During a ceremony held at the ambassadorial residence in Central Jakarta on Wednesday, Belgian Ambassador to Indonesia Stéphane de Loecker presented Julia the Order of the Crown on behalf of Belgium’s King Philippe.

The ambassador said in his remarks that the award was a "highly regarded honorific distinction only rarely attributed to non-Belgian personalities of particular merit".

“Your writing always has a unique flavor, mixing your broad experience and an acute sense of observation and analysis of political and social life over the years with a freedom of thinking that is becoming unusual in these times of gregarian behavior and simplified thinking, dictated by social media,” Loecker said during the ceremony, which was also streamed live.

A columnist at The Jakarta Post, Julia is known for her outspoken stances on sex, politics and religious issues. She has been described as Indonesia's most provocative columnist for her often controversial and unconventional views, which are frequently supported by anecdotes, humor, irony and sarcasm.

“I became a feminist very early on. I continue to be a fervent feminist, yet I also often feel uncomfortable being boxed in as one,” she said in her address.

Read also: Loving God by loving transgender people 

Julia has been writing about feminism since the New Order era. In 2011, she published State Ibuism, which explores the social construction of womanhood under the authoritarian regime from 1966 to 1998. The book began as an unpublished thesis offering a case study of state control over society.

In 2013, she published a collection of her English-language columns in Julia’s Jihad: Tales of the Politically, Sexually and Religiously Incorrect, Living in the Chaos of the Biggest Muslim Democracy. Another anthology of her writing, Sex, Power and Nation, was published in 2004.

Julia was also part of the activist group Suara Ibu Peduli (voices of caring mothers). The group staged a small protest against high food prices at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in early 1988.

In her speech at Wednesday’s ceremony, Julia said she did not expect the honor for doing what she did, noting that her work was its own reward.

“This Order of the Crown I am being decorated with today has made people look at me with even greater appreciation and respect. Some have asked, what have you done to deserve this? I said, by doing what I love, what I am passionate about and what I believe in,” she said. 

Julia is writing a biography of Saparinah Sadli, an academic, human rights activist and prominent feminist born in 1926 who helped found the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan).

Julia is also working on a book of profiles of Indonesian feminists, a book on her experience recovering from cancer and an anthology of feminist Indonesian history. (dis)

Popular

Brazilian hiker's family criticises speed of Rinjani rescue effort

Resisting oppression with speculative fiction: Anselma’s path to Nebula Awards

Labubu dolls ride China soft-power wave