You Are All Amazing Women, Fighters Willing to Squeeze In for a Living and Education

The scent of flowers still lingers strongly at Bekasi Timur Station. A week after the accident between the KRL on the Jakarta-Cikarang route and the KA Argo Bromo Anggrek, the traces of sorrow have not fully faded. Bouquets line various corners of the station, from the courtyard to the platform areas. Amid the resuming passenger activities, the colourful flowers instead create a more subdued atmosphere. Many people pass by, but their steps often slow when passing those points. Not only flowers, but sheets of condolence messages are also visible, attached to several parts of the station. Simple handwritten notes to neatly printed ones serve as ways for the public to convey empathy to the victims. Some passengers pause briefly. Some bow their heads, others offer prayers. Several others place flowers, as if joining in the final tribute. “Today I deliberately came to place flowers. As soon as I got off the train, I started trembling, because I remembered many victims who were our age,” she said. She admitted that the atmosphere at the station made it hard for her to hold back her emotions. “Even we who didn’t know them feel sad, let alone the families left behind,” she continued. Sarah (22), a Bekasi resident, did something similar. She brought 16 bouquets of flowers as a symbol of the number of fatalities. Some of those flowers were entrusted by her friends, even from out of town. “As a woman and a KRL user who works in Jakarta, I share in the grief,” said Sarah. However, behind that empathy lies an anxiety that has not fully subsided. Since the incident, she admitted she has not felt comfortable returning to using the train as usual.