Widows confronted by reality

Widows confronted by reality

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

"A train is about to hit myself and my husband. At that very
moment we realized there was nothing we could do. We readied
ourselves to die ... Suddenly I woke up," said Nurhayati at the
Cipto Mangunkusomo General Hospital (RSCM) morgue.

Never did she think that the dream might be a premonition
warning her of the death of her husband Hidayat, 27.

The 30-year-old woman was obviously in shock after hearing
that Hidayat had passed away on Wednesday morning, despite the
fact that the night before the medical staff had high hopes that
her husband would recover.

The Ministry of Health announced that at least 10 people were
killed while 149 others were injured in the blast at the JW
Marriott Hotel in the Mega Kuningan business district, South
Jakarta, on Tuesday at 12:45 p.m.

When met by the press, Nurhayati's eyes were blank and she had
little to say. In fact, she appeared close to fainting at times.
Nobody could know for sure what was she thinking, but according
to a relative she might well have be pondering the future of her
two daughters now that her husband was gone.

A similar shock was experienced by Mimin Sumiarsih, 28. She
had slight hopes that her husband Eyo Zakaria, 29, a Silver Bird
taxi driver, might survive after being treated in the intensive
care unit.

She went home to check on her seven-month-old baby.

Six hours later, she was told that Eyo had passed away.

"I don't know ... I just don't know ... All I wanted was for
him to be alive and OK," she said.

Nurhayati and Mimin's lives were turned upside down the second
the bomb exploded. Confusion and fear of the future now dominate
their thoughts.

However, the Blue Bird Group has announced that the company
will financially assist them and the families of two other Silver
Bird taxi drivers.

Silver Bird's operations director Ateng Aryono said that the
group would cover all the funeral and grieving period expenses of
the dead drivers.

The company would also provide scholarships to the victims'
children until they graduated from high school.

"We're also thinking of providing working capital for the
widows if they want to start businesses," Ateng said.

Silver Bird lost four drivers, while another one suffered
serious injuries. The company also lost five Nissan Cedric cars.

Life has also dealt a cruel blow to Frida Sopacua. Not only
has she lost her husband, Johanes Boelan, 50, but now she is also
at a loss to know how she and her five children will survive.

Boelan was a private driver.

She broke down when she saw her husband's coffin in the
morgue.

Frida did not know for sure that her husband was among the
victims until Wednesday morning.

"I saw the list of victims on TV, but I wasn't sure because
his name was spelt Bolan instead of Boelan with an 'e'," she
said.

It was only after Boelan had not returned home by morning that
Frida decided to check with the morgue, where she finally
discovered the bitter truth.

Hans Winkelmolen, 49, a Dutch citizen and former general
manager of Rabobank Indonesia, had no one present to grieve for
him in the morgue.

A representative of the company, Adri Triwicahyo, said that
Winkelmolen's wife had decided to fly here from the Netherlands
immediately after she heard the news.

Winkelmolen was about to return to the Netherlands as his
stint in Jakarta officially came to an end last Friday, Adri told
reporters, quoting a press release signed by Rik van Slingelandt,
Rabobank's director for international affairs.

The Dutchman was having a business meeting in the hotel's
Sailendra Restaurant with his successor, Antonio Costa, a
Canadian, who was wounded in the blast. Bank Indonesia former
deputy governor Miranda Goeltom, who was included in the
meeting's attendance list, escaped the blast as she arrived late
to the hotel.

Costa was flown to Singapore on Tuesday night and admitted to
the National University Hospital "with a chest injuries resulting
from the impact of the explosion," a statement from the hospital
said as quoted by Associated Press. He is in a stable condition,
it said.

Singapore General Hospital also admitted eight patients to its
burns ward, including an American woman in her 50s, three
Indonesian men in their 30s, and four Singaporeans, a hospital
statement said. All were conscious and had suffered burns to
between 10 percent and 33 percent of their bodies.

However, two Singaporean men were in critical condition, the
hospital added.

List of identified fatalities (Name, Age, Nationality,
Profession): (1) Hans Winkelmolen, 49, Dutch, Former GM Rabobank
(2) Rudi Dwi Laksono, 21, Ina, Security, JW Marriott Hotel (3)
Harna, 37, Ina, Silver Bird taxi driver (4) Johanes Boelan, 50,
Ina, Private driver (5) Slamet Heryanto, 35, Ina, Security, PT
P. Birama Sakti (6) Miftah Tobiin, 40, Ina, Silver Bird taxi driver
(7) Syamsudin, 45, Ina, Security, PT P. Birama Sakti (8) Eyo
Zakaria, 29, Ina, Silver Bird taxi driver (9) Hidayat, 27, Ina,
Silver Bird taxi driver.