Work was finished and I was waiting in front of the university for a taxi, minding my own business. A few students or non-students came and went. Nothing unusual. Nothing unusual until someone pulled a couple wooden chair/desks out into the road while grumbling orang Cina (Chinese). There were four or five young men in the road with bottles in their hands. They were slowing down traffic and looking inside the cars, trying to ascertain their ethnicities. The young men succeeded in slowing an ethnic Chinese in a mini-truck. The young men screamed some things and tossed a bottle that bounced off the front hood. Another bottle was tossed and crashed through the windshield. The men tried to get at the driver before he stepped on the gas to evade the situation. That’s when I rejected the urge to snap some photos, turned slowly and walked back to the office.
Later, there was a newsflash on the TV in the office. A maid was possibly beaten and/or killed by an ethnic Chinese. There were scenes of closed gold shops on Jalan Somba Opu, the famous shopping street in Makassar, as well as large crowds.
There have been a couple big purges of Chinese in the last twenty years in Indonesia–large scale destruction of their shops, homes and Buddhist temples to boot. I hope it doesn’t reach that point again.
6 Comments
Ah, communal violence is perhaps the nastiest sort. Urgh. Stay away from that shit, my friend. Always be on the right side of the TV while these things go down.
But really—getting any neato photos?
It isn’t my job to get neato photos and I left my bullet-proof ‘press’ jacket at home yesterday.
I did buy a new digital last week though…
I’ve been in Makassar several times while anti-Chinese rioting took off. I also recommend keeping well away.
Ever miss the relative tedium of North Sulawesi?
There are times that I remember North Sulawesi fondly. Usually, these are the times that I’m stuck at the university with burning tires out front and the electricity (and A/C) is out. Then I piss and moan about the inanities of frequent mass demonstrations with large property destruction. Give me pisang goreng with sambal and call it a day.
I am a native Indonesian, also I’m from South Sulawesi. I’m a little bit upset on fact that even though our slogan is Bhinneka Tunggal Ika which means united in diversity, some of our people still races, and I understand how do you feel about the chinese people who get success in our country, but realize, everybody have their own fate, dont be jealous over other people.
Fla, do you think I’m jealous of the ethnic Chinese or are you talking about your fellow Indonesians? I’m not really sure fate has much to do with it; I’ve always thought that the ethnic Chinese prosper because they work harder or smarter. There would be a big economic hole if all ethnic Chinese were to leave Makassar tomorrow and an even larger unemployment problem. Thanks for adding your thoughts.