As you are hopefully aware, yesterday was International Women’s Day. It’s a day to reflect on the enormous challenges women face in society (sadly, we covered several stories about violence against women that were reported on that same day) as well as honor and recognize just how much women truly contribute and accomplish.
We read many touching tributes from people yesterday honoring the important women in their lives, but one of the best we saw came from Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama. In posts on his social media pages yesterday, Ahok explained why Veronica means so much to him in a message that has earned over 150,000 likes between Facebook and Instagram.
https://www.facebook.com/AhokBTP/posts/1443753722310984
“Happy International Women’s Day to women in Jakarta and Indonesia. And especially to Veronica, wife and the mother of my children, I salute all of her hard work. She is not just my companion, but my true partner and equal. She is a hard worker who devotes so much time to training women in Jakarta, especially those living in Rusunawa (low-cost housing) to learn skills such as batik so that they can become entrepreneurs.”
In addition to her work to promote job training and entrepreneurship amongst low-income women, as the chairwoman of the Jakarta Family Welfare Movement (PKK), Veronica has also helped spearhead the creation of numerous new family friendly parks throughout Jakarta.
Ahok has certainly faced some tough challenges and may face his greatest yet in next month’s runoff election. He seems very lucky to have such a woman supporting and standing by him.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BNmKBoNAgCB/?taken-by=basukibtp
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