Arya News - More than 3,000km away in a village in Central Java, Indonesia, the family of domestic helper Darwati is still waiting to receive her remains so they can begin to say a proper goodbye to her, after she died in the Nov 26 fire at Wang Fuk Court housing complex in Tai Po district.
HONG KONG – The impact of Hong Kong’s deadliest blaze in decades continues to reverberate far and wide, carrying the city’s grief beyond its shores.
More than 3,000km away in a village in Central Java, Indonesia, the family of domestic helper Darwati is still waiting to receive her remains so they can begin to say a proper goodbye to her, after she died in the Nov 26 fire at Wang Fuk Court housing complex in Tai Po district.
Ms Darwati is among 10 domestic helpers – nine Indonesian nationals and one Filipina – who died in the inferno while caring for busy Hong Kongers’ young children and elderly parents, leaving behind their own families to mourn their passing.
In all, 160 people died in the fire.
Ms Darwati, 48, was a breadwinner in her family who was known for both her frugality in daily life and her generosity when it came to splurging on her sole grandchild, on whom she doted.
In an interview with The Straits Times, Ms Darwati’s eldest son, 22-year-old Zulian Firmansyah, showed the only photo he had of his mother together with his four-year-old daughter, the duo posing in matching pink T-shirts.
“That was the same shirt Ibu (my mother) died in,” Mr Zulian told ST, his voice heavy with grief.
“The photo was taken in front of our house, right before she left for Hong Kong this time,” he said in Bahasa Indonesia from their home in Cilacap regency’s Majenang district.
“It was just one of her shirts, nothing fancy. She was always so simple and very frugal.”
Ms Darwati avoided spending unnecessarily on herself, using her clothes until they were well worn out before getting any new ones, Mr Zulian recalled.
“Yet when she came home (to Indonesia), she’d take my daughter out often – to the night market, to amusement zones, anywhere to make her happy,” he said. “She loved buying her things, too – snacks, clothes, toys. My mother loved her grandchild so much.”
Ms Darwati had left Indonesia only in May, to start a new contract in Hong Kong caring for an elderly woman living in Wang Fuk Court.
She was not new to Hong Kong, as she had worked in the city for six years before returning to her village for a year in 2024 to remarry and spend time with her family. Her first husband had died years ago.
“We never had much growing up; Ibu went overseas so she could improve our economic situation,” said Mr Zulian, who runs his own motorcycle repair workshop.
With her earnings from Hong Kong, Ms Darwati built a house for her family in 2022.
She had planned to use the money she would save in her latest stint in the city to help her son expand his workshop.
But she would not return.
She leaves behind her second husband and three sons, the youngest aged only 15.
As the inferno engulfed Wang Fuk Court in the mid-afternoon of Nov 26, Ms Darwati sent a final desperate video message to her husband’s mobile phone.
In the video, seen by ST, she can be heard saying frantically that she was trapped in a fire, could not breathe, and that the lift in her apartment block was not working.
The 11-second clip pans across a smoke-filled room, where a younger woman is seen crouching and holding a piece of cloth to her nose, while a frail old woman – who appears to be her elderly charge – sits motionless at a table.
Thick smoke fills the space and partially obscures the view. Panicked voices can be heard in the background as people struggle to find a way out.
“My mother was still messaging me around 9am that Wednesday morning; that was the last time I heard from her,” Mr Zulian said, his voice cracking.
“After my stepfather forwarded me the video in the afternoon, I tried calling her repeatedly. Her phone was still ringing – even a day later on Thursday after we lost contact – so I kept hoping she had made it out.”
The official confirmation that Ms Darwati died in the blaze came only over the weekend, three or four days after the fire broke out, according to Mr Zulian.
A screengrab of an 11-second video message sent by Ms Darwati to her husband’s mobile phone, in which she can be heard saying frantically that she was trapped in a fire. PHOTO: COURTESY OF MR ZULIAN FIRMANSYAH/THE STRAITS TIMES
“I was completely shocked,” he said. “I honestly believed she had managed to escape somehow.”
It is believed that Ms Darwati died staying by her elderly charge’s side.
The family has not heard from Ms Darwati’s employer – thought to be a relative of the old woman – since the incident, Mr Zulian said, adding that he did not know if they had survived the fire.
Ms Dina Martiana, a second Indonesian helper who shared the same employer, also died in the blaze, Mr Retno Dewi, secretary-general of Indonesia-based non-governmental organisation Families of Indonesian Migrant Workers, or Kabar Bumi, told ST.
Ms Dina, 36, was from Ponorogo, East Java.
Hong Kong chief executive John Lee has set up an independent judge-led committee to investigate the cause of the blaze and why it spread so quickly. The task force is expected to conclude its probe in nine months .
The porch outside the house in Majenang, Cilacap, Indonesia, that Ms Darwati built in 2022 using her earnings from Hong Kong, stands quiet and empty. PHOTO: COURTESY OF MR ZULIAN FIRMANSYAH/THE STRAITS TIMES
So far, more than a dozen individuals have been arrested, and preliminary findings pinpoint substandard mesh netting, styrofoam boards and a lack of follow-through in safety regulations as factors contributing to the fire.
The task force will also look into whether there are systemic problems in the construction industry, conflicts of interest, collusion or bid-rigging in the awarding of contracts.
The Hong Kong government on Dec 11 said the bodies of the 10 deceased domestic helpers were ready to be released to their families, and that the Indonesian and Philippine consulates were coordinating with their next of kin to arrange for repatriation.
It has also said that each deceased helper’s family will receive about HK$800,000 (S$132,500) in government compensation.
But nearly three weeks after the fire, Mr Zulian and his family remain waiting anxiously for Ms Darwati’s body to be brought home for the last rites to be performed before burial.
“My daughter keeps asking, ‘Where’s Grandma, why hasn’t she called?’ She doesn’t understand yet,” Mr Zulian said.
“My mother, she was always joking at home, always bringing warmth into our home. I’m very sad. It feels like I don’t have anyone left.”