Ask any Indonesian if they believe in ghosts and you’ll likely hear one of two answers: Either they have a friend or an ill-fated cousin who has had a brush-in with the supernatural, or they can share a few stories of their own that might keep you up at night.

But for some members of the country’s diplomatic corps — even among those who are posted abroad and are allegedly out of the reach of folksy Indonesian apparitions — their duties may sometimes bring them into the path of disembodied spirits.

The Jakarta Post’s Apriza Pinandita gathered a few of these troubling tales just in time for Halloween.

A room for one in New York

In New York City — “The City That Never Sleeps” — there is a spine-chilling story that is still being passed around the local community. At the Indonesian Consulate General on the Upper East Side, people still talk about a haunted room that was the site of an alleged suicide.

According to a 2006 report in The New York Times, an Indonesian man was found in a blood-splattered basement room of the consulate, “a knife protruding from his chest and one hand nearly severed at the wrist”.

The man, a tourist, had sought accommodations just a day before his body was found and was alone in the four-story mansion, with the exception of a security guard and a visiting diplomat, witnesses told the Times. There was no indication of a break-in or other foul play. Police ruled the death a suicide, although investigators said early on that it appeared to be a homicide.

The incident itself was outlived by stories of a wandering specter, which some suspect to be the tortured soul of the victim. Others believe there is a sinister presence in that building that led to the death of the tourist.

“I’ve heard about a foreign staffer who died at the office [...] and some people [claimed to] see the spirit there,” said one diplomat, who worked there between 2014 and 2018 and asked not to be named for fear of divine retribution.

The mysterious midnight party

Arguably one of the most famous ghost stories to be told among the diplomatic community, the “Curse of the Hope Diamond” lives on in the halls of the Walsh Mansion, a historic landmark in DuPont Circle, Washington, DC that now houses the Indonesian Embassy.

Prior to Indonesia’s acquisition of the building in 1951, the mansion was the epicenter of Washington society life, providing a setting for many social and political functions. In 1932, ownership fell to Evalyn Walsh, an American mining heiress and socialite who was notorious for being the last private owner of the 44.5-carat Hope Diamond, which was rumored to be cursed. Walsh experienced great misfortune after losing her son in a car accident and was betrayed by her husband and people started to associate it with the curse.

Years later, security guards still claim to have seen the figure of a lady wandering near the staircase, while others talk about mysterious era-specific parties after midnight that can be seen from the hotel rooms across from the building.

“I worked there for like three years but nothing strange happened to me,” Mukti Setianto, a diplomat, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. “However, my kid [who is sensitive to this kind of stuff] once saw [a ghost] inside the building.”

The Walsh mansion is not the only place to attract spirits, though. An official from the ministry, who also asked not to be named, recounted his experience living in Washington between 2005 to 2010. Anytime the official visits the Indonesian ambassador’s residence, he claims to hear a television set from one of the guest rooms turn on, the sound of static filling an otherwise empty part of the house.

“I often hear footsteps from the attic on the third floor,” the source said.

In Singapore, a homesick lady

Dumas Radityo, a diplomat at the Foreign Ministry, still vividly remembers the day he found the motivation to complete his tasks and fulfil his duties, even if it meant working around the clock.

As a junior diplomat working at the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore in 2006, he was tasked with handling a suicide case involving an Indonesian migrant worker who had allegedly jumped off the 12th floor of an HDB building — a high-rise public housing — in Choa Chu Kang, a residential town in the western region of the island state.

“Some time around 4 a.m. I went [to the crime scene] to pick up the body [of the victim]. Then at 9 a.m. I went to the morgue to help with the [post-mortem] examination. We had to report back to the family [soon] so I worked pretty much until 10 p.m.,” Dumas told the Post recently.

After finishing up, Dumas said he went back to his apartment near Chatsworth Road where the embassy was located. He was planning to go straight to bed so he would be well-rested for the next day, until he turned to face the doorway.

In the dark, a lady entered his room and walked slowly toward him — the ambient light gradually revealing her blood-splattered face.

As he was still trying to make sense of what was happening, the lady told him something the diplomat will likely remember for the rest of his life: “Pak, I am tired [...] I have been examined by the doctors, so please send me home immediately.”

“I was sure it was her [the victim] because I was the one who picked up the body and sent her onto the ambulance and so on, so I could identify [her],” he said, recalling the moment.

Right away, he jumped off the bed and rushed back to his office to finish all the paperwork needed to complete the process of returning the victim’s body to Indonesia.

“The next morning, I reported the incident to the deputy chief of mission and told him what had happened — and then I asked him to sign the documents as soon as possible,” Dumas said.

“Apparently, my diplomatic duty extends [to the other side].”

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