64 Comments on “Jakarta Chinese”

1. Ajay says:

   December 31, 2008 at 4:10 am

   Minorities always face difficulities. This happens here in Singapore too.

   The difference is that in Singapore, the Chinese are on the upper side where a lot of jobs and preference are given to Chinese community, and the other races like malays and indians are left to bite their fingers.

2. dragonwall says:

   January 1, 2009 at 2:35 am

   The difference is that in Singapore, the Chinese are on the upper side where a lot of jobs and preference are given to Chinese community, and the other races like malays and indians are left to bite their fingers.

   For that I find it hard to believe base on your knowledge of Singapore’s economy and politic.

   How much truth are there in your finding? Is that based on your own experience? Are you aware that there are many Malays and Indians in the law enforcement sector and some in the private sector. Most of the business people are Chinese and a little of mix race. How good are the Indian and Malays in the business? Except some who runs grocery stores and some others who made it, other than that you don’t just simply place someone who is not cut for the job to sit as CEO of a corporate, do you?

   Like in Indonesia.

   Lets take the Forestry Department. There are two, out of the bunch of 20 or so head of department, that are of forestry background. The rest are not. So how do you expect them to be proficient and efficient.

   In the legal sector, police they are also the same.

   Everyone accuse a person let say Sukanto Tanoto of being an illegal logger. The fact is that his Riaupulp sits on a HTI concession. So can he be considered to be an illegal logger. Most of all, because of some corrupt head of department who knows nuts about forestry start making this guy run away for fear of his safety.

   And Indonesia expects foreigners to invest in Indonesia?

3. Nolan says:

   February 11, 2012 at 11:24 am

   Arema, don’t worry about it dude, things will change greatly once I become President, gahaha. But don’t expect it anytime soon though. I’m still under 20 so it will be a while before that becomes a reality. Fortunately, I’m making a killing with my start-ups and they will grow into a conglomerate in the near future. That’ll give me enough cash to start social programs centered around educating the masses (and increasing their social mobility).

   Raden, I understand your thoughts perfectly, my parents shared them after all, when we moved to Singapore some 12 years ago. But you see, not everyone wants to live their short human lifespans just thinking about their immediate well-being. Some people thirst for being a part of history-in-the-making.

   Additionally, you ever thought about those Chinese Indonesians who CANNOT leave Indonesia no matter hard they want to (and work for)? Why do they want to leave in the first place? That’s right, cause this country smells like shit. The streets of our cities are filled with shit, so is our rivers and seas. Why? 1 word, bad management. Every Indonesian, Chinese or otherwise, deserve opportunities to pursue success and happiness. Indonesia by nature can provide for them. But those who managed this country has squandered that wealth, thinking that they are kings when the food they eat, the clothes they wear and the cars they drive are all paid for from the pockets of Indonesian citizens. We are the shareholders in this country yet we can’t do anything in the face of a management that’s out of control? Come on, there’s definitely a way, one just has to look for it. The only thing it takes to bring this country to greatness is to replace its management and managerial mindset. The soul of this nation is ready to be unleashed, all it takes is for someone to take off the shackles. That someone is probably gonna be me, unless somebody beats me to it. But whatever the case, it will happen.

   On the Question of Equity

   Also, I’m getting of people spouting that Chinese are natural businessmen as if we were born with a suit (Surprise! Were born naked just like everyone else!). The stereotypes of Chinese being wealthy isn’t true. Plenty of Chinese Indonesians are poor and many are middle class. The only reason for our over-representation (and preference for) business, and therefore affluence vis-a-vis other Indonesians, is because we or rather our ancestors have little choice else. Its either you succeed in doing business/becoming a professional or you die of starvation (those who die don’t make it here). Our ancestors don’t have farmlands to go back to (it’s not legal for a long time anyway) and was forced to live in ghettos. Through that, we stored in our collective memory the idea that no one in this world owes us our lives. That meant creating for oneself one’s own life.

   During the New Order, the government and its various institutions (direct or indirectly-linked) were closed to us. Think about it, any group of people who goes through that and survive will definitely have found a path of survival they got pretty good at. Turns out it was business, and that was what made many (not most) Chinese Indonesians more affluent that the median. If Indonesia had been founded the same way as Singapore, no discrimination on the basis of color and creed, most Chinese Indonesians will not be in business. They would be more spread out to other sectors, including civil service. That would actually mean that the level of wealth gap would have been smaller.

   The other thing people forget is the difference in cultures. When Chinese Indonesian’s ancestors came to Indonesia they might only have the clothes on their back as their only tangible belongings. But they bring something else, a lifetime of knowledge & experience from back in China. They carry through their traditions a deep respect for knowledge and prosperity, which translates into respect within the community for scholars & merchants. This is something the indigenous Indonesians has yet to have.

   I am saying this to point out that Chinese Indonesians are not predisposed towards knowledge or wealth. There is nothing in our genes to tell us that we love to fill our minds and bank accounts. It is something we learn from our family. It is culture, and culture being the sum of a people’s collective memory, we just got lucky that that collective memory extends 5000 years.

   So what does this mean? It means that the key in fixing the wealth gap between Chinese Indonesians and other Indonesians is not to take the money from one party and give it to another. Money is worthless unless you know how to grow it. Giving someone who doesn’t know how to manage money a pile of it will only mean that it’ll disappear pretty soon. The key is not to lower the standards of Chinese Indonesians but to bring up the standards of other Indonesians. This can be done through the infusion of knowledge, particularly in education to families. Because all education starts at home. And the most important knowledge we can give is a deep respect for knowledge. Unless the Javanese or the Papuan villager stresses the importance of knowledge in his family and make worthwhile efforts to invest in his children’s education, we are not gonna see a change in the status quo.

4. Guren says:

   February 21, 2013 at 9:22 am

   The statistics of the rich is changed now.. Because many Chinese Indonesians fled from the country, some native Indonesians started to see less competition and now established themselves as rich people. However, those rich native Indonesians are even worse(their attitude). Last time, I saw this rich native Indonesian family scolded a waiter because there is no seats available in the restaurant(too crowded). I’m not saying all of them are acting this way but now, they seem to have the OKB attitude. OKB= orang kaya baru(new rich people)