Mari Elka Pangestu

The social position of the Chinese-Indonesian woman has always been in relation to her father, oldest brother, husband and son.

In The Making of the Chinese-Indonesian Women, Myra Sydharta writes that the ideal Chinese-Indonesian girl in the early twentieth century was "obedient, timid, reticent and adaptable. Three rules of obedience shape her life: as an unmarried girl, she should obey her father and eldest brother, when married, she should obey her husband, and when widowed, her son".

Education opportunities were limited to the young girls growing up in that era. Later, when girls did get the opportunity to go to school, their brothers still had priority.

Thankfully, the Chinese-Indonesia women of today are able to pursue educational and professional opportunities. Some have even become internationally recognized leaders in their chosen professions.

Three exemplary Chinese-Indonesia women in the country include; Mari Elka Pangestu, the country's Trade Minister; Melani Budianta, professor and head of the University of Indonesia's literary department in the School of Humanities; and Kuei Pin Yeo, founder of the Jakarta Music School and the International Music Conservatory of Indonesia.

The three come from diverse social and professional backgrounds -- but throughout their lives and careers, all have demonstrated their own motivation and efforts which have propelled them to succeed in their respective professions.

Mari Elka Pangestu

Mari is known as a sharp economist and staunch proponent of international trade relations based on multilateral and bilateral agreements.

Throughout her term, she has pushed to attract foreign investment and improve existing infrastructure to expand the country's export market.

She believes Indonesia is "very uniquely different", since it is a country which allows the co-existence of many different cultures and traditions.

Citing the Hindu temple of Prambanan and the Buddhist monument of Borobudur, she affirms Indonesia is a pluralistic country that does not destroy vestiges of its cultural heritage, even though Islam has become the country's dominant religion.

While Mari recognizes that Chinese culture and language have experience a renaissance following a long period of restriction, she stresses we should look historically at "how the first influx of Chinese culture became integrated with the indigenous cultures".

She cites little-known examples of how the pioneers of handmade Batik Tulis in Surakarta, Central Java, were actually ethnic Chinese and how the celebration of Cap Go Meh (the fifteenth day of Chinese New Year) has become localized in places such as Semarang.

Aside from the historical analysis of the evolution of Chinese culture in Indonesia, Mari also points to historical developments of the position of women in Indonesia.

As the first Indonesian woman of Chinese descent to assume the prestigious position as the country's trade minister, she said women now had more options to prove themselves in the public sphere, unlike in the past when women had limited choices.

In today's Indonesia, women and people from any ethnicity can enter politics, arts, culture, fashion and sports; what is important, she says, is their own capabilities and tenacity.

Mari found that her own drive and aptitude were two significant factors that helped her during her tertiary education and career.

Until high school, Mari had always wanted to become a medical doctor. It was not until her second year in university did she decided to switch to economics, which eventually led to her decision to pursue a doctorate in economics at the University of California.

Having spent so many years abroad, returning home was not an easy task for her. Like many others who earned their academic degrees abroad, she experienced reverse culture shock when she returned. But despite this, Mari insists that "your own country will give you the best opportunities" and never doubted her decision to return to Indonesia.

"Indonesians are very capable," she said. "It is our duty to boost our country's name internationally with our own capabilities."

Melani Budianta

For Melani Budianta, or Bu Mel as she is fondly referred to by her colleagues and students, the first Chinese-Indonesian woman to become professor of the School of Humanities at the University of Indonesia, issues of gender and ethnicity are irrelevant to her achievements.

The holder of a Master's degree in American Studies from the University of Southern California, and a doctorate in English Languages and Literatures from Cornell University, firmly believes in equality.

Like Mari Pangestu, she finds women are capable of realizing their aspirations based on their own abilities.

However, she is careful to point out that for women in academia, their responsibilities as wives and mothers, as well as their financial situations, might hinder the attainment of a doctorate or a professorship.

Hence, she deeply appreciates the intricacies and nuances of all women's lives -- not just Chinese women -- that might hamper them in pursuing those goals.

When asked to comment on Chinese-Indonesian women, she refused to make generalizations, pushing instead to explore the "complex and different social and cultural conditions that make each woman unique".

Growing up in Malang, East Java, she is much more Javanese than Chinese. Her family fully embraced traditional Javanese culture and she played the gamelan traditional Javanese musical orchestra and performed in countless wayang puppet shows during the early years of her life.

Since Javanese culture formed a substantive part of her everyday life, she felt distanced from Chinese culture. When the era of reform arrived in 1998, following the fall of Soeharto's regime, the revival of Chinese culture and language prompted her to begin appreciating Chinese culture in terms of its arts and philosophy.

She critically analyzed conflicting and changing Chinese identities in post-1998 Indonesia in one of her most recent articles; The Dragon Dance: The Shifting Meaning of "Chineseness" in Indonesia, and in a forthcoming chapter in the book Self and Subject in Motion -- Southeast Asian and Pacific Cosmopolitans.

Even though she appreciates and encourages Chinese cultural identity among Indonesians of Chinese descent, Bu Mel insists the essence of "Chineseness" lies in its "hybridity" -- the intermingling of Chinese and local cultures.

Hybridity is most evident as a sixth or even a seventh generation Chinese individual like herself. Although she is recognized internationally through her trainings, workshops and seminars on feminism, cultural studies, postcolonial studies and multiculturalism, her love and affinity for Indonesian culture have driven her to become a dedicated Indonesian educator and scholar first and foremost.

Kuei Pin Yeo

Kuei Pin Yeo is another dedicated educator whose unceasing efforts to bring world-class music education to Indonesia culminated in the establishment of the Jakarta Music School 25 years ago and the International Music Conservatory of Indonesia in early 2008.

Yeo is committed to producing high-quality young musicians who are well prepared in music performance and skills. As the first Indonesian to obtain a doctorate in Music (piano performance) from the Manhattan School of Music in New York, she believes in "always striving for the better".

She attributed her conviction in maximizing her potential to her own parents, who encouraged her to achieve the highest possible degree. Being the only girl in a family of four children, her parents supported her love for music and her decision to use music as a platform to realize her visions and duties as a musician and educator.

Being an Indonesian woman of Chinese descent never stopped Yeo, who speaks fluent Mandarin, from earning her master's in Music Education from the Manhattan School of Music prior to attaining her doctorate.

Her concerts have drawn praise in Europe, America and Asia. The New York Times, on the occasion of her Carnegie Hall recital debut, hailed her as "both a polished technician and responsive musician", and praised for her "elegantly detailed, immaculate and musically direct interpretation".

"We should encourage the breakdown of segregation in Indonesian society. It is only when the walls of segregation have fallen that we can better contribute to our country."

The writer teaches in the graduate programs of the University of Indonesia's School of Social and Political Sciences' department of communications and the literary department at the School of Humanities. She can be reached at canting@hotmail.com.

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