Swedian’s out for the next couple of episodes, fighting the good fight in the United States and helping America elect its first female president — so for the next few weeks, we’ll have some special guests on the show to talk about feminism, politics, and everything in between!
In this episode, we have writer Skolastika “Tika” Lupitawina (named after the saint), a close friend of Stephanie’s and an active member of the Jakarta feminist scene. The impetus for this episode is the recent November 4th mass protest in the city — which turned violent in heavily Chinese-populated neighborhoods — against the governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, more commonly known as Ahok. Ahok, who is a Christian Chinese-Indonesian, was accused of blasphemy by several extremist Muslim groups for allegedly referencing a Quranic verse to criticize Islam during a speech he gave as he was campaigning for re-election. He is currently under investigation by the police.
Stephanie and Tika — who are both Chinese-Indonesian women — discuss the fear and concern they have over the increasing anti-Chinese sentiments and rhetoric that have emerged in Jakarta over the last few weeks. We break down some of the reasons why Chinese-Indonesians are feeling anxious, including the history of scapegoating, discrimination, and violence against Chinese-Indonesians, as well as debunk the myth of structural/institutional racism perpetrated by Chinese-Indonesians against native Indonesians.
In times like these — especially as this episode is going live on the eve of another potential mass protest against Ahok on December 2nd — we at Dialogika want to reiterate our commitment to dialogue that is driven by common sense and logic, and not fueled by prejudice and fearmongering. Let us have constructive conversations instead of destructive demonizations of individuals and communities! #BhinnekaTunggalIka #UnityInDiversity #AliansiDamaiTanpaDiskriminasi
Thanks for listening!
