International Journal of Indonesian Studies Volume 1, Issue 3 | Page 140

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN STUDIES
SPRING 2016
Rendra uses the metaphor of ‘pelacur,’ a slut or prostitute, again in the poem,
‘Bersatulahpelacur-pelacurkota Jakarta’ or “Prostitutes of Jakarta – Unite!’ written in 1968
to refer to the people of Indonesia. The writer is the speaker in this poem, as in many of
Rendra’s poems.
By the 1970s, Rendra was the vanguard of left-wing political analysis and he
highlighted the class polarisation and associated exploitation of the proletariat in this poem
(Lane 2009). He supports the Jakarta prostitutes and urges them to rise up against the
leaders of the revolution who act as they want and in so doing, makes them suffer. The
speaker reminds the prostitutes of the misery they experience which is due to their
inappropriate actions. These leaders use the prostitutes and they are also the ones who
would seek to crush them because they foolishly believe they are the source of Indonesia’s
cancerous society. The speaker invokes
‘You are a part of the proletariat
they have created’

(Ibid.p.31)

The title of this poem is a play on the Marxist slogan of, ‘Workers of the world unite.’
The people have been used and abused, as prostitutes are and then are left scared, shamed
and weakened. The lack of employment is the main reason these women have become
prostitutes. He states that the reason why the prostitutes of Jakarta service the politicians
and senior-civil-servants is due to the very real threat of hunger, the yoke of poverty, the
long futile search for work. He adds, too, that there is no point in getting an education, as
this will not raise you out of poverty. Thus, Rendra invokes dialectical materialism as Marx
defined because of the class divisions in Indonesian society and what this means for the
poor.
Initially, Rendra opposed Communist sympathisers. However, as the tyranny of the
Suharto years compounded, his poetry and plays became more and more left wing in tone
and the ideas expressed.
Prostitutes are those on the lowest rung of the class structure and it is they who
must carry the revolution to its rightful outcome for they are the ones blamed by the
leaders for the desperate state of the Indonesian nation. However, it is difficult to denigrate
such people beyond their current despair,
‘It is harder to put you down
than a political party’

(Ibid. p.31)

The poet allows for regret but despair is not to be permitted.
‘Regret as you may
But don’t despair
Or allow yourselves to be sacrificed.’

(ibid. p.27)
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