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Jakarta Post

Jakartans band together to support families of deceased

For grieving families, taking care of all the preparations for a funeral after a loved one passes away, from tending to the body to acquiring a spot in a public cemetery, can be overwhelming

Nina A. Loasana (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Mon, October 14, 2019

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Jakartans band together to support families of deceased

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span>For grieving families, taking care of all the preparations for a funeral after a loved one passes away, from tending to the body to acquiring a spot in a public cemetery, can be overwhelming. But in some areas of bustling Jakarta, neighbors band together to take care of the deceased until they are laid in their final resting place.

Dimas Trisuseno, a 29-year-old man from West Jakarta, only had a few things to worry about when his father passed away following a heart attack several years ago.

Dimas, whose mother had passed away several years prior and whose relatives lived far away, said he was surprised to see that his neighbors had made all the preparations for his father’s funeral at his home only a few hours after his father’s passing.

“A few hours after my dad passed away, a tent was set up in front of my house and dozens of chairs had been placed under it, and there was food too. I was surprised, I didn’t even know where it all came from or who set it all up,” he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Dimas said he did not even need to pay for a burial spot in the nearby cemetery, nor deal with the paperwork or organize gravediggers.

“My dad passed away at around 9 p.m. After that, the neighborhood unit head came to me and asked where I wanted him to be buried. The next morning, everything related to the funeral had already been taken care of. I did not need to pay a cent or worry about anything,” he said.

Dimas said his neighbors tried their best to help his family during their time of mourning, even letting their front yards be used as parking spots for the funeral-goers. They sent meals to his home for several days after the funeral and gave him “mourning” money totaling around Rp 2 million (US$141).

Thanks to his neighbors’ help and generosity, Dimas said his family did not need to spend any money for his father's funeral, other than the hospital fees.

“My family only paid for the hospital services, which included tending to my dad’s body after his death, covering him with a shroud and taking him to the cemetery in an ambulance,” he said.

Meanwhile, a community unit in Pegadungan, West Jakarta, has taken their support for their grieving neighbors a step further.

They donated money to buy an ambulance so they could transport deceased members of their community to the cemetery for free.

Abdul Rozak Jakaria, the head of community unit (RW) 09, said that earlier this year the community bought an ambulance to transport the deceased from the hospital to their family's houses or to cemeteries. Even though such services are provided by almost all hospitals in Jakarta, he said, the costs could be quite expensive and could be a burden for the grieving families.

“The ambulance cost Rp 170 million and was bought with money collected from a shadaqah [donation] collected at a local mosque. Every member of the RW 09 can use the ambulance for free. The drivers’ salaries and the gas expenses are paid by the mosque,” he told the Post adding that it took the community less than a year to collect the money.

Abdul explained that after the plan to buy the ambulance was announced, the donations received by the mosque doubled.

“Usually the mosque receives donations of Rp 3.5 million a week but after the plan was announced it received Rp 7 million a week. We initially planned to buy the ambulance in installments, but after seeing the community’s enthusiasm, we decided to buy it with cash,” he said.

Abdul said every time a community member passed away, their neighbors would set up tents and chairs and prepare food for the mourners. The community also has a social fund to help pay the funeral costs of the less fortunate members of the community.

The members of the community pay for all the funeral expenses, which can total Rp 4 million to Rp 5 million per person.

“We take care of everything, from getting people to tend to the bodies, to buying shrouds, paying for burial spots and grave diggers and bringing the deceased to the cemetery,” he said, adding that the community also gave the grieving families mourning money.

Abdul said even though the ambulance was bought using the mosque’s donation funds, its services were not limited to the Muslim members of the community only.

“Every member of the community can use the ambulance or the social fund for free, no matter their religion,” he said.

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