Archive for June, 2007
Bali found its own unique way of joining the rest of mankind in celebrating World Environment Day 2007 on June 5th. Tempo Interaktif reports that the residents of West Bali gathered on the beaches near Menjangan Island to participate in a ritualized cleaning of the sea. The devotees, members of the Communication Forum for People Concerned with Coastal Areas (FKMPP), gathered to pray at the shore and toss floral offerings into the surf.
“This was a spiritual complement to efforts to clean our shores and coral reefs, especially from the threat posed by Crown of Thorn Starfish (Acanthaster plancii),” explained the Chairman of FKMPP, Misnawiyanto.
According to members of the Forum, Bali’s protective reefs are being damaged by coral bleaching and the over-population of Crown of Thorn Starfish. The FKMPP blames the rapid rise in the destructive Crown of Thorn Starfish population on climate change which has created conditions favorable to the species’ proliferation.
The ceremony in West Bali on June 5th was a joint effort of the FKMPP, the West Bali National Park and area dive operators.
World Environment Day
Celebrated every June 5th, World Environment Day is a major vehicle used by the United Nations to raise awareness on environmental issues and galvanize political attention.
The theme for 2007 World Environment Day adopted by the United Nations was “Melting Ice – a Hot Topic?”
© Bali Discovery Tours.
June 11th, 2007
Bali’s most populace regency of Badung has won, for the fifth year running, the coveted Adipura Award for municipal cleanliness and environmental excellence.
The trophy, presented by President Yudhoyono to the Regent (Bupati) of Badung A.A. Gede Agung in Jakarta, arrived in Bali on Thursday, June 7, 2007 where it was escorted by a motorcade of well-wishers from Bali’s airport to the nearby district (Camat) office in Kuta. Upon arrival at the Kuta District Office, the corps of the Badung Cleaning Brigade (Pasukan Sapu Jagat) gathered to hear Agung expressed his appreciation for their hard work and dedication which made the award possible.
Badung Regency has received the top award for cleanliness for five consecutive years dating from 2003. Agung told the celebratory crowd in Kuta, “this not the first time or the last time we will receive this award.”
In the scoring for the cleanliness award Badung achieved a score of 74.9 points in the latest year, up slightly from the 72 points earned in 2006. Points are awarded for community participation in community cleanliness programs and active participation in recycling efforts.
The Adipura award was given this year to 82 recipients nation-wide with categories divided into metropolitan cities, large cities, medium-sized cities and towns. Badung’s – the administrative district encompassing Bali’s capital of Denpasar and Nusa Dua was honored for achievement within the large city category.
© Bali Discovery Tours.
June 11th, 2007
Improved Business at BTDC Attributed to Increase in Meetings and Conferences in Bali.
The Indonesian-language BisnisBali reports that meeting and conference bookings to Bali are the cause of record occupancy levels in the hotels found within the Bali Tourism Development Corporation (BTDC) at Nusa Dua.
Speaking to the local press, the Director of Finance for BTDC, Drs. Solichin, said an increase in meeting bookings were having an extraordinary impact on occupancies at BTDC hotels with properties enjoying the best business levels in over 5 years.
In May 2007, according to Solichin, average occupancies at the complex hit 60%.
The Need for More International Events
Saying that international events staged in Bali did much to raise the Island’s image, Solichin said Bali needs to cultivate more international events in order to fully restore visitor numbers and grow the tourism economy.
According to the BTDC Financial Director, 75% of the visitors staying in Nusa Dua hotels are foreign nationals. Following the second Bali terrorist attack the demographics of foreign guests at the BTDC underwent a dramatic change. While Japanese guests remained the leading market segment at Nusa Dua hotels, the Australian market which once held the second ranking slipped to number six.
The Nusa Dua complex operated by the Bali Tourism Development Corporation (BTDC) is home to some 4,500 hotel rooms operated by leading accommodation operators on a shared-revenue basis with the government-owned corporation.
balidiscovery.com/misc/newspaper/
June 8th, 2007
Hoteliers in Bali have blamed Qantas for sluggish bookings out of Australia, as travellers complain about a lack of flights to the increasingly upmarket resort island.
Some passengers have reported waiting months to get suitable flights, with Qantas and Garuda Indonesia slow to reinstate Australian services that were cut following the October 2005 bombings.
That terrorist attack, the second in three years, killed 20 people including four Australians and sparked mass booking cancellations.
Bali’s tourism numbers have now bounced back and the island is shedding its reputation as a budget backpackers haunt.
Foreign arrivals rose 38 per cent to 472,082 during the first four months of this year 2007, marking the strongest start to any year on record.
However, Australian visitors dropped 36 per cent over the same period, in stark contrast to firm numbers from Japan, Europe and emerging markets like Russia.
Michael Burchett, chairman of the Bali Hotels Association and general manager of the Conrad Bali Resort & Spa, said the lack of airline capacity was the biggest hurdle to getting Australians back to Bali.
“The demand is there from Australia, but there’s no interest or willingness from Qantas to resume flights,” said Burchett, originally from Perth.
“You can’t get a flight out of Perth for months, and if you’re in Brisbane you have to go to Sydney or Melbourne.
“It’s just ridiculous. Garuda is doing what it can, but it doesn’t have the financial strength, so the Australian recovery has been hamstrung by the lack of support from Qantas.
“Well keep waving the white flag and maybe someone will see it soon.”
Georgia Fell-Smith, an Australian spa consultant from Perth who lives in Bali, said the current situation posed problems.
“I always have trouble booking with Qantas,” she said.
“The problem is I much prefer to fly with Qantas because of its strong safety record and the opportunity to earn frequent flyer points, but they make it so difficult because they only fly twice a week.”
Fell-Smith was booked to fly back to Perth to search for a wedding dress on May 29, but cancelled because she could not return to Bali on her desired dates with either Qantas or Garuda.
She will now make the trip in July, using a Qantas flight booked four months ago.
Qantas flies twice a week to Bali from Perth and Darwin, while its budget arm Jetstar flies twice a week from Melbourne and Sydney. Garuda flies every day from Perth, four times a week from Melbourne and Sydney, and twice a week from Darwin.
A Qantas spokesperson said an additional flight would be added to the Perth-Denpasar route between August 5 and October 21 this year, but there were no plans at this stage to expand services from any other cities.
“Qantas will continue to monitor the route and make changes as demand increases,” the spokesperson said.
Collapsed Bali airline Air Paradise is reportedly looking at a comeback, while Singapore-based low-budget carrier Tiger Airways has also hinted at possible flights between Bali and Australia.
However, hoteliers said Australia needed a full-service airline to cater for higher-end tourists and business travellers who were finding a new, fashionable edge to the island.
Not far from Kuta’s cheap bungalows and rowdy pubs, some hotels - like the exclusive Amandari and recently opened Bulgari Resort - charge thousands of dollars a night per room, and ferry passengers to the airport by helicopter, while restaurants in chic Seminyak do a brisk trade in French champagne and freshly shucked Sydney oysters.
“Rather than treating Bali as a cheap beach destination, the expansion of the luxury hotel and villa market shows it is anything but,” said Adrian Forsyth, general manager of Kuta’s mid-range Bali Garden Hotel.
“Bali is now a luxury destination and while tourism is returning to normal, the airlines have been slow to respond to that.
“We’re grateful for Jetstar’s entrance into the market, but Bali really needs Qantas to serve this higher-end clientele, who are willing to pay Qantas rates and want Qantas-style service.”
AAP — Brisbane Times - Brisbane,Queensland,Australia
June 8th, 2007
Wayan Sukanada, 44, is a popular vendor of soto, a kind of traditional soup, with hundreds of faithful customers. His food stall on Jl. Oongan, East Denpasar, is always packed full during lunchtime.
A Balinese, Wayan is fighting against the stereotype that most Balinese men are reluctant to work in the informal sector.
The informal sector is unattractive to Balinese men, because if they work in this sector, they will be considered by their neighbors and community as lower class.
“I am very proud of working as a soto seller,” Wayan smiled while preparing a bowl of the beef soup, which he calls Soto Karangasem.
There is no denying that Bali is currently flooded by food stalls selling a broad range of food.
“But the sellers mostly come from Java, Madura and Lombok. There are only a very few Balinese who take such a low-paid occupation with no social status,” he said. “Every day, I make around Rp 500,000 (US$50) net income, which is enough for me to support my family and to send my four children to school.”
Soto Karangasem is a delicious Balinese dish from the eastern part of the island. The soup has unique flavor of mixed herbs and spices, combined with beef and vegetables.
Wayan wakes up every morning at 3 a.m. to ready his food stall for the day’s customers. He usually opens his stall at 6 a.m.
“By lunchtime, I’ve already finish work. I don’t want to extend opening hours because as a Balinese, I have to participate in various social activities in my banjar,” he said, referring to the local village organization that is part of Balinese daily life.
What fills Wayan with pride is the fact that he is now financially independent.
Currently, more and more Balinese are selling their property, including rice fields, plantations, houses and land, to support themselves and to finance the various religious and traditional rituals that is required of them. Many such families have, as a result, lost their belongings and ended up poor.
Wayan is different from his fellow villagers. The hard-working vendor doesn’t have any biases about working in the informal sector and continues to work diligently, regardless of what people say.
In his village is a centuries-old tradition requiring residents to hold a special ritual called Nawur Sanjana to honor their ancestors. This long and complicated ritual is expensive, according to Wayan. Most of his fellow villagers would likely sell part or all of their property to hold the Nawur Sanjana.
Wayan, on the other hand, has just performed the ritual using his own savings.
“Thanks to Soto Karangasem, me and my family now have so many possibilities in realizing our dreams and in fulfilling our family’s (customary) obligations,” he said.
Back in his village near Candi Dasa in Karangasem, East Bali, Wayan has become a role model among youngsters.
“Concerns about social status have hindered many people, the young in particular, from achieving their dreams. You don’t have to be ashamed of working as a food vendor or whatever, because not everybody can work in offices,” said Wayan, whose message resounds among his less well-off neighbors.
Such a negative perception of the informal sector and perceived degradation in status has caused many Balinese to fail in procuring and retaining regular employment.
“It requires extra work to wipe away that feeling (of inferiority),” Wayan commented.
Wayan’s entrepreneurship venture was actually “handed down” from his elder brother, Nengah Widana, who first opened a Soto Karangasem stall in Denpasar’s Badung market. Nengah’s business grew so fast that he was able to pass it on to his five brothers and several neighbors.
Nengah opened his first stall in l974.
“Just five months after selling Soto Karangasem, I could buy a 250-square-meter plot of land in my village in Amlapura,” he recalled.
Nengah was disturbed every time a neighbor was forced to sell their house or land in order to repay their debts or to hold family events.
“There is a cynical anecdote — the Balinese sell their land to buy a bowl of meatball soup. I am the exact opposite of this, because I sell Soto Karangasem to buy land,” he said proudly.
Six members of Nengah’s and Wayan’s family are successful in their own small-scale ventures. Their success was contagious, and some of their cousins and neighbors have eagerly followed in their steps by opening Soto Karangasem stalls in Denpasar and other cities in Bali.
“We have to convince our ‘brothers’ and ’sisters’ in Bali that working as food vendors will not destroy their social standing,” Nengah said.
Instead, he added, it would prevent them from lingering debt problems and financial constraints — with the added ‘bonus’ of flexible working hours.
“I could not imagine working in the formal or private sectors,” said Nengah. “I am sure that if I did, I would not be able to spend a lot of time with my family and keep to the traditional obligations in my banjar, which are important for most Balinese.”
Jakarta Post - Jakarta,Indonesia
June 7th, 2007
Denpasar, Bali - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to launch Bali`s ourism logo when he opens the 29th Bali Arts Festival on June 16.
“The launching of the logo will be crowded as it will involve hundreds of artists and in the presence of 14 foreign ambassadors and 10 Indonesian cabinet ministers,” Bali Governor Dewa Beratha said on Wednesday.
He expressed hoped the branding would enhance the province`s tourism image in international fora, and also hoped that tourists would consider Bali as a safe and comfortable place for a vacation.
Head of the local tourism agency I Gede Nurjaya said the logo was designed by a team on the basis of the result of a research and study.
He added that the team had interviewed at least 1,500 public figures of different backgrounds.
He said the launching the logo followed the launching of the 2008 Tourism Visit Year by President Yudhoyono. (*)
ANTARA News
June 6th, 2007
As many as 63 Japanese monks will bring thousands of wooden prayer ornaments to Bali and burn the offerings in a ceremony to wish for peace on the island, which is still recovering from the terrorist bombings of 2002 and 2005.
“Thousands of Japanese will write their wishes for peace in Bali and Indonesia on pieces of wood, which will be brought and burned in Bali,” I Made Mantra, president director of the Bali Tourism Development Corporation, said at a press conference here May 21.
Led by noted monk Murakami Ryokai from the Koyasan branch of the Shingon sect, the fire ceremony of Saitougoma is set to take place June 12 on the island of Nusa Gede, off the coast of Nusa Dua.
In burning, the wishes are believed to reach Heaven upon the smoke, and to purify people for attaining new birth.
The ceremony will be observed as part of the three-day Mandala Indonesian-Japan Friendship and Culture Festival that will close on June 15.
As part of the Mandala festival, a panel discussion will also be held on June 12 and feature keynote speaker Dr. Keishi Matsunaga, who will present his paper on Esoteric Buddhism: The Red Thread of Cultural Similarity Between Japan and Indonesia.
During the discussion at Ksirarnawa Hall of Denpasar Art Center, Matsunaga Yukei, a monk and lecturer at Koyasan University, will discuss Buddhism with three Indonesian scholars — Gede Prama, Prof. Timbul Haryono and Dr. I Ketut Widnya.
Prama, who has written many books on business and motivation, will discuss the concept of Mandala and its relevance in today’s diverse world.
Gadjah Mada University’s Timbul will present his paper on Archeological Examination of the History of Esoteric Buddhism in Indonesia, while the Hindu Dharma Institute’s Widnya will discuss The History and Heritage of Shiva-Buddha Synthesis/Syncretism in Indonesia as the Foundation of Balinese Hinduism.
The festival will also present two art performances: Karma Mandala on June 13 and Brem Meme on June 15.
Mandala aims to attract more Japanese tourists to Bali, as the number of tourists plummeted following the Bali bombings.
“The festival is part of the Bali Recovery Program,” the director general of tourism marketing at the Culture and Tourism Ministry, Thamrin B. Bachri, told reporters. He added that Mandala was part of a marketing effort to reach the government’s target of 600,000 Japanese tourists this year.
Before the bombings, the number of Japanese tourists reached an average of 400,000 people a year.
“We call it ‘emotional marketing,” Thamrin said. “With the arrival of the elders (Buddhist monks), hopefully others will follow.”
A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
June 5th, 2007
Bali’s transportation infrastructure is on a collision course with itself. The more people, the more cars and motorbikes, creating more traffic, meaning slower travel speeds. The ‘Association of the Indonesian Tours & Travel Agencies’ Bali chapter, reckons a monorail system for the southern area of Bali is a the answer. Jakarta has started building a monorail system, like Bangkok. This subject is one I’ve touched on before.
Having lived in Seminyak for 4.5 years, I’ve got a pretty good idea of what the traffic is like here. A trip to Kuta should not take much longer than 10-15 minutes. There are some hell trips though, including the Bypass to Nusa Dua after dark, Denpasar at night, Jl. Raya Kerobokan during rush hour etc. At those times its crazy, with traffic density at dangerously high levels and people’s patience strained.
My 3 step plan for Bali’s transportation system featured an elevated light railway / monorail, electric buses and horse & buggies.
Here’s more from the Jakarta Post.
Bali needs monorail immediately, says tourist operators
DENPASAR (Antara): The Association of the Indonesian Tours & Travel Agencies’ Bali chapter urged the Bali administration to immediately construct monorail as part of the effort to attract tourists to the resort
Chairman of association’s Bali chapter Al Purwo said Saturday that the construction of monorail line was to prevent further worse of traffic congestions there.
“We need to promote potential tourist destinations. Worsening traffic jams may affect tourist arrivals,” Purwa was quoted by Antara news agency as saying.
He added that traffic congestions along roads in provincial capital of Denpasar and its surrounding areas had become worse and worse.
Bali provincial administration had introduced its plan to develop monorail, which will serve an airport to many tourist destinations on the island. But the administration had not followed its own idea.
The great thing about an elevated light railway is you can route it over existing buildings, no matter how dense the layout, thereby minimizing travel times. A while back I was in Las Vegas, which also has a very handy elevated monorail system on the Strip.
Whenever I got on road trips the first and last hour are always the worst. Trying to get out of the Kuta / Seminyak / Sanur / Kerobokan / Denpasar area is a pain. After that I often have a choice of routes, depending on where I’m going and can enjoy quieter roads. To help the Balinese get over the problem of building structures over the height of a temple, the monorail company could donate a fixed sum to each local banjar it passed through. I’m sure increased revenue would make that problem melt away.
Bali Blog By Nick
June 4th, 2007
At the moment Bali is in a kind of transition. The wet season is dragging its feet to a close and the tourists are dragging theirs. Things are looking up, with new businesses opening, but so far Bali hasn’t kicked it into gear.
Writing this from an internet cafe in Seminyak at 10pm on a Tuesday night, there are 5 other people in here, all Euros. Earlier in the evening on Jl. Double Six, I hit a warung for some nasi campur. The place was half full with a mixture of Indos, Euros and the odd Aussie.
Here’s a bit of local insight. The stereotypical Indonesian dreams of a new motorbike and cell phone. My wife told me that the motorbike dealers will sell you a new bike with only 750,000rp down for the first 3 months. Some people will buy a new bike, put the 750,000rp down and ride it for 3 months, before returning it. They know that 250,000rp per month is cheaper than renting. The bikes often get sold to smaller second hand places, who knock the price down and use the motto ’second hand but still new’.
Last week my brother-in-law who earns less than 900,000rp per month signed a leasing agreement for a new motorbike, 600,000rp per month for 3 years. His sisters told him not to do it, but he wouldn’t be put off. He is going to have a really hard time for the next 3 years and I have a feeling I know where all this is heading. My advice is to hand the bike back and cut your losses. I don’t tell other people what to do, I just tell them where to go when they drag me into their problems.
Carrefour update: The new modern supermarket in Kuta / Denpasar is a great place for once a week shopping. Ika reports prices are either lower than at local friendly Alpha, or quality is much better. My thoughts are that Carrefour makes a good ‘once a week’ shopping place, but a lousy ‘quick stop’ shopping place. First off you have to get on the Sunset Rd and drive to Kuta. Then you line up for a parking ticket (500rp). You dodge cars in the parking lot to get to the escalator and ascend to the supermarket on the top floor. Do all that in reverse and line up again for your parking stub to be checked. Nipping over to Bintang is way faster, even though the check out at Carrefour is fast.
Bali Blog By Nick
June 4th, 2007
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