Chinese feted for role played in Indonesia

President Widodo demonstrates his support for key community at event

Dressed in traditional Chinese attire, Indonesian President Joko Widodo made a statement in his appearance at a gathering celebrating the Lunar New Year, and in his support for Chinese Indonesians.

The event on Saturday was a hybrid in-person and virtual affair, at which Widodo’s personal connection to the Year of the Ox was highlighted.

Gandi Sulistiyanto, chairman of the organizing committee for the event, told the audience that had come together in the Bogor Palace, south of Jakarta: “This is the year of Mr President Jokowi as he belongs to the zodiac of the Ox.”

Sulistiyanto referred to the name that the president is popularly known as in a Muslim-majority country with many ethnic minorities, including Chinese Indonesians.

Widodo, born in Central Java in 1961 and who campaigned as “a man of the people”, was first elected president in 2014 and was reelected in 2019 for a second five-year term.

At the ceremony, Sulistiyanto wished that the president stay “strong, hardworking, with perseverance, honest, extra-patient and persistent” — the traits displayed by the ox in his words. The sentiment was echoed by those watching the ceremony online.

In an address broadcast by Kompas TV and the Presidential Secretariat’s YouTube account, Widodo said: “We must come up with the strength, boldness, perseverance and the discipline of an ox so as to address all the challenges before us, namely the crises at this time.” His speech received more than 58,000 views on the YouTube account.

Sulistiyanto was also in high spirits at the event. “We feel convinced that (Widodo) and his rank and file will develop Indonesia and will do his best to get the nation united, rise up and move forward,” he said.

West Jakarta resident Arifin Santosa, who took part in the ceremony, said he shed tears when he saw a young woman proudly utter at the gathering this line from a poem she had written: “Return Imlek to its people!” Imlek refers to Chinese New Year in Indonesian.

The woman who spoke is a daughter of former president Abdurrahman Wahid, who in 2000 issued a decree that ethnic Chinese Indonesians were no longer banned from practicing their culture. Many others watching online expressed their support for Santosa’s comments.

Wahid’s granddaughter provided a touching moment with a national song that speaks of the motherland as “sad and shedding tears”.

Long-standing anti-Chinese prejudices are declining in the most populous country in Southeast Asia.

Call for cooperation

In his speech at the weekend, Widodo stressed the urgency of upholding the country’s long-held tradition of gotong royong, or mutual help spirit. He called for cooperation among the people to make the vaccination drive against COVID-19 a success. The leader said the country still faced a challenge in securing adequate supplies of vaccines. He was inoculated with a vaccine from Chinese drugmaker Sinovac in January.

The country’s ethnic Chinese have been helping those in need with basic necessities and medicines during the pandemic.

Many of them have contributed masks and other protective gear for medical workers, and provided WiFi access to students studying at home.

Companies owned by ethnic Chinese have helped their workers to get assistance during the pandemic, including with vaccinations.

At the event on Saturday, among those attending virtually was VicePresident Ma’ruf Amin, who wore a Chinese-style batik shirt. Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung was at the Bogor Palace for the celebration.

Pancoro Basuki, a senior executive at a Jakarta-based manufacturing firm, said China’s investment in Indonesia is continuing to rise. But the business figure said prejudice against ethnic Chinese still casts a shadow on the country. A Muslim, Basuki is known to get along well with fellow business people and others from different backgrounds.

Floods at the weekend in Jakarta and surroundings areas prompted a response from the Chinese community, with aid for those affected. Members of the community are widely recognized for their speed in helping out during disasters and other times of hardship.