Myra Sidharta (born Auw Jong Tjhoen Moy on 6 March 1927) was born in

Belitung Belitung ( Belitung Malay: ''Belitong'', formerly Billiton) is an island on the east coast of Sumatra, Indonesia in the Java Sea. It covers , and had a population of 309,097 at the 2020 Census. Administratively, it forms two regencies ( Beli ...

. She is an expert in

Tionghoa Chinese Indonesians ( id, Orang Tionghoa Indonesia) and colloquially Chindo or just Tionghoa are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries. Chinese people and their Indonesian descendants have l ...

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

literature, a psychologist and a columnist for Indonesian magazines including ''

The Jakarta Post ''The Jakarta Post'' is a daily English-language newspaper in Indonesia. The paper is owned by PT Niskala Media Tenggara and based in the nation's capital, Jakarta. ''The Jakarta Post'' started as a collaboration between four Indonesian med ...

''. She has an autobiography titled ''In Search of My Ancestral Home'' Sidharta was married to Dr. Priguna Sidharta (''Sie Pek Giok'') and has 3 children, Sylvia, Julie and Amir Sidharta, who works as a

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

. She has five grandchildren: David Leibovic, Jonathan Leibovic, Daniel Leibovic, Radyatra Sidharta, and Prajnacita Sidharta.

Education

Her grandfather, an immigrant from Meixian,

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

, China, was afraid that his grandchildren would lose their identity as Chinese. Therefore, he encouraged Sidharta to learn

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

. Fortunately for Sidharta, there was a female Mandarin teacher staying in her grandparents' house who could teach her. She obtained a master's degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

from Rijks Universitet,

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wi ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. She speaks

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

, French,

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

In Search of My Ancestral Home

In her autobiography, she revealed that in 1872, her grandfather's family was not rich and they had to sell his youngest brother to obtain passage money overseas, and also to leave some money for his mother, who was going to stay behind. When China became a Communist country, and Indonesia was declared independent, her grandfather's family had to choose between Dutch or Indonesian citizenship. She also discussed the many discriminatory rules experienced by ethnic Chinese of Indonesia in the 1950s, which caused many Chinese to decide to leave for China. She details her journey to Meixian and how being with her relatives in China brought her happiness.

References

External links

Dokumentasi Sastra Melayu Tionghoa

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sidharta, Myra Indonesian columnists Indonesian people of Chinese descent Indonesian writers Indonesian women writers People from Meixian District 1927 births Possibly living people Hakka writers Indonesian women columnists