id ha ul pp fi y tr i!
Jakarta Expat 31-14 September 2011
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JAKARTA
EXPAT
Indonesia’s Largest Expatriate Readership | 51th Edition | 31 Aug – 14 Sep 2011 |
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Getting Back on Track
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ozens of people lie on railway tracks in Jakarta every morning and before dusk seeking a cure from various illnesses such as rheumatism and back pain through the low electrical current which runs through the rails. This unorthodox therapy has really shone a light on the state of the healthcare system in Indonesia where many people who live below the poverty line are still killed by illnesses such as tuberculosis and malaria. In Jakarta’s Rawa Buaya area, men and women, young and old, stretch their bodies across the rails, using their heads and feet to form a circuit and some residents say the railway therapy has been proven to have healing benefits. Pseudo-medical treatments are wildly popular in many parts of Asia - where rumours about those miraculously cured after touching a magical stone or eating dung from sacred cows can attract hundreds, sometimes thousands. Locals say that people were drawn to the practice following the rumour that a paralyzed man who was attempting to kill himself by lying on the tracks could suddenly walk again when a train was approaching. Lily Sulistyowati, head of the Center for Health Promotion at the Health Ministry, said there was no evidence that such a therapy could cure diseases. “In our society, people believe rumours and like to try new things, hoping that they will work,’’ she said. “There are actually community clinics in the area where people can have treatment for their various complaints.’’ About half of Indonesia’s 230 million people live on less than two dollars a day, according to the World Bank and expensive medical treatment and drugs have prompted many Indonesians to go to alternative healing clinics and shamans to seek cures to their health problems. This railway phenomenon is symptomatic of a poor health care system and many of the people seeking therapy on these rails have suffered various illnesses for a long time.
Courtesy of Reuters
When one of the women practicing this therapy was asked if she was afraid of being hit by a train, she replied “No, I’m familiar with the timetable and I will continue to come back because I have to.” •