The Chinese in Indonesia has always been a very interesting and somehow problematic group. It does look larger than what the statistics show in the official census，which shows that the Chinese comprise about 1.2% of Indonesia’s population. Because they are usually identified as wealthy and they make up a conspicuous urban middle class，so they are quite visible，especially in large cities in Indonesia. If you look at business magazines like Forbes，for example，the front pages would usually feature Chinese Indonesian businessmen，for example，this gentleman called Harry Taneosoedibjo，who is the owner of a large conglomerate and who has recently tried to venture into politics and tried to run as a vice president in the last election. However，there are a large population of poor Chinese in smaller cities，but they are usually less visible because the media are just not interested in them.During the Suharto’s regime，the Chinese were given the privilege to expand Indonesia’s economy and their own wealth at the expense，however，of any kind of involvement in politics. So they were rendered very politically marginalized. Suharto’s government implemented an assimilation policy that forced the closure of Chinese schools，media and associations-the three pillars of Chinese. So for about 32 years during Suharto’s reign，the Chinese were forced to assimilate and change their names into Indonesian names. Mandarin Chinese were banned throughout Indonesia. They were marginalized and discriminated in all social spheres including culture，language，politics，entrance to state universities and public employment.Some may be aware of the May 1998 anti-Chinese riots. It happened during the height of the financial crisis and student movements，and so on，which forced Suharto to resign. But before Suharto stepped down，there were different factions within Indonesia. They organized large scale pogrom against the Chinese in order to push the blame of the economic crisis to the Chinese. So we saw large scale rioting，and ethnic violence including rapes of Chinese women in 1998.In the aftermath of the riots however，Indonesia underwent a process of democratization，and the assimilation policy was abandoned. With democracy，multiculturalism became the new kind of cultural policy. We saw that Indonesia has experienced a resurgence of Chineseness. Chineseness，which used to be prohibited now suddenly became a commodity that is very popular throughout the country. People are very curious about Chinese language and culture.The Chinese realized that they cannot be silent on politics any longer because they’ll be in very vulnerable position. A lot of them started to become very active in the political realm. For example，in the Tempo magazine cover here，the Chinese in the new era of Indonesia are portrayed with different roles beyond business. And also the gentleman just now on the Forbes magazine was the running mate in the last election of previous General Wiranto. I’ve published a book on Chinese identity in the post-Suharto Indonesia in 2008，in which some of these dynamics have been examined.In terms of the culture sphere，the Chinese，which during Suharto’s time had been very negatively represented and presented in the media，have now been portrayed differently. There are films that started to recover some of the history of Chinese in Indonesia in somehow neutral or even positive light. Chinese schools which were prohibited and closed down in 1965 have now started to re-organize themselves，and then reinvent and re-open as tri-lingual schools，which provide education in Indonesian，Chinese and English. The donors，people who are funding such large scale projects，as you can see on the photo，are mostly the alumni of the Chinese schools that were closed before 1965. A lot of them are now retired and are very successful businessmen.Indonesia has recognized Chinese New Year as a public holiday. It is a huge event，and is massively commercialized. Also they have recovered Zheng He，and his influence in Indonesia，including with some historical sort of arguments that Indonesian Islam came from China.So these are examples of the obsession of representation of Chineseness，you see，in the center，the photo of Zheng He temple，and on the right side is the photo of Zheng He mosque in Surabaya. It is a Chinese mosque that featuring Chinese architecture，naming it as Zheng He mosque.The Chinese in Indonesia have entered into political sphere，and they are increasingly becoming active. We see a rising number of Chinese candidates for legislative elections，from just 20 of them in1999，to 115 in 2004，to 213 in 2009，and 315 in the last election in 2014. There are currently 18 Chinese ethnic members in the national parliament. So at least now there is some voice in politics.One of the interesting figures in politics involving the ethnic Chinese is the current Governor of Jakarta，Basuki Tjahaja Purnama，or in short，people call him by his Chinese name，Ahok. He was a former Regent of East Belitung Regency in the Bangka-Belitung Province，and Vice Governor of Jakarta. He was running with current President Joko Widodo，who has become the President. Then the governor position passed on to his vice governor Ahok.Ahok is usually seen as a very divisive figure，seen with very bad temperament，and very pro-middle class. You can see his photo there. He speaks his mind. During various elections of Ahok，we see a lot of black campaign，people trying to smear his name，personality assassination，and also based on especially fear of his religion as being a Christian and also his ethnicity as being a Chinese. He is running for the gubernatorial elections in 2017. Now there has been a lot of activities going on in Jakarta in relations to his running.As for Chineseness as a social capital，with the resurgence of Chineseness post-1998，we see that now Chineseness is being seen as a bridge，a bridge between China and Indonesia. The same thing can be said throughout Southeast Asia. With the rise of China and the rise of Chinese soft power in Southeast Asia，we see that the ethnic Chinese became a very important resource to be able to culturally，linguistically，and economically link the community in Southeast Asia to China. They have been playing such role as early as the open door policy in the late 1970s.In 2013，we see the China-Indonesia comprehensive strategic partnership being forged. Chinese associations are now functioning as trade and culture intermediaries in Indonesia，to try to introduce to Indonesia Chinese business people，as well as to bring business people of Indonesia to do business in China. Mandarin speaking Chinese businessmen are now functioning as very important intermediary and bridge.Harry Susilo is currently 75 years old. He is the founder of Sekar Group，and is widely known as the king of prawn crackers in Indonesia. His story is quite typical of one from rags to riches. Son of a Chinese father from Fujian and a Peranakan mother who is from a mixed heritage. He claims multiple homes：his primary home is Indonesia；he sees China as his ancestral home，to which he is very emotionally connected；his daughters are schooled in the US，so he has got a home in the US；and he has moved to Singapore after 1998 and has become a citizen of Singapore.Susilo’s story is quite interesting. In 1966，he started a modest seafood acquisition and distribution business. Then he met a Japanese businessman from Toyo Menka Company，who heavily invested in his business to expand in refrigeration，processing，and exporting of seafood to Japan. In 1995，he was invited by the Indonesian government to be an advisor on Sino-Indonesian economic social and culture exchange. In 1999，he was invited to be part of President Abdurrahman Wahid’s delegation to a state visit to China. Then he was awarded the very prestigious Indonesian Government award for his contributions in SMEs.What is interesting about Harry Susilo is his cultural ties with China，the ability to speak Chinese，the cultural resources and social capital that he has established for decades. In 1976 when China first opened up，Harry Susilo entered China by exporting cashew nuts to China，and since then he became a regular VIP invited to significant events in China，like the return of Hong Kong，opening ceremony of the Olympics，and so on.Harry knows how to use his money in philanthropic work in order to raise his profile. In 2004 he donated to the establishment of the Harry Susilo Applied Finance Lab at the Beijing Language and Culture University. Since then he has maintained very close relationship with the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office，and he has led various contingent of Chinese business delegated from both Indonesia and Singapore to China for official visits. He epitomizes the kind of bridge being a Chinese language competent older generation entrepreneur.Two years ago，Harry Susilo donated some amount of money to Boston University to set up the Harry Susilo Institute for Ethics in the Global Economy. The announcement of the donation took place in Boston University Alumni event in 2014 at the Great Hall of the People in China. I have done some research publications on this kind of philanthropic work and donations to universities in other places.Returning to the contested governor of Jakarta，that despite all the positive developments we have seen in Indonesia amongst the ethnic Chinese who have now recovered their cultural and citizenship rights，we see that their position in Indonesia is quite vulnerable.In a couple of weeks ago on 4th November，we saw a massive demonstration being held in Jakarta. This was the largest rally held in Indonesia since the 1998 anti-Suharto protest. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the street to protest against Ahok，accusing him of conducting blasphemous remarks on Islam，because he cited the Koran which was then misinterpreted by certain religious leaders for political reasons. The anti-Ahok rally in Jakarta became a dark reminder to the reality of the ethnic Chinese in Indonesia which remains quite precarious，even though we see a lot of positive developments in recent years.