Franz Kafka’s “Letters to Milena” is surfacing again because of the famous quotes in his letters. Letters about his feelings that became a book filled with his heartfelt letters, sounds familiar enough? Indonesia has its own transformation of personal correspondence into an anthology: “Habis Gelap Terbitlah Terang” by Raden Ajeng Kartini. This book may come up to us in grade school, but there are not many conversations about it again when we are older. Thus, to honour Hari Kartini, let’s revisit Kartini’s heartfelt letters about her life as a woman in Indonesia in the book, “Habis Gelap Terbitlah Terang”, and the relevancy between the problems in the past and the present problems.
Kartini’s letters are filled with her feelings and thoughts about her life as a woman living in Indonesia during the Dutch colonization. The letters were sent by Kartini to her friends and colleagues in the Netherlands. It is said in one of the first letters that Kartini came from a privileged family. Despite her family’s status in the society, Kartini felt isolated from the world because of the restrictions that the society gave to her and other women. During the 1880s and the 1900s, women in Indonesia were restricted from studying in schools after they turned 12. While men were allowed to study as much as they wanted. Women above the age of 12 were only allowed to get married and serve their husbands, or, for short, dipingit. Despising these restrictions, Kartini then told her father to ask for permission to study and teach students in Batavia (now, Jakarta). Even though her father gave her permission to study and teach in Batavia, Kartini changed her mind and ended up marrying Adipati Rembang. In her letters, she said that her husband supported her ideas on building schools for women in Java. This change of mind from Kartini said a lot about her character: she sacrificed her desire to study in Batavia to build schools for women in Java.
The problems in Indonesia that Kartini talked about in her letters, ironically, are still happening until now. Kartini’s words about the patriarchal system, unfortunately, are still relevant to this day. Even though the system is not as extreme as it was before, it is still running in Indonesians’ blood. How women should get married, how women are supposed to be at home instead of studying more, how women are only made to get married and serve their husbands. These kinds of problems are sadly still running high in Indonesia, especially Java, despite Kartini’s attempt to erase them fully. While the traditional patriarchal system still runs, Kartini successfully defended women’s rights in having as much education as they want. Therefore, Kartini’s thoughts and feelings in her letters are still relevant to this day.
To conclude this, I must say that we should honour Kartini every day, especially on the nationally acclaimed day dedicated to her on April 21st. Kartini’s letters show her dedication to women’s rights in Indonesia. Without her actions in the past, we, Indonesian women, could still be stuck in the old patriarchal system. Without Kartini, marital status in Indonesia would remain a priority for Indonesian women rather than the ability to pursue education. Hence, let’s honour Raden Adjeng Kartini, the woman who first defended Indonesian women, on her national day today.