Macabre profession an old man's way of life<\/p>\n
By Joko Sarwono<\/p>\n
BOGOR, West Java (JP): In Islamic teaching washing the dead is
\na responsibility of the living. But just looking at bodies,
\nespecially those which are barely recognizable as humans, can be
\nunbearable.<\/p>\n
This is why we need people like 82-year-old Maat -- who will
\ntake care of any body entrusted to him. Whether they have
\nrelatives or not, they are prepared for burial and to meet God.<\/p>\n
Maat has prepared the dead for 20 years. Maat retired from the
\nRed Cross hospital in 1971, but the hospital's morgue management
\nemployed him when their employee died.<\/p>\n
Maat has been a kitchen boy, gardener, and laundry man before
\nhe began washing bodies full time in 1976.<\/p>\n
\"It's quite natural for low ranking people like me to get
\nmoved around a lot,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He is the hospital's only corpse washer proficient in the
\nnecessary Moslem prayers. But whether Moslem or not, the hospital
\ncalls on Maat almost every time corpses arrives.<\/p>\n
Along with, Yusuf, who mainly handles non-Moslem bodies, Maat
\nhandled the corpses which made last year's headlines: those
\nkilled in the Bogor market fire and the 31 passengers killed on
\nthe Jagorawi toll road.<\/p>\n
\"Other people can barely look at the remains,\" Maat said.<\/p>\n
They were all handled as well as possible. But Maat decided
\nnot to wash the traffic accident victims because they were
\ncharred. Most had been trapped in an inferno when an intercity
\nbus exploded after crashing into other vehicles.<\/p>\n
Maat also bathed the Tjetje Tajudin's body, the main witness
\nin an armed robbery on the Jagorawi toll road who was tortured to
\ndeath in police custody.<\/p>\n
Several years ago people were shocked when they opened sacks
\nfloating down rivers and found tattooed bodies. Their identities
\nwere never discovered but Maat cared for them like the rest.<\/p>\n
They were later reported to be habitual criminals' bodies.
\nSecurity officials reportedly killed them as a warning to other
\ncriminals.<\/p>\n
\"There were so many of them,\" Maat said. \"The remains were
\nalready decomposed and full of creatures. People threw up at the
\nsight of them, but I washed them as usual.\"<\/p>\n
Maat can no longer count the thousands of bodies he has
\nwashed, maybe about 14,600 if two showed up daily for 20 years.<\/p>\n
Maat has handled so many bodies he no longer questions how
\npeople could end up in his hands in sacks after gruesome deaths.<\/p>\n
His spoke crisply and a little coldly.<\/p>\n
Maat said he was illiterate. \"I was too busy working to
\nlearn,\" he said. This was probably why, despite being so busy, he
\nremained a lower ranking civil servant with a small pension.<\/p>\n
He receives Rp 15,000 a month which he said was the rate for
\npensioners of his level in 1971.<\/p>\n
He said he was content to work at the hospital although the
\nwage was small because he did not have any other skills. His
\nwife, Rokayah, 65, has never taunted him about his low paying
\nwork.<\/p>\n
However, he did sound regretful about the small pension. \"I
\nworked there for so long,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Maat gets Rp 10,000 for each body and is paid monthly. His
\nfive children and in-laws help him make ends meet. One son-in-law
\nworks at Bogor's Unitex factory.<\/p>\n
He said the corpses never haunted him.<\/p>\n
\"I always say to myself, this is what I'll be when I'm dead.\"<\/p>\n
None of Maat's offspring intend to follow in his steps.<\/p>\n
\"No, I'm scared,\" said his nine-year-old grandson, Irfan
\nFauzi. Irfan said he wants to be a soldier.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/macabre-profession-an-old-mans-way-of-life-1447893297",
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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