Jakarta's violent identity crisis: behind the vilification of Chinese-Indonesians
The minority group has had a huge impact on Indonesias capital. But the success of its small elite has led to recurring discrimination and bloodshed which has come to a head as Jakartas ethnic Chinese governor runs for election
Before Jakarta, there was Batavia, the 17th-century capital city of the Dutch East Indies, built with the skill of just a few hundred ethnic Chinese artisans who had settled as traders along the shore.
How little has changed.
Many big projects in modern day Jakarta, a city of more than 10 million, have been built by developers from the minority group, the descendants of the original merchants and other Chinese who have arrived since.
Chinese-Indonesians estimated to make up 1% to 4% of the countrys 250 million people have had an impact on Jakarta which is vastly disproportionate to their physical numbers. The economic success of the groups small elite has led to repeated bouts of resentment, discrimination and even violent assaults.
Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnam, a Chinese-Indonesian known as Ahok, has proven that despite a history of political exclusion, high office is also achievable. He is running for election in February.
Yet a racially charged anti-Ahok protest this month has forced Jakarta to confront whether the minority has truly been accepted after three sometimes prosperous but always uncertain centuries.
A mini market was raided in a Chinese-Indonesian neighbourhood, bringing back painful memories of riots in 1998 in which more than 1,000 were killed.
Protesters, many of them hardline Islamists who are unhappy Ahok is both Chinese-Indonesian and Christian, have promised another rally for next Friday and hope to beat their attendance of more than 100,000 people on 4 November. Police say they will block them this time, but observers worry it may further raise the potential for violence.
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2...-governor-ahok