Jakarta, a modern metropolis of twelve million rational, enlightened residents? Not always. Toss a stone in any direction and it's bound to hit someone who's got a supernatural tale to spin. And if they happen not to have a spooky story to relay, odds are they know someone who's heard of a guy whose cousin's deaf aunt an supposedly see jinns or ghosts. These are the people who watched The Sixth Sense and thought, "So the kid can see dead people...big deal!" In Jakarta, three monthly magazines dealing with the paranormal - Misteri, Mistis and Posmo - are amongst the hottest publications on the market.
It's hard to know why so many Indonesians are so hopelessly captivated by all things mysterious. One obvious explanation is the whole link to animist beliefs, but better to put aside the anthro-babble, because most of Indonesian stopped being animists years ago. Another possibility is that everyday life for many Jakartans can be so discouraging that anything supernatural, however far-fetched, feels like a vast improvement. Then again, it's not just downtrodden kampung dwellers who buy into superstitions. By many accounts, former presidents Soeharto and Gus Dur relied more on spiritual counselors that political advisers - suggesting a leadership style almost as folksy and superstitious as that of -- Nancy and Ronald Reagan.
Local obsession with the inexplicable is all over Jakarta's mass media: TV, radio, gossip tabloids and the internet all carry stories of reincarnation, conspiracy, ghosts and demons. Jelangkung, a movie about a ghost-hunting gang of kids, was one of the biggest local box office successes of the past decade because it hit a lot closer to home than your average Hollywood horror flick. Countless copycat horror flicks have since been churned out by Jakarta's major studios, most of them utterly unwatchable.
Ghost hunting has become something of a hobby in Jakarta, its enthusiasts staking out cemeteries in the hopes of catching a glimpse of a legendary spirit. Certain locations around the city are reputed to be hotspots for undead activity, like the Jeruk Purut cemetery, which features a headless preacher, and the abandoned house in the affluent Pondok Indah suburb. These places have become domestic tourist attractions of sorts, offering young Jakartans just enough spook to make a visit there seem more intriguing than yet another dreary trip to Monas Park.
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