 By 1932, the year she joined Palestina Opera in Batavia (modern-day Jakarta), Roekiah had become a well-known stage actress and singer of kroncong music (traditional music with Portuguese influences). She was admired not only for her voice, but her beauty. While with Palestina she met Kartolo, an actor, pianist, and songwriter with the troupe; they married later that year. The new couple soon left Palestina, then took a month's hiatus before joining the group Faroka on a tour in Singapore. They returned to the Indies in 1936.
