Indonesia's second-largest city, Surabaya, has chosen new Chinese cultural ambassadors in its East Java 'Koko Cici' competition, as the event's significance grows for a community that only a couple of decades ago faced racially fuelled and fatal riots after years of state oppression. The Nov 26 grand final of the contest was the culmination of a month-long search for two.
Silvia Gunawan’s 13km journey from her home in the western suburbs of Surabaya to the Indonesian port city’s northern area was marred by heavy traffic and took an hour, but she was not fazed. The Chinatown night market, an initiative to promote the area’s Chinese heritage, was relaunching to great fanfare on September 10, and the 39-year-old did not want.