Endless field of crosses
Although the sponsor doesn’t show up at all without any information whatsoever, I went there yesterday morning. The Erebegraafplaats Menteng Pulo (Menteng Pulo honorary field), a Dutch world war veteran. 4’300 Dutch veteran and troops from the UK and Australian Allied Force army who fights during Japanese attack rest here, many unnamed.
Without the proper letters from the authority, picture taking is strictly forbidden though, so because I’ve came anyway, I just take a walk around the place.
There’s no elaborate graves at all like the traditional Chinese ancestral burial. There’s only row and row of white plaques showing the name, birth and deceased date (if available) and their religion through shape of the plaques. Each are not artsy or elaborate, but 4’300 of these neatly arranged in about six or seven sections with monuments in between, the whole is more than sum of its parts.
There’s also a church building in the middle, next to columbarium for the cremated. The curator (?) said it’s still used sometimes for ceremonial. Looks like it would be a beautiful small chapel for wedding ceremony, if you would accept that this is in the middle of dead men’s land.
Because I arrived to this place walking through the Menteng public cemetery ground, comparison should be made. The whole place is covered in neatly trimmed green grass, and the uniformity, it’s made as a park well maintained. Well, there’s not many visitors anyway, and there’s no locals making kiosks selling snack or flowers inside.
Unsurprisingly, although the gardener are locals, the management is handled by office under the Dutch government. Ah, that explains, considering the condition of many museums in Indonesia that look dark and shabby. Wonderful isn’t it, a care given even though these kind of place might not make money like freeway or shopping malls, they still get budget. :D
Quoting article from the newspaper when there’s a burglary in a museum in Yogyakarta costing ancient gold coins from centuries ago, being placed in museum is analogous to being exiled for public official because the power that be doesn’t like them; like the local version of “sent as ambassador”.