Contesting the post-colonial legal construction of Chinese Indonesians as ‘foreign subjects’.

The legal construction of the Chinese Indonesians in post-Independence Indonesia, particularly during Suharto's New Order, is reflected in the so-called SBKRI – Surat Bukti Kewarganegaraan Republik Indonesia (the Republic of Indonesia Citizenship Certificate). The certificate reproduces the colonial racism that divided the population of the Dutch East Indies into three racial categories, namely the Europeans on the top of the ladder, the Foreign Orientals (Chinese, Indian, and Arab) in the middle, and the Inlanders (or natives) at the lower end. In this paper, I problematize the basic principle of the Indonesian Constitution that ‘all (Indonesian) citizens have equal rights in the eyes of the law’ for the case of Chinese Indonesians. Even though the chapter on citizenship in the 1945 Constitution has been amended twice, I believe the amendment did not correct the racism embedded within. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]