An Interview with Thee Kian Wie: "I am an Indonesian of Chinese origin and am neither better nor worse than any other average Indonesian"

Thee Kian Wie is a prominent economic historian and economist in Indonesia who has known many of Indonesia’s leading economists personally. Despite his retirement in May 2000 and advanced age (74) he is still very active. He publishes several articles per year and visits his office at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences LIPI almost daily, provided he is not somewhere abroad or in Jakarta or somewhere else in Indonesia participating in or delivering a paper at one of the international or national workshops to which he is invited. During his career Thee Kian Wie developed a unique international network and gained a reputation as an expert on Indonesia’s modern economic history and comparative economic, industrial, foreign direct investment, and technological development in East Asia, with particular reference to Indonesia. For many years Thee Kian Wie has also been a kind mediator helping young foreign and Indonesian researchers to find their way to informants and information. He received an honorary doctorate from The Australian National University, Canberra, in December 2004. In 2008 KITLV awarded him an honorary membership. In August 2008 he received the Sarwono Prawirohardjo Award2 from Professor Umar Anggara Jenie, the Head of LIPI, for his achievements in economic research and many years of service to LIPI. Itinerario interviewed him in Leiden in late October 2008 and in early May 2009 in Jakarta.3 The languages we spoke were Dutch and English.