*IBRAHIM ISA'S FOCUS -- 21 APRIL. 2013
COMEMMORATING R.A. KARTINI
-----------------------------------------*
*Applying Kartini's Message in Present-Day Indonesia*
*Abdul Qowi Bastian* | April 21, 2013
"In my mind and heart," a young woman read. She took a deep breath and went on, "... I do not wholly live in the Dutch East Indies; I feel like I live in an era with my white sisters in the far away West."
The young woman stood on a stage in a dimly lit room. In her hands were letters written more than 100 years ago. Accompanied by acoustic guitar and violin, university student Winner Fransisca read excerpts from a letter written by Kartini, an Indonesian heroine, in May 1899 to a penpal in the Netherlands.
Activists, academics and artists on Thursday read Kartini's letters to remember her ideas that inspired the women's emancipation movement in Indonesia.
Kartini, usually referred to by her title Raden Ajeng, was born into an aristocratic Javanese family on April 21, 1879. Her father was a district head of Jepara in Central Java. Her mother was his father's first wife. During the Dutch colonial era, polygamy was a common practice.
Her father being a Javanese aristocrat working for the colonial administration, Kartini had the privilege to attend school, which exposed her to Western ideas and feminist thinking. She was fluent in Dutch, an unusual accomplishment for Javanese women at the time.
Kartini attended school until the age of 12. Under the old Javanese tradition, she was secluded at home to prepare for marriage. During this seclusion period, she wrote letters to her friends abroad. The letters were compiled into a book called "Habis Gelap Terbitlah Terang" ("Out of Darkness Into Light") and published posthumously.
In 1964, she was declared an Indonesian national heroine by President Sukarno and her birthday was subsequently named Kartini Day, which is celebrated annually.
During President Suharto's New Order era, however, the image of Kartini was reconfigured from that of a radical feminist to a domestic wife.
"We read her letters to remind Indonesia that Kartini Day is not about women and girls wearing kebayas and batik with elaborate hairstyles supposedly replicating Kartini's attire," said Okky Madasari, an award-winning novelist and one of the event organizers. "It's about remembering her ideas and what she fought for."
Okky and Faiza Mardzoeki, playwright and director of the Purple Institute, held an event reading Kartini's letters on Thursday to commemorate Kartini Day, which takes place today.
Kartini dedicated her life to improving the conditions of Javanese women, who had low social status, through education. But Kartini's concerns spanned beyond women's empowerment. Not only did she want indigenous women to reach their dreams, attain freedom and obtain legal equality, she also criticized the education system and mainstream religion.
Kartini, through her letters, protested against any obstacle for the development of Javanese women. When her parents arranged her marriage to a district head of Rembang --- who was 25 years older than her and already had three wives --- at first she resisted, but eventually agreed to appease her ailing father. She later added one condition: She could establish a school for women.
"Kartini was a survivor, she was a victim of feudalism. She fought with her pen, wrote and established a school," Faiza said.
*
Women and marriage *
"I do not respect Javanese men. How could I admire a married man who, if bored with the mother of his children, could bring another woman into his house and marry her legally under Islamic law?" author Firliana Purwanti recited a passage from another of Kartini's letter.
One hundred and thirty four years since the birth of Kartini, her progressive ideas still ring true to the ears of Indonesian women today. Despite marrying a man who was already married, Kartini was staunchly against polygamy.
Last year, former Garut district head Aceng Fikri married a 17-year-old girl to be his second wife. After only four days, he divorced her via text message.
"A lot of men still practice polygamy, although since about 100 years ago, it has been seen as unfair," Faiza said.
Women who are in a polygamous relationship are also prone to suffering psychological abuse, she added.
Sri Nurherwati, the head of the recovery system development commission of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), said such cases were a result of patriarchal elements of Indonesia's culture and legal system.
In another case involving a public official, the wife of Magelang deputy mayor Joko Prasetyo, Siti Rubaidah, reported her husband to the police in January this year after he repeatedly hit her.
Sri said that despite the existence of laws against domestic violence, it was often treated as a personal issue rather than a public one.
"There are hardly any reports because of the imbalanced relationship between the husband and wife," she said. "Wives are often ignored and domestic violence is often considered a family matter."
Indonesia's efforts to empower women have also been hampered by weak implementation of laws and legislation designed to promote women's rights.
Additionally, there are exsisting laws and bylaws that work against women. Komnas Perempuan in 2012 released a report that found 282 bylaws that discriminated against women. Among them were bylaws that prohibited women from dressing in certain ways and going out late at night.
Indonesia is also struggling in the women's development sector as the deadline for reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) approaches. Under the MDGs, the country's maternal mortality rate must decrease to 102 per 100,000 by 2015.
Based on the United Nations Development Program's Gender Development Index, Indonesia's current maternal mortality rate of 228 per 100,000 remains one of the highest in Southeast Asia.
Limited access to hospitals and clinics has been blamed for the difficulties in reducing the maternal mortality rate by exposing women to higher risks of infection.
Kartini herself died only four days after giving birth to a child in 1904, a year after her marriage.
*Educating the people *
"Providing a good education is like the government putting a lantern in the hands of the people, so they can find their own way..." actress Tiga Setia Gara voiced Kartini's desire for decent education for her people.
Prior to her untimely death at the age of 25, Kartini founded a school for young girls; she obtained permission to open the first all-girls school in the nation. Kartini realized that education is everyone's right, but unfortunately not every child in Indonesia today has access to quality education.
Although 95 percent of Indonesian children are enrolled in elementary school, according to a report released by UNDP, the country's education system is routinely criticized for its emphasis on rote learning rather than creative thinking.
From charges of setting an irrelevant curriculum to corruption allegations, wide-scale cheating in the national exams and substandard facilities, Indonesia's national education system has long been a target of criticism.
Indonesia Corruption Watch has sounded the alarm over the alleged misuse of the education budget.
"Based on ICW's observations on corruption in the education sector in 2012, there were at least 40 corruption cases uncovered," researcher Siti Juliantari said.
She attributed the high corruption rate in the education sector to lack of transparency and accountability and schools in planning their spending.
*Kartini's unfinished business *
Kartini's legacy has remain strong until today as Indonesian women are still trying to make their way through a male-dominated society.
However, Indonesian women, to a point, are better off today than they were in Kartini's time. Women now can run for political office but there are still much work to be done.
A number of women on top are sadly entangled in corruption cases, names such as Angelina Sondakh, Miranda Goeltom and Hartati Murdaya spring into mind. And ironically enough, a Semarang anti-corruption judge Kartini Marpaung was sentenced to eight years in jail, just days before Kartini Day.
Gender equality does not come automatically. It has taken hundreds of years to reach the point where Indonesian women are today. Young girls want to follow Kartini's footsteps but they tend to overlook her ideas and are drawn to her oversimplified symbol. The war for women's empowerment is not over and the fight to create a country without injustice and discrimination continues.
Indonesian women are still struggling to practice what Kartini advocated in her letters, but as we are reminded by her letters: "If we want to attain a perfect civilization, then the maturation of intelligence and conscience must go side by side."
* * **
COMEMMORATING R.A. KARTINI
-----------------------------------------*
*100 YEARS AFTER KARTINI, WOMEN STILL LACK RIGHTS IN INDONESIA*
* * *
*Applying Kartini's Message in Present-Day Indonesia*
*100 YEARS AFTER KARTINI, WOMEN STILL LACK RIGHTS IN INDONESIA
*Celebrating Kartini Day With Letters By the Heroine
*Women Continue Long Battle for Rights in Indonesia
*
*Applying Kartini's Message in Present-Day Indonesia*
*Abdul Qowi Bastian* | April 21, 2013
"In my mind and heart," a young woman read. She took a deep breath and went on, "... I do not wholly live in the Dutch East Indies; I feel like I live in an era with my white sisters in the far away West."
The young woman stood on a stage in a dimly lit room. In her hands were letters written more than 100 years ago. Accompanied by acoustic guitar and violin, university student Winner Fransisca read excerpts from a letter written by Kartini, an Indonesian heroine, in May 1899 to a penpal in the Netherlands.
Activists, academics and artists on Thursday read Kartini's letters to remember her ideas that inspired the women's emancipation movement in Indonesia.
Kartini, usually referred to by her title Raden Ajeng, was born into an aristocratic Javanese family on April 21, 1879. Her father was a district head of Jepara in Central Java. Her mother was his father's first wife. During the Dutch colonial era, polygamy was a common practice.
Her father being a Javanese aristocrat working for the colonial administration, Kartini had the privilege to attend school, which exposed her to Western ideas and feminist thinking. She was fluent in Dutch, an unusual accomplishment for Javanese women at the time.
Kartini attended school until the age of 12. Under the old Javanese tradition, she was secluded at home to prepare for marriage. During this seclusion period, she wrote letters to her friends abroad. The letters were compiled into a book called "Habis Gelap Terbitlah Terang" ("Out of Darkness Into Light") and published posthumously.
In 1964, she was declared an Indonesian national heroine by President Sukarno and her birthday was subsequently named Kartini Day, which is celebrated annually.
During President Suharto's New Order era, however, the image of Kartini was reconfigured from that of a radical feminist to a domestic wife.
"We read her letters to remind Indonesia that Kartini Day is not about women and girls wearing kebayas and batik with elaborate hairstyles supposedly replicating Kartini's attire," said Okky Madasari, an award-winning novelist and one of the event organizers. "It's about remembering her ideas and what she fought for."
Okky and Faiza Mardzoeki, playwright and director of the Purple Institute, held an event reading Kartini's letters on Thursday to commemorate Kartini Day, which takes place today.
Kartini dedicated her life to improving the conditions of Javanese women, who had low social status, through education. But Kartini's concerns spanned beyond women's empowerment. Not only did she want indigenous women to reach their dreams, attain freedom and obtain legal equality, she also criticized the education system and mainstream religion.
Kartini, through her letters, protested against any obstacle for the development of Javanese women. When her parents arranged her marriage to a district head of Rembang --- who was 25 years older than her and already had three wives --- at first she resisted, but eventually agreed to appease her ailing father. She later added one condition: She could establish a school for women.
"Kartini was a survivor, she was a victim of feudalism. She fought with her pen, wrote and established a school," Faiza said.
*
Women and marriage *
"I do not respect Javanese men. How could I admire a married man who, if bored with the mother of his children, could bring another woman into his house and marry her legally under Islamic law?" author Firliana Purwanti recited a passage from another of Kartini's letter.
One hundred and thirty four years since the birth of Kartini, her progressive ideas still ring true to the ears of Indonesian women today. Despite marrying a man who was already married, Kartini was staunchly against polygamy.
Last year, former Garut district head Aceng Fikri married a 17-year-old girl to be his second wife. After only four days, he divorced her via text message.
"A lot of men still practice polygamy, although since about 100 years ago, it has been seen as unfair," Faiza said.
Women who are in a polygamous relationship are also prone to suffering psychological abuse, she added.
Sri Nurherwati, the head of the recovery system development commission of the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan), said such cases were a result of patriarchal elements of Indonesia's culture and legal system.
In another case involving a public official, the wife of Magelang deputy mayor Joko Prasetyo, Siti Rubaidah, reported her husband to the police in January this year after he repeatedly hit her.
Sri said that despite the existence of laws against domestic violence, it was often treated as a personal issue rather than a public one.
"There are hardly any reports because of the imbalanced relationship between the husband and wife," she said. "Wives are often ignored and domestic violence is often considered a family matter."
Indonesia's efforts to empower women have also been hampered by weak implementation of laws and legislation designed to promote women's rights.
Additionally, there are exsisting laws and bylaws that work against women. Komnas Perempuan in 2012 released a report that found 282 bylaws that discriminated against women. Among them were bylaws that prohibited women from dressing in certain ways and going out late at night.
Indonesia is also struggling in the women's development sector as the deadline for reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) approaches. Under the MDGs, the country's maternal mortality rate must decrease to 102 per 100,000 by 2015.
Based on the United Nations Development Program's Gender Development Index, Indonesia's current maternal mortality rate of 228 per 100,000 remains one of the highest in Southeast Asia.
Limited access to hospitals and clinics has been blamed for the difficulties in reducing the maternal mortality rate by exposing women to higher risks of infection.
Kartini herself died only four days after giving birth to a child in 1904, a year after her marriage.
*Educating the people *
"Providing a good education is like the government putting a lantern in the hands of the people, so they can find their own way..." actress Tiga Setia Gara voiced Kartini's desire for decent education for her people.
Prior to her untimely death at the age of 25, Kartini founded a school for young girls; she obtained permission to open the first all-girls school in the nation. Kartini realized that education is everyone's right, but unfortunately not every child in Indonesia today has access to quality education.
Although 95 percent of Indonesian children are enrolled in elementary school, according to a report released by UNDP, the country's education system is routinely criticized for its emphasis on rote learning rather than creative thinking.
From charges of setting an irrelevant curriculum to corruption allegations, wide-scale cheating in the national exams and substandard facilities, Indonesia's national education system has long been a target of criticism.
Indonesia Corruption Watch has sounded the alarm over the alleged misuse of the education budget.
"Based on ICW's observations on corruption in the education sector in 2012, there were at least 40 corruption cases uncovered," researcher Siti Juliantari said.
She attributed the high corruption rate in the education sector to lack of transparency and accountability and schools in planning their spending.
*Kartini's unfinished business *
Kartini's legacy has remain strong until today as Indonesian women are still trying to make their way through a male-dominated society.
However, Indonesian women, to a point, are better off today than they were in Kartini's time. Women now can run for political office but there are still much work to be done.
A number of women on top are sadly entangled in corruption cases, names such as Angelina Sondakh, Miranda Goeltom and Hartati Murdaya spring into mind. And ironically enough, a Semarang anti-corruption judge Kartini Marpaung was sentenced to eight years in jail, just days before Kartini Day.
Gender equality does not come automatically. It has taken hundreds of years to reach the point where Indonesian women are today. Young girls want to follow Kartini's footsteps but they tend to overlook her ideas and are drawn to her oversimplified symbol. The war for women's empowerment is not over and the fight to create a country without injustice and discrimination continues.
Indonesian women are still struggling to practice what Kartini advocated in her letters, but as we are reminded by her letters: "If we want to attain a perfect civilization, then the maturation of intelligence and conscience must go side by side."
* * **
100 YEARS AFTER KARTINI, WOMEN STILL LACK RIGHTS IN INDONESIA*
Johannes Mugroho, April 21, 2013"Religion must guard us against committing sins, but more often, sins are committed in the name of religion," wrote early 20th century Indonesian women's rights pioneer Raden Ajeng Kartini. In her correspondence with Estella Zeehandelaar, she also expressed her profound opposition to polygamy, a common practice among members of the Javanese nobility of her day, sanctioned by religion. And yet the great Kartini herself in the end had to bow to customs and religion when her father married her off as the fourth wife of the Regent of Rembang.
More ironically still, more than one hundred years after Kartini's death, even though arranged marriages are mostly extinct, religious doctrine has continued to be used against the advancement of women's rights in this country. The cases range from being medieval to downright ridiculous.
Hasan Ahmad, 47, a member of the legislative Council of Sampang, Madura, was recently arrested by the police for having had sex with nine underage girls. While acknowledging that his action was in breach of the law, Ahmad maintained that according to Islamic law he had not committed adultery as he had a cleric perform a marital rite --- in a car --- before engaging in sex with each one of the teenagers.
As Islam only allows four wives, Ahmad also revealed that he almost always divorced them after paying their sexual services. During his interview with the press, he laughingly dismissed his arrest as "due to his naughtiness."
The fact that a lawmaker showed no contrition after being the perpetrator of sexual trafficking of underage girls simply highlights the challenges faced by Indonesian women's rights movement. The defiant attitude also exemplifies how many Indonesians deem religious --- read divine --- laws are somehow higher than state laws, a definite handicap in any nation that endeavors to establish the rule of law.
In the autonomous province Aceh, which has embraced Islamic Shariah as normative law, anachronistic regulations against women seem to be in vogue. Earlier this year, the province's city Lhokseumawe enacted a ban on female passengers straddling on a motorcycle, mandating sitting sideways as the proper religious way. In an April raid in the city, 35 women were detained for sitting astride on motorcycles.
More recently, a law was proclaimed to outlaw audible farting by women. Mayor Sayyid Yahia explained that it was against Islam that a woman should pass wind in a manner that can be heard by others, as he believed audible farting was a male behavior. Hence, by farting audibly, a woman is guilty of impersonating a man.
These clearly sexist regulations are clear setbacks for women's rights in Aceh and highly ironic considering the region has had significant history of female leadership in the past.
Aceh has produced Tjoet Nyak Dien, the celebrated 20th century rebel leader against Dutch colonialism and more importantly Admiral Malahayati, the first woman sea admiral in world history. On Sept.11, 1599, under Malahayati, the Aceh navy successfully defeated the Dutch in a sea battle and killed the latter's leader Cornelis de Houtman. Significantly, this battle saw the full participation of Malahayati's 2,000 strong regiment of Inong Balee, Aceh's women soldiers.
Today, in stark contrast, religion is being used in Aceh to discriminate against women. It does not help that Islamic religious texts are interpreted by religious councils comprising exclusively of male clerics.
However, hope remains as more and more intellectual Muslim women are coming forward to voice their opinions on gender equality. Muslim feminist Siti Musdah Mulia, and other prominent women with orthodox Muslim background such as Yenny Wahid, daughter of the late President Abdurrahman Wahid, will undoubtedly help shape the future of the struggle for equality between men and women in Indonesia.
Still, the road ahead is arduous, as evident in the recent difficulties experienced by political parties to fulfill the 30 percent quota of candidacy for parliament in the 2014 legislative elections.
It would seem, more than a century after its publication in 1911, Kartini's "Out of Darkness Into Light" is still a pertinent reminder of unfinished her work, and indeed our work, towards gender equality in Indonesia. Her frustration with religion in relation to women's rights is still, regrettably, relevant today. As did their ancestors who adapted Islam to the local values and customs, today's Muslim feminists of this country must be the ones to shape the blending of their faith with the betterment of rights for all women. Happy Kartini Day!
/Johannes Nugroho is a writer and businessman from Surabaya. He can be contacted at johannes@nonacris.com
/
/* * *
/
*Celebrating Kartini Day With Letters By the Heroine*
*Jakarta Globe* | April 18, 2013Activists, academics and artists, as well as students and people from other walks of life will today read Kartini's letters to remember her ideas that inspired the women's emancipation movement in Indonesia.
Born on April 21, 1879, Raden Ajeng Kartini was a women's rights pioneer during the Dutch colonial period and an inspiration for women after independence.
In 1964, she was declared an Indonesian national heroine by President Sukarno and her birthday was subsequently named Kartini Day, which is celebrated annually by Indonesian women.
"We read her letters to remind Indonesia that Kartini Day is not about women and girls wearing kebaya and batik with elaborate hairstyles, supposedly replicating Kartini's attire," Okky Madasari, an award-winning novelist and one of the initiators of the event, said on Wednesday.
"It's about remembering her ideas and what she fought for."
Okky, the founder of the Muara Foundation, and Faiza Mardzoeki, director of the Purple Institute, joined Kopdar Budaya, a social media community, and the Ardhanary Institute to hold the event to attract more Indonesians to read Kartini's letters.
Actresses Ratna Riantiarno and Jajang C. Noer will be among the prominent women selected to read out the letters at the event.
As the world celebrated International Women's Day on Friday, activists in Jakarta and Bandung held a rally to raise awareness of the violence, discrimination and marginalization of women.
In Jakarta, members of 53 local women's groups marched from the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to the State Palace.
"In this rally we made eight demands, asking the government to fulfil its promises to protect women in the form of policies that to this day remained unrealized," said Luviana, a coordinator of the rally.
Luviana cited the prolonged deliberations of a bill to help eradicate domestic violence as one example, and also criticized the lack of representation of women in politics and the lack of protection of women.
Violence against women, she said, was a theme of the rally given several recent cases of rape on public transportation and cases of discrimination and harassment of female workers.
"Many companies still discriminate against female workers, particularly when it comes to pay. The men tend to earn more with benefits while women are considered to be secondary breadwinners. Pregnancy leave and menstrual leaves are also problematic with many women not getting to enjoy those rights," Luviana said.
A discussion on women at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on Friday agreed that women still faced discrimination in Indonesia.
Dian Kartikasari, secretary general of the Indonesian Women's Coalition (KPI), told participants in the "Women Making Indonesia" seminar that only 10 percent to 20 percent of government social programs targeted women.
"As a result, women often lose access to education and health care because the state has arranged for women to be housewives," she said.
While the discussion acknowledged that women had made progress during the post-Suharto reformation era, with some 90 percent of girls now graduating from elementary school, Yuli Ismartono, a senior journalist at Tempo Magazine, said Indonesian women still had a long way to go to eradicate discrimination.
Shinta Widjaja Kamdani, managing director of Sintesa Group, said successful women must help other women through education. "It's a pity that a lot of women are unable to explore themselves because of their role and their position as a wife. My desire is to encourage more women to become entrepreneurs," Shinta said.
Friderica Widyasari Dewi, a director at the Indonesia Stock Exchange, sought to raise awareness among women on the importance of investment.
"Women are responsible for the success of the family. So I have established a 'Women and Investment' program to educate women from Aceh to Papua about investment," she said.
Peter F. Gontha, publisher of the Jakarta Globe, said gender equity in Indonesia was much better than in developed Asian countries such as Japan. But education in Indonesia was still a concern, he said. "Women still need to fight for education. Nobody is taking care of education. We need more NGOs in education," the executive said.
In Bandung, hundreds of women spoke out against domestic violence and rape, demonstrating in front of the West Java governor's office.
Euis Tita Kurniawan, a rally coordinator, said many female workers were denied the rights to take maternity leave mandated by law, and received inferior pay to men. "We want to excel, to be prosperous and to be equal with men," she said.
* * **
*
*Women Continue Long Battle for Rights in Indonesia*
*Yohannie Linggasari, Dian Manafe & Yuli Krisna * | March 09, 2013
As the world celebrated International Women's Day on Friday, activists in Jakarta and Bandung held a rally to raise awareness of the violence, discrimination and marginalization of women.
In Jakarta, members of 53 local women's groups marched from the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to the State Palace.
"In this rally we made eight demands, asking the government to fulfil its promises to protect women in the form of policies that to this day remained unrealized," said Luviana, a coordinator of the rally.
Luviana cited the prolonged deliberations of a bill to help eradicate domestic violence as one example, and also criticized the lack of representation of women in politics and the lack of protection of women.
Violence against women, she said, was a theme of the rally given several recent cases of rape on public transportation and cases of discrimination and harassment of female workers.
"Many companies still discriminate against female workers, particularly when it comes to pay. The men tend to earn more with benefits while women are considered to be secondary breadwinners. Pregnancy leave and menstrual leaves are also problematic with many women not getting to enjoy those rights," Luviana said.
A discussion on women at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on Friday agreed that women still faced discrimination in Indonesia.
Dian Kartikasari, secretary general of the Indonesian Women's Coalition (KPI), told participants in the "Women Making Indonesia" seminar that only 10 percent to 20 percent of government social programs targeted women.
"As a result, women often lose access to education and health care because the state has arranged for women to be housewives," she said.
While the discussion acknowledged that women had made progress during the post-Suharto reformation era, with some 90 percent of girls now graduating from elementary school, Yuli Ismartono, a senior journalist at Tempo Magazine, said Indonesian women still had a long way to go to eradicate discrimination.
Shinta Widjaja Kamdani, managing director of Sintesa Group, said successful women must help other women through education. "It's a pity that a lot of women are unable to explore themselves because of their role and their position as a wife. My desire is to encourage more women to become entrepreneurs," Shinta said.
Friderica Widyasari Dewi, a director at the Indonesia Stock Exchange, sought to raise awareness among women on the importance of investment.
"Women are responsible for the success of the family. So I have established a 'Women and Investment' program to educate women from Aceh to Papua about investment," she said.
Peter F. Gontha, publisher of the Jakarta Globe, said gender equity in Indonesia was much better than in developed Asian countries such as Japan. But education in Indonesia was still a concern, he said. "Women still need to fight for education. Nobody is taking care of education. We need more NGOs in education," the executive said.
In Bandung, hundreds of women spoke out against domestic violence and rape, demonstrating in front of the West Java governor's office.
Euis Tita Kurniawan, a rally coordinator, said many female workers were denied the rights to take maternity leave mandated by law, and received inferior pay to men. "We want to excel, to be prosperous and to be equal with men," she said.
* * *
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