User:Sarahadr/May 1998 riots of Indonesia

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While the riot was triggered by an economic recession, its prime target was the ethnic Chinese community. The Chinese-Indonesian community were believed to have loyalties to both China and Indonesia, a sign that they have no national patriotism and were labeled as "traitors". During Suharto's New Order rule, multiple laws were passed against the ethnic Chinese community in Indonesia. These laws include prohibiting speaking any Chinese dialect publicly, changing Chinese names to become Indonesian-sounding, the public display of Chinese characters, and the restriction on celebrating the Lunar New Year. However, President Suharto still kept a few Chinese-Indonesians by his side, empowering them to great economic wealth. These individuals include "konglomerat" or business magnates such as Sofyan Wanandi, Sudono Salim, and Mochtar Riady to name a few. The image of the average Chinese-Indonesian became one of an affluent individual, sometimes seen by the public to be stealing wealth from Indonesians, despite the fact that a majority of them were ordinary middle-class retailers. During this period, Chinese-Indonesians were increasingly contributing to the local retail industry. The resulting growth in income within the community led to the rise in prices of basic goods such as rice and oil to be associated with the Chinese, fuelling the existing anti-Chinese sentiment even more. Failing to realize the increase in prices are independent of the individual retailers, the public’s anger was directed towards the ethnic Chinese.

To many Chinese-Indonesians, the event served as a reinforcement of the idea that they do not belong in Indonesia despite most of them having lived in the country all their lives(CITE). On the other hand, the event also became a token calling for change in the country's governing policies that perpetuate the hatred (CITE). The Reformasi period, when Suharto resigned and B.J. Habibie became president, saw a lot of changes in the country’s values, including that of racial affairs. These changes include the abolishment of several legislations that came into being during the New Order that specifically targeted the Chinese community, and even declaring Chinese New Year as a national holiday. Further measures such as representation in media, popular culture, and even politics have been embraced by both the local community and the government. Indonesia is able to see an improvement in the implementation of its national motto "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" which translates to "Unity In Diversity" and a greater acceptance of the Chinese-Indonesian community as a whole.