My father turned 70 recently.

In this often callous and unjust world, many golden-hearted and selfless people go unappreciated and unrecognized, and I’d like to take the time to say a few words about him.

My father was born Loe Seng Hoe （俞成富） on February 24, 1954. He is the sixth of eight siblings (two others passed away in infancy). Long before he was born, this name had been chosen for him by his grandfather, based on birth order and the lyrics of a Chinese classical poem. All the male siblings of his generation has the middle name 成, which means “to achieve”. The final name (unique to each sibling) signifies the achievement, which in my father’s case is 富, or “wealth”. Coincidentally, all of his female siblings have the middle name 春, which means “Spring”, followed by names of various exotic birds. This birth name was later changed to Budi Loekito, in acordance with our then-government’s regulation concerning Chinese names.

My father is a very hardworking, responsible, filial and loving person. He has virtually no bad habits apart from smoking (he has since stopped) and saying bad words when he’s angry. He has an engineering degree and is very good at fixing things and analyzing the technical side of everything. Despite the prevalent corruption in Indonesia, he never took bribes and always treated all his workers fairly and generously. He is also very generous with his family, and helped finance the education of many nieces and nephews.

I am my parents’ only child. Growing up, many people advised him not to educate me too highly since I’m “just a girl.” But my father is an open-minded person, and he has always supported my education. Even as a young girl, he treated me like a mature intellectual and shared with me his deepest thoughts and aspirations. I still remember when I was 4 years old, my parents voted during a general election. There were 3 political parties that could be chosen (Golkar, PDI and PPP). I stayed in our car as my parents went to vote, and when they came back, I excitedly asked them which party they chose. My mother, seeing that I was only 4, told me that her choice was confidential 🙂 but my father told me unhesitatingly that he chose Golkar. I asked him why, fully expecting him to tout Golkar’s superior qualities to me. But to my utter surprise, he told me, “I chose Golkar because we’re Chinese, and this is the safest choice for us….” I did not understand this answer, and did not even understand what it meant to be “Chinese” at that time. In fact, his answer was so shocking that I still remember it now, many years and many elections later. But this answer showed my father’s honesty and his belief in my intellectual capacity, even at such a tender age.

A few years later, when I had just started primary school, we went to a weekend outing at Tretes, a mountainous resort near our hometown. While learning to swim at the pool, my father suddenly blurted out, “One day, you’ll be fluent in English, Mandarin and French, and be able to communicate with everyone around the world.” Again, this utterance was so shocking that I still remember it many years later. At that time, our government did not allow Indonesian citizens to go to international schools, so the idea of being fluent in so many languages was quite uncommon. But Heaven must have heard my father’s wish, for it just so happened that I am now fluent in all those languages: English, Mandarin, French and Indonesian. I have learned many other languages that didn’t quite “stick” (Russian, Hebrew, Greek and Latin), which I’m not fluent in, but I am proficient exactly in those same languages that my father wanted me to be fluent in!

In my early teens, amidst the chaos of the post-Suharto Reformasi era, my father was the one who insisted: “If Audrey’s English scores were high enough to get her to university, then she should go to university!” Adverse opinions and a rudimentary internet connection (those were the dial-up days) notwithstanding, he contacted foreign ministries and organizations until he found a suitable early-entrance program for me, which allowed me to start my university studies at the age of 13. The program was in the USA, and I started a few months after the 9/11 attack. But my parents were fearless: they would not spare anything for the sake of my education. Knowing the chaotic state of my country at that time (various parts of Indonesia wanted independence, and civil strife was rife), I didn’t even get homesick, although I had no family or relatives in the US. I knew that there was no other choice: as a Chinese girl with no connections, the only way I could fulfill my aspirations (to contribute to my country’s national unity and religious harmony) was through academic achievement and brilliance. This was my one trump card, the one tool I had to serve my country with. Luckily, studying was my greatest passion and joy; I could forget all the troubles in the world when I was studying. With God’s grace and blessing, through our sincerity and perseverance, all my childhood goals were eventually achieved. But I wouldn’t be here today without my parents’ unwavering support.

My father is now 70 years old. Like many other hardworking people, he often neglects his health. Luckily, I live in a place with good healthcare, and he is able to see various doctors when he’s visiting me. A few days ago, while visiting a cardiologist, the doctor found a 90% blockage in one of the arteries leading to his heart! We immediately made the necessary arrangements for surgery. If this blockage had not been found, he could have had a heart attack without anyone even suspecting of this possibility, and his lifespan could have been cut short. Luckily, we found the blockage in time.

My parents have helped me to achieve all my childhood dreams, and I am an only child. I want my parents’ golden years to truly be golden, filled with love, happiness and fulfillment. Growing up as a patriot, everyone always warned us that patriotic Indonesians (especially from minority groups) tend to live tragic and miserable lives. Luckily, Providence was kind to us, and I was given enough wisdom and discretion not to offend anyone and to take the most appropriate course of action in my patriotic pursuits. Now that all my patriotic dreams have been fulfilled, I can only hope that the next few decades can unfold peacefully and fulfillingly for my parents. May their old age be filled with contentment and satisfaction. God-willing, may they live to be 100 and enjoy a good quality of life. May their deepest desires be fulfilled and may they enjoy the fruits of all their hard work, sincerity, prayers and selflessness. And while it is impossible for a child to repay her parents’ love, I hope that the way my life unfolds may give my parents the greatest amount of joy and satisfaction. Amen.