Petamburan Cemetery, Jakarta

It’s a sad indictment on Jakarta’s public planning – and spatial planning in particular - that about the only open spaces left in this madcap city are the graveyards!

But with land becoming increasingly scare and prices rocketing ever higher, even the graveyards may not be safe from the clutches of opportunist property developers.

I can just imagine how the marketing literature would go:

Welcome to Spooky Mansions Residences: perfect for single people – you’ll never be alone; the ghosts will make sure of that!

In Jakarta there are a number of graveyards worth visiting.

The historic Taman Prasasti cemetery in Tanah Abang is one of the city’s hidden secrets and provides a fascinating glimpse back into the city’s colonial past.

And some distance away at Menteng Pulo lie the superbly maintained British and Dutch war cemeteries.

Last week I was on the bike and heading toward the fitness center and took a short cut as the road was jammed.

This took me through the old Petamburan Cemetery, a Christian cemetery where many Chinese are buried.

And there on the right – an absolutely huge European style mausoleum!



Going out in style: the final resting place of a legendary Chinese landlord named Khouw Oen Giok and his wife who both died in 1957.


Ooh!! Cheeky! Let's hope the radical nutters don't come across this outlandish and uninhibited display of exhibitionism! Hahaha!