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s a child born in the New Order Era (1965-1998), I often questioned my sense of identity as an Indonesian of Chinese descent. Growing up in an environment that specifically curtailed all sorts of Chinese culture and language, I spoke only Indonesian and celebrated Chinese New Year within the confines of my home.

Since Chinese New Year was not a public holiday back then, many of my ethnic Chinese friends skipped school to celebrate the most important cultural event in the lunar calendar with their grandparents who were not residing in Jakarta. I thought that this was the normal way of living.

However, my siblings and I were often confused when taunts and jeers were directed at us because of our ethnicity. '€œAren'€™t we Indonesian?'€ we often asked our parents. '€œWhy do they keep calling us Cina?'€ Cina is a term that actually refers to China and the Chinese, but it was often used in a derogatory manner when referring to the Chinese during the New Order Era.

Our parents tried to explain that we are all Indonesians of Chinese descent. As we were too young to understand the political reasons behind the discrimination against the Chinese, we remained puzzled but accepted our parents'€™ vague answers to our questions.

It was not until I was 10 years old and living in Singapore that I realized how Chinese New Year was supposed to be celebrated. Red lanterns, giant ang pao (red packets) as well as all sorts of Chinese characters decorated malls, boutiques and small shops.

Spectacular lion dances were also performed to usher in good fortune. In awe of the festivities, I compared them to the subdued way my family was celebrating the festive event and realized that there were stark differences between the two countries'€™ attitudes to Chinese New Year.

During the eight years I spent in Singapore and another eight years in the US, I was often asked about my name and why it does not sound '€œChinese'€. In fact, questions are still posed to me now regarding my name when I present papers at conferences abroad, especially in China. I had to explain that in 1966, the government strongly encouraged the Chinese to change their names into Indonesian-sounding ones to make assimilation smoother for them. For people living abroad, it was difficult to fathom why there was no freedom in choosing names for oneself and one'€™s offspring.

Thankfully, in the aftermath of the May 1998 tragedy, when riots erupted and claimed many Chinese-Indonesians'€™ lives and businesses, many discriminatory regulations were lifted. Even Chinese New Year was declared a public holiday since 2003. In the reformasi after 1998, lion dance performances, banned for more than three decades, became a staple part of Imlek or Chinese New Year celebrations. Indonesians of all ages and sociocultural backgrounds come together as a nation to enjoy these performances.

Members of the younger generation of Chinese-Indonesians are the ones reaping the rewards of this renaissance of Chinese language and culture. Not only do they get to celebrate Imlek as it should be done, they also have a myriad of opportunities to learn the Chinese language and culture if they choose to do so. New parents no longer have to bear in mind any political considerations when naming their babies.

They may opt to give Chinese names to their babies or meld three different cultures in one name. For example, they may choose Western, Indonesian and Chinese names for the first, middle and last names of their children respectively.

Therefore, it is not unusual to see ethnic Chinese toddlers being called Emily Kartadinata Ng or Joshua Wijaya Wong.

These parents may also decide to send their offspring to one of the many schools offering Mandarin as a subject. With the rise of China as a major global economic power, the demand for Mandarin education has been increasing rapidly. These schools offer the instruction needed for the children to fill in the demand.

One daunting challenge for parents would be helping their children with their Mandarin schoolwork as most of them cannot speak, read or write in Chinese. Hence, many Mandarin tuition centers have also mushroomed to help children with their Mandarin schoolwork. Some parents have even enrolled in these tuition centers to learn the language so that they may enhance their children'€™s grasp of Mandarin by speaking the language at home.

Young Chinese-Indonesians also have the opportunity to be involved in the hundreds of Chinese organizations formed after May 1998. Some of these may be in the form of social organizations such as the Chinese-Indonesian Association (INTI) or the Chinese-Indonesian Social Association (PSMTI), which count their membership in the tens of thousands with branches all over Indonesia. The youth arms of these organizations actively help victims of floods, natural disasters such as earthquakes and make regular visits to orphanages and old folks'€™ homes.

The youth mobilize themselves to help all Indonesians, not just ethnic Chinese communities. They are channeling the aspirations of the older generation who have paved the way to contribute to society through social work. These activities are imperative to erode the prevailing perception that all Chinese are '€œexclusive'€ and do not '€œgive back'€ to their country.

While the youth arms of the social organizations have a keen sense of social awareness, the older members of the organizations have lamented the fact that there are still not enough young people who are aware of the importance of social work. This challenge may only be corrected through education.

At schools where all Indonesian youth are enrolled, teachers must instill a firm sense of nationalism and respect for pluralism. They ought to be taught that religious and multicultural tolerance is the key to promoting social harmony in their nation.

Our forefathers'€™ motto of Bhineka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity) should be the guiding principle for each school'€™s curriculum. Families must also instill these values to shape a more open-minded, socially aware younger generation. After all, the future of our country is in the hands of the younger generation.

It is up to us as parents and educators to mold these young minds for a better, more tolerant Indonesia.

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The writer is the author of  The Chinese of Indonesia and Their Search for Identity and Portraits of Inspiring Chinese-Indonesian Women. She lectures on Cultural Studies at the University of Indonesia and is currently researching Chinese-Indonesians in politics