to speak off or to speak of?

Natalia Soebagjo is vice president of the University of Indonesia’s Center for Chinese Study, which was created in 2000. Soebagjo, who is Javanese, says that “after the May 1998 riots, there was an increased awareness of Chinese identity. As a result, they started to join political parties or NGOs. They have become more assertive defending their rights. Before [the reforms], there were hardly any Chinese Indonesian politician to speak off. Now far more are getting involved.”