By Dini Febriani (Dinay)
After having lunch at a roadside, which was quite nearby the National
Museum of Indonesia, we then headed to the next destination. This was
one of those museums that I was ridiculously eager to visit as what I
had browsed on the internet—I mean looking at lovely pictures on some
interesting blogs—greatly drove me to go see it by myself. Just like
what I have mentioned in the previous post, I was bummed out when I
found it closed. Really, though, I had to walk pretty much far to reach
it.
Um, actually it felt like a minute since the one I walked with was… Never mind.
“Now we’re getting there. Is your heart beating fast yet?” he said as he got quite ahead of me.
Of course it was beating fast.
And don’t walk too fast, please.
Now can you guys guess where we were?
Drum rolls, please!
 |
| *drum rolls* Uh oh, the letters could not be seen well from here |
Yep, it was
Museum Taman Prasasti (Museum of Memorial Stone
Park). Located at Jl. Tanah Abang 1, no. 1, it was not difficult to find
the gateway since it was right at the roadside. Ah, finally got to
visit this old cemetery!
Eh. It was only the two of us and a group of guys who were visiting
the museum at present. I had thought there would be teenagers having a
photoshoot for their year book, a couple having their pre-wedding
pictures taken, or at least a singer having his/her brand new music
video shot. Phew, phew! Oh, another good news; since it was alright and I
was allowed to use my camera inside this museum, here within this post I
provide you with some pictures. Teehee!
 |
| *still drum rolls* The gateway of the cemetery, eh, Museum of Memorial Stone Park |
Cemetery? Yes, you heard that right, buddy. This outdoor museum used
to be a Christian public cemetery during the Dutch colonial era, and it
was formerly called
Kebon Jahe Kober Cemetery. It was built in 1795 to replace a cemetery next to
Nieuw Hollandsche Kerk Church (now Museum of Wayang) and
Sion Church as the result of a prohibition from
Herman Willem Daendels (Governor General of the Dutch East Indies) of entombing corpses around churches and private lands.
In 1975,
Kebon Jahe Kober was closed due to the lack of
remaining space. All of the corpses were then relocated to other
cemeteries like Tanah Kusir and Menteng Pulo. There were no longer
corpses buried here today. It was only gravestones spared. So, there is
no need to feel frightened—if you do, but really?—to visit this museum,
okay? Okay.
People who had their final resting place here were Dutch nobles,
officials, famous figures, and other residents living in Batavia
(Jakarta in the past). So, there should be no surprise when you see
epitaphs on the gravestones are mostly written in a language you cannot
understand—unless you did learn Dutch, of course. Though it was built by
the Dutch government, apparently this cemetery was reserved for
non-Dutchmen as well. We could see it from some graves here which looked
far different from most others.
 |
| This one seemed to be a Chinese grave, considering the two lion statues placed by its two sides |
 |
| Recognise
the letters? This was a grave for 30 Japanese soldiers who died in 1942
when Japan invaded Indonesia. They were killed in Bogor by the allied
forces |
 |
| The man resting here was an American, named Edwin Rich Connell, a citizen of New York, who was born in Brooklyn and died in Batavia |
 |
| Mary Anne Mackenzie, a British woman, daughter of Captain G. Murray, who died at sea |
 |
| What I had been looking for since the first time I entered the museum, the grave of Soe Hok Gie,
a Chinese-Indonesian student activist. Due to the removal, his family
decided to cremate his corpse, then spreaded the ashes at Mandalawangi
Pangrango, his favourite place |
The gravestones here were mostly prettified with classical and
neogothic style. As generally known, the gravestones were crafted into
crosses, statues of male and female angels, and also statue of Jesus.
They represented the beautiful art of 18th and 19th century which
brought us to think of European old cemeteries. Not only did I like the
magnificence of its architecture, I was also interested in reading the
epitaphs carved on the gravestones. Very, very fascinating. Although
some statues were a bit broken, overall, all of the inscriptions still
looked decent, as they were mostly made of quality marbles, bronzes, and
natural stones which are weather resistants.
 |
| A
replica of the 17th century hearse. A hearse, at that time, indicated
the social status of a person, depending on the number of horses that
drew it |
 |
| This
was a grave of a Dutch family that resembled a house. We did open the
door, you know. Guess what we found? It was something shocking that
you’d never want to imagine. Ever! |
 |
| Hi, there, cutie… |
 |
| Well,
this was one of those statues which sadly had to lose part of their
bodies. See, she was too sad that she looked like she cried over her
arm… |
 |
| Hm, I thought it was a whole one grave, when in truth, there were two graves here. The large one was a grave of a woman named Alpheda Louisa Six, a daughter of Cornelis Charles baron Six van Oterleek, a Dutch politician |
 |
| This gravestone was way too cool! What made it even cooler was the fact that it was a grave of Dr. H. F. Roll, the founder of STOVIA (The School tot Opleiding van Inlandsche Artsen), a famous medicine school in Batavia where some national awakening leaders of Indonesia studied |
 |
| A majestic cross gravestone. Here rests U. M. F. Airey, son of a reverend |
 |
| A gloomy lady in veil |
 |
| A praying child looking up |
 |
| This
was her, the famous mourning lady which you can find in the front view
of the cemetery. With her face turned downward, she did look like she
was miserably in grief… |
 |
| There she was, another well-known weeping woman of the cemetery. Yep, she was crying over her late loved ones… |
 |
| Unlike her two friends, she seemed to be more settled |
 |
| Little angel, whatcha doin’? |
In spite of all the beauty we could find here, it was such an
unfortunate that the environment of this museum looked as if it had not
been maintained well. Grasses were all dried, barren, and in a mess.
Trees were arid and they did not shield the graves from the heat. And
even worse, some inscriptions were tragically vandalized by some
uneducated, irresponsible people. Sadly, those ignorant vandalists
appeared to be the local residents living around the museum who jumped
over from the back of the museum, according to one of the security
officers. How nasty!
 |
| Beside the green, green grass… Not |
 |
| “C’mon, grow more grasses!” Jesus commands |
 |
| Oh, please! |
 |
| Vandalism is the worst |
To be honest, I could not stand the ill-favoured view of stuffs
that obviously did not belong to the place. I believe anyone would not
want to see such an impropriety, too. For example, a glass of
already-drunk-coffee which was guiltlessly put on one of the
gravestones. Well? There were also a pot, I repeat, a miserable-looking
scorched pot, placed in front of a gravestone. Duh! Gutted in so many
levels, without a second thought, I got rid of the pot and grumbled.
If only government, caretakers, and visitors are willing to take care
of this museum decently, I believe this museum will get much
appreciation it certainly deserves from people, either native or
foreign. As one of the places where historical relics remain to be kept,
it is the responsibility of all to maintain the existence of the museum
for it should be here not only now, but also in the future. Surely it
is beyond wrong to do any harm to the place, since the museum was opened
by the government to help in obtaining the regional income. This cannot
turn out to be spending costs which are assuredly not a few only to
repair the damage.
Museum of Memorial Stone Park is a historical evidence that Batavia
was developed entirely by its diversity. That it was not only the
earlier local residents who contributed to build the city, but also
influences—for that matter, in a good, or even a bad way—brought by
foreigners who then happened to occupy the region and then assimilated
with them. We may not know who the people buried in the cemetery were.
We do not know if there used to be a doctor, a teacher, a merchant, an
officer, or anyone, who consciously or unconsciously took their part in
the history of Batavia. This museum is to remind us that those people
were alive, and once here, just like us now.
P.S. This is the end of this post. I would have said something
that sounded like a kind advice, but I thought I could not, for some
reason. Also, I don’t want to sound preachy. What I can say to you once
again is, Museum of Memorial Stone Park has to be listed as one of your
holiday destinations. The ticket price is definitely affordable and the
access to the museum is way easy. You will learn a lot here, or at least
get a little bit of something new to keep in your mind. I bet you will.
Oh, and remember, there is a special place in hell for vandalists.
So, turn to God in genuine repentance and faith will be saved!
No comments:
Post a Comment