Education
Her grandfather, an immigrant from Meixian, Guangdong, China, was afraid that his grandchildren would lose their identity as Chinese. Therefore, he encouraged Sidharta to learn Mandarin. Fortunately for Sidharta, there was a female Mandarin teacher staying in her grandparents" house who could teach her.
She obtained a master"s degree in psychology from Rijks Universitet, Leiden, Netherlands.
She speaks German, Dutch, French, Mandarin, Hokkien, Malay, Indonesian and English.
Career
She is an expert in Tionghoa Malay literature, a psychologist and a columnist for Indonesian magazines including The Jakarta Post. She has an autobiography titled Sidharta was married to Doctor Priguna Sidharta (Sie Pek Giok) and has 3 children, Sylvia, Julie and Amir Sidharta, who works as a curator. She has five grandchildren: David Leibovic, Jonathan Leibovic, Daniel Leibovic, Radyatra Sidharta, and Prajnacita Sidharta.
She also discussed the many discriminatory rules experienced by ethnic Chinese of Indonesia in the 1950s, which caused many Chinese to decide to leave for China.
She details her journey to Meixian and how being with her relatives in China brought her happiness.