Bung Chan, Jumat minggu lalu saya dengan teman2 menghadiri ceramah dari CIHC, Chinese Indonesian Heritage Centre. Kebetulan sebelum ceramah dimulai duduk dekat Dr. Tom Hoogenvorst dari KILTV, masih muda, ramah. Jadi ngobrol, dia cerita ke museum Peranakan Tionghoa nya Azmi Abubakar, juga ketemu dengan Didi Kwartanada. Saya bilang Didi, neeftnya Ch. I. Dan saya boleh terjemahkan semua tulisannya, tidak perlu minta ijin, karena memang maksudnya untuk disebar luaskan. Wah, Tom ini sudah kenal orang2 dari CIHC Singapore, seperti Prof. Leo Suryadarma, juga sudah ke perpustakaan 13 tingkatnya Lee Kong Chean. Ternyata penyelidik2 itu sudah saling kenal, juga dengan Tan Tah Sen, dari Singapore yang pernah dapat beasiswa di jaman bung Karno dan mendapat doktor sejarahnya dari Universitas Indonesia. Juga dengan Charles Coppel dari Australia.Tan Tah Sen, penulis Cheng Ho and Islam in South East Asia. Ceramah pertama dari prof. Dr. Leonard Blusse yang diberitahu Mira Sidharta tentang adanya arsip KongKoan di sebuah gudang. Arsip2 ini setelah dibersihkan dari yang rusak2, diangkut ke Leiden, dibikin fotocopy. Sebagian besar sudah selesai diterjemahkan dan didigitaliseer oleh Chen Meng Hong (wanita) yang promosi di Leiden, dan sekarang bekerja di sini. Ceramah kedua dari Tom. Salam, KH
On 15 March 2018 at 09:38, 'Chan CT' sa...@netvigator.com [GELORA45] < GELORA45@yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > > Fighting prejudice against Indonesia’s ethnic Chinese, museum uses > literature to show their role in country’s history > > Set up by a Muslim former student activist, the Chinese Indonesian > Literature Museum fills an information gap in the history of ethnic Chinese > people in Indonesia with its treasure trove of books, newspapers and other > documents > PUBLISHED : Thursday, 15 March, 2018, 8:48am > UPDATED : Thursday, 15 March, 2018, 12:03pm > http://www..scmp.com/culture/article/2137173/fighting- > prejudice-against-indonesias-ethnic-chinese-museum-uses-literature > <http://www.scmp.com/culture/article/2137173/fighting-prejudice-against-indonesias-ethnic-chinese-museum-uses-literature> > > > > > > In May 1998, pro-democracy activist Azmi Abubakar joined thousands of > other university students in a blockade of the Serpong area, situated just > to the west of Indonesia’s capital city, Jakarta. > > Their mission was to prevent looting during riots sparked by food > shortages and high unemployment, amid protests demanding the resignation of > Indonesian president Suharto after more than three decades in power. > > The riots had a profound effect on Azmi, a Jakarta-born Acehnese Muslim > and father of four. He was living in Serpong, which is today part of South > Tangerang city. The area has a large ethnic Chinese population, and Chinese > Indonesian homes and businesses had become the target of looters. > The dogs fighting wild boars in illegal pits in Indonesia > <http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2134962/dogs-fighting-wild-boars-illegal-pits-indonesia-and-activist-trying-put> > > The events concerned Azmi, but also sparked in him an interest in the > history of the Chinese in the country. He began to collect all manner of > related written materials pertaining to the Chinese community. > > Fourteen years later, in 2012, he established the Museum Pustaka Peranakan > Tionghoa (Chinese Indonesian Literature Museum), which he runs with other > former student activists. > > Located in a two-storey shophouse on South Tangerang’s Golden Road > complex, the museum is a treasure trove of more than 30,000 books, > newspapers, comics and other documents. > > Its book collection spans genres ranging from politics and sport to > cuisine, wuxia – martial arts fiction – and medical texts.. The museum’s > oldest exhibit dates back to 1891. > > More than 5,000 of the museum’s items belonged to John Lie Tjeng Tjoan > (1911-88), Indonesia’s only national hero of Chinese descent. Lie smuggled > weapons into Indonesia and exported raw rubber during the revolution > against Dutch rule from 1945 to 1949. The documents include Lie’s love > letters and his correspondences with Indonesian officials. > > Above a display case on the ground floor of the museum are copies of the *Sin > Po*newspaper, including an edition from as far back as June 23, 1941. > > Founded by Chinese Indonesians in 1910, the Malay-language *Sin Po* published > a newspaper and a magazine. The *Sin Po* magazine used the term > “Indonesia” as a title for one of its sections even before independence was > declared in 1945. > > *Sin Po* also published the composition of Indonesia’s national anthem, > *Indonesia > Raya*, before it was ever performed publicly. Wage Rudolf Supratman, the > anthem’s composer, was a journalist working at the publication, which > closed down in October 1965. > > Although Azmi has been building his collection for almost two decades, it > is constantly expanding as his contacts – including sellers of second-hand > goods – alert him to new-found material. > > Azmi, a businessman, says the museum is self-funded, and he flatly rejects > offers of financial aid from both the government and the Chinese community. > > “We missed the train to deliver the information,” Azmi says, referring to > lost opportunities for the country to understand the role that ethnic > Chinese have played in Indonesia’s history. > > Discrimination against the Chinese, he believes, is not borne of hatred > but a lack of knowledge, and he established the museum to educate > non-Chinese visitors. “If people don’t understand the Chinese, it will > result in suspicion.” > > Many Chinese Indonesians also drop by, hoping to learn something about the > past. Azmi says that this is because a lot of Chinese Indonesians have an > identity crisis. “When he or she isn’t familiar with Chinese cultural > customs, what is his or her background?” he says. > Suharto ruled in the cold war era – anything related to China, including > Chinese overseas, was considered a ‘fifth column’ [communist sympathiser] > DIDI KWARTANADA > > Suharto’s New Order government, rather than take a multicultural approach > to the country’s ethnic Chinese population, adopted a policy of > assimilation, forcing Chinese residents to change their names to > Indonesian-sounding ones. Three main pillars of Chinese culture were > banned: Chinese-language press, Chinese secondary schools and Chinese > ethnic organisations. > > In the museum’s possession is a copy of a government annual report > compiled by special staff from the ethnic Chinese affairs department that > is dated 1968 – a year after Suharto rose to power. > > The document classifies Chinese Indonesians based on their origins, skills > and dialect groups such as Hokkien and Teochew. It goes on to state that > there exists great rivalry between the different groups. However, if faced > with a non-Chinese “enemy”, they would unite and work together. Such > statements fed existing prejudices against ethnic Chinese in Indonesian > society. > > “This [document] largely contributed to the creation of the disharmony we > see [in Indonesia] today,” Azmi says. > > The museum also has a number of Chinese business nameplates. One bears the > name Tan Lian Tjhoen, but on the reverse is another name – Djoenaedy K – a > reminder of the official name-change policy. Other, much older, nameplates > bear Chinese characters. > > “Suharto ruled in the cold war era – anything related to China, including > Chinese overseas, was considered a ‘fifth column’,” explains Didi > Kwartanada, an independent scholar, using a term that was applied to > communist sympathisers. > > Didi, who has studied the Chinese in Indonesia’s major island of Java, > says there is generally stronger anti-Chinese sentiment on the islands of > Java and Sumatra, compared to other regions of the country. > > One of the earliest and largest anti-Chinese incidents occurred in the > country during the Diponegoro war between 1825 and 1830 that pitted > Javanese natives against the Dutch colonial authorities. The Chinese became > targets in the conflict because the Dutch had given them the right to > collect tolls and other taxes, putting them in a position of relative > privilege. > > According to Azmi, the perception of ethnic Chinese in Indonesia has been > slow to change because it has largely been left to the Chinese themselves > to tell the story of their contributions to the country – and that could > come across as arrogant. Azmi says it is more effective if the message > comes from people like himself. > > Didi notes that the anti-Chinese sentiment has intensified sporadically > since the beginning of the 20th century. He adds that it has always been > part and parcel of regime change in Indonesia. > > Thung Ju Lan is an academic at the Research Centre for Society and Culture > at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences. Referring to how Chinese > Indonesians are discriminated against, she explains that there are > generalisations made between “those who have already blended in and those > who have not”. > Ethnic Chinese and want to live in China? Find out if you qualify for new > five-year visa > <http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2131030/ethnic-chinese-and-want-live-china-find-out-if-you-qualify-new> > > When there is talk about something positive in the Chinese community, for > example, it is always about Chinese who have assimilated, she says. Those > who have not assimilated are regarded negatively. > > “What is not understood is that … assimilation is a process. It can’t be > forced,” Thung says. The process, she explains, takes time and begins with > contact and interaction, before moving to accommodation, integration, > acculturation and ending with assimilation. > > For the Chinese who arrived in Indonesia in the 1930s and ’40s, it has > taken two to three generations for them to assimilate, Thung says. Others > who “became Indonesians quickly” were those whose family members had been > in the country since before the 1900s. > > “We can’t deny Chinese culture,” Azmi says, adding that the Chinese have > contributed much to the nation. He cites soft culture examples such as mie > aceh (Aceh noodles) in Aceh province, the Chinese influence in Balinese > architecture, and individuals such as Guangdong-born Tjong A Fie, who > helped fund the construction of the landmark Maimun Palace in Medan. > > According to Didi, the contributions made by Chinese Indonesians have been > overlooked or obscured more often than not. The late French historian Denys > Lombard identified four cultures that are assimilated into an Indonesian > identity: Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist and Christian. Then there are the > Chinese, who were responsible for the introducing basic technologies for > farming, mining and fisheries. > > Azmi says he has acquired a larger home for the Museum Pustaka Peranakan > Tionghoa close by the existing location. There he hopes to feature dioramas > to portray events such as the arrival of the Chinese in the country in the > 14th century, and the Chinese and Javanese who fought together against the > Dutch. > The Chinese Indonesians with long memories and escape plans in case racial > violence flares again – despite signs of tensions easing > <http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/2115736/chinese-indonesians-long-memories-and-escape-plans-case-racial-violence> > > He believes the museum has had a positive effect, and hopes it can make an > even greater contribution to national unity in the future. > > “Lingering discrimination that is experienced by Chinese Indonesians is > our shared responsibility,” he says. “Indonesia will be great if this > problem is resolved.” > > > > >
