Mungkin sumber berita berikut ini dapat menjadi bahan pertimbanagn lain
buat siapa saja yang selalu menipkan terompet bahwa etnis cina menguasai
70% ekonomi Indonesia.
Juga bagi sebagian golongan mayoritas yang selalu menempatkan diri pada
posisi loser.
Jangan karena tidak ada hukum, maka yang disalahkan adalah ras minoritas.
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BUSINESSWORLD (Philippines)
January 8, 1999
Correcting the myth about the dominance of ethnic Chinese in Indonesian
business
Have you ever heard of the rumor that the ethnic Chinese, who comprise
less
than 4% of the Indonesian population, but control 70% of that country's
economy?
Well, according to a Chinese-Indonesian priest who visited the Philippines
recently, many journalists fell for it without even checking the facts.
"It is true that even under the anti-Chinese sentiment of the Dutch
colonial
rule, many Chinese were able to survive and to prosper. There is at least an
image that Chinese are rich and control the economy. Yet for me it is a
question why most of the newspapers write '3.5% of Chinese in Indonesia is in
control of 70% of the economy'," said Sulawesi (not his real name), a priest
involved in the campaign against human rights abuses in Indonesia. "The
truth
is Suharto and his cronies together with several Chinese cronies under his
control dominated the economy."
Quoting research done by an Indonesian expatriate, Mr. Sulawesi said the
source of the alleged fallacy is an Australian study that discounted all
government and foreign listed companies when it tallied Indonesian companies.
"Many companies were not listed (in the Australian study). From the listed
companies, they did not count government and multinational companies," he
said.
The insight was provided through research done by George Aditjondro, who
in
his paper describes himself as a former business news reporter in the 1970s
and
1980s, and presently teaches Sociology of Corruption at the University of
Newcastle in Australia.
According to Mr. Aditjondro, the myth - that the Chinese constitute only
3.5% of the population, but control 70% of Indonesia's economy - "has been
repeated and repeated so often now by the world press, that everybody -
including those sympathetic to the plight of Chinese Indonesians - seem to
believe it."
He traces this myth's provenance to a 1995 study of a foreign affairs and
trade department official named Michael Backman. Otherwise an excellent
research, Mr. Aditjondro said the study entitled Overseas Chinese Business
Networks in Asia claimed that Chinese-Indonesians controlled about 73% of
Indonesia's listed companies "by market capitalization." Thus by end-1993,
they reportedly controlled about 68% of the country's "top 300 conglomerates
and
nine of the top 10 private sector groups."
But unfortunately, those who came across the Backman study reportedly
failed
to note what the phrase 'market capitalization' meant, which, quoting from the
same, amounted to "control by market capitalization has been determined after
listed firms controlled by governments or foreigners are discounted."
Mr. Aditjondro therefore concludes that the ethnic Chinese did not control
the Indonesian economy, especially if one were to exclude from any listing
companies such as Freeport McMorRan, which supposedly controls top revenue
earner PT Freeport Indonesia, Inc. and Coca Cola Amatil, and state-owned oil
firm Pertamina.
If excluded, noted the sociology professor, then it would appear that
ethnic
Chinese - notably former Suharto associate Liem Sioe Liong - controlled the
economy.
Looking into the nine private sector groups supposedly owned by the ethnic
Chinese, Mr. Aditjondro said the Australian study listed them thus: Salim,
Sinar
Mas, Danamon, Gajah Tunggal, Astra, Lippo, Dharmala, Barito Pacific, and Ongko
Groups.
The sociology professor then sampled two of these to show who really owned
what. The Salim Group, for one, is reportedly controlled by Liem Sioe Liong,
two
pribumi relatives of then President Suharto, and Ibrahim Risyad, an Acehnese
associate of one of Suharto's cousins. This cousin named Sudwikatmono, along
with two of Suharto's siblings, namely Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana and Sigit
Harjojudanto reportedly controlled Bank Central Asia, which recently went
under
following Suharto's resignation.
On the other hand, Sinar Mas Group, while controlled by Chinese-Indonesian
Eka Tjipta Widjaja, maintains ties with a real estate firm controlled by
Suharto's stepbrother Probosutejo. Sinar Mas, the study also noted, maintains
joint ventures with Salim in the chemical industry, and with companies of the
Timsco Group controlled by President Habibie's brother Timmy. If true, this
undoubtedly lends credence to the observation that the transition from Suharto
to Habibie could not have been easier.
Mr. Aditjondro noted that even new Golkar party chief Akbar Tanjung
maintains shares with some of Salim's and Sinar Mas' firms.
Meanwhile, Bimantara, which was the only pribumi-controlled group out of
the
10 top private holding firms, is reportedly controlled by one of Suharto's son
Bambang Trihatmojo.
But due to a minor lapse on the part of journalists, said Mr. Sulawesi,
this
information was lost in the process. And those 'caught' holding the bag were
the
minority ethnic Chinese.
"Unfortunately, the CEOs of many of the listed companies are Chinese. So
they conclude that these are Chinese-owned. For some it is true since Chinese
own 60% of the shares of a company. But they are all under the control of
Suharto," said the activist priest.
Of course, another multinational institution that has a lot of say with
regard to where the Indonesian economy should proceed - and which also dealt
with Suharto in the past - is likewise invisible to the ordinary pribumi
ransacking the hapless retailer's store next door. After all, the
International
Monetary Fund, said Mr. Sulawesi, has exacerbated the crisis last May with its
unpopular and anti-poor conditions for the financial rescue package of about
US(USDollar) 43 billion.
The Chinese-Indonesian priest knows too well that his parishioners do not
have the slightest inkling that this behemoth institution - which has caused
national economies to grow or go under - exists.
"For simple people, it is easy to blame the Chinese retail store owner
next
door when they suddenly can't afford to buy their children's milk."
Copyright(C) 1999 BUSINESSWORLD (PHILIPPINES)
