To Remain Myself: The History of Onghokham

“Biographies in Indonesia tend to be hagiographies. Reeve’s biography of Ong is anything but. If you want a better understanding of the serious subject of Indonesian history, reflected through the colorful life of a unique individual and written in an engaging style and language, this is the book for you. . . . For me, both Ong and Reeve are inspirations: for their scholarship, their dedication to their craft, and their commitment to the truth.”
 
 

"As piquant as Peranakan cuisine: Chinese livened by chillies, sweet soy sauce, coconut milk, palm sugar and the archipelago’s spices.”

“This is the most important book on Indonesian history to come out in recent years. It is extraordinary because it involves (at least) four kinds of history writing: a history of Sino-Indonesians; a history of gay men in twentieth-century urban Java; a history of how Western knowledge of Indonesian history was constructed by Indonesian interlocutors; and a history of contemporary historiography.”