What’s so special about being a Chinese Indonesian police officer? An ethic Chinese working as a public official, let alone a policeman, is a rarity in this country.
One man, however, is changing the face of law enforcement. Law Kaun Kwang, who also goes by Happy Saputra, is the first Chinese Indonesian to graduate from the elite Indonesian Police Academy. The school is where the most promising recruits are trained and its graduates eventually rise to strategic posts in districts and provinces throughout the country.
According to Thee Kian Wie, a researcher for the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), the dearth of Chinese Indonesians in public service can be explained by history — ethnic Chinese were assigned roles as merchants, traders and go-betweens during Dutch colonial rule. This has carried over to the present day, and being a Chinese Indonesian is still commonly associated with being an entrepreneur.
So how did Happy manage to make the grade? “Of course there is no one answer to that, but I guess my upbringing has a lot to do with it,” he said.
Happy, born on July 4, 1984, was not your typical Chinese Indonesian kid. His parents taught him to do things differently so that he would not be treated like a member of the minority. He had to show people that he was more than the stereotype of a Chinese kid who only played video games and did not mingle outside his ethnic group.
Happy vividly remembers his mother’s advice for him to be diligent, not to be easily swayed by other people’s negative opinions, and most importantly to remember that just because one is viewed as different, it does not mean that one cannot be accepted by others. He also remembers advice given by his grandfather, a sinsei (medicine man) from mainland China: When trouble arises, don’t let it show and just deal with it.
He this advice to heart and it helped set his path in life. In elementary school, Happy would join his Indonesian playmates, most of whom came from relatively poor backgrounds, in traditional games and exploring the surroundings. Even if they gave Happy nicknames like acong , ncek , akong or koko — all of which are slang for ethnic Chinese, Happy did not take offense.
While most Chinese Indonesians get private education, Happy studied at a state high school. “I was literally the only Chinese Indonesian at SMA 98 Jakarta,” Happy said of the school he attended, where 85 percent of its students were Muslim.
At the school, where he was a minority because of his ethnicity and his Christian religion, Happy once again defied stereotypes. He made it a point to approach other students and easily made friends. His best pals were Muslim. “When Putri, Dani, Teguh, Ikrar and Adi came over to my house, we set up a special place for them to sholat [pray],” Happy said. He was also active in sports and music and was even appointed head of the school’s basketball committee.
After finishing high school, Happy enrolled at Binus University where he majored in computer studies and informatics. He heard about the Indonesian Police Academy from his friend Teguh, who suggested that he apply. The academy was searching for new recruits to revitalize the force. Teguh thought that Happy, with his physical attributes, knowledge of English and Mandarin and computer skills, was what the academy was looking for.
After much convincing by his peers, Happy handed in an application. In 2007, the year that Happy applied, there were 12,000 applicants nationwide. Only 600 made the cut. With roughly 1,500 other hopefuls from Jakarta, Happy applied and underwent the entrance exam, which covered both physical and mental aptitude.
“With so many talented people competing for acceptance, plus my background as a minority, I thought I was done for,” Happy said.
“Aside from my family and close friends, people were doubtful I could make it to the academy. They would tell me that the academy was reserved for people with high connections in government and there was no place for a Chinese Indonesian.”
Happy proved his naysayers wrong. He was one of the 29 other applicants from Jakarta who were accepted.
Happy recalls that his Chinese heritage caused quite a commotion during the recruitment process. There was speculation that he had powerful backers and that he had a hidden agenda in joining the academy.
His family members were questioned and his personal history put under scrutiny to prove that Happy was just another applicant who wanted to serve his country and came with no strings attached.
He passed all the necessary security checks. Even Makbul Padmanegara, who was the vice police chief at the time, issued a statement saying Happy was one of the country’s finest cadets and that his Chinese heritage would be honored.
Happy was then sent to Semarang, Central Java. He spent three years in training, which he said were “unforgettable and life changing.”
“The purpose of this academy is to create future leaders of the Indonesian Police force. I assure you it was not an easy process,” he said.
In their first year, cadets undergo rigorous mental conditioning that trains them to think like a policeman.
Cadets are taught in their second year to follow orders from their superiors and communicate these directives to their juniors. Happy explains that this is harder than it sounds. “The orders handed down to us can’t be given directly to our juniors, we have to adjust the orders to fit the junior’s condition and capability without losing sight of what our seniors expect to achieve,” he said.
By the third year, seniors are expected to hone their decision-making skills by creating, organizing and leading several academy activities.
Happy graduated from the academy with flying colors late last year. He was even chosen for a cadet exchange program with police forces in Korea and Japan. Looking back, he said that the biggest personal change he experienced during his training was not physical but mental. Before the academy, he thought like a follower, but eventually he developed the mind-set of a leader.
Happy was assigned to Ponorogo, East Java, where he commands 30 police officers.
“The people in Ponorogo are very nice to me. Some are still surprised that a Chinese Indonesian can be a policeman,” he said. “What’s interesting is that many of the rural people in Ponorogo have worked in Hong Kong as foreign workers, some of them are even capable of speaking Chinese and would blurt out sentences in Chinese to me.”
Happy has been on the job barely two months but has a lot of responsibilities. Aside from being the head of service in his station, he is also entrusted with several important tasks. Among others, he is the chief IT specialist and his team is developing an online traffic information system. He has also been tasked to oversee a safety riding competition.
Police Comr. Mulyono, Happy’s superior, only has praise for the first Chinese Indonesian academy grad. He hopes that Happy’s example will inspire the nation to think beyond the stereotype of Chinese Indonesians as merchants, and also accept them as capable leaders.
No comments:
Post a Comment