Herb Feith Translation Series

Siauw Giok Tjhan: Bicultural leader in emerging Indonesia
Siauw Tiong Djin

Siauw Giok Tjhan (1914-1981) was one of the most influential Chinese Indonesian political leaders active in the early decades following Indonesia's independence from 1945 to 1965. 

His participation in politics at this time set him apart from the majority of Chinese who were regarded as non-political and business-minded. When Indonesian independence was declared in 1945, Siauw was appointed a member of the new Republic's legislative and executive bodies. He remained a high profile member of parliament until the end of 1965. A leader and co-founder of Baperki (the Consultative Body of Indonesian Citizenship), the largest organisation of Chinese Indonesians, from 1954 to 1965, he had widespread support from both peranakan and totok Chinese. 

When the balance of power tilted to the right after October 1965, Baperki was attacked and banned. Siauw and many other Baperki leaders were arrested and interned without trial for twelve years. It was not until after the fall of President Soeharto in 1998 that his place in modern Indonesian history could be properly recognised. He made important contributions in relation to an inclusive Indonesian citizenship, propagation of a solution to the 'minority problem', which he defined as the integration approach, better known today as multiculturalism, and the proposal that the Chinese be accepted as one of the 'sukus' or ethnic groups of Indonesian nation.