REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, Author: Rima Sundusita, Indonesian female diplomat who served at the Indonesian Consulate General in Melbourne

To many Indonesians, Kartini is the country’s most important feminist figure. She fought within her capacity as someone from a wealthy background, to advocate for other women’s basic rights during a time when it was extremely challenging for women to have access to education and healthcare. It is important to note that during the era of Dutch colonialization, women were still treated as second-class citizens in Indonesia. At the same time, between 1848--1920, in Western countries, the suffragette movement as the result of the First Wave Feminism had already fought a battle that was way ahead than any women in Indonesia, which was a struggle to a political right.

Kartini is more than just a national hero, but someone grandiose, the true epiphany of ‘power for a greater good’, born into an aristocratic family in 1879 and married to a local political figure. Yet, she paid close attention to her surroundings and noticed that social justice was such a big homework.

Kartini is the face of a responsible use of privilege. She understood that to acknowledge her privilege meant to accept the fact that she carried a responsibility to elevate the underprivileged. She comprehended that her privilege did not stop with her.