Funeral homes provide burial services
Funeral homes provide burial services
JAKARTA (JP): "Show me the manner in which a nation or a community cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender sympathies of its people, their respect for the law of the land and their loyalty to high ideals...," wrote W.E. Gladstone and used in an advertisement for funeral homes in the Jakarta Yellow Pages.
Generally, the wish of the family of the deceased is "To give their best at the end of someone's life," as put by T.L. Hutagalung of Mawar Putih (White Rose) Foundation which provides burial services.
Usually, if someone dies, the family is bewildered and rarely knows what to do. At that critical moment, the service of a funeral home which provides burial services is urgently sought.
"Besides, sometimes the family of the deceased also faces the problem of inexperience. For example, they don't know how to deal with the City Cemetery Agency. With the assistance of a funeral home or a foundation, the problem can be solved," Hutagalung said.
He explained that usually if it is a family member who calls for a hearse, they have to wait for hours before it comes.
"But, if it is us who calls for the hearse, it will come in a minute," Hutagalung said, adding that the secret is that a funeral home or a foundation has the experience in handling such circumstances.
A funeral home could either be an independent body or part of a hospital where it has its premises. A funeral home or a foundation can provide a proper funeral as well as offer almost all kinds of services, from supplying a coffin to transportation and cremation. Other services include embalming and physical restoration as offered by Singapore-based Trinity Casket Pte. Ltd. which advertises in Jakarta's Yellow Pages.
The funeral homes and foundations can indeed be a friend in need. Some of them are charity organizations which provide free services and free coffins for families who cannot afford them.
Social aims
"Basically, these kinds of homes and foundations are socially oriented. I once provided a free coffin and transportation to an old poor man. I didn't receive a cent for that, but I received a thank you letter from his family. For me the letter is worth more than if I received Rp 1 million," said Hutagalung.
It is ideal to be charitable and at the same time to be commercial. Suparman of the Dana Kami Foundation said the money from rich families who buy coffins from the foundation is used to help poor families.
The fact is, there are some hospitals which closely cooperate with particular commercial funeral homes. This kind of cooperation prevents other foundations or homes from meeting their charitable objectives.
Suparman said often members of his foundation who are unable to lay out the body of their loved in their own homes have difficulties if they want to arrange for the body to be kept for several days in any of the funeral parlors annexed to hospital morgues.
"If they want to use the hospital's funeral parlor, they have to buy the coffin from the funeral home which has a contract with the hospital," he said, "The problem is, such hospitals sell the coffin at prices higher than average."
Hutagalung confirmed Suparman's statement, adding that some commercial funeral homes give commissions to hospital employees who can sell their coffins and other services to families using the hospitals' funeral parlors.
"Sometimes, the tip can be as big as 10 percent of the price. So, it has become a common practice in many hospitals in Jakarta," said Hutagalung, adding that Indonesians of Chinese origin are especially targeted because according to a Chinese superstition they cannot bargain when they buy a coffin.
Suparman said he has sent letters to the authority concerning the problem, but so far there has been no response.
"Because of such practices, coffin prices can be as high as millions of rupiah," Hutagalung noted.
How do the funeral homes or foundations operate? The Jakarta Post interviewed several foundations in Jakarta, Bandung and one in Singapore to give you an idea.
* Naga Sakti Foundation:
This foundation provides a wide range of services, from the sale of coffins, transportation of the deceased, the handling of paperwork such as death certificates, and licenses for transporting the deceased to anywhere in the world, cremation, keeping the deceased at home or at a funeral home, and religious ceremonies. Everything, except the supplying grave itself.
"We can help families of the deceased to find the right cemetery, but still they have to arrange the prices with the City Cemetery Agency themselves," Mariana of Naga Sakti told the Post.
Located in Jl. Mangga Besar VIII, the foundation can transport bodies to anywhere inside Indonesia and even abroad.
"We have for example transported a body to China," said Mariana.
The foundation does not have a funeral parlor, and for the time being cooperates with hospitals which have the facilities such as the Husada Hospital and the Dharmais Cancer Hospital, both in West Jakarta.
Mariana said her foundation sells coffins of various kinds and qualities. There are topang coffins -- meaning simple caskets made in Indonesia -- Jepara ones which are richly carved, Siupan which is Chinese in style with decorations of Chinese symbols such as the dragon and phoenix, and imported ones from the United States.
"The American ones are beautiful. Their handles are plated with gold and furnished with embroidered pillows and blankets," Mariana said, adding that the minimal price of such a coffin is around Rp 10 million (US$4,545.45).
Prices of Indonesian coffins range from Rp 400,000 to Rp 10 million.
Naga Sakti, which caters to people of all religions and offers free services for those who cannot afford to pay, provides services to around 80 to 100 people annually.
* Bunga Kamboja and Dana Kami:
Bunga Kamboja and Dana Kami foundations also provide almost all kinds of services except arranging graves.
As foundations, they have a membership system but also cater to non-members. If a member dies, his or her family does not have to spend any money for the services provided by the foundations. But they do have to arrange the grave site themselves.
"We give the family of the deceased a `mourning' allowance which ranges from Rp 30,000 to Rp 60,000. We provide coffins, transportation and all care of the deceased such as bathing, and conduct religious ceremonies, all for free if the deceased was one of our members," said Susan of Bunga Kamboja.
Dana Kami, located in Senen, Central Jakarta, does not pay a "mourning" allowance but instead gives daily staples such as rice and sugar.
"We also cater to non-members. But they have to pay, for example, Rp 225,000 for the bathing, shroud, religious ceremony and transportation of a deceased Moslem," Susan said.
Both Bunga Kamboja and Dana Kami sell coffins.
"If they want first quality coffins, they have to pay Rp 325,000. For second quality, it's Rp 195,000 and for third quality Rp 175,000. There is an additional Rp 50,000 fee for transporting the body to the cemetery," said Suparman of Dana Kami.
To be a member of the Pasar Minggu-based Bunga Kamboja Foundation, one should pay Rp 700 per month. Currently the foundation has 100,000 members in Jakarta alone.
"We have a big membership because ministries like the Ministry of Transportation and the office of the Secretary of State as well as the TVRI state-owned television have joined our membership," Susan, Bunga Kamboja's operational head, explained.
Suparman said Dana Kami, which has five hearses, divides its membership into three categories. Members of the first category pay Rp 44,000 in annual fees for the member's whole family and another Rp 1,200 in monthly fees per person.
Second category members pay Rp 21,000 in annual family fees and Rp 850 monthly per person.
Third category members are charged Rp 14,000 in annual family fees and Rp 500 per person per month. The foundation has 30,640 members in Greater Jakarta.
"We always accept requests from churches and mosques to help them provide free services to their poor members. It's part of our responsibility," said Suparman.
* Bumi Baru Foundation:
This Bandung-based foundation provides not only coffins and a hearse, but also attends to the corpse and arranges the necessary burial paperwork. Apart from that, it can also arrange the placement of an obituary in newspapers.
The coffins available at the foundation, which was established by the Indonesian Christian Churches in 1969, are made either of wood or fiberglass, with prices up to Rp 6.3 million.
All children's coffins are made of wood and are sold for between Rp 140,000 and Rp 800,000 each. Carved ones are available for an additional Rp 20,000.
A coffin made of six-centimeter thick teak for an adult is sold for between Rp 2.5 and Rp 5 million. The prices of ones made from thinner teak or of other types of wood vary from Rp 260,000 to Rp 2 million.
The most expensive coffins, which costs Rp 6.3 million each, are made of fiberglass. There are four styles of coffins made of this material: the Asian, European, semi-American and American, with prices starting from Rp 1.7 million.
According to Tosin, who has worked for the foundation for 26 years, most people buy coffins which cost less than Rp 500,000 if the bodies are to be cremated. But they prefer coffins with prices of more than Rp 1 million if the bodies are to be buried.
The prices do not include extras such as flowers, a cross, or satin clothes, which altogether cost more than Rp 150,000. The foundation also sells socks, gloves, perfume and make-up for the bodies, which can be purchased at Rp 100,000.
Tosin said the foundation does not provide cremation services, adding that crematoriums usually charge Rp 300,000 for a cremation.
There are three rooms in Bumi Baru Foundation building where the deceased is laid out for family and friends to pay their last respects, and then the body is transported to the cemetery or crematorium.
The transportation fee is Rp 50,000, but if the body is to be taken to another city, there is an additional fee. The fee for the transportation of a body from Bandung to Jakarta, for example, is Rp 300,000.
Tosin said that the foundation does not embalm the body because usually it is buried or cremated two or three days after the person dies. Embalming is needed if the funeral is more than three days after death. In that case, the Bandung Health Office offers the service for Rp 150,000, according to Tosin.
* Permaba:
Unlike Bumi Baru, which offers services to Protestants only, the Bandung Society Social Organization (Permaba) deals with those of other religions as well: Moslems, Catholics and Buddhists.
For Moslems, Permaba provides keranda (a bier) and a white shroud or kain kafan to wrap the body in, instead of coffins.
Moslems do not use coffins as they believe that since they are created from soil, human beings must become one with soil when they die, so that they can return to their original form.
The organization will also attend to the deceased's body.
"But Moslems prefer to treat the body in their house and lay it out there before burial. There are only a few of them who ask for our service. If they do, what they need is a hearse to transport the body to the cemetery," Permaba, secretary Vimala Puspita, said.
The organization charges Rp 30,000 for the hearse.
Coffins are available for between Rp 100,000 to Rp 5 million for non-Moslem clients. This includes extras like satin clothes, flowers and a cross.
"Most people buy coffins which cost less than Rp 1 million," she said.
Established in 1946, Permaba provides three rooms where people pay their last respects before the deceased is buried. The rental for a room is Rp 25,000 per day.
* Priangan Social Foundation:
Another Bandung-based body offering similar services is the Priangan Social Foundation, which has been in the business since 1979.
There are 10 rooms in the foundation's building where the bodies are laid out. A room is available for between Rp 40,000 and Rp 50,000 per day, depending on the size, an executive of the foundation, Usman Agustadi, said.
The foundation does not provide any religious services, which can cost more than the burial service. According to Usman, a Buddhist family might spend more than Rp 1 million to hire a group of prayers, who would pray for several nights under what is called the caici ritual. There are about 10 women in a group.
Lea Pamungkas, a client of the foundation, said that five years ago, she spent Rp 7 million on arranging her grandmother's burial.
"I think it was fair that we should spend that much money because the whole ceremony lasted for 10 days," she said.
* Trinity Casket:
Freddie Choo, managing director of the Singapore-based Trinity Casket Pte. Ltd. which advertises in Jakarta's Yellow Pages, told the Post that he advertised in the Yellow Pages because he is looking for the opportunity to expand his business in Indonesia.
Choo believes there is a market for his business in Indonesia because Trinity has modern facilities and advanced methods of embalming and says they can upgrade the services in Jakarta.
Although Trinity is not actively seeking local partners to set up a joint venture to open a branch here, the company says it is open to offers. It has already had Indonesian customers using its services to transport the bodies of their loved ones who died in Singapore.
"For the bereaved families, whose loved ones have been treated in some of Singapore's major hospitals, we would undertake everything to ensure that the body be sent back home to Indonesia at a budget the family can afford," Choo said.
He said many Indonesians have used Trinity's services because it also provides specialist male and female embalmers who are experienced in long term preservation of human bodies.
"For bodies that need to be transported back to Indonesia, the paperwork and other formal arrangements may take some time and it is important for good embalming to be done so that the body does not decay by the time it reaches home," Choo explained.
Trinity's consultant Frank Malabed was the one who preserved Philippine's ex-President Marcos and his mother.
"And, since 1988 the bodies have remained intact," Choo said.
Trinity has also specialist lady embalmers who can help embalm female bodies because some clients would prefer that the bodies of their female family members not be touched by unknown male embalmers.
The company, whose yearly gross takings reach about S$750,000, also provides restoration services to deceased victims of accidents or illnesses if the appearance has been marred.
Trinity provides almost anything, although it does not erect tombs. It offers various packages with prices ranging from a few hundred Singapore dollars to tens of thousands depending on the types of caskets and services and facilities used. (als/pet/sim)