SEAToday.com, Jakarta-From the cradle to the grave, everything in life comes at a cost. This saying holds true, as even in funeral matters, money talks.

Solely relying on the supply and demand principle, burial plot cost keeps increasing due to the limited land and massively increased population. It then leads to a new problem: Burial plot inavailability.

It turns out that Ali Sadikin has once predicted this issue back when he was still in power. But, his thoughts on this issue were not seriously taken into account at that time.

To solve this issue, he once proposed a controversial burial idea by putting corpses vertically, which was collectively rejected.

Islamic scholars believed that funerals are sacred and should follow religious procedures.

"The system of society in big cities is not generous to those who expect mercy, either from others or from the operation of the metropolis system in the broadest sense. You have to pay to take a bus, you have to pay to eat at a stall, you can't peek at a movie theater, you can't just go to bed. Even when you want to die, people cannot just dig a grave," said Ali Sadikin, written by Ramadhan K.H. in the book "Bang Ali: Demi Jakarta 1966-1977" (1993).

Expensive Graves

Ali Sadikin's prediction appears to be coming true. Areas that could be reserved for cemeteries started to decrease due to massive construction, while death rate cannot be reduced. Consequently, the land for graves fills up quickly, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"In 2015, the death rate in Jakarta was recorded at around 49,700 people. Similar figure can be seen in 2018, when the death rate reached around 47,982 people. The death rate jumped to 60,955 people in 2019, 74,310 people in 2020, and 111,088 in 2021. This significant increase in numbers presents a problem in the midst of the increasingly narrow availability of burial plots," said Vincentius Gitiyarko in his Kompas Daily article titled "Lahan Makam Jakarta, Makin Sempit dan Jadi Rebutan" released on June 12, 2023.

Jakarta has actually provided more affordable graves for the public.

Grave costs paid per three years

• Rp100,000 (block AAI) 
• Rp80,000 (block AAII) 
• Rp60,000 (block AI)
• Rp40,000 (block AII)

In reality, this concession turned out to be problematic. Many of the graves were fake, consisting only rows of tombstones with no corpses buried beneath. Besides, the widespread extortion in this matter could reach millions of rupiahs. 

Former Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama once discovered that strategic burial ground was turned into business by unscrupulous staff. This corrupt practice was suppressed, and those responsible were fired in 2016.

However, similar issues seem to be occurring outside of Jakarta as well. 

Reasons for Expensive Graves

Expensive graves have grown as a result of the gap between demand and supply. Consequently, people are unable to escape from the high cost of graves when providing a resting "home" for their deceased loved ones.

Makassar State University anthropologist Dimas Ario Sumilih perceived this phenomenon differently. Without denying the economic principle of supply and demand, he sees that the rites of death in the eastern world bring huge impacts. This situation leads those left behind to provide a grand farewell and the best headstone.

"In classical times, if the deceased was an important figure or was honored for their services, we had the term didharmakan, which is generally in the form of a temple. This is one of the reasons why the funeral context is important. As Islam came in, the temples were shifted to the form of gravestones," Dimas said to SEAToday.com on October 12, 2024.

He further added that social status also plays a big role in this phenomenon. People from high social class tend to seek professionally-managed cemeteries. Aside from that prestigious reason, this service relieves pilgrims from the burden of funeral arrangements, allowing them to grieve with no worries. This situation, therefore, opened more opportunities for the funeral "business", including for the private sector.

In the end, everything relies on money. But one thing is for sure: Burial grounds will continue to dwindle in the future.

Writer: Adilah Izzatuddiny