Happy Father's Day, Mother Initiated Day

Illustration (Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Today, November 12, Indonesia commemorates National Father's Day. Uniquely, what initiated this day was not fathers, but mothers.

According to the kemdikbud.go.id website, the history of Father's Day originated from the initiative of mothers who are members of the Association for the Son of Mother Earth (PPIP).

Initially, in 2014, PPIP held a Mother's Day celebration in Solo by holding a Letter Writing Competition for Mothers. This event was greeted enthusiastically by the participants so they asked when the same commemoration for my father would be held.

On 12 November, PPIP announced a Father's Day declaration for Indonesia and set the date as National Father's Day Commemoration. The commemoration that coincides with the health day has the motto 'Hopefully Mr Wise, Healthy Father, Papah Jaya'.

Apart from Solo, the Father's Day declaration was also held in Maumere, Flores, NTT. In the declaration, a book of Memories for a Father was launched, which contained 100 letters of Indonesian children selected from the Contest to Write a Letter to a Father.

After the declaration, the committee sent the book and Father's Day declaration charter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and regents in 4 corners of Indonesia, namely Sabang, Merauke, Sangir Talaud, and Rote Island. After that, every November 12th is designated as National Father's Day.

Father's Day in the United States

Indonesia is not the only country where Father's Day is initiated by mothers. The United States also has a similar history. Only a few know that the first time to hold Father's Day there was a woman.

As quoted by nationalgeographic.com, the 62-year anniversary of Father's Day was initiated by Sonora Louise Smart Dodd.

By the time he was 16 years old, his father was widowed and had to raise Dodd and his five younger brothers. In 1909, Dodd was touched to see the people celebrating Mother's Day. He realized the need to make a day to celebrate his father just as everyone else celebrates Mother's Day.

From there Dodd was encouraged to make a petition to commemorate Father's Day, which he said should be celebrated on his father's birthday in early June. Initially his petition only resulted in two signatures, but he did not give up. He convinced several local church communities to participate. Dodd set a deadline for the campaign until the end of June.

Finally, Dodd hosts a celebration of Father's Day first in Spokane, Washington. The event continues to encourage Dodd to promote Father's Day to be recognized as a national memorial. For nearly half a century, Dodd toured the United States, campaigning for Father's Day.

If Mother's Day was declared a national holiday in 1914, then Father's Day was only recognized nationally in 1972. Over the years Presidents Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, and Lyndon B.Johnson supported Father's Day as a holiday, but no one ratified it. laws for it during their tenure. Two years later, it was during President Richard Nixxon's time that the regulation was promulgated.