Titiek Puspa

I think everyone has their own hero. Some people adore Kartini for her struggle in education, some might adore Cut Nyak Dien for her braveness, or perhaps some might adore Martha Tillaar for her creative innovative talent in beauty world. However, I choose Titiek Puspa as my hero. Titiek Puspa is a senior singer who sings for more than 50 years. She has 14 grandchildren and she is still making her career in singing and composing songs. Titiek Puspa was born in Tanjung, South Kalimantan on November 1st,1937. Titiek Puspa who was named Soemarti when she was a child, she loved to sing ever since she was a kid. She and her sister sang together, they liked to sing Javanese songs.In 1954, she decided to join a singing competition but her father disliked her decision. Though she made her way in the music stage. In 1954 she won the championship and she was asked to perform on the stage by Sjaiful Bachri, the head of Symphony Orchestra, Jakarta to sing “Chandra Buana” which was Ismail Marzuki’s work. Up to now she has produced ± 400 – 600 songs, such as “Minah Gadis Dusun”, “Kupu-kupu Malam”, “Bing”. Those songs show not only about love but also the portrayal of social and friendship. Therefore, I adore Titiek Puspa for several reasons.

First, I adore her because she is a woman who has inspired so many people through her beautiful and ever lasting songs. She is not only a singer, but also a composer. She is inspired to create songs every day. Even though once she is in bed, she always has notes in her head. Then she she starts creating those notes, sings the notes, then the notation is written on the piece of paper. She has made lots of songs with her deepest empathy and sympathy. Those songs have talked about people who are always forgotten and cornered by their environment, for example a song about the life struggle of a prostitute in ‘Kupu-Kupu malam’ or The life of a village girl in ‘Bimbi’ . She has picked up some inspiring themes in her songs. Those themes are translated into many different songs. She started from the sadness point of human’s life, for example: the death of parents or beloved people and the other life stories.

Secondly, Titiek Puspa is a wonderful hero for me because, she has portrayed an independent woman. In her early carreer, she has shown her thoughts and attitude that she tried hard to perform her singing ability on stage. However, her parents didn’t agree with what she wanted to do. They didn’t want their daughter to be an artist or a singer. However, Titiek Puspa has shown her ability to follow her dream. Having her stage name, Titiek Puspo, she started to join competition. In 1954, she joined a competition and she got the 2nd place of ‘Bintany Rodio RRI’ , Semarang. Then since 1960, she started her career as the singer of Symphony Djakarta Orchestra. The way how she shows her thoughts with song really teaches me that women have the opportunity to say what they want.

Finally, Titiek Puspa is a hero because she strives for the weak people. Titiek Puspa always struggles for good causes as she has struggled with her own challenges in life. She always defends those on the weaker side without taking personal advantage.For one thing, Titiek Puspa defended Inul Daratista-one of the "dangdut singers" in Indonesia-when so many people blamed Inul for her drilling dancing. Everybody said that she has shown erotic dancing which tease the viewers. Though moslem leaders had confronted her, Titiek Puspa stayed by her side as she could put herself in Inul’s position. Titiek Puspa strived to help Inul and her difficult situation.

In conclusion, I think Titiek Puspa has been a great Indonesian woman who portrays inspiration, independent, and women’s struggle. So I think she deserves to be everybody’s hero. We can learn a lot from her . Furthermore, there should be more women like Titiek Puspa, to do and to continue what she has done. I think that it’s a great advantage when Indonesian women want to take a look on what she has done for us. So in the future there will be more women who want to carry out lots of ideas, inspirations and braveness.