6 Inspiring Women of Quipper Reflects on Kartini’s Legacy and Gender Equality
Every year on the 21st of April, we celebrate Kartini Day to commemorate the birth of Raden Ajeng Kartini, one of the country’s national heroes and a symbol of women’s empowerment in Indonesia for promoting gender equity and women’s rights. She also promoted the lifelong pursuit of education for women.
For many Indonesian women, Raden Ajeng Kartini is a figure they associate themselves with. She’s a feminist and one of the pioneers who fought for women’s rights and education during the Dutch colonial period back at that time.
Her courage, grit, and mission become an inspiration and always be to many Indonesian women, including the women of Quipper.
Meet the women of Quipper Yusniar Munir, Karina Poerba, Adinda Mahakita, Dessy Karlina, Ivonny Sualdani, and Hanani Faiza who deliver some messages and their point of view towards feminism, women’s empowerment, gender equality as well as women’s role in education.
Yusniar Munir - HR Manager Quipper Indonesia
The Strong Power in Every Woman
For Yusniar Munir, HR Manager Quipper Indonesia, feminism is about being able to excel in your field of interest or even everything you do without forgetting the essence of being a woman.
“Woman is a very strong creature that God has created who is capable of many things and able to do so many things at the same time. She is that powerful that based on Islamic belief, God put paradise under her feet. So with this power, she can make the world a better place to live in as well as the opposite. She is capable of being successful as well as being the person behind the success of her kids and husband, even the success of a nation. She celebrates her success and embraces her failure.”
Women with children are life-givers, they use their strong power to help us understand the world around us and most importantly, she plays the role of a child’s first teacher. ”Each woman must equip themselves with all necessary knowledge and skills to raise their children. Women bring changes to society and community as they are very influential.”
Niar takes Kartini for example on how she influenced the mindset of the women in her community and society, and eventually in her nation. According to Niar, women need to be mentally, physically, spiritually, and materially strong. Educated women are involved and they stand up for equality in rights and insist on affirmative actions and even more in the future.
My Messages To All Women
Love and respect yourself. Before asking anyone to do those to us, we have to love and respect ourselves first. Indonesian women as well as other women I know are so kind and giving, that sometimes they tend to forget to give themselves what they need.
Be friends and wise with technology. The world is currently facing fast-changing technology and information. As much as we ride with the advancing and changing technology and information, we also need to wisely filter what kind of information that we need to use and share with our children and society. Stay focused on what’s important for ourselves first then for our loved ones and society.
Use your power for the good. Women have the power to make or break a man, family, society, or even a country, use it wisely to shape the future of ourselves and our community.
Be independent, be brave, take risks, and believe in yourself! This will boost women’s confidence. Never feel regretful of anything that happens to our life, enjoy all processes, even failure is a ground for learning to succeed and rise up higher. Keep learning, keep reading, expand your knowledge, upgrade your skills so we can inspire others.
How does Quipper value gender equality?
Quipper values equality to the highest level. Everybody has equal opportunity to excel regardless of their gender. In Quipper, the current ratio of male and female employees are almost equal. At the top management level, we have more female managers who take strategic positions. We also have increasing number of #womanintech who are part of product management, engineering, design, and data teams.
Karina Poerba - Marketing Associate Manager
True Feminism Is About Equality
Looking at feminism from her point of view, Karina points out “Feminism is all about equality. To be able to live our lives not worrying about being assumed, questioned, or belittled due to one’s gender. That every human deserves to be treated equally and kindly. That’s the kind of world I would like to live in.”
As we celebrate Kartini Day this month, we ask her what message she would like to convey and express to beautiful women around her.
“I’ve received so much strength from my awesome friends & co-workers that I’d like to relay their words in hope to give you the same affirmation that: You are special, you are worth it, I believe you can do it — and I’m proud of you!”
How does Quipper value gender equality?
It’s been a pleasure to work in the comfortable environment Quipper provides. In a company that values your work process and results, appreciation and credit are always given when it’s due. Everyone gets the equal amount of opportunity and support, which enables each and every one of us to work our best.
Ivonny Sualdani - Strategy & Planning Manager
Understanding Feminism from Ivonny’s Perspective
According to Ivonny, feminism is the freedom to choose and speak up. A process to eliminate the dogma that exists in a society that women should be silent and only accept what is given to them. She mentioned that women in the world have only received 77 percent of the wages paid to men in the past 20 years as stated in a UN ILO World Labor Organization report. Many girls drop out of school and end up getting married because their parents see their daughter as unprofitable in terms of economic investment. Ivonny highlights that feminism works towards creating equality between men and women.
Feminism does not mean belittling men, but rather in the direction of providing equal freedom for women to do what they choose in life, to actualize themselves and to make mistakes. In addition, from the women’s side, we must realize that we are valuable, we are loved. A woman must have a clear vision of her life and have the courage to take a step. Once you have successfully filled yourself with competence and capacity, people will not judge your outward appearance.
In reflecting on progress toward gender equality, she mentioned “As time goes by, I am happy and very proud of the birth of many extraordinary women in Indonesia who dare to raise their voices, take actions to show their character, competence, and capacity. Give permission to yourself to fly, you don’t need any permissions from anyone else. Make choices and speak up!”
Women making the world a better place for us all
As we grew up and were educated in the teachings of a mother, Ivonny believed that women play central roles in education. “A woman with the specificity of her feelings and life experiences is able to bring education to things that are more practical, as we know, education is not only about teaching but to encourage. With women who encourage us, we can make the world a better place. We can raise children with good ethics, teach them to be courageous and responsible for their life,” she said. “With women who encourage us, we can be more confident to speak up and confident with our goals in life because they not only teach us in mind but also touch us in the heart.”
How does Quipper value gender equality?
Quipper is the best place to work that values gender equality. This can be seen from the many important and strategic positions led by women. The content of yourself is most valuable here, rather than your gender. I remember how the leaders at Quipper also value women as housewives who have to prioritize their families under certain circumstances and continue to support them in other roles besides as employees.
Dessy Karlina - Finance & Accounting Manager
The Past, Present, and Future of Women in Society
According to Dessy, throughout history, our society has always prioritized the male point of view, that women are treated unjustly and become the victims of a patriarchal society. “Actually women can do a lot of things that men can’t do. Women can be labor, driver, plumber, teacher, and especially they can give birth. That would make women stronger than men.”
Despite the fact that our societies get wrong about women for a long time, women are running fast and catching up.
Here in Quipper, every woman has the equality to be on top. We have the opportunity to lead, show, and express ourselves. In Quipper, we’re all Distributors of Wisdom that bring the best education to all corners of the world.
For Dessy, with education, we can prepare smart women by starting them to pursue their dreams, for example by entering higher education. Smart women have a bright future, she’s capable of being a mother figure that raises and teaches their children.
Adinda Mahakita - Quipper School Premium Associate Manager
Empowered Women Empower Others
Adinda Mahakita reminds us how critical it is to close the gender gap when we talked about feminism. “For me, feminism is about closing the gender gap in many aspects which are not only for women but also men. Thus, it takes she and he — us to build an environment where we have equal rights and opportunities to unleash our full potential.”
Since we celebrated Kartini Day, Adinda encouraged women to grow at her own pace.
In the spirit of Kartini Day, we shall remember that you and I are capable of doing beautiful and great things for ourselves and others. We have every right to bloom at our own pace and our own ways. Don’t let anyone dull your sparkle.
She also reminds us about equity of opportunity in education. “I believe empowered women empower others. Therefore, it is important for us to contribute, no matter how big or small, in ensuring everyone has opportunities to access education for academic, personal and professional development,” she said.
How does Quipper value gender equality?
Ever since I joined Quipper, I could feel Quipper is a ground where everyone has equal opportunities to grow. Moreover, they help each other to grow. There is no differentiation between a she or he, it has always been a we. We’re here in Quipper working and growing to be better together.
Hanani Faiza - Content Manager Quipper Indonesia
At Its Core, Feminism is About Equality
For Hanani Faiza, feminism is about equality for basic human rights and justice for everyone. She points out “Women and minorities have been silenced for far too long, we just want our rights and needs to be heard. We want the same opportunity. We want to feel safe walking down the street without feeling scared that we’re going to be harassed. We want to show the world that we’re more than capable of doing anything that we set our minds to. We want to chase our dreams.”
The Value of Women
For women in society, Hanani Faiza highlights that all women are more than what society tells us should be. “We are smart. We are beautiful. We are hard workers. And most importantly, we are stronger together. Stop putting other people down, especially fellow women, to bring ourselves up. Stop comparing ourselves with other people. We have our own dreams,” she told us. “Let’s put our time and effort into showing our family, colleagues, strangers, and the world that we’re not going anywhere. Show what we can do with our actions, not just our words.”
Let’s not forget how women play critical roles in education. Hanani mentioned that “Women play an important role in education, always is and always will be. We are the first teachers for our sons and daughters. We are our own role model and a force to be reckoned with.”
How does Quipper value gender equality?
Based on my experience, I think Quipper has the highest respect for gender equality. What we see and evaluate at work are based solely on performance, not by our gender. Proven by more than half of leaders in Quipper Indonesia are women. I feel honored to have so many role models that I could look up to in Quipper. We’re not competing against each other, but we’re supporting and empowering each other to be better.
