When it comes to the fight against Covid-19, countries across the globe have had to come up with creative, innovative, and sometimes even bizarre ways to enforce health and safety rules.
Even though there are lockdown measures, social distancing regulations, and the mandatory use of face masks to prevent transmission, there's no real way to make sure everyone adheres to these rules. And many people have flouted them for the sake of their own convenience, without any regard for others’ safety.
How do authorities deal with these people? How about a verbal warning? Issue a hefty fine, jail time, or both? Sure.
But ever since Covid-19 was declared a pandemic, many cities across different regions in Indonesia have come up with their own creative and even bizarre ways to deter and punish rule breakers.
And it's safe to say, some of these methods were pretty effective.
1. ‘Pocongs’ in Kepuh village, Central Java
Indonesia is rich with spooky tales of ghosts and spirits roaming the mortal world, and one of them is the pocong.
The pocong, or shroud ghost, is said to be the trapped soul of a dead person. It hops around as it's completely wrapped in a shroud, the length of cloth used in Muslim burials to wrap the body of the deceased.
Several volunteers in Central Java's Kepuh village dressed up as pocongs to guard the entrance of the village and scare people into remaining indoors. The scare tactic had initially failed, since it aroused the curiosity of the villagers and they actually wandered out to snap pictures of these ‘ghosts’.
But after the ‘ghosts’ changed their ‘haunting hours’ and scattered them out, it worked and people started staying indoors. Guess no one wanted any jump scares!
2. Haunted house quarantine in Sragen regency
Mandatory quarantine is one of the key preventive measures implemented to curb the spread of Covid-19.
However, in Central Java’s Sragen regency, there were residents returning to their hometown from big cities who weren't respecting orders that they isolate themselves for 14 days, and authorities needed to figure out a way to ensure that people do.
Fed up with their failed attempts, authorities decided that flouters of the mandatory quarantine would be locked up in a supposedly haunted house known to the area.
Considering the widespread beliefs in the supernatural, this tactic proved to be super effective.
Five people have been tossed into Sragen's spooky jails so far after they were caught violating quarantine orders. Some of them cried to be allowed home after three days as they were having nightmares.
3. Empty coffins parades in South Jakarta
Some people learn best with visual cues, and when it comes to the very real threat of Covid-19, local authorities in South Jakarta tapped into that to come up with a new kind of scare-tactic to encourage people to abide by social distancing rules and safety guidelines.
How did they go about it? By parading empty coffins with dummies inside them around small neighborhoods. Pretty morbid but creative, yes. But was it effective…?
The campaign backfired and residents have described the strategy as "fear mongering", “inappropriate shock therapy” and “useless theatrical form”. Netizens took to social media and criticized the move as a waste of money, with assertions that the government has failed to provide decent assistance for the poor.
A not-so-effective tactic after all.
4. Lying in an empty casket in East Jakarta for not wearing a mask
We get it. Wearing a face mask all day isn't the most comfortable thing in the world, especially if you live in a tropical climate like Indonesia. But despite that, face masks are there to not only not protect you from the virus, they're also there to prevent the transmission to the people around you.
And people who were caught outside without a mask on in Pasar Rebo, East Jakarta were given the options of paying a fine, doing community service work, or lying inside an empty casket for one minute to reflect on their actions.
Authorities were later barred from imposing this method of punishment as it wasn’t line with the governor's regulations, but there were still a few individuals who chose the casket option. We’re not sure how much reflecting a person can do in a mere minute, though.
5. Digging the graves of Covid-19 victims in Gresik regency
It’s clear by now that various regions in Indonesia have implemented their own deterrents to encourage people to stick to the rules and guidelines meant to protect them from Covid-19.
But the one that gets the closest to a real-life Covid-19 death experience has to be the forced digging of Covid-19 graves in Gresik regency, East Java.
Eight people in the village of Ngabetan had to undergo this bizarre punishment for not wearing a face mask out.
Split into four pairs, one person in each pair had to dig the actual grave itself, while the other’s job was to lay down wooden planks to support the casket of the Covid-19 victim.
They didn't have to participate in any of the Covid-19 funeral processions, but the punishment was traumatic enough that it was temporarily suspended after an evaluation.