Recalling my diary on 21 April 2008;
I thought that Kartini’s day will just go by without a meaning, especially to me who are a male which apparently never be involved because what we only celebrate about Kartini’s day is merely wearing the Javanese woman outfit, and that’s all.
But I guess I am very lucky that last night I attended the Kartini’s Letter reading in Teater Utan Kayu that was read by one of the most Indonesian talented actress and one of my favorite: Ninik L. Karim. And honestly it is her why I came to attend.
But then it is not her why I sat there listening Kartini’s letter was being read until the next two hours. It is the letter itself that were so full of humanism that stunned me. Never had I imagined that Kartini’s thought is far broader than only about the gender. Very difficult to believe that at that time, in early 1800, Kartini, a Javanese woman who was born in the very tight javanese structure has a brilliant thought of Humanism.
She even wrote about what she thought about what the importance of Religion and had a critism of Islam which apparently why we, Indonesian people, often have a doubt why this woman become an Indonesian woman icon. To me, It is shameful that the fact to whom she wrote to is a Dutch Jewish Socialist, that we moslem people often put her aside and still asking what is so importance of her until she become an Indonesian woman Icon?
Remembering her thought and her courage 200 years ago, I suddenly feel ashame that we, Indonesian people, now often still think backward that putting Religion into everything. This morning, I clearly read a spanduk that was written in a big red letter that full of hatred: ‘ Bubarkan Ahmadiah! ini adalah harga mati!’. It has been more or less 200 years that Kartini wrote a letter to her friends to Netherland about what she thought regarding the religion. 200 years went by and I feel ashame that we some Indonesian people are more backward that we were at that time.
I only think that I should write to you about this because I don’t want Kartini’s day goes by only by wearing a Javanese outfit…
Carpe Diem,
Ahmad Zae
