“What stories lie beneath our feet?” Consider the Petamburan Public Cemetery, or Kuburan, a place of rest and unexpected tales in Jakarta. It’s more than just a final resting place. Kuburan is a silent witness to Indonesia’s cultural diversity.
The Kuburan houses Southeast Asia’s largest mausoleum. This grand structure belongs to OG Khouw. Khouw, originally Khouw Oen Giok, was a wealthy landlord. He owned a sugar plantation and Than Kie Bank. Khouw was also a generous philanthropist. He donated to Jang Seng Ie Hospital now Husada Hospital. He even gave 40,000 Dutch Guilders to the Dutch Red Cross. Queen Wilhelmina granted him Dutch citizenship because of his generosity. That’s why his name was written in the Western style, OG Khouw.
OG Khouw was the cousin of Khouw Kim An. Khouw Kim An was the last Majoor der Chinezen. He owned the Candra Naya mansion now a museum. OG Khouw passed away in 1927 in Switzerland. His wife, Lim Sha Nio, built a mausoleum to house his ashes. The mausoleum stands nine meters high. It was made of black marble and statues imported from Italy. G. Racina from Ai Marmi Italiani designed it. The mausoleum’s foundation cost 500,000 Dutch Guilders. It finished in 1932.
The luxurious mausoleum even had a bunker. This bunker accommodated mourners. It also had a permanently closed room. The last family visit was in the 1980s. OG Khouw and Lim Sha Nio had no children. After Lim Sha Nio died in 1957 nobody cared for the mausoleum. It fell into disrepair and suffered vandalism. The angel statues’ noses broke. The marble inside the bunker cracked.
High school students even committed indecent acts inside the bunker. The mausoleum then received a metal door. This was to prevent further incidents. Today the Petamburan public cemetery management and Love Our Heritage community care for the mausoleum. They still need government support for renovation costs. The government hesitates to declare it a cultural heritage site. OG Khouw was a Dutch resident.
The Khouw family once owned the land of Petamburan Public Cemetery. They rented it for 80 years. Four Khouw family members are buried there. These are Khouw Kim An, Phoa Tji Nio, WS Khouw, and Khouw Kok Lie. Their graves are also mausoleums but not as grand as OG Khouw’s.
The black marble on OG Khouw’s mausoleum became a trend. Notary Djojo Muljadi’s tomb uses black marble. Ibu Aju Agung’s tomb only uses it for the nameplate. You can find other graves in Petamburan Public Cemetery. Traditional Chinese tombstones and European-style graves stand among modern ones. A columbarium houses the ashes of Japanese officials from the Japanese occupation. The Japanese Embassy staff visits each year to pray for their souls.
Jewish graves are uncommon in Petamburan. They have a triangle shape and Hebrew letters. Jewish people came to Indonesia for trading. Locals often mistook them for Arabic people. Many Jewish graves were vandalized. Families stopped visiting and paying maintenance fees. The graves were replaced. From 25 graves only seven remain.
Petamburan Public Cemetery has potential as a historical and cultural destination. It could boost tourism in Jakarta. Financially supporting the preservation of the OG Khouw mausoleum is a start. It could diminish the stereotype of cemeteries as dodgy places. As you wander through Kuburan remember its layers of history. Consider the lives and stories buried within this unique place in Jakarta.