Author: Ray Hervandi, East-West Center

Indonesia’s initiation of democratic reforms in May 1998 did not portend well for Chinese Indonesians.

Constituting less than 5 percent of Indonesia’s 240 million people and concentrated in urban areas, Chinese Indonesians were, at that point, still reeling from the anti-Chinese riots that had occurred just before Suharto’s fall. Scarred by years of repression and forced assimilation under Suharto, many Chinese Indonesians were uncertain — once again — about what the ‘new’ Indonesia had in store for them. Read more…