Being Chinese is A Personal Decision and Choice
This article was published by The Jakarta Post on February 12, 2008.
A recent statement by Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid, a much respected, loved and admired leading ulema and a former president of Indonesia, who said he is a descendant of princess Champa, whose son Tan Eng Hwan was known by his given Indonesian aristocrat name Raden Fatah, is a breath of fresh air for all people of Chinese descent in Indonesia, and those who believe in a multicultural society.
For once, a strong and charismatic religious leader of the majority has unabashedly and courageously broken the silence by being openly pluralistic and multiculturalistic. Gus Dur has set an example that being ethnic Chinese is not something to be embarrassed about nor to be feared; instead, it is to be acknowledged wholeheartedly.
Like Gus Dur, Barack Obama, a strong American politician who is on his way to becoming the first president of African descent, has also embraced his ethnicity with a lot of grace and composure. So has Eric Liu, a strong columnist, journalist, political analyst and a member of one of the most admired think tanks in Washington DC, who wrote the best-selling memoir The Accidental Asian. A rare personality of militant toughness and philosophical softness, Indonesian Army (Ret.) Brig. Gen. Tedy Jusuf is another exemplary case of a strong person with a multiculturalistic perspective.
While Gus Dur has probably lived his whole life not as a “typical” person of Chinese ethnicity in Indonesia, Obama, who has mixed blood of American Caucasian and native African, has consciously chosen to live in a black neighborhood in a Chicago suburb and to adopt the lifestyle of most African-Americans.
Liu, an American born whose parents were immigrants from Taiwan, has also consciously chosen to declare himself a Chinese, as stated in his memoir in bold letters.
Cited from his book, “Chinese civilization as transmitted to the Overseas Chinese depends, ultimately, on consent rather than descent. Chineseness isn’t a mythical, more authentic way of being; it is just a decision to act Chinese.”
Brig. Gen. Jusuf, whom I had the privilege of hosting during his recent visit to the United States, has shown how being a member of Chinese ethnicity is a lifelong pride that he will always treasure and is a fundamental cause of his cultural activism, which is reflected in his efforts to embody Tionghoa Indonesia as an ethnicity, as symbolized in one of the pavilions at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah.
His achievements as a strong military leader and a member of a Indonesia-based think tank portray him as a rare blend of the so-called wun (intellectual) and wu (physical strength or martial arts) in Chinese philosophy, which is based on yin and yang. Above all, his admiration for Indonesia as his homeland has been echoed in his works and philosophical standings between the two cultures.
Embracing one’s culture, particularly one that is often stereotyped as “less desirable” and, unfortunately, during the New Order under Soeharto was considered a “criminal act”, as anything Chinese from written characters, publications, to bearing Chinese names was legally forbidden, might have felt like swallowing a bitter pill.
Today, people of Chinese ethnicity is enjoying more freedom in expressing their cultural traits, which is something to be grateful for. The new Citizenship Law of 2006 has also stated that those who were born in Indonesia automatically become “native” Indonesians, which sounds quite comforting de jure-wise.
With all those encouraging news, it is good timing for all Indonesians to return to our roots and embrace the missing pieces of ourselves with awareness that we are all part of the human race. After all, raciality is distinctiveness of one’s race or ethnicity that makes the world more colorful and beautiful, which should be distinguished from racism, which is a belief that one’s characteristics and abilities are determined by race. Raciality is something to be grateful for, while racism is something that we are learning to undo and unlearn throughout our lifetime.
Racism itself is an obsolete concept as the folks behind the Genographic Project, a joint effort between National Geographic and IBM, have been collecting DNA markers to create the largest database that would record human migration patterns and ancestral origins.
Eventually, this project will provide some evidence that all people from all races and ethnicities are related to one another, and that most likely every person on Earth possesses multiple DNA markers coming from multiple ethnicities. Eventually, it would prove that skin color is merely a small part of one’s genetic makeup, not an identity for belonging to a certain class, which comes with privileges, in society.
However, one of my Tracy Press column readers said, “Being ‘post-racial’, as Martin Luther King, Jr. once beckoned that he dreamed someday his children will be judged by the content of their characters instead of by the color of their skin, might always be a utopia.” He further said that he merely hopes for tolerance and acceptance for who he is, whose skin color is different from the rest of the population.
As a human being and a citizen of the world, I have embraced and acknowledged my three cultures consciously: Indonesian by birth place, Chinese by blood line and American by residence. I will always introduce myself as such because I am not just one of them. I am all three and something greater. I have a dream that someday, the whole world will transcend as one.
The writer is a columnist and a social commentator. She is also known as the motivator and inspirator of the JiangZhe Sianghainese Indonesian Young Leaders Fraternity. She can be found at JennieSBev.com.
Another GREAT article from our guest writer
I hope this article will be able to trigger a good and nice discussion. Anyone?
cheers.
Salam Revolusi Budaya!
Nice and toughtful article. However, I don’t quite agree with the title in a certain way.
Being a Chinese is not a personal decision nor choice. As I didn’t choose to be born to a Java-Palembang parents. Living one’s life as a Chinese in a Chinese culture is the personal decision and choice.
If being Chinese is a personal decision and choice, I ever wanted to be one. I used to admire Chinese culture highly. But I am still who I am for I can’t choose to be what I want. Although I can live anyway I want, for example: as a Chinese or any other race.
But, still deep philosophy is in the article. My objection to the title won’t change its greatness
I feel honored to ever comment on an article like this.
wah mbak, akhirnya saya pede juga mengomentari artikel mbak yang selama ini saya cuma sanggup membacanya (JBRB atau di blog mbak) tapi minder mau komentar takut gak nyambung
saya menganggap orang cina Indonesia sebagai sodara sesama orang Indonesia juga. Mama saya bilang kalo antara budaya Cina dengan budaya daerah kami banyak kemiripan, saat menonton drama Cina, Mama merasa sedang bernostalgia saat masih tinggal di kampung. boleh dibilang, antara daerah saya dan Cina ada hubungan kekerabatan. apalagi kita sama2 bergelut di bidang perdagangan, bahkan daerah saya disebut sebagai Cina-nya Indonesia.
jadi saya setuju dengan judul artikel ini yang saya pahami sebagai kesimpulan dari mbak. sama2 kita ketahui, ada jurang pemisah antara Cina dengan pribumi. jurang tersebut sudah diciptakan Belanda dari jaman penjajahan dengan menempatkan etnis Cina di warga kelas dua dan pribumi di kelas terakhir, jurang ini masih terasa sampai sekarang, dipisahkan dengan adanya pergaulan orang Cina dan pergaulan orang Melayu/pribumi.
kalo boleh pinjam, menjadi Melayu pun juga pilihan dan keputusan pribadi, apakah pemisahan golongan berdasarkan etnis akan dipupuk terus sampe nanti? jadi sama2 membaur itu lebih baik ya?!
btw, saya dan banyak orang mengagumi kekompakan orang Cina, persaudaraannya kuat banget, solid. salam
Ya benar seperti kata Yonna, ornag Cina memang solid kekeluargaannya. Saya sekarang kerja sama orang Cina, and I like him as my bos
@Ian and Yonna,
yang sudah “malu” mengakui hal ini karena “takut” didiskriminasi. Dan juga yang Overseas Chinese (alias yang lahir Tidak di Cina Daratan macam aku ini), banyak yang sudah tidak lagi menerima budaya ini.
Judulnya itu ditujukan kepada para keturunan Cina (atau “Tionghoa”
Sebenarnya budaya adalah kekayaan dunia yang tidak bisa kita tolak dan sebaiknya tidak kita tolak.
Heheh, memang bener dong kita dilahirkan sebagai apa nggak bisa berubah DNAnya, tapi toh banyak yang sudah tidak “mengakui” lagi.
In the end, seseorang dinilai dari hati dan perbuatannya bukan kulitnya. Ini yang perlu ditingkatkan.
Makasih,
Jennie
“In the end, seseorang dinilai dari hati dan perbuatannya bukan kulitnya. Ini yang perlu ditingkatkan”
Benar sekali. Contoh: manajer saya (lagi) yang seorang CPA. Dia Chinese, tapi menjalankan non-discrimination pratice terhadap klien-kliennya.
Sering kali klien (Chinese) datang dengan slogan: “You’re Chinese, I’m Chinese, you give me discount”.
Dan sang manajer pun dengan bangga menjawab, “Ini tagihan servis ini, untuk setiap klien. Tidak ada diskriminasi.”
hmmm…ya, ya setuju banget mbak, kita emang gak boleh mengingkari origin kita.
tapi saya juga berusaha memahami mereka (warga Cina) yang “malu” atau “takut” mengakui asal mereka. karena memang dalam pergaulan terutama di jakarta, jika ada seseorang yang wajahnya oriental dikit pasti ada beberapa orang yang langsung nembak “lu cina ya?” atau saat ledek2an atau bercanda “dasar cina!” pastinya ada sedikit beda jika diledek “dasar padang”atau “dasar jawa” karena kata2 “dasar cina” lebih menegaskan bahwa dia bukan orang indonesia asli dan pastinya lebih gak enak didengarnya.
tapi diskriminasi, hmmm, bahkan orang melayu pun ada yang enggan mengakui daerah asalnya dan mengaku2 daerah lain sebagai kampungnya. hmmm….sebel juga dengernya
kenapa ada diskriminasi? sebabnya beragam, salah satunya adalah stereotype negatif suatu suku bangsa yang memang sangat mudah memancing prasangka buruk orang lain. stereotype sepertinya adalah sesuatu yang tidak bisa dihindari tapi masih bisa dicegah dengan membuktikan kalo kita gak memiliki sifat negatif yang menjadi khas daerah asal kita. misalnya saya nih orang minang, saya tau betul stereotype orang minang itu apa dan berusaha untuk tidak memilikinya sehingga orang lain percaya dan tidak punya alasan untuk memperlakukan saya buruk sebagai “emang dasar minang, gak heran!”
kira2 gitu ya, saya juga minang overseas mbak, karena lahir dan besar di jakarta dan belum pulang kampung, salam
I think both writer and Ian have a point. Both just see it differently. It’s true that a human can’t choose what kind of person he or she was born into, like Ian pointed out.
But what Mba Jennie wrote is about how a person is able to whether or not choose to accept the kind of person he or she has become. A Chinese person may live in a Chinese family and Chinese culture but it doesn’t always mean that he or she will accept and embrace them.
I think it’s a very important issue since we have so many young people stuck in an ambiguous cultural condition.
Yonna and Bukan Monyet (Tasa),
Well, saya pikir ada baiknya kalau kita generasi muda (dan “sok muda” yaitu saya…), mulai dari lingkungan teman2 sendiri dengan tidak “menstereotype”-kan orang lain. Pokoke, apa aja warna/etnis dan rasanya (gado2 kali), pasti manis dan baik hati.
Gitu toh, if we wanna change the world, we must change our own thoughts (mindset!).
Much love,
Jennie
Ian, great example.
I’m glad you have a very good boss to break the “stereotype.”
iya mbak, setuju. jangankan beda ras, agama, warna kulit….saya aja punya temen yang gay dan alkoholik kok, mgkn kalo liat raut wajah dan penampilan saya mgkn orang2 ngira saya cuma mau temenan ma remaja mesjid, tapi gak tuh hehe.
ya betul, bagi saya, siapapun orangnya selama mau temenan ma saya maka ayo kita berteman. bagimu prinsipmu, bagiku prinsipku. very inspiring mbak, moga2 kita bisa memulainya dari diri sendiri dulu, salam
Very enlightening article. Growing up outside of Indonesia, I can wholeheartedly relate with the content of the article. As the only Asian of my class, there were times when it did feel like I had to choose between my Asian-ness or American-ness, add to that my Muslim-ness.
There is a balancing act that many Indonesian-Americans, or American-Indonesians as someone pointed out recently, have yet to master or have yet to realize exists within them.
I have come to believe that we all take our culture for granted, meaning we just go along without questioning, and that perhaps we don’t have to be this way or that, unless we choose to be this way or that.
An article regarding the “blue-eyed gene” showed how people who have blue eyes may all be related as the mutation for that blue-eye gene was found to have happened to only one person, therefore all blue-eyed individuals share a common ancestor.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080130170343.htm
So perhaps we really are just one big, happily dysfunctional family…