Sunday, 22 April 2012, Indonesian Migrant Workers (Buruh Migran Indonesia (BMI)) in Singapore that is united in Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME) KARTINI, an organization which is a part of HOME Singapore has held a celebration regarding to Kartini Day entitled World Kartini Day, Tut Wuri Handayani. The activity held in Health Promotion Board of Singapore General Hospital, Outram Park Station went festively.
The program was attended by about 200 participants coming from different nations, The Philiphine, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Singapore, and some masters who are foreigners in Singapore. The BMIs attending the program looked elegant with their traditional or modern kebaya (Indonesian women’s cloth); some of them had their hair knotted.
“Indonesia women in the modern era must have active contributions, be open-minded but do not forget their nature as women. Although we live abroad, we have to be able to utilize the available time for any positive activities, to improve the quality of ourselves, our nation, and our country. There are many things we can learn in Singapore, such as attending courses or becoming a volunteer”, said Enik Juistiowati, Head of Learning Activity Studio of Regional Technical Implementation Unit (Sanggar Kegiatan Belajar Unit Pelaksana Teknis Daerah (SKP UPTD)) of Education Department of Batam City who attended the program as a guest.
The pioneer of HOME, Bridget Tan who recently received a Women Award for her hard work helping foreign workers in, delineated that the jubilee of Kartini Day was one of opportunities to show that Indonesia is a country that is rich for its culture; and wherever Indonesian society lives, they will keep maintaining Indonesian culture. Kartini is not merely a symbol of women’ struggle, it also is spirit for any women in the whole part of the world.
The program was getting more inspiring when Nunung Hartati (26) came, BMI from Cilacap who is actively writing some works. That BMI with a pen name “Anung De Lizta” has worked for 11 years in Singapore. Some books that she has written, among of them, entitled Challenging TKIs’ Dreams (The Ink of Indonesian Life) (Menantang Mimpi TKI (Tinta Kehidupan Indonesia)) published in June 2011 and collaboration of writing with other 99 BMIs and former BNIs entitled Longing Message for President (Pesan Kerinduan untuk Presiden). Anung De Lizta figure underlines more that BMIs are able to produce something and become someone inspiring for others.
The jubilee of Kartini Day in Singapore was also enlivened by different entertainments. Traditional dances, folk songs, and a program to select Miss Kartini 2012, the one which become favorite. Besides the participants are to wear kebaya, the assessment criteria were also different from the other competitions, in this Miss Kartini selection the main assessment were in the participant’s intelligence and alacrity.
To respect Indonesian culture, some migrant workers from The Philiphine along with Bridget Tan sang the song of Bengawan Solo with total appreciation. The program held by Singaporean BMI also strengthened Kartini’s spirit as independence spirit and BMIs’ braveness to work wherever they are.
