2. R epresentation in the com b in ation of clau se
4 1
C h in ese N e w Y e a r c lo se ly a n d
fe lt n o fre e. B u t it h as ch an ge d n o w
w h e re th e S o e h a rto re g im e fe ll. C h in ese -In d o n esian ca n c e le b ra te C h in ese N e w Y e a r free ly an d
o p e n ly. “Whereas during the 300 years of Dutch colonial subjugation this event could
be celebrated freely, in an independent Indonesia under the Soeharto regime, ironically,
basic cultural,
religious and
language rights
were severely restricted. Citizens of Chinese descent were even required to
change their nam es and could not attend Chinese schools.” Second
paragraph B a sed o n th e te x t ab o v e , it ca n b e seen th at th e re is o p p o site ac tio n w h ich is
ex p e rie n c ed b y C h in ese-In d o n esia n
fo r liv in g
in In d o n esia.
T h e jo u rn a lis t
w an ts to co m p a re b e tw ee n D u tch
co lo n ial su b ju g a tio n a n d
S o eh a rto re g im e
in c o n sid erin g C h in ese -In d o n e sian . T h e
tex t te lls
th a t sin c e D u tc h
co lo n ia l su b ju g a tio n ,
C h in ese- In d o n e sia n c o u ld c e le b ra te th e C h in e se N e w Y e a r fre el y w ith o u t b e in g lim ite d . B u t, w h e n
th e S o eh arto
re g im e h eld
th e p o w er,
C h in ese-In d o n esia is
fo rb id d en to c e le b ra te th e e v e n t, fo rb id d e n to u se th e
C h in ese n a m e a n d ca m e to sch o o l. T h ro u gh th e tex t, th e jo u rn a list te lls th at a c tu a lly th e d isc rim in a tio n w a s b eg u n w h e n S o eh arto re g im e h e ld th e p o w er.
“It is
true that
now many
of the
cultural rights
of the
ethnic Chinese have been restored. In actuality, however, the government is still far
from going all the way in recognizing the human rights of our ethnic Chinese population. Many
of their
political rights
are still
limited, and
as human rights are universal, to grant some cultural rights and to
deny others is simply wrong.” Third paragrap h
T h e jo u rn a list, th ro u gh th e tex t ab o v e, w an ts to sh o w th e g o v e rn m en t is n o t se rio u s
in re co gn iz in g
th e h u m a n
rig h ts o f
e th n ic C h in e se
p o p u la tio n , sh o w ed th at p o litica l rig h ts a re still lim ite d . H ere, th e re is o p p o site ac tio n w h ich is
sh o w ed . O n e
4 2
sid e m a n y o f c u ltu ra l rig h ts o f C h in ese a re resto re d b u t an o th e r sid e th e re is lim ita tio n o f th e ir p o litica l righ ts. A n d b y g iv in g lim ita tio n in h u m an rig h t is so m e th in g w ro n g
b ec au se h u m an rig h ts are u n iv ersa l. “Such
restrictively encompassing
political pressure
as suffered
by Chinese- Indonesians
during the
Soeharto regime
has caused
a section
of the Indonesian community to lose their identity.” fifth
paragraph T h e te x t ab o v e sh o w s a b o u t ca u sal se n ten c e, w h ere o n e c la u se is p o sitio n e d
h igh e r th a n a n o th e r. T h e jo u rn a list w an t to te ll th at C h in e se -In d o n esia le ft o u t th e ir id en tity ju st b ec au s e p o litic al p re ssu re w h ic h w as c o n d u c ted b y S o eh a rto re g im e.
“This is the second year in which Chinese New Year has been celebrated as a national
holiday. There
is a
kind of
euphoria about
marking Chinese
New Year, but the rights of ethnic Chinese -- like other human rights conditions in this country -- are still far from perfect due to
violations by power-holders who do not respect law and human rights.” 12
th
paragraph T h e
te x t d e sc rib es
th e o p p o site
se n te n c e w h ic h
ex p la in s th a t
ev e n eth n ic C h in e se h as o p p o rtu n ity to ce leb ra te C h in e se N e w Y e a r as a n a tio n a l
h o lid a y, b u t th e y
a re still
d isc rim in a te d b y
p o w er h o ld e r
w h o d o es
n o t re sp e c t la w
an d h u m a n righ ts. T h ro u gh th e se n ten ce , th e jo u rn a list w an ts to te ll th at e th n ic C h in e se still g et d isc rim in a tio n
e sp e c ia lly fo r
rig h ts o f
e th n ic C h in ese.
It c an
b e said
in sim p le se n ten c e th at e th n ic C h in ese is still fa r fro m
free d o m . “The
struggle to
abolish discrimination
is still
a long
one, because discriminative laws against ethnic Chinese still exist and the
DPR and the governm ent show no political will to abolish them. Although the government has annulled the Indonesian Citizenship Certificate required
solely by ethnic Chinese
SBKRI, in
practice it
is still
often required
in day-to-day adm inistrative processes.” 13
th
paragraph
4 3
T h e te x t d e sc rib es ab o u t th e ca u sal s en ten c e w h ich talk s ab o u t th e tre a tm en t w h ic h
is g o tten
b y eth n ic
C h in e se w h o
still g o t
d isc rim in a tio n ev e n
th o u gh th e g o v e rn m en t
h as an n u lle d
th e In d o n e sia n
C itiz en sh ip C ertifica te,
in p rac tice
th e p ro b le m co m e s fro m a d m in istra tiv e p ro c ess w h ich is still o ften req u ired lo n g tim e to h av e th e c e rtific a te . H e re , th e jo u rn a list ex p la in s th a t,
a c co rd in g to th e la w , th e y c an h av e In d o n e sian C itiz e nsh ip C e rtifica te as n a tiv e In d o n e sian , b u t in fa c t th e y still h a v e to fa c e th e p ro c ess b u re au c ra c y.
“There is euphoria now as we celebrate Chinese New Year; but the actual struggle for equality before the law is only begun and it may
be some time before real equality can be achieved.” 16
th
paragraph T h e te x t sh o w th at th e
tru ly stru g g le fo r e th n ic C h in e se is o n ly b e g u n
e v en th o u gh th e y
c a n c eleb rate
th e C h in e se
N e w Y ea r
fre e ly. T h ro u g h
th e te x t,
th e jo u rn a list re m in d th e e th n ic C h in e se th a t th e y still h av e to fa ce an o th e r b a rrie r b e fo re th e rea l e q u a lity ca n b e a c h iev e d .