Mother's Day - IndonesianPod101

Mother's Day

Learn all about Mother's Day

Vocabulary (Review)

Learn New Words FAST with this Lesson’s Vocab Review List

Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.

Select your level

Or sign up using Facebook

By clicking Join Now, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and to receive our email communications, which you may opt out at any time.

Already a Member?

Lesson Transcript

Culture Class: Holidays in Indonesia, Lesson 11 - Mother's Day

Hello, and welcome to the Culture Class- Holidays in Indonesia Series at IndonesianPod101.com. In this series, we’re exploring the traditions behind Indonesian holidays and observances. I’m Eric, and you're listening to Season 1, Lesson 11, Mother's Day. In Indonesian, it’s called Hari Ibu.

Mother's Day, commemorated on December 22nd in Indonesia, was started due to the efforts of Indonesian female fighters in 1928. Mother's Day was commemorated by these women in honor of their status as the Mothers of the Nation.

In this lesson, we’ll learn about how how Mother's Day is interpreted in Indonesia.

Now, before we go into more detail, do you know the answer to this question-

Do Indonesians also celebrate the international Mother's Day held in May?

If you don't already know, you’ll find out a bit later. So, keep listening.

As an officially recognized holiday, Mother's Day is commemorated at government events with official flag ceremonies in which all the flag raisers and officers are female. Many people also commemorate Mother's Day by relieving their mothers, or in Indonesian ibu, from their daily duties. On that day, husbands and children cook special food and give presents, or hadiah, to their mothers. However, unlike other countries, giving a bouquet to one’s mother on Mother's Day is not a common tradition in Indonesia.

In North Sumatra, Mother's Day is commemorated by washing mothers’ feet. There's a popular proverb familiar to all Indonesians that says “Heaven is beneath mother's foot.” This foot-washing ceremony invites tears, or air mata and sobs, or sedu sedan, from both mothers and children.

In Sragen, Mother's Day is livened up with a traditional competition of various games. The children, or anak-anak, are the ones that participate, but the committee that decides the winners is made up of the mothers. There are also games in which mothers and children both participate. Sometimes they must strap wooden boards to their feet to walk together, or sometimes they must balance a balloon between their backs as they run a race together. Whatever the activity, the goal is to foster feelings of closeness between mother and child through mutual cooperation.

Now it's time to answer our quiz question-

Do Indonesians also celebrate the international Mother's Day held in May?

International Mother's Day in May is not recognized by most Indonesian people, but some people still choose to celebrate it casually. National Mother's Day is celebrated nationally and is a state event.