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ASAA Southeast Asian Publications Series
Anti-Chinese Violence in Indonesia, 1996–1999
In this first book-length study of anti-Chinese hostility during the collapse of Suharto’s regime, Jemma Purdey presents a close analysis of the main incidents of violence during the transitional period between 1996 and 1999, and the unprecedented process of national reflection that ensued. While ethnicity and prejudice are central to the explanation put forward, Purdey concludes that politics, economics, and religion offer additional keys to understanding why such outbreaks occurred.
316 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 21, 2025
This book is an example of how good history is written.
As someone who is ethnic Chinese from neighbouring Singapore, and who came of age around the same time as the May 1998 violence, and who remembers being shocked by the violence and rapes, the book touched on a subject that I had longed tried to understand. Purdey has written a rich account of anti-Chinese violence in Indonesia, and the reasons for that.
Unlike the Chinese in Singapore who formed the majority, or even the Chinese in Malaysia who while being a minority are a sizable one able to preserve and practice their culture, I always saw the Indonesian Chinese as the minority of minorities. Unable to openly celebrate Chinese New Year, or openly use the Chinese language until the early 2000s with the fall of the New Order, Indonesian Chinese seem less Chinese so to speak as a result. Yet the tragedy seems to be that they are at the same time regarded as outsiders - pendatang - regardless of how long they have been in the country.
Purdey’s book helped me to understand why the above is the case, and how violence against the Chinese are partly in response to them being stereotyped as rich and close to the military and political elite during Suharto’s time, and also at the same time a consequence of them being ethnic outsiders i.e., for being ethnic Chinese. The former seems to be on the wane in the post-Suharto period, but this also means they need to confront the fact that they are targeted because they are ethnic Chinese, rather than as a convenient scapegoat for the economic woes of the pribumi. This is something that they cannot acknowledge because to do so would mean confronting the idea that they are attacked and discriminated against for being Chinese. Where would that leave them then? Better perhaps to rationalise attacks against them as an outcome of state violence, or shadowy figures operating from the dark. This was how the Chinese community essentially rationalise the violence against them until the fall of Suharto.
The book was published in 2006 so I am certain a lot has changed since then, I imagine. I am not sure how inter-ethnic relations have since changed from the late 1990s and early 2000s, but my own understanding from anecdotal evidence as well as the news, is that things have improved a lot since the late 1990s. Long may it continue to be the case.
As someone who is ethnic Chinese from neighbouring Singapore, and who came of age around the same time as the May 1998 violence, and who remembers being shocked by the violence and rapes, the book touched on a subject that I had longed tried to understand. Purdey has written a rich account of anti-Chinese violence in Indonesia, and the reasons for that.
Unlike the Chinese in Singapore who formed the majority, or even the Chinese in Malaysia who while being a minority are a sizable one able to preserve and practice their culture, I always saw the Indonesian Chinese as the minority of minorities. Unable to openly celebrate Chinese New Year, or openly use the Chinese language until the early 2000s with the fall of the New Order, Indonesian Chinese seem less Chinese so to speak as a result. Yet the tragedy seems to be that they are at the same time regarded as outsiders - pendatang - regardless of how long they have been in the country.
Purdey’s book helped me to understand why the above is the case, and how violence against the Chinese are partly in response to them being stereotyped as rich and close to the military and political elite during Suharto’s time, and also at the same time a consequence of them being ethnic outsiders i.e., for being ethnic Chinese. The former seems to be on the wane in the post-Suharto period, but this also means they need to confront the fact that they are targeted because they are ethnic Chinese, rather than as a convenient scapegoat for the economic woes of the pribumi. This is something that they cannot acknowledge because to do so would mean confronting the idea that they are attacked and discriminated against for being Chinese. Where would that leave them then? Better perhaps to rationalise attacks against them as an outcome of state violence, or shadowy figures operating from the dark. This was how the Chinese community essentially rationalise the violence against them until the fall of Suharto.
The book was published in 2006 so I am certain a lot has changed since then, I imagine. I am not sure how inter-ethnic relations have since changed from the late 1990s and early 2000s, but my own understanding from anecdotal evidence as well as the news, is that things have improved a lot since the late 1990s. Long may it continue to be the case.
September 12, 2016
ini buku yang sangat bagus
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews