Omnes Sancti et Sanctæ Coreæ, orate pro nobis.

Now Blogging Afresh at Ad Orientem 西儒 - The Western Confucian



Saturday, May 14, 2005

Indonesian-Chinese in Philadelphia
Serge of A conservative blog for peace links today to this local article about "[t]he plight of ethnic Chinese and Catholics of Indonesia... [a]nd their bad treatment by the US government thanks to the new xenophobia": ICE Cold.

[ICE stands for "Immigration and Customs Enforcement."]

I was living in nearby Malaysia when these events, as described in the article, occured:
    [N]ative Indonesians turned on the ethnic Chinese in wide-scale riots that were encouraged by the Indonesian government. Human rights groups say that during the chaos more than 1,000 people were massacred — many burned alive — while countless ethnic Chinese women were gang-raped by roving mobs. Ethnic Chinese churches, homes, businesses and schools were looted and burned to the ground as police did nothing or even took part.
The Malaysian-Chinese were understandably outraged at what was happening to their ethnic kinsmen across the Straits of Malacca. They were also a bit fearful, as a minority living among the same ethnic group, whose language gave English the phrase "to run amok." Similar events had occured in Malaysia in 1969.