Minister Tutty wants to make women pillars of nation

Minister Tutty wants to make women pillars of nation

The fourth state minister of women's affairs, Tutty Alawiyah,
may be the first to come from an activist background. A preacher,
rector and businesswoman, she heads the East Jakarta-based As-
Syafi'iyah foundation and is on the advisory board of the
influential Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals. She
recently talked to Ati Nurbaiti of The Jakarta Post to share her
views on women, fully aware of doubters targeting her ability to
addressing diverse problems and the limits of a state ministry's
authority. As the country celebrates Kartini Day today, which
marks the birthday of a pioneer for women's rights, Minister
Tutty sets out to continue the work of the young heroine.

JAKARTA (JP): There's soon to be a new hotline in town. Anyone
with thoughts or reports regarding women can call the Office of
the State Minister of Women's Affairs. This is State Minister
Tutty Alawiyah's first step to learning and "absorbing public
aspirations" regarding women.

The hotline, whose number has yet to be made public, is called
Pujianwanita, an acronym meaning the center for information and
aspirations of Indonesian women.

The office needs all the input it can get; Tutty inherits a
state ministry designed to consult with other ministries on how
to incorporate women's needs in their policies.

Many feel it has been feeble in the past. Demographics expert
Mayling-Oei Gardiner and sociologist Sulastri once wrote that
although the state ministry was in charge of the Women's Role
Improvement project across the country, which provided small
loans to help the poorest women generate income, only a few
groups had benefited.

"The effects on the macro level are virtually unknown,"
Gardiner and Sulastri wrote in the introduction to Perempuan
Indonesia: Dulu dan Kini (Indonesian Women: Then and Now,
Gramedia Pustaka Utama, Jakarta 1996).

They attributed this to the fact that because the state
ministry only had the capacity of a coordinator, it was heavily
dependent on related ministries and funds were limited. And
fueling their pessimism is that the new minister comes from what
looks like a conservative Moslem background.

Pillars

But Tutty, who turned 56 on March 30, remains unfazed by the
challenge. After her first 10 days in office, her agenda was
already full of meetings with myriad groups.

"I really want to work with those that don't only criticize
but actually do something," she said.

Her priority: women of the lower income group. Her aim: women
becoming "pillars of the nation". Lofty maybe, but it boils down
to the logic, influenced by Islam, that if women, as educators
and nurturers of the young generation are strong, then much has
been done to ensure national resilience.

Tutty's background is as an educator and preacher raised by
her late father, religious community figure Abdullah Syafei'ie,
and her mother Rogayah, who read the Koran beautifully, she said.

The Kiyai Haji, as religious leaders are titled, set up a
school, the Madrasah Islamiyah As-Syafi'iyah, now the As-
Syafi'iyah educational foundation in Jatiwaringin, East Jakarta.

Tutty's father died in 1985 and she eventually led the
foundation which now includes dozens of educational institutions
including Islam As-Syafi'iyah University and thousands of
students at Islamic boarding schools. The As-Syafi'iyah radio
regularly broadcasts Tutty's sermons.

The family is of Betawi (native Jakarta) origin, a community
labeled poor and uneducated by migrants who took over their land.
The Betawi people can now proudly claim they have a minister in
their ranks -- and Tutty adds many like her with higher education
are no longer exceptions.

Tutty, whose foundation has links with 2,000 women's prayer
groups, graduated from the Ushulluddin (theology) department of
the state-run Moslem Syarif Hidayatullah college.

Such prayer groups hit the news in August 1995 when 140,000
women, brought together by the Contact Body for Majlis Taqlim
chaired by Tutty, packed the Senayan Sports Stadium.

At the event held to express thanksgiving for the country's 50
years of independence, President Soeharto led the takbir, or
praises to God.

Heads turned to what suddenly looked like the proximity of
such homely women to the political elite -- including the
ascending, active Tutty. One magazine labeled it the "New
Phenomenon of Eve's Women."

"Never underestimate (such women)," said Tutty, a mother of
five. The women's spontaneity at the event, they used their own
money for beautiful clothing and tickets, reflected "their sense
of belonging," she said.

Priority

Despite the odds stacked against her, Tutty says that by
leading a state ministry, "I am more free" to reach out to
various parties and all other ministries.

But first, the priority is joining hands to tackle the crisis
-- Tutty says she will work closely with Minister of Social
Affairs Siti Hardijanti Rukmana.

Ensuring that cheap basic needs reach the poorest women, and
that they are involved and benefit from the projects making use
of neglected land, are among the first jobs at hand.

The state ministry will also advocate Tutty's concept of her
"pillars of the nation" -- Tutty says such women would be strong
spiritually, and actively empower themselves and their
surroundings through organizational skills.

"One task of this cabinet is to encourage independence -- how
can this be achieved if women do not play their part?" says
Tutty, whose idea of relaxing is eating seafood with her family.

An illustration of what Tutty means is her reference to the
thousands of women struggling aboard to support families.

While her office will continue working with the Ministry of
Manpower, among others, to improve migrant workers' training,
Tutty adds her special touch: "Such women are in dire need of
strengthened spirituality," which makes them vulnerable in the
face of unexpected hardships, she says.

The nation's "pillars" -- strong women actively contributing
to their surroundings -- are those which take pride in their God-
given attributes, their kodrat, says Tutty, a former member of
the People's Consultative Assembly.

The kodrat is a subject of much dispute -- are women born just
to give birth, breast-feed, nurture children and serve their
husbands?

But it is our special gift, Tutty insists. "The kodrat should
not be a source of burden."

But Tutty disagrees with the rest of the commonly understood
kodrat concept; she insists fathers must join in educating
children and the understanding that the man leads the woman
"should be limited to the family."

According to religious teachings, Tutty says, "The man has the
additional task of providing for the family," hence he is the
head of the household.

But there has been a misinterpretation of this teaching which
has led to the weak position of women in society, based on the
belief that men also lead women outside the home, says Tutty.

Encouraging women to be active is Tutty's measure to correct
this perception.

"If the man can understand that his wife is contributing to
society through her skills, which are a gift, there would be no
need for him to get jealous," she says.

Tutty insists this "pillar" concept demands more respect of
women and implies the need for continued efforts for the
protection, facilitation and advocacy for social acceptance of
more active women.

She maintains it is stronger than earlier concepts: the first
official paradigm since the state ministry was established was
recognition of "women's role in development, the next embodied
women as "equal partners".

The challenges of the next five years render these ideas no
longer adequate, Tutty said. Besides, "equal partners" entails
the feeling that "women must forever catch up with men" to be
equal, she adds.

"Women as pillars of the nation is a whole concept, referring
to the dignity of independent women with the equal obligation to
develop themselves for the public good." Competition between men
and women would be "competition for virtue", she said.

"With strong character ... and as long as women are clear
about their goals, men will be more likely to give women
opportunities," says Tutty.

The concerns of better-educated women should be enhanced to
help empower their sisters; Tutty has just met with highly
educated women from Moslem foundations who were working with the
poor. "Such concern cannot be bought," she said.

Another measure to reinterpret women's role in accordance with
what was originally meant, she adds, should come from more books
written by women qualified in religious teachings. "Most of our
religious leaders have been men, who wrote most of the books,"
she says.

Tutty believes the basics of emancipation are already strongly
rooted in the State Policy Guidelines and in the Koran, which
inevitably remains one of her main references.

"But it is something we must fight for," she said. She looks
forward to learning from the "brilliant" women involved in
debates and actual work in assisting women and all valuable input
including that expected from the hotline.

Her willingness to learn from others, which critics may have
overlooked, could become just the clout the state ministry needs.