Secretary David introduced  Robert van Uylenbeck.  He has visited our club on several occasions, and was a member of the Rotary Club of Singaraja.  He has lived in Bali for many years.

To set the scene he summarised how we do funerals in the west - he was referring particularly to Holland, but the story in other western countries is similar.  Funerals are basically sad occasions with tears and condolences, although they then frequently move to more social gatherings- we call wakes.  The arrangements are made by the c lose family, and the ceremonies and gatherings only last for a day or two, although letters of condolence may keep arriving for a week or so.wage.  Robert estimated the cost of a typical western funeral may be around 3 months of an average  income.  So in the US where an average income is around $80,000 per year - maybe a funeral could cost $20,000.

In Bali, we may be familiar with the splendour of cremation ceremonies, but maybe less familiar with the full scope of the funeral arrangements.  They involve feasts, music, dancing, performances, ceremonies and games and competitions - and this lasts over many days.

The ceremonies are done by a priest and the general arrangements are made by the extended family with help from neighbours and villagers.  Preparations start long before with the preparation of a site and the construction of temporary buildings and other structures.  Many people help and itmay take many weeks, and they need meals all the time.  It is important that all aspects of the preparations (like killing of the animals) are part of the ceremonial process.

So what is the cost of a large funeral for many people - since it is commom to arrange cremations for many people at once.  Robert estimates it may be 50 years of a higher than average salary.  So if we think Rp2,000,000 is an average monthly income - then Rp4,000,000 could be the higher income, and 50 years of that would be Rp2,400,000,000 or US$270,000.

In the particular cremation ceremony that Robert was talking about , 39 ancestors were cremated and the oldest of them dated back 300 years - they had been waiting all that time for this ceremony.  The video that RObert showed at the end realted to this cremation.

In the video, we see the temporary structures, long tables as production lines for some of the materials needed, and an army of workers preparing these materials, and women pounding rice in hollowed logs.  We see all the offering, and hear the music, see performance (Robert was there) and see processions.  At the end we see young men trying their luck at scaling oily bamboo poles to reach the prizes.