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My Father from Semarang

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My Father from Semarang

By: Yap Kioe Bing

My Father from Semarang tells the story of the eldest son of a Chinese family who resides in Semarang, in Central Java, Indonesia. He has a desire to explore the world beyond his hometown, his traditional Chinese culture, and the colonial society of Indonesia before independence. In 1936, he enrolls in the pharmacy program at the University of Leiden, the Netherlands.
In May 1940, Germany invades that country, severing all communication with his family. When the occupiers close the university, he relocates to different places in the Netherlands and meets his future Dutch wife. In the midst of the blossoming romance, he is keenly aware that his family back home would disapprove of this relationship. After the war, they marry, and he returns to Indonesia with his wife and son in 1948, to rejoin his family and help build the new country. However, it is a dangerous time for the Chinese Dutch couple, who consider moving on to another country such as Australia. Eventually, they decide to return to the Netherlands. Throughout his life, he grapples with the question of his identity. Is he Chinese, Indonesian, or Dutch? By the end of his life, he still has no definitive answer, but he finds contentment in embracing all these cultures.

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