The History of My Name: Gara-Gara "Cina"

Here's a fact about me: I only have one name.
Well... Some of you may also have one name too in your birth certificates but I got the history behind it.

I was born in Jakarta, months after the “May 1998 Riots” in Indonesia, especially Jakarta. I was born in a Chinese family. I mean, my parents were born in Indonesia but my grandpa and some elders were born in China. My dad was born in Pontianak, and my mom was born in Jakarta. Both are Chinese yet still, we are Indonesians. We were born in Indonesia and have been living in Indonesia for generations. Of course, we have the Chinese family name but my parents didn’t put the family name on me and my bros’ birth certificates. The reason is that I was born in 1998 when there was riot everywhere, the biggest one was in Jakarta, and they didn't want to take a risk on me.  Chinese people were discriminated and killed, women (especially Chinese women) were raped then killed, shops were robbed, some people even ran away overseas, inflation, buildings were burning, the government was unstable, nothing was stable. People could hear the sound of gunshots everywhere. Actually, not only the Chinese people (or those who had white skin and small eyes) who were killed but also everyone could be the victim. Lots of college students did the demonstration against the government, then the safety officer tried to stop them and then the students who were doing demonstration were injured and some of them were killed. I can't describe how mess it was exactly because, yea, I wasn't born yet that time. I can't provide the accurate description of the event. Hearing and learning from many sources, those were the situation I could imagine. Well, okay, back to the topic. So the birth certificate maker suggested not to put the family name on it for good so my parents did what they suggested. That’s why I only have one name on my birth certificate. My mom told me this just several years ago. When I was a toddler I asked my mom why I only got one name while my bros got more than one. She used to reply like this, "because you are the first child so you got one name, the second one got two names, and the third one got 3 names". And, yes, I believed that because that's the truth. I have 2 little brothers, the second child has 2 names and the third child has 3 names. I was so naive back then.  I wasn't this confidence about my name, especially when I was in primary and junior high school. I was so jealous that my friends got more than one name, I even thought that I was "different" (in the negative way), but then I realized we have to be grateful because we don't take a long time to write our names especially in national exams and there is nothing wrong with having only one name. Even though sometimes it is hard to apply to or sign up for something because the forms require more than one name. 
 Nothing is wrong with having only one name in the birth certificate, as I have mentioned in the last paragraph, but what is wrong is the cause of it, in my case. My parents and the birth certificate maker were too afraid to put my family name on my birth certificate because they didn't want to take a risks on me for what happened that year. I watched the documentary movie and saw some pictures of the riot. I also have read some stories from those who experienced the riot, from victims, journalist, to random strangers who helped victims. I believe what happened was scarier than what I watched. It broke my heart so much.

 I am here not to talk about what happened in past, but this kind of thing has been happening since long time ago. It is still happening and it is NOT a good thing. These are the arguments:

1. Causing anxiety and fears. My parents even were too afraid to put our family name on my birth certificate. I think our family names should have been something that we could be proud of, and wouldn't affect our lives, right? Even a little thing like putting the family name on birth certificate became a fear. Discrimination is not always about the tribe, religion, or ethnic. For example, the common issue of online public transportation (uber, grab, etc.) VS the conventional ones. Some of them have the same religions, tribes, and ethnic, yet, still, there is discrimination. The conventional ones don't allow the online ones to pass through some roads, for example. Indonesia is a law-based country, which means the law is the most powerful thing and everything that happens in Indonesia depends on the law. Law doesn't say anything that prohibits the online transportations to use public roads yet the online transportations drivers obey the "rule" because they are afraid of the harm that the conventional transportation drivers can cause. They don't drive through some certain roads. Even though it is for public usage.
2. People lost their rights. In my case, my parents have the rights to put our family name on my birth certificate, but because of what happened back then, they chose not to put it on for my good. 
3. Inherit negative perspective for the descendants.

I was with 2 of my friends walking passed by a traditional market. It was around 9 PM. Some people shouted, "Cina ngapain sih disini?" (What are you doing here, you Chinese?!), "Heh, Cina, ngapain lo kesini segala?" (Why are you here, you Chinese?!), "Heh, Cina, berani-beraninya lo lewat jalan gue!" (You Chinese, how dare you passing through our roads!), as we were walking by. We stared at each other and kept moving without making any voice. It happened in 2016. It was 2016 and people still didn't like other people to walk through a public road because of their ethnic. 

Nope, not only Chinese, the others too. 

Thank you for reading. Have a great day!