Health museum: Spooky, enlightening

Health museum: Spooky, enlightening

Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

Mubaroch, an employee of Dr. Adhyatma Health Museum in Surabaya,
struggled to unlock the door to the Cultural Health room, one of
seven rooms in the museum.

He inserted every key, but to no avail. It was only after he
recited bismillah (Muslim phrase said prior to the commencement
of any activity) that the lock turned. "This is the most haunted
in the museum. I am scared to enter it," Mubaroch told The
Jakarta Post.

Indeed, the room itself is known as the sorcery room due to
the claims made of some of its exhibits.

The atmosphere of the museum is certainly not pleasant. There
are X-ray photographs displayed of so-called sorcery victims:
dozens of small nails show up on a four-month-old baby's X-ray,
while ball bearings and nails are observed on an adult's.
Mubaroch claims the subjects were patients at the hospital.

Black magic paraphernalia from Banyuwangi, East Java, and
Banten is, oddly enough, housed in the Community Health room.
Small drums said to ward off sickness are on display, along with
a variety of charms and amulets. Two jailangkung (doll used in a
seance) named Nini Towong and Nini Towok are nestled among
stocks.

Some people believe that such exhibits have a supernatural
connection. The jailangkung dolls, for instance, are handled with
care and mantra recited upon the removal of their clothes.

Mubaroch said a stock -- which was found in 1996 by a doctor
working in Bojonegoro, East Java -- moved by itself and was
sometimes heard crying.

Several photographs that show the rashes and lesions of people
with sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are also exhibited in
this room. The photos were taken around 1938 and 1940. Based on
the records of the Central Burgelijke Ziekenhuis (a Dutch-era
hospital) in Surabaya, 30 percent of the city's population of
15,000 had syphilis at that time.

Also exhibited in the Reproduction room are an assortment of
traditional postnatal devices, such as an umbilical cord cutter,
an ancient milk bowl and Arabian herbs once used by women
recovering from the birthing process, not to mention an array of
birth control devices, including condoms.

The museum, located on Jl. Indrapura here, was officially
opened on Sept. 14, 2004 by then minister of health Dr. Achmad
Sujudi. It was named after Dr. Adhyatma, health minister from
1988 to 1993, for his efforts in enhancing community health in
Indonesia.

The museum is the first of its kind in the country. In 1980,
the government through the health ministry had planned to build
it in Yogyakarta. The plan was aborted for unknown reasons, and,
in 1990, the Surabaya's Health Services and Research and
Development Center, which now manages the museum, proposed that
the museum be established in Surabaya.

The museum is largely funded through visitors' donations as
the government has provided limited funding for its upkeep.

Mubaroch said that due to this, the museum was often closed
when there were no scheduled visits. "It's not surprising that
the public is barely aware of its presence," he said.

Since it first opened its doors only about 100 people have
visited the museum.

Mubaroch hopes the government will support the museum in the
future so that the public can see its curious exhibits
for themselves.