2027 Kartini Day

Kartini Day on April 21 celebrates the birthday of Raden Ajeng Kartini, born in 1879 in Jepara, Central Java, a pioneer of women's education and emancipation in Indonesia. Confined at home after primary school under Javanese aristocratic custom, she educated herself, corresponded with Dutch friends about the position of women, and opened a school for girls before her death in 1904 at the age of 25; her letters were published in 1911 under a title translated as 'Out of Darkness Comes Light'. President Sukarno declared her a National Hero in 1964 and set her birthday as a national commemoration. Schools and offices hold ceremonies at which women and girls wear kebaya, the traditional fitted blouse, with batik or sarong, and there are fashion parades, cooking contests, seminars on women's issues and discounts aimed at female customers. It is not a public holiday, so workplaces stay open. This countdown ticks to midnight Western Indonesia Time in Jakarta on April 21.