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.