The Indonesian Way of Death

January 30th, 2008, in Opinion, by Ross

Some of you probably watch Metro TV’s English language news programme and I did last week. Most of the news was predictable, but one part caught my attention, namely the feature on the recently launched enterprise known as “Royal Casket”. This little business is apparently getting bigger, and has a huge potential market, for it caters to dead bules (ed. westerners).

Actually, it’s both good business and a valuable service, for it apparently handles all the arrangements for expats who die here. If your loved ones are far away, it is bound to be hard for them to navigate through the bureaucracy that Indonesia delights in. Not having died recently, I don’t know the ins and outs of the administrative process, but I imagine even getting a death certificate requires a deal of cash, not to mention a waiting game while the correct pen-pushers are located.

So good luck to Royal Casket, which even won a televised endorsement from the British Consul.

But what stuck in my craw was the inclusion of the promo - it was hardly news at all - of the name of a deceased English fellow complete with film of his corpse being prepared for despatch!

Local TV does not have the inhibitions of British or indeed most Anglo-Saxon media about displaying cadavers. That’s just a different way of looking at death, a cultural thing which we must accept. But Metro’s weekly news round-up is aimed at foreigners and ought to have an insight or two into what passes for respect in the bule world. Their staff are educated people and are in the habit of meeting foreigners. Surely the close-up identification of a dead young Englishman was utterly unnecessary?

Tags: Administrative Process, British Consul, Bule, Bules, Culture, Education, English, Foreigners, Good Business, Indonesians, Language, Languages, Media, Metro TV, Potential Market, Television, TV, Weekly News, Western, Westerners

7 Comments on “The Indonesian Way of Death”

Martin Manurung Says:
January 30th, 2008 at 11:52 am
I don’t know about foreigners, but when my grandma passed away, everything was done by the hospital. The death certificate was not complicated. After we got a death report from the hospital, we just went to our Kelurahan and we got the certificate instantly with no fees.
Janma Says:
January 30th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
I’ve had to sort out arrangements for a few foreigners who have died here…. it’s not too hard really. The hospital does most of it. We even got money to help from Jasa Raharja for Olivia’s funeral (she was 16 and killed in a motor bike accident… but had no insurance).. I didn’t even know she would get that, they contacted me to give the money over….
Janma Says:
January 30th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Oh, and on topic about seeing dead people on tv…. you should watch the lunchtime crime shows ross! unbelievable… absolutely no compunction at all about showing a two year old with it’s throat slit lying in blood beside his mother who is screaming and writhing on the floor…. all in time for the kids getting home from school. Forget smackdown being a worry, those things make smackdown look like disney!
dewaratugedeanom Says:
January 31st, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Reality TV, isn’t that a US invention?
Bas Says:
February 1st, 2008 at 10:06 pm
The real Reality TV is in Indonesia. You see nothing in the US.
Ross Says:
February 2nd, 2008 at 11:11 am
Ya, Janma, watch crime progs most days. Just thought Metro might have had some compunctions re the poor Englishman’s kinfolk.
Happily I have had no experience in such matters here (bereavement, not crime) so interesting to hear it is not too hard.
Purba Negoro Says:
September 5th, 2008 at 1:14 am
Maybe the Westerner is too much like little girl these days?