I am an anthropologist of ethnic Chinese communities in Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia. Currently, I have on-going research projects on Chinese identity politics in Indonesia, Indonesian diaspora politics, and the relationship between China and ethnic Chinese communities in Southeast Asia.

I teach as a Lecturer in Asian Studies at the Asia Institute, University of Melbourne, where I am also the Head of Program for Asian Studies. I was previously an Assistant Professor of Humanities (Education) at Singapore Management University’s School of Social Sciences, a Postdoctoral Fellow of History at Nanyang Technological University’s School of Humanities, and a Visiting Fellow in the Indonesia Studies Programme at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, all based in Singapore.

I received my Ph.D. in Anthropology from La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. My first book Memories of Unbelonging: Ethnic Chinese Identity Politics in Post-Suharto Indonesia (University of Hawai’i Press, 2023) was developed from my doctoral dissertation and examines how collective memories of past anti-Chinese discrimination influence contemporary Chinese Indonesian identity politics.

My expert commentary has been sought after by international media outlets such as The Economist, The New York Times, Al-Jazeera, The Guardian, Financial Times, The LA Times, The Sydney Morning Herald, and Channel NewsAsia among others. I regularly write opinion/non-academic pieces on matters to do with identity politics in Indonesia.

Over the years, I have also worked as an ethnographic researcher, lecturer, political risk analyst, and research project manager in Australia and Singapore. I live in Melbourne with my family, and in my spare time, I enjoy cycling along the river trails.