Bali, one of nature’s paradises has a lot to give in the form of joy and memories. The land, which survives mainly on its resource from tourism, is in critical state; with terrorism trying to dominate the society. Bali would go in waste then.
“NINETY THOUSAND,” said the driver who brought me from international airport of Bali to my hotel in Nusa Dua. “Ninety thousand, for what? It is such a short drive,” I asked. Admittedly it was the start of my confusion to remember how much ‘rupaih’ is equal to Indian rupees or for that matter US $. Thanks to my bad maths, the problems remained with me during my stay in Bali. It was possible to spend half an hour debating the last few thousand rupaih and getting quite irate when drivers won’t back down, before a bit of effortful mental arithmetic reminds me that I’m arguing over just US $ 1.
Welcome to Bali! We left behind the honking traffic of Denpasar and walked into the marble foyer of Melia Bali villas in Nusa Dua to live up to the clichés. Werner Vom Busch, our host in Bali, told us that we are lucky that the rain has not started in Bali thus animating the scent of flowers in the air. The wind from the sea was sharp creating a romantic atmosphere. “This is paradise,” someone observed, calling on all his imaginative resources.
Bali had always conjured visions of sandy white beaches with palms, packed with gap-year backpackers and surfers in sarongs under a vast sky of stained glass blue. Bali is always busy. But you would not know it from inside the secluded grounds of Melia Bali - 15 acres of tropical flowers and private luxury villas, a huge pool, amphitheatre and its own stretch of beach. But once you take half an hour drive from Nusa Dua to Kuta, you will soon fel that you’ve come to a different place.. It is a party town - loud, raucous.
Kuta it is also a nice place to stay. Busy, lots of shops and some nice restaurants such as the well-known Poppies, which is a hotel that has a lovely restaurant in a garden setting - the steak; Mexican coffees tempted me back three times. I stayed in Adhi Dharma. It was just a holiday hotel and didn’t have a lot of character but it was very comfortable and had a nice swimming pool with a lovely bar.
In Bali, as Rita, a Bali based journalist later told me that the people of each island identify themselves firmly with their birthplace. Local dialects differ significantly. While rooming around in Bali I noticed that people are very religious. 94 per cent population of Bali is Hindu. One could see people going to temples and putting offerings, made from plants and flowers, on the ground as well as on higher ground for the bad and the good spirits every time. We constantly tripped over the offerings as they were often in the middle of the pavement.
The Bali bombing has created a culture of fear, which has deleterious a effect on the tourist industry on which the life of most of Balinese dependent. Daya, the cab driver said that after the bombing in Bali the number of visitors has dropped considerably. “There is very little business,” he kept saying as he drives us around Bali.
Later in the evening I met Philip and Anderson who had both moved from Australia to work in Bali. Both seemed lyrical about the Balinese way of life: the serenity, the peacefulness, and the beauty. Nightlife in Bali starts late, which means around midnight. The pubs, bars and discos of Kuta are just blusterous.
But I didn’t found the island a good place to shop. The reason is that I am not a good shopper and bargainer. The sales boy or girl will leave you in a clumsy situation with an awkward question – “This is our prize what is your price boss!” It is possible that you would end up bargaining for hours without any chance of getting the item at a cheaper rate.
I spent my last evening in Bali relaxing by Kuta beach overlooking the see; couples walking along the beach hand in hand, children playing football and the surfers. Sitting here, alone, watching the sun drop into the Indian Ocean, while children enjoy their last swim in pool is as riveting as life can be.
By Syed Nazakat
Source: http://www.merinews.com/
April 11th, 2008
Wayan Ananta Wijaya, Contributor, Denpasar
Scores of Balinese intellectuals have warned the Balinese people not to elect a “puppet” governor — a weak leader who is submissive to the central government’s and investors’ interests — in the upcoming gubernatorial election.
The need to have a strong leader, capable of saying “no” to the central government in Jakarta, was the central theme of a recent public discussion involving local intellectuals, such as AA Arwata, Dewa Suprapta and LK Suryani.
Co-organized by the Bali chapter of the Indonesia National Student Movement (GMNI) and its alumni’s body, the discussion was held to commemorate the 54th anniversary of GMNI.
“The Balinese should try their best to be smart, thoughtful voters. They shouldn’t vote for a candidate who will be the willing “puppet” of the central government in Jakarta,” I Gusti Putu Artha said.
Artha is currently a member of the country’s General Election Commission (KPU) and a former member of GMNI.
AA Ngr Arwata, former head of the influential Bali administration’s Regional Development Planning Agency and one of the most island’s most critical thinkers, stated that the high level of outside influence — Jakarta-based politicians and corporate investors — would make the upcoming election more decisive than the previous ones in determining the future of Bali.
He hinted that several investors and political figures from Jakarta had enthusiastically offered their support and financial power to the potential gubernatorial candidates. This development, Arwata said, was worrisome.
“Because there is no such thing as a free lunch, particularly in politics. We should be aware, well, the candidates should be aware of the ulterior motives of these ‘political’ investors,” he said.
The anxiety over the involvement of these Jakarta-based “political” investors, Arwata said, was primarily based on the Balinese people’s own experience concerning the ways their leaders had always easily — sometimes gladly — succumbed to the central government and major corporations’ wishes in the past.
“All these years, our political leaders had never dared to stand up to Jakarta, nor had they enough political leverage to say ‘no’ to Jakarta’s wishes and the corporations’ interests,” he said.
His words reminded the participants of the times when the island was governed by Ida Bagus Oka from 1988 to 1998. During his ten-year tenure, Oka had always bowed down to the central government’s and Jakarta-based conglomerates’ requests, a trait that earned him the nickname “Mr. Okey” among Bali’s rights and environmental activists.
The island paid for its governor’s weakness dearly. Jakarta-sponsored tourism mega projects, such as the ones on Serangan Island and Pecatu, have inflicted irreversible changes to the island’s landscape, both socially and environmentally.
“Now, if Jakarta’s political figures and major corporations offer the candidates their political networks and financial support … we can safely assume that the future leaders of Bali will be much weaker than the previous ones, because they will be heavily indebted to their investors,” he said.
LK Suryani, a Udayana University professor and arguably the most influential female thinker on contemporary Bali, urged the Balinese people to vote for a leader who had the guts to be antagonistic to the hegemonic power of Jakarta.
“If necessary, we shouldn’t refrain ourselves from electing a controversial figure as long as that figure has the morals and political integrity to place the Balinese people’s interests far above the Jakarta’s interests,” she said.
The head of GMNI’s alumni association, I Dewa Kade Wiarsa Raka Sandi, said the participants’ concerns over the future governor were justified.
“We will use all the political influence this organization possesses to shape the upcoming election into a political process that will bestow the Balinese with a strong and visionary governor, and not a ‘puppet’, ” he said.
The Bali gubernatorial election is scheduled for July 7. So far, the official candidates include Made Mangku Pastika, a three-star police general nominated by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), and Cokorda Budi Suryawan, a former two-time regent of Gianyar endorsed by the Golkar Party. Both have extensive political and financial networks in Jakarta.
Source: The Jakarta Post
April 11th, 2008