Dilan's childhood, who was around 12 years old at that time. He was still a child and lived with his family in East Timor Province because his father served as an Indonesian soldier.

Dilan's childhood when he was 12 years old. When he was 12 years old, Dilan joined his father on duty in Timor Leste, which was previously called East Timor. Dilan spent around 1.5 years in East Timor and returned to Bandung and went to school at his old place. In 1983, Dilan met a new ethnic Chinese student from Semarang named Mei Lien. Mei Lien's presence at Dilan's school makes him feel like he likes Mei so he wants to learn Mandarin. Dilan's desire to learn Mandarin surprised his family.