Indonesian-Chinese writer Marga T on guilt of having been born a girl: ‘it gave me cancer’

In her latest and most personal work, the celebrated author ‘cleanses’ her soul as she opens up on her traumatic childhood, her mother’s death, and dealing with abuse

The 79-year-old also reflects on her long career as an ethnic Chinese writer whose success came despite oppression against the community by ex-dictator Suharto, in this rare interview with This Week in Asia

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Marga T is one of Indonesia’s most prolific writers. Photo: Handout

Published: 8:30am, 22 May 2022Updated: 1:30pm, 21 Apr 2023

With a career spanning more than half a century, Indonesian-Chinese writer Marga T is one of the country’s most prolific authors.

Born in Jakarta to ethnic Chinese parents in 1943, she showed an early gift for writing, with her first two novels, the romance titles Karmila and Badai Pasti Berlalu (The Storm Will Surely Pass), being instant hits.

Among the 69 books she’s published, her work has touched on science fiction, tales of mystery, children’s stories, and dark chapters of history. The third volume of her Sekuntum Nozomi (A Bud of Hope) series tells the story of Chinese women being raped during Indonesia’s 1998 riots.

But perhaps the most personal of all is her latest work, If Only, a poignant memoir “about the compulsory duty to have a son, and the tragic consequences for the family when no son was born”, she tells This Week in Asia in a rare interview.

In 1952, Marga’s mother died after giving birth to a sixth daughter. Marga was only nine then. Being the eldest, she bore the guilt of having been born a girl, as her father had expected to have a son so he could carry on the family’s surname.

“I was accused of having caused her death,” she says.