Prabowo to Soon Inaugurate Marsinah Museum in Nganjuk

President Prabowo Subianto will inaugurate the Marsinah Museum in Nganjuk Regency, East Java. Prabowo revealed his plans during a speech to a crowd of workers marking International Labour Day at the National Monument area in Jakarta on Friday, 1 May 2026.

The Gerindra Party Chairman stated that he would travel to Nganjuk, Marsinah’s hometown, in the near future. “This month, I will head to Nglundo Village, Nganjuk, East Java, to inaugurate the workers’ struggle museum named the Marsinah Museum,” Prabowo said during the May Day commemoration at Monas.

He also reminded the audience that his government had granted national hero status to Marsinah. “We have elevated Mother Marsinah to national hero status,” said the former defence minister.

The Marsinah Museum is being prepared in the Nganjuk area, East Java. The museum will occupy Marsinah’s grandmother’s house, where she lived from childhood until her teenage years. The renovation process is being carried out without altering the main structure of the house as a form of respect.

President of the All-Indonesian Confederation of Workers’ Unions (KSPSI), Andi Gani Nena Wea, who was one of the key drivers of labour support, said the initial idea for establishing the museum came from Marsinah’s family.

“The family wanted something truly monumental. Marsinah’s struggle was so arduous and must be remembered by society and the workers,” Andi said when contacted on Tuesday, 11 November 2025.

The museum’s funding is being handled through a mutual cooperation mechanism from labour coalitions, not from any single organisation. Since the plan was first publicised, workers from various regions have contacted the family and the initiators to express their willingness to contribute. “The response has been extraordinary,” Andi said.

Marsinah is widely known as an icon of Indonesia’s labour struggle after her body was found dead in May 1993 following her leadership of a strike action in Sidoarjo. At that time, Indonesia was led by the New Order regime under the leadership of the second President Suharto. To this day, the Marsinah murder case remains one of the darkest tragedies in the history of Indonesia’s labour movement and human rights.