Selamat Hari Kartini

Dear BIS Community,

The BIS front office staff would like to wish you all a Happy Kartini Day.

We hope that you have had an opportunity today to reflect upon Lady Kartini’s contributions in the areas of education for girls and women’s rights for Indonesians.

In case you are unaware of why we celebrate this day, please see the information below which was prepared by our Indonesian teachers.

Best,

Denise Walsh

Head of School

 

HARI KARTINI / KARTINI DAY

WHAT IS HARI KARTINI?

Hari Kartini is celebrated each year in Indonesia on 21 April to commemorate

the birth of Raden Ajeng Kartini in 1879. Kartini is one of Indonesia’s most

prominent national female heroes. Kartini was a pioneer in the emancipation of

Indonesian women and in fighting for women’s equal rights. Throughout

Indonesia all ladies and girls wear their national dress to symbolise their unity and

some schools even hold lectures and special activities to commemorate this

national holiday.

WHO IS LADY KARTINI?

Raden Ajeng Kartini, or also known as R.A. Kartini, is the daughter of a

Javanese nobleman who worked for the Dutch colonial administration. She

was exposed to Western ideas when she attended a Dutch school.

Unfortunately, Kartini’s parents allowed her to attend school only until she was

12 years old as this was customary to daughters of a noble family. When she

had to withdraw from school she corresponded with her Dutch pen-friends

telling them about her concerns for the restricted lives and education of

Indonesian women. Kartini’s letters also expressed her hopes for support from

overseas. She married in 1903 and began a fight for the rights of women to be

educated and against the unwritten but all-pervading Javanese law, Adat.

Sadly, Kartini died in 1904 at a young age of 25 after the birth of her first child.

Her letters were published in 1911 under the title in Dutch ‘Door duisternis tot

licht ‘ or translated as ‘Through Darkness into Light’. They also created

support for the Kartini Foundation which opened the first girls’ school in Java

in 1916.

WHY IS HARI KARTINI IMPORTANT TO INDONESIAN WOMEN?

21 April commemorates the significance of R.A. Kartini’s efforts to elevate the

status of women in Indonesia. She became a nationalist figure, a female hero,

with new ideas, who struggled on behalf of her people and played a role in

the national struggle for independence. In 1964, Indonesia’s first president,

President Soekarno, declared Kartini’s birth date as ‘Hari Kartini’ – an

Indonesian national holiday.