Merangkai SinoLogika: Bunga Rampai - Christine Susanna Tjhin

The Jakarta Post. Since the transition to democracy began five years ago, Indonesia has been rocked by widespread communal conflicts. The prolonged conflicts in Aceh and ethno-religious violence in Maluku and Central Sulawesi's town of Poso reflect the mismanagement of pluralism in Indonesia. One proposal for solutions focus on the enforcement of regional autonomy. However, the question of whether regional autonomy is feasible must be readdressed by probing into the fundamental question of whether cultural rights have been properly addressed. Regional autonomy policies may be useful, yet its implementation tends to neglect issues of cultural rights over economic and political rights. Managing pluralism becomes virtually impossible without adequate acknowledgement of cultural rights. The essential idea of multiculturalism and/or pluralism is that there should be proper acknowledgement of and respect for cultural rights of all individuals and/or communal groups. Such acknowledg...

This is the start of re-posting my previous writings. Some friends suggested this for quite some time, but I felt slightly timid, if not embarrassed, to do it. However, after realizing that some of my online writings no longer exist and that I no longer can find them in my personal files/folders, I came to regret not having to do this earlier. My only hope is that these writings can be helpful and/or generate further debates on things that we care the most. Nostalgia is probably my other motive... Some of these writings reflect moments that shape who I am today. This is the first one. My first 'writing' on public media; My first "published" piece. It's no scholarly piece at all, really. Nowhere near that. It was RAGE - a raw rage and delirious demand to be heard by the people where ever they were. My house in Pos Pengumben Jakarta was attacked on that dreadful May 1998, during which two of the most staggering events changed my life (the Anti-Chinese riot...