In the first two weeks of July 1945, my father risked his life facing imperialist bullets on the beach at Balikpapan in the final major battle of World War Two. Dad saw many of his friends die.
They were fighting tyranny.
When dad got back from the war he hooked up with my mum, with whom he had been early childhood playmates, they married and, in 1957, I was born.
On July 28, 1902, R.A. Kartini wrote:
“No cloud lasts for ever; neither is there such a thing as eternal sun-shine. From the darkest night the most beautiful morning is born ……….. “
I have transcreated this into:
“Ya Hu Ya Nur Ya Quddus,
No cloud lasts forever.
There is no eternal sun.
Out of the darkest night the most beautiful morning’s born.”
R. A. Kartini also fought tyranny, but she did it not with the weapons of overwhelmingly male warfare, but the patience understanding and love of her profoundly female sensibility.
A lesson for us all.
Geoff Fox, June 22, 2026, Melbourne, Australia
ps I need people who can sing and write melody better than I can to turn the above transcreation into song. If it cant get started by July 28 this year, then Kartini Day, April 21 next year, will do for a first performance.
KARTINIISME 