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Jakarta Post

Weekly 5: Street names remember heroic women

(JP/Adhi Bhaskara)Among the streets bearing the names of heroes, there are at least five that commemorate national female heroes

The Jakarta Post
Fri, April 25, 2014

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Weekly 5: Street names remember heroic women (JP/Adhi Bhaskara) (JP/Adhi Bhaskara)

(JP/Adhi Bhaskara)

Among the streets bearing the names of heroes, there are at least five that commemorate national female heroes. Although less than their male counterparts in number, these women are in no way any less heroic. Here are five streets in Greater Jakarta that feature the names of these fine females:

Jl. Cut Meutia

This short-street in Menteng, Central Jakarta, is well-known for its mosque and park, which bear the same name.

Cut Nyak Meutia was born in 1870 in Keureutoe, North Aceh, and was named a national hero by presidential decree in 1964, Meutia led Acehenese soldiers in the fight against the Dutch. She died during one such battle in Allue Kurieng in 1910.

Jl. Kartini Raya

The street in Central Jakarta is next to the Ciliwung River and runs parallel to Jl. Gunung Sahari. At the southern end, the street connects to Jl. H. Samanhudi, while at its northern end meets Jl. Mangga Besar.

Famous for being the center for fish, aquarium and reptile merchants, the street boasts more than 50 kiosks.

Around Jl. Kartini Raya, there are several smaller streets named Kartini like Kartini I and Kartini II. Many of the houses on the smaller streets are boarding houses popular among women who work in the area.

Kartini is the only female hero whose birthday is celebrated as a national day.

Kartini was known for her ideals on equality as reflected in her letters to her friends in Europe. Later, the letters were compiled into a book entitled Habis Gelap Terbitlah Terang (From Darkness into Light).

Jl. Cut Nyak Dien

Connected to Jl. Cut Meutia in the north, Jl. Cut Nyak Dien stretches northwest to southeast, with its south end meeting Jl. RP Suroso.

The street is a fairly quiet residential neighborhood in Menteng but it is also home to the Kunstkring Art Gallery, which was built in 1914 and was the Central Jakarta Immigration Office from 1950 to 1997 and later the controversial Buddha Bar.

Cut Nyak Dien, a national hero born in 1908 in Aceh, swore that she would beat the Dutch after they killed her husband, Teuku Ibrahim Lamnga, in 1878. She later married Teuku Umar, who also become a national hero, in 1880, but he died in 1899 during the attack on Meulaboh city in Aceh.

After he second husband died, she continued to fight the Dutch with her small army. She passed away on Nov. 6, 1908, after being arrested and exiled to Sumedang. She is buried in Gunung Puyuh, Sumedang in West Java.

Her story was the subject of Tjoet Nja'€™ Dhien, an award winning movie by director and screenwriter Eros Djarot in 1988, starring Christine Hakim as Cut Nyak Dien.

Jl. HR Rasuna Said


Jl. HR Rasuna Said is one of the three axis of the so called golden triangle along with Jl. Jend. Sudirman and Jl. Gatot Subroto, both were male national heroes of military background.

The street in South Jakarta is a host to several embassies, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and Health Ministry, among others. It also has several starred hotels and high rise office buildings.

Rasuna Said was a nationalist activist who was a member of the Sarekat Rakjat (People'€™s Union) in West Sumatra. She was incarcerated by the Dutch administration in 1932 because of her criticism of injustice during the Dutch colonial era.

Jl. Dewi Sartika

Located in East Jakarta, the street is intersected with Jl. Otto Iskandar Dinata and Cawang Grogol toll road.

The famous shopping center Pusat Grosir Cililitan (PGC) is located at the south end of the street.

Dewi Sartika, born on Dec. 4, 1884, into a blue-blooded Sundanese family, was the pioneer of education for girls in West Java.

In 1904, she established the first school for women in Bandung and later in 1920 each district in the old territory of Pasundan (West Java) had its own school.

At that time, it was not only women who were not allowed access to education but also the poor, but Dewi Sartika managed to break both barriers.

The Dutch East Indies government decorated her with a medal for her service to education. '€” JP

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