Indonesian parents and has never changed citizenship.
Previously, the constitution separated Indonesians on ethnic grounds into 'indigenous' and 'non-indigenous', and gave them different rights.
The new law will make a big difference to the ethnic Chinese, who were classified as non-indigenous and relegated to a de facto second-class citizenship.
The change means that Chinese-Indonesians should be able to pursue high-profile positions in academic, military and political life - including president - which former president Suharto had reserved for the pribumi, or indigenous Indonesians.
The legislation should also make daily life easier for Chinese-Indonesians, who previously had to produce a citizenship certificate when applying for a birth or marriage certificate, opening a bank account or enrolling at university.
In the maze of bureaucracy, the distinction often translated into hefty bribes imposed on ethnic Chinese.
Eddie Lembong, chairman of the Chinese-Indonesian Association, welcomed the new law but warned that legal bias was just one of the facets of discrimination.
'There is no doubt that it is most welcome, but the road ahead is still long and we have to keep on fighting and struggling,' he said.
Resentment against ethnic Chinese is fostered mainly by their economic success. Indonesian-Chinese represent between 4 and 5 per cent of the population but control up to 68 per cent of the private economy. Ethnic Chinese are also accused of being a closed community.
'We have to be more inclusive and practise cross-cultural socialisation,' Dr Lembong said. 'This is the time to push. We have to sail on the wave of this new law, which hopefully will serve as an example to end all kinds of discrimination against us.'
Historically, discrimination has its roots in colonial times, when the Dutch divided all residents into four groups - Europeans, Japanese, natives and oriental foreigners, who were mostly people of Chinese origin.
Many middle-class Chinese- Indonesians feel that discrimination is already weakening.
'In truth, I cannot say that I feel discriminated against anymore,' said Fabriana Ai, 25, a third generation Chinese-Indonesian. 'I guess, it is a bit more difficult for the poor ethnic Chinese.'
But her husband, California-born Rich Simons, was more cautious about the situtation. 'We have to wait and see,' Mr Simons said. 'The problem in Indonesia is always implementation.'
People like Mr Simons also stand to benefit from the Citizenship Bill. He is now entitled to permanent residency, a privilege granted only to foreign wives of Indonesian men.
