In Kartini's memory

Though it may be true that many Indonesians still regard subservience and meekness as traditional female virtues that should be retained, women in dominant positions are not exactly a new phenomenon in Indonesia. One only has to think of Cut Nya' Dien, the Acehnese heroine whose courageous leadership inspired her people to continue to resist the Dutch for many years at the beginning of this century.

Although assured of her place in Indonesian folklore, Cut Nya' Dien only appeared on the Indonesian political stage centuries after other powerful and charismatic women had left their indelible imprints on this country's ancient history. The furrow ploughed by all these early pioneers has meant that the presence of so many prominent women in contemporary public life has hardly drawn any attention at all.

The 119th anniversary of the birth of Kartini was marked yesterday. There can be little doubt that the great strides made by women in practically all walks of Indonesian life would have pleased Kartini, who has come to be something of a figurehead for the women's emancipation movement in this country. Kartini dedicated a large part of her short life to the advancement of her fellow women. She was born on April 21, 1879, in the northern coastal district of Mayong, near Jepara in Central Java. She was the daughter of the regent of Jepara, Raden Mas Adipati Aryo Sosroningrat. Her aristocratic roots earned her the privilege of a place in an elite Dutch-run school, where she got her first taste of modern western education.

This experience notwithstanding, Kartini remained basically true to her ancestral Javanese traditions. After reaching the age of 12, she spent her adolescent years in seclusion, in line with the accepted customs of the time, and tried to further her education at home as best she could. To pass the long hours, she began to devour books written by Dutch authors which her father, who was broad minded for his time, gave her. She also corresponded avidly with friends in Holland.

Kartini's dream of furthering her studies in Holland did not come to fruition. When she was 25 years old she was married to Raden Adipati Joyodiningrat, the regent of nearby Rembang, and a 50-year-old widower with several children. Committed to living the rest of her life as a traditional Javanese housewife, Kartini devoted herself to teaching girls at home. She died only months after her wedding giving birth to a son.

In our own time, Kartini's work and ideals may look modest, and she was not the only Indonesian woman of her time to hold such an advanced vision. Nevertheless, her ideals opened new avenues for Indonesian women to explore and for that reason her name is honored today as a pioneer of women's rights in this country.

Now, almost a century after her death, with the nation poised to take on the challenges of the new millennium, we must ask whether it is still proper to honor Kartini's memory in the customary manner -- by donning traditional attire, singing songs and holding cooking competitions and other insignificant formalities. Marking the day with such events makes a mockery of the memory of Kartini and her ideals, and trivializes the substantial and important role that women play in contemporary society.