How It Feels to be a Double Minority in Indonesia
I was born Chinese and Catholic, both are obviously a minority in Indonesia, which majority of the population is Muslim.
As an adolescent, I never really gave much thought about my race or religion. Going to a Catholic private school for 14 years was like going to a fort which didn’t allow me to see the real world. In this fort, being a Chinese and Catholic didn’t seem weird at all, what weird was that two students didn’t eat anything on lunchtime for a month because they were fasting.
My first encounter with “real world” was when I went to a state university. There were a wide variety of people that I never met. And honestly, it was really exciting back then to meet new kind of people. It didn’t really bother me when someone mistook me as Muslim and ask me to do prayer with them. It didn’t bother me when I couldn’t eat or drink freely during Ramadan because I wanted to respect my friends who were fasting. Many kind of little things happened regarding my race and religion, but nothing really bothered me.
The first time I started to feel uncomfortable being a double minority in Indonesia is when I heard Ahok, the governor of Jakarta at that time, was accused of blasphemy. Although, I knew that not all Indonesians are as openminded as my fellow university mates, I never expected that an innocent man could be thrown into a prison, only because of massive hatred towards his race and religion (mainly because of his religion). Not to mention that Ahok’s case happened few months before the gubernatorial election, so there were also political reasons behind it. All these facts were very hard for me to swallow because I never thought Indonesian was as intolerant as this.
After Ahok’s case, I always have fear inside of me. I fear that more people will think it is okay to be racist and being vocal about it. I fear that the radical groups think they can do whatever they like because they think they are the “majority”. On top of all, I fear that there will be riots like May 1998 again. And suddenly, my nightmare came true, there were terrorist acts in many cities in Indonesia. The brutal killing of police in Depok, Church bombings in Surabaya, Apartment bombing in Sidoarjo, and an attempt to attack Riau police headquarter. These terrors happen ONLY in one week. Imagine how it feels to be Indonesian, and moreover imagine how it feels to be Christian or Catholic in Indonesia, knowing that if they go to church there are chances some terrorist already planned to bomb their churches.
I am sure vast majority of Indonesia is scared right now, whether they are the majority or the minority. As for me, I am now already on the stage where I just want to get out of Indonesia and feel safe elsewhere. But, as much as I want to leave Indonesia, I know this country will always be my home, and I cling to that hope that some day Indonesia will be a tolerant and peaceful country for everyone.
