Chinese who don’t speak Chinese… yet it’s true, I am one of them. Actually a lot of Indonesian Chinese, i.e. Chinese people living in Indonesia as a result of big migration hundred years ago, don’t speak Chinese. There are however some Indonesian who still speak Chinese, although the number is not so high.
Why do we have this situation? As far as I know, this was because of political reason. Our second president, Soeharto, who ruled the country from 1966 - 1998, doesn’t like Chinese. So he banned the use of Chinese language, many Chinese schools were burnt at that time (including my mother’s school). Furthermore, Indonesian Chinese had to change their names to "Indonesian" names. That’s why… my name is "Antony Pranata", not "Ang Ming Oe". A bit ridiculous, but that was has happened in Indonesia.
The situation has been changing gradually since 1998 after Soeharto resigned as president. A lot of schools in Indonesia are now teaching Chinese language. Some Chinese culture, like lion king (a.k.a. barongsai), can be found in many occasions. Chinese New Year is now a public holiday in Indonesia. Is it a good sign? I don’t know…. 
Another interesting trend is a lot of Chinese Indonesian want to learn Chinese language (a.k.a Mandarin), including my girl friend and my cousins. I don’t know what the reason is, may be they feel ashamed as a Chinese but don’t speak Chinese. There is an interesting story about myself. Because I look like a real Chinese, when I meet Chinese people, usually they will talk to me in Chinese…. they will usually surprise when I tell them that I don’t speak Chinese.
China itself knows that many Indonesian want to learn Chinese. So they open the door widely for Indonesian to learn Chinese language there. Many universities and private institutions offer various language courses, from short term courses (2-3 months) to long term courses (1-2 years). I don’t know the exact number of Indonesian students there, but Chinese people are enjoying $$$ flowing to their country.
The problem is that a lot of institutions offer a low quality courses (they just want $$$ from Indonesian). And this is the silly thing: they just keep sending their children to China sometimes without really checking the quality. Anyway, learning a new language is always a good thing, especially Chinese.
As we have seen, China is becoming an economic giant in the world. Many American and European countries have been investing their money to China because Chinese labor is damn cheap. From what I have heard, many Chinese are willing to work non-stop from Monday to Sunday, even 10 - 12 hours/day. Amazing, huh? Will the situation remain like this the future?
I don’t want to be an economic analyst here. A lot of study about China and their impact to globalization has been done…. What I am afraid of is "overinvestment in China" in the next couple of years? May be it is one of the reason why Chinese government abandoning Yuan-Dollar peg a few months ago.
