A touching story<\/p>\n
In an Australian school magazine I read recently, I found a
\nsad story written by a young Chinese-Indonesian professional who
\nseemed to be an old boy (former student) of the school. I was
\ntouched by the story. This is what he wrote:<\/p>\n
"During the social unrest that swept the Indonesian capital by
\nstorm, I too, was one of those so-called Indonesian-Chinese (sic)
\nseeking refuge in a foreign land. You can call me a hypocrite,
\nyou can call me unnationalistic. As a matter of fact, I had
\nlittle say on the matter.<\/p>\n
"Being a management consultant for a multinational firm with a
\nforeign client, I could not afford to stay at home. The show must
\ngo on, and I was requested to leave as soon as possible. To Hong
\nKong. A former British colony that returned to the Motherland a
\nyear ago. A land of the Chinese.<\/p>\n
"A land where my ancestors a hundred years ago came from. Yes,
\nI blend in well all right. With my yellow skin and 'slanty eyes'
\nI was one of them -- I was one of the locals -- I was a Chinese.
\nYet, to me, Hong Kong is a foreign land. As foreign as Trinidad
\nand Tobago. Yet somehow I look like a local as long as I shut up
\nand pretend to know what is going on. They judge me on how I
\nlook, not on how I feel inside, not on how I have been brought
\nup... Little did they realize that I was born 24 years ago in a
\nsmall mining town in South Sumatra, Sungai Gerong.<\/p>\n
"But I will return to Jakarta where somebody will regard me as
\nan expat. A city where someone will give me racial slurs because
\nI'm Chinese. But listen, in Indonesia is where my heart is..."<\/p>\n
JENNY LAURITZ KHOENG<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/a-touching-story-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }