Jenny Grant, Jakarta – Chinese Indonesians were yesterday preparing for an eruption of social violence as the economic crisis threatened to widen the gap between the haves and the have-nots.

"The Chinese here are very worried, because if there is any unrest they are always the first target," businessman Eric Lazuardi said.

Ethnic Chinese shoppers at Price Mart bulk discount store said they were stocking up because of concerns about price increases, but also because of possible attacks in the volatile climate.

"Maybe the mobs will destroy all the big stores if they can't buy their rice from the markets," Kartini, an ethnic Chinese shopper, said.

"They might just attack Chinese-owned shops to steal the goods they want."

A wealthy Chinese businessman said he had made arrangements for his children to leave Jakarta and return to college in Australia early.

Another man with children studying in the United States has instructed them to stay away until the political situation cools down.

Mawardi, who owns a computer shop in the north Jakarta electronics area of Glodok, said the community was experiencing a "mass trauma" in the countdown to the presidential elections in March.

"We are all preparing," he said. "Some are sending their money overseas.

"We are all holding US dollars just waiting to see the future."

Some Chinese people said they planned to limit outdoor activities and only travel in their cars during the day.

"Driving on the streets now we have to be more careful to avoid small incidents that could be used by other parties to provoke attacks," said Amir Sidharta, art curator for Museum Universitas Pelita Harapan, part of the giant Lippo Group.

The front line of any violence will be small shop owners who supply basic goods in towns across Indonesia such as rice, salt, mechanical equipment, plastic bags and car oil. Although ethnic Chinese make up between three and five per cent of the population, their wealth is often highly visible.

They are easy targets for the social jealousy of the majority of poor Muslims in the nation of 202 million people.

"Violence against Chinese shopkeepers is likely. Most of the locals blame the shopkeeper for lack of goods or higher prices, rather than the distributor or the Government," historian Ong Hock Ham said.

Chinese shops, Buddhist temples and Christian churches have been attacked in the past 18 months in a series of riots on the islands of Java and Kalimantan.

Last week a riot broke out in the West Java town of Bandung between small stall holders and government officials trying to close their shops.

The stall holders ran amok, throwing stones at dozens of shops, many of them Chinese owned.

While the affluent Chinese have the luxury of leaving the country if the crisis deepens, the majority cannot afford to travel with the rupiah at an all-time low.

"I've postponed my trip to the US with my boyfriend because we can't afford to go right now," bank executive Amy said.

Many Chinese families have infrastructure, factories and property to protect, which could become a more costly business in a time of political uncertainty.

"In order to maintain security at their premises they will have to drop a lot of cash to the military and police for protection," Mr Ong said.