4. Set to Sail

For the women in the novel, the song, and the short play that are the focus of this chapter, boats represent possibility. Perahu Kertas [Paper Boats] by Dee Lestari follows the story of Kugy, who dreams of someday being an author of stories for children. On the surface, the book is the kind of light romance women authors are often accused of writing, instead of “serious literature.” Kugy writes her dreams on boats made of paper and sets them to sea, eventually realizing the power of being true-to-herself.The island of Ambon, part of the Maluku islands in Indonesia, is the imagined home in both Dapur [The Kitchen] by Luna Vidya and the song “Gunung Salahutu/ʻO Honolulu Kuʻu Home” by Vanessa Alputila. In both, characters struggle to picture their new destination as “home” and boats represent voyages of trespassing against unrealized hopes.