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| Chinese New Year celebration in Jakarta in 2012. Picture taken from here. |
This theme is something I often discuss with my piano teacher. Why do Chinese-Indonesians perform better in music? And when we look further, they excel, in fact, almost in everything. Indonesian people with Chinese ancestors are still minority, even if the natives say they're everywhere, especially in big cities. According to CIA World Factbook (and I quote this source because my country doesn't have an official Factbook), the Chinese and other unspecified ethnics made up only 29,9% of the population, which means that, if spread evenly to 33 provinces, each province has only less than 1% Chinese ethnic in their region. But although small in number, they are making big impacts. In my city alone, they pretty much run the economy. In national scale, they not only play an important roles in trade, they also show significant achievements in other fields. Many gold medallists and international athletes are Chinese-Indonesian. Scientists and scholars sent abroad are also coming from this ethnic group. Even in a world as small as classical music, they rule.
Once I sat with my teacher in a competition where about 80% of the participants are Chinese-Indonesian kids. Of course, the majority also won top places. If you go to local concerts or competitions in any big city in Indonesia, you'll see mostly Chinese-Indonesian kids on stage. I am running two theory classes at the moment. One class has Chinese-Indonesians as majority, the other has only Indonesians. The "Chinese" class, as I named it, always starts on time, never missed a session, and always returns any homework I gave. The "native" class always starts 30 minutes late, changes schedule often, with homework sometimes done and sometimes not.
Many non-Chinese in many countries would agree that the majority of Chinese (and I say that because there is always exceptions) possess the same traits: they are discipline, hard-working, they deny self-gratification until their mission is accomplished, they are money-savvy, are mostly passionate about what they do, and that is why they're successful. Malcolm Gladwell said in "Tipping Point" that most Chinese succeed everywhere they go because they come from a culture that planted rice, and since rice are the most difficult crop to cultivate, they develop this kind of mentality. But this theory definitely needs to be tested further because the fact is, Indonesian people also grow rice but they develop a different mentality altogether. So what's missing from the equation? Is it because we live in the equator where nature helps us so much when we want to grow anything that we become such a lazy nation?
I'm afraid I must say that the average Indonesians still have a slightly cynical point of view towards Chinese-Indonesians. I believe this stems from jealousy. Many still see them as visitors who take over home, stupidly, even if the Chinese-Indonesian today are from second or even third generation who are born and raised here and always see Indonesia as home. However things are so much better now for the Chinese in many aspects of life. When I was a kid, Chinese presenters or movie stars hardly make it to TV. Now they slowly but surely appear, even in news channel. In 1998, as the longest-reigning former president ceased to be an autocrat, a lot of Chinese and their families were violated and for a while, they were scarred, emotionally and physically. Many flew from the country, but those who decided to stay must overcame their fear. Thankfully this doesn't last long. One good thing coming out of it is that the natives feel and see their pain and they help them feel more and more at home. The Chinese New Year is now an official holiday in our calendar.
Still, complete integration is not a common picture. Chinese-Indonesians normally "hangout" with their peers, so do native Indonesians. At the moment, the two ethnic groups are friendly towards each other, but very few are keen to take a closer look at each other's lives and see how it can enrich their own. During my first years as piano student, I slowly realised that my brother and I were among the few brown-skinned and round-eyed who played this instrument. The majority were Chinese kids, and they were good. Some were even super good. They were focused, worked on details, very musicals, and inspiring. And so we learned from them. We also learn to adapt as minority, to stand out among the goods, and strive to be the best. Perhaps this is also because our mum grew up in Catholic schools and had to compete with Chinese kids of her generation. They lent her their competitive edge, and she taught us that. We can learn so much from each other, and Indonesians certainly need some of Chinese traits to develop.
As one of the few natives who live in the community where Chinese-Indonesians are in bulk, I am so grateful for my "Chinese" friends. They teach me a lot of things that don't normally exist in my world, and they make me a better person. They cultivate my mind. They give me broader perspective on people and how they see problems and challenges, and it brings me more and more precious life experience.
