Indonesia's Legislation on Chinese Indonesians were conducted through a series of constitutional laws and directives enacted by the

Government of Indonesia The term Government of the Republic of Indonesia (, GOI, sometimes also referred to as Government of Indonesia or the Central Government () especially in laws) can have a number of different meanings. At its widest, it can refer collectively ...

to enforce

cultural assimilation Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's Dominant culture, majority group or fully adopts the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group. The melting pot model is based on this ...

of ethnic Chinese in Indonesia with the wider Indonesian society. The legislations mostly regulated individual

naming conventions A naming convention is a convention (norm), convention (generally agreed scheme) for naming things. Conventions differ in their intents, which may include to: * Allow useful information to be deduced from the names based on regularities. For ins ...

and business statutes.

1950s

In the early 1950s the Government of Indonesia implemented the Benteng Program, under which only

native Indonesians Native Indonesians, also known as ''Pribumi'' () are Indonesians whose ancestral roots lie mainly in the archipelago and consist of various ethnic groups, predominantly of Austronesian and Melanesian descent. In contrast are Indonesians of know ...

were allowed to have licenses to import certain items. This was to reduce the economic disparity between ordinary Indonesians and ethnic Chinese who were given racial privileges during the centuries-old Dutch colonial rule. The program soon evolved into a colloquially term of

Ali Baba "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" () is a folk tale in Arabic added to the ''One Thousand and One Nights'' in the 18th century by its French translator Antoine Galland, who heard it from Syrian storyteller Hanna Diyab. As one of the most popu ...

, referring to

symbiotic relationship Symbiosis (Ancient Greek : living with, companionship < : together; and ''bíōsis'': living) is any type of a close and long-term biolo ...

between ethnic Chinese

entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

and native Indonesians who benefited each other through mutual cooperation.

Presidential Regulation 10 of 1959

The Presidential Regulation 10 of 1959 was a directive prohibiting foreign nationals from doing

retail business Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler ...

rural areas In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically descri ...

, requiring them to either transfer ownership to Indonesian nationals by 1 January 1960 or relocate to urban cities. This was the government's attempt to better redistribute economic commerce and trade back into the hands of

majority A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the "#Related terms, Related terms" section below. It is a subset of a Set (mathematics), set consisting of more than half of the se ...

when much of the nation's economy is run by a small, elite minority of ethnic Chinese which had near monopoly of all business transactions. However, the implementation of the directive resulted with

riots A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...

and triggered the return of many ethnic Chinese back to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, as many of their businesses were labelled as foreign-owned and liable to be confiscated. Tens of thousands of business owned by ethnic Chinese were either forcibly transferred (often with excessive force and threats) under the auspices of military personnel or peacefully, albeit with much reluctance and protest. These chain of events led to a diplomatic rift between the

Republic of Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

which were seen as close allies then. The Chinese

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

, Huang Chen insisted that the directive should be reviewed but was denied by Indonesia's State Minister, Subandrio in which he insisted there is no element of anti-Chinese sentiment but rather, a part of the necessary

nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with p ...

and

socialization In sociology, socialization (also socialisation – see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is the process of Internalisation (sociology), internalizing the Norm (social), norm ...

of the economy. Berita Peristiwa 60 Tahun Waspada: Penduduk Cina Dipulangkan (1960). PP No.10 dan Masalah Pemulangan Hoakiao Hal 39 On 10 December 1959, Peking Radio announced a campaign for ethnic Chinese to return to "The Warmth of Motherland". The Chinese embassy soon listed thousands Chinese citizens interested in returning to China. About 199,000 applied, but only 102,000 managed to be placed in a ship sent by the PRC government.

Cabinet Presidium Decision 127 of 1966

Cabinet Presidium Decision 127 of 1966 (', 127/U/Kep/12/1966) was an Indonesian law passed in 1966 that suggested Indonesian-sounding names to be adopted by

Indonesian Chinese Chinese Indonesians (), or simply ''Orang Tionghoa'' or ''Tionghoa'', are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries. Chinese Indonesians are the fourth largest community of Overseas Chinese in th ...

. It was considered to be part of the anti-Chinese legislation in Indonesia. The resident Chinese community in Indonesia resented it because it forced them to lose traditional family names. However, some people thwarted the government efforts to some degree by incorporating their Chinese name into their new Indonesian name. For example, the Chinese family name "Tan" was easily embedded in the Indonesian name "Sutanto".

Presidential Decision 240 of 1967

Presidential Decision 240 of 1967 (', Keppres No. 240/1867) mandated assimilation of "foreigners" and supported a previous directive, 127/U/Kep/12/1966, for Indonesian Chinese to adopt Indonesian-sounding names.

Presidential Instruction 14 of 1967

Presidential Instruction No. 14/1967 (Inpress No. 14/1967) on Chinese Religion, Beliefs, and Traditions effectively banned any Chinese literature and cultures in Indonesia, including the prohibition of Chinese characters. Although Chinese names were not explicitly mentioned, "newly naturalized" Indonesian Chinese were strongly advised to adopt non-Chinese names. (Annulled by former president

Abdurrahman Wahid Abdurrahman Wahid ( ; né ad-Dakhil, 7 September 1940 – 30 December 2009), more colloquially known as Gus Dur (), was an Indonesian politician and Islam in Indonesia, Islamic Kyai, religious leader who served as the fourth president of Indone ...

in Keppres No. 6/2000; annulment supported by former president

Megawati Sukarnoputri Diah Permata Megawati Setiawati Sukarnoputri (; born 23 January 1947) is an Indonesian politician who served as the fifth president of Indonesia from 2001 to 2004 and the eighth vice president under President Abdurrahman Wahid from 1999 to 200 ...

in Keppres No 19/2002 by declaring

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival (see also #Names, § Names), is a festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar Chinese calendar. It is one of the most important holi ...

as national holiday.)

1967

Laws affecting Chinese Indonesians proliferated under the New Order regime under former President

Suharto Suharto (8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian Officer (armed forces), military officer and politician, and dictator, who was the second and longest serving president of Indonesia, serving from 1967 to 1998. His 32 years rule, cha ...

's reign. Suharto was a strong advocate for Chinese assimilation rather than integration. As part of 1967's 'Basic Policy for the Solution of the Chinese Problem' and other measures, only one Chinese-language newspaper was allowed to continue, all Chinese religious expressions had to be confined to their homes, Chinese-language schools were phased out, Chinese script in public places was banned, and Chinese were pushed to take on Indonesian-sounding names. Most of this legislation were revoked following Suharto's fall from power in 1998

Ampera Cabinet Presidium Circular 6 of 1967

Ampera Cabinet Presidium Circular 6 of 1967 () was released on 28 June 1967. One of the points of contention is the selection of a proper term to describe Indonesian residents of Chinese descent. Accompanying explanatory text to Article 26 of the Constitution of Indonesia, 1945 Constitution used the term ''Tionghoa'' to describe this group. In 1948, the

Communist Party of Indonesia The Communist Party of Indonesia (Indonesian language, Indonesian: ''Partai Komunis Indonesia'', PKI) was a communist party in the Dutch East Indies and later Indonesia. It was the largest non-ruling communist party in the world before its Indo ...

began using ''Tionghoa'' in its terminology, prompting the beginning of an unofficial ban on its use. By 1967, a cabinet circular enforced the use of the term ''Cina'' over ''Tionghoa'' and ''Tiongkok''. Surat Edaran Presidium Kabinet Ampera Nomor 06 Tahun 1967.

Other examples

* Cabinet Presidium Instruction No. 37/U/IN/6/1967, prohibiting further residency or work permits to new Chinese immigrants, their wives, or children; freezing any capital raised by "foreigners" in Indonesia; closure of "foreign" schools except for diplomatic corps and their families; requiring the number of Indonesian students to be the majority and in proportion to "foreigners" in any state schools; and making implementation of the "Chinese issue" be the responsibility of the minister for political affairs. * Resolution of the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly No. 32, 1966 (TAP MPRS No. 32/1966), effectively banning the use of Chinese characters in newspapers and magazines. * Home Affairs Ministry No. 455.2-360/1988 on Regulation of Temples, effectively and severely restricting building or repairing Chinese temples. * Circular of the Director General for Press and Graphics Guidance in the Ministry of Information No. 02/SE/Ditjen-PPGK/1988, further restricting the usage of Chinese language and/or characters. * Instruction of the Ministry of Home Affairs No. X01/1977 on Implementing Instructions for Population Registration and the confidential instructions No.3.462/1.755.6 of the Jakarta government 28 January 1980, both authorising special codes in national identification cards to indicate ethnic Chinese origin, the code being A01 * Cabinet Presidium Circular SE-06/Pres-Kab/6/1967 on Changing the Term China and Chinese, requiring the usage of the term "Cina" (considered a derogatory term by many Chinese Indonesians) instead of "Tionghoa" or " Tiongkok" (used by ethnic Chinese themselves). * the status of Confucianism as one of Indonesia's six official religions was revoked. In 1978, the Minister of Home Affairs issued a directive that there were only five religions, excluding Confucianism. On 27 January 1979, a presidential cabinet meeting took place and it firmly decided that Confucianism was not a religion. Another directive from Minister of Home Affairs was issued in 1990 re-iterating about there being only five official religions in Indonesia.

Anomalies and exceptions

There are exceptions to laws and regulations that ban the use of

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

. The use of Mandarin in traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions, for example, is not prohibited, since legal proceedings related to this case have been suspended after lobbying made to the Attorney General (Jaksa Agung) of Indonesia by INI (Ikatan Naturopatis Indonesia).

Current practice

During his tenure as president,

ended restrictions on Chinese culture and language, and made

a national holiday, but the repercussions of the discrimination then are still felt today and Indonesian Chinese are still discriminated in some regions.

Notes

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Legislation of Chinese Indonesians Anti-Chinese legislation Anti-Chinese sentiment in Indonesia Law of Indonesia Cultural assimilation Linguistic discrimination *Legislation Chinese diaspora