“Since I Grew Up in Indonesia, I Feel Indonesian”: A Student’s Multicultural Journey

This month, ROOTS sat down with a student navigating the in-between realms of cultural identity. Nationally Indonesian, ethnically Chinese, and currently enrolled at the United World College in Singapore, this reflection offers a nuanced viewpoint on what it means to live multiculturally. 

Born and raised in Indonesia, the student describes her background as Chinese-Indonesian with some Dutch ancestry that rarely comes into conversation when she introduces her cultural background. 

“I grew up in Indonesia; my family also grew up in Indonesia.” 

“Some of us are ethnically Chinese, but we also have some Dutch ancestry, but we don’t talk about it that much because we just identify as Indonesian-Chinese.” She states. “When people ask me where I'm from, I just tell them I'm Indonesian, because I just don't want to get deep into that Indo-Chinese thing.”

When asked how she would describe her identity, she notes that she would just explain that she is Chinese-Indonesian with mentions of Dutch heritage, a detail she sometimes mentions due to the historical colonial background involved. “I feel like since I grew up in Indonesia, I identify more as Indonesian, but then again, I also acknowledge that I’m not fully (Indonesian) because I’m mixed.” 

Much of her experience with the Chinese part of her identity, she elaborates, revolves around traditionally Chinese celebrations, filled with family and joy. “Since I was young, I think Chinese New Year, we would gather as a family and receive red packets from the elders, and use that time to gather as a family and eat together.”

“It’s not every day that we get to see our huge kind of family.” She adds. 

Apart from notions of family, though, the student points out a self-identified discrepancy she feels exists in the way celebrations like Chinese New Year are interpreted by her family, compared to other families that celebrate the holiday. “Compared to other Chinese people that I talked to, the way I celebrate Chinese New Year is kind of different because we celebrate it less traditionally.”

Language also plays an intimate role in her perception of her identity. Bahasa Indonesian is where she feels most comfortable and confident in expressing herself. “I think I can express myself better speaking my mother tongue.” She shares the fact that people often tell her she is more humorous when speaking her mother tongue, whereas she feels English is used in “a more professional kind of setting, in an academic setting, and such.” With comfort in her mother tongue, she expresses a greater distance between her and Chinese. “Chinese for me is just more of an academic subject,” she notes, explaining that Chinese isn’t the language she’d use in her everyday life. 

Now living in Singapore and attending UWC, the student notes a positive change in her perception of others’ individual identities. “After moving to Singapore, I became more open-minded.” She exclaims. 

“UWC is just much more diverse, like you have people coming from countries you've never heard of.”

At the end, she notes a sense of adaptability, with the ability to be more culturally traditional and specific around her family and friends, while being more modern, global, and academically inclined with her identity at school. 

Ultimately, her story reflects how cultural identity is not a fixed label, but a fluid negotiation shaped by context, language, and the spaces we move through.