Archive for April, 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
(Balidiscovery) Indonesia’s National Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) will act as hosts for the International Conference on Reproductive Health Management (ICHRM) scheduled to be held in Bali May 6-8, 2008 at the Discovery Kartika Plaza Hotel in South Kuta.
Conference Goals
The ICHRM seeks to contribute to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through the convening of an international conference that will:
1. Highlight current and emergent practices in managing reproductive health among developing nations.
2. Identify gaps, gains, lessons, insights, challenges and opportunities in pursuing multiple priorities in the area of reproductive health and development; and
3. Reach a consensus on future actions to advance reproductive health management in accelerating the achievement of MDGs.
The first ICHRM held in the Philippines in 2006 attracted 625 participants from 11 countries. This year’s conference in Bali is expected to attract a similar number.
The Indonesian Statistics Bureau (BPS) estimates that in 2006 there were 691,955 couples living in Bali within the reproductive age span grouping. Of that total, 445,109 couples (64%) use some sort of contraceptive device.
The Conference, also supported by the United Nations Population Fund will be opened by Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Social Welfare, Aburizal Bakrie.
Source: www.balidiscovery.com
April 10th, 2008
Syed Nazakat, 08 April 2008, Tuesday
October 12, 2002 – the day that tore apart Bali. Around 202 people were killed due to the bomb blasts carried on by the terrorist groups. But the overwhelmed people have kept aside the dark memories and have successfully carried forward their lives.
FOR WAYAN, a Bali bombing survivor who runs a provisional shop in Kuta area, the road back is filled with painful memories. He was just 500 metres away from the bombing site on the day of 2002 bombing in Bali. The attack was the deadliest act of terrorism in the history of Indonesia, killing 202 people, 164 of whom were foreign nationals, including 88 Australians, and 38 Indonesian citizens.
“When the bomb went off, my TV and stereo jumped off the rack. I saw only the fire at the Sari Club. People were carrying bodies and injured people. I called a friend on my cell phone but he didn’t answer. I found out days later that my friend had died in hospital,” said Wayan. “But we have stood united and left that horrible day behind us,” he added.
Bali is the only Hindu dominated island of Indonesia, a biggest Muslim country in the world. Though the attacks carried out in Bali were aimed particularly at the foreign tourists, but many believe that if both communities – Muslims and Hindus – had not acted carefully after the attack, there was a chance of communal flare up. “Hindus and Muslims who live here for centuries made sure that the years old communal harmony didn’t fall pray to the terrorism,” said Adaan, 29, who works in a cafe in Kuta.
Just up the street from Adaan’s shop is a small garment shop, owned and operated by Nyoman Soladi, 32. ”I still don’t understand why they attacked us, killed so many innocent people. We have done nothing wrong to anybody,” said Soladi.
Today tourists are once again travelling to Bali. The island is abuzz with life and energy. People are piecing their lives with broad smiles on their faces. Across the street, the bombing site has been turned into memorial in Kuta and it attracts tourists, who gaze at the list of countries and names of the people killed in the 2002 Bali bombing.
“Who is their (perpetuators of Bali bombing) enemy,” asked Andy Harrison, 39, a British national who has been travelling to Bali for the last ten years, while pointing towards the memorial where the names of those who died in the bombing are engraved. ”Everybody is their enemy and they are the enemies of everybody,” he added.
The Bali bombing in 2002 left massive effect on tourism industry on which the life of most of Balinese is dependent. “Today if you roam around in Bali, you really don’t feel that this is the place where terrorists had created such a havoc. The people have just made it sure that they are not going to be overwhelmed by fear,” said Rita Widiadana, a Bali based correspondent of The Jakarta Post.
Dr John Harrison, manager of terrorism research institute of defense and strategic studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, said that there was still a threat of another attack in Indonesia. ”Though most of the top members of Jemaah Islamiyah have been arrested, but I think terrorists still have the capacity to attack Bali,” said Harrison.
But in the island, as Wayan said, people are strong believers of divine retribution and they believe in Karma. “Whoever would try to harm this beautiful place will get punished. But our religion is to live happily with others and to be nice to everybody,” said Wayan while putting offerings, made from plants and flowers on the ground. Before saying adieu, he invited me for the birthday party of his friend.
“The party is at the Kuta beach, please do come”.
Source: http://www.merinews.com/
April 9th, 2008
BY MJ AKBAR (Byline)
THE rich are different from you and me; they have the same airport. The first casualty of globalisation is identity. Every airport in the developed, or wannabe-developed, world looks the same: a confusion of corridors, conveyer belts, junk shops and a profusion of winding queues at immigration. You can recognise a nation from the look in the queues. There is faintly-hidden arrogance on the faces of officials in receiving countries, and barely-disguised relief in the manner of passengers chasing some better horizon than their native land can provide. Delhi is somewhere in the middle, there is both ebb and flow.
The one thing in common between ebb and flow is torture. Signs advertise that the airport, currently in a compete mess, is on its way to becoming world class. This is apparently considered good news by the developer and presumably the civil aviation ministry. We will know what they mean when we finally see what we get; in the meantime don’t raise your hopes too high.
Denpasar airport, in Bali, the exotic Hindu island on the southern tip of the Indonesian archipelago, is a gateway to the lost world of charm, grace and the sheer opulence of an environment lush with rain, paddy and forest. There is nothing artificial about the welcome in the Balinese smile, which begins in the eyes and spreads gently across the face. The airport is designed like a home, airy, free, spacious, sunlit. It is an illusion of course but you get the sense that there are no walls in Bali. The architecture of wood breathes with the quiet harmony of nature. The doors are exquisitely carved, but they seem designed to remain open rather than slam shut. Stone comes to life in brilliant statuary, as deities and demons from a rich and vibrant belief system that ill-deserves the nomenclature of mythology. Epic scenes from the Mahabharata are carved high into the air at intersections of the road that takes us from Denpasar to the rain forest and Ayung river valley of Ubud. Lord Krishna and Arjuna, or Arjana as it is pronounced here, on the battlefield at Kurukshetra are favourites but there is a splendid variety from other events of the great epic. The genius of this art also lies in its anonymity. This is the work of a people and their faith, not an artist and his ego.
The drive to the Alila Ubud hotel is a journey through many pasts. Language is a primary vehicle of multiple identities. One expects a nameplate like Pt Cerana Citra Kartika, or a Krisna Yuva Dana, a Bhakti Shop or a Nira Gallery. But there is also an advertisement for an Amerikan Pillo. The bus stop is a page from the chapter on European colonisation. It is called ‘Halte Pesanggeran’. Tourism flows through the sinews of the Bali economy. The street is lined with countless shops churning out Buddhas and gods that will seem fashionably antique in some western drawing room. The West begins next door, in Australia. The printed advice we receive at the hotel is frank. Never buy anything without haggling. All prices should come down by thirty to forty per cent. But such candour destroys the charm of haggling. There is no sense of victory when you know that prices have been marked up already to account for the haggle. A shopkeeper must look as dejected and defeated as a Lebanese trader who has sold a magic carpet at a plastic price. The Balinese look too happy. The afternoon darkens suddenly as I check in. Lightning splits the clouds and a thunderclap from the pages of a Somerset Maugham novel shakes the skies. Rain pours down in a furious rush; the intensity would have left any city flooded but the water slips down the terraces of the mountainside. The shower stops, but is replaced by a thin invisible spray that keeps you cool without leaving you wet. Organisers of conferences in Bali tend to take a precaution against the rain becoming too disruptive. The price for a puja to appease the rain gods is forty two dollars.
There is prasad everywhere. Deities do not live only in temples, but on walls, parapets, even within conference halls. Fruit is left in a small leaf bowl, presumably after a quick puja, perhaps for decorative effect, perhaps in memory of the prayer, in front of the idol. Faith, and its symbols, are a constant assertion, subtly, not aggressively. A taxi driver was rather more regretful than he might have been elsewhere after hitting a buffalo: he had to pay atonement expenses for three pujas at three temples before the Brahmins exonerated his sin. The challenge to ritual comes, one understands, not from the non-Hindu presence but from Indian sects like the Krishna Bhakts and the Brahma Kumaris who come here and advocate a more spartan form of Hinduism. It would be a tragedy if the Balinese began to conform. The world comes to Bali precisely because Bali refuses to go to the world.
If you need to discuss the role of Islam in multicultural Asia, where better than in Bali? We are guests of the Asia Society, the highly esteemed New York-based intellectual powerhouse. Both Richard Holbrooke, its chairman, and Vishakha Desai, its president, are present to lead the discussion. Vishakha has enough power in her drive to make academics quiver and mere mortals quail. The conference is conducted under Chatham House rules, which means that we cannot report or quote from the proceedings without the specific permission of the speaker. I hope I break no rules when I convey that there was (by and large) recognition of the damage done by the rhetoric and myopia of George Bush. But we were a liberal group, which did not make us homogenous but certainly persuaded us that a fresh future could only rest on a concept that we in India have made a cornerstone of our political philosophy: tolerance of diversity, respect for the difference and equality for all.
Question from the Olde Curiosity Shoppe: why do so many panelists at any conference, whether in Bali or Timbuktoo, want to make just three points? Making just one point, which is really the ideal, would seem as if you had nothing to say. Two points might suggest that you had not thought through your views. And four of course would be too excessive for the audience, which would switch from slumber to sleep. So the magic number is three: remember that when you are invited to confer at any conference.
M J Akbar is a distinguished Indian journalist, author and commentator
Source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/
April 8th, 2008
Managing conservation, tourism and the needs of local communities in Bali Barat National Park
Louise O’Flynn
For many, Bali represents paradise, a slice of heaven on earth. Visitors are overwhelmed by the beauty of the black volcanic sand beaches, the enchanting Hindu culture, and the intricately sculpted rice terraces. Few visitors to Bali are aware that just beyond the hustle and bustle of the main tourist attractions there is a natural paradise of astounding beauty protected by the Bali Barat National Park and Marine Reserve (Bali Barat).
The national park is a sanctuary for Bali’s diverse native flora and fauna, designated to protect Bali’s unique biodiversity from the impacts of development. Bali Barat was first established as a game reserve in 1947, extended in 1978 and given national park status in 1982. This signalled the Indonesian government’s decision to protect this part of the island for nature preservation, with watershed conservation for irrigation and nurseries for commercial fisheries as added benefits. Twenty-five years on, Bali Barat is recognised for its social and economic value, with the park’s future plans directed toward environmental education, research and tourism.
Protecting natural diversity
Situated in Bali’s northwest corner and spanning the districts of Buleleng and Negara, Bali Barat covers 19,558 hectares which represents around 10 per cent of Bali’s total land area. A majority of the national park is zoned for wilderness and allows for only limited visitor use. All visitors must pay an entry fee and be accompanied by an official guide. Much of the park remains off limits. Eight wild rivers flow through the park; like arteries they support a profusion of plant and animal species. Many are endemic to Bali, especially the endangered Bali starling (Lecuopsar rotschildi).
Five distinct yet interconnected vegetation habitats flourish along Bali Barat’s north and west coasts, including tropical savanna, lush rainforest, seasonal forest and coastal forest, fringed by mangroves. One of the park’s major regional conservation achievements is the protection of over 3000 hectares of mangrove forest, particularly important in Indonesia, where mangroves are often cleared to make way for agriculture, fish and prawn farms, and urban development. Bali Barat’s marine reserve protects some of the world’s most colourful coral reefs and tropical fish, making it a global attraction for snorkellers and divers. Protected coastal wildlife also includes migratory sea and shore birds and their roosting and nesting grounds.
National park status has buffered Bali Barat from human impact to some extent. But park managers still struggle against budgetary constraints and pressures to commercialise access to the park . Hunting and firewood collection continue within the park even though both are illegal.
Conservation challenges
When the park was first established, local communities were very hostile. They felt they were being denied access to resource-rich land and fish-stocked reefs and illegal fishing and hunting continue despite the park’s protected status. The use of explosives and cyanides to catch fish has long been a problem within the marine reserve. Ironically, people come to fish in the reserve because other regional fish stocks and coral reefs have been depleted or destroyed due to the very same fishing practices.
Even in the absence of these illegal activities, the marine reserve is under great pressure. Managers realise that climate change will dramatically increase the severity and frequency of coral bleaching over the coming years, possibly surpassing the devastation of the 1997-1998 coral bleaching event associated with El Niño, which affected 75 to 100 per cent of corals at Bali Barat.
Conservation of the Bali starling is another major focus at Bali Barat. The white bird with its graceful long crest, bare blue skin framing the eyes, and an enchanting call is endangered. In 2001 it was estimated that only 13 wild individuals remained in the national park. The Bali starling is a status symbol pet for many wealthy Indonesians and poaching has been big business in the past. Since the 1980s, park managers have worked tirelessly with international conservation groups to save the species from extinction. Captive breeding programs exist in Indonesia and abroad. However, when the birds are released into the wild, many are killed by falcons or stolen by poachers.
The increasing popularity of ecotourism risks pitting park managers against local communities. Tourism provides employment to locals whose traditional fishing and forest-based livelihoods were curtailed when the park was established. Tourism also boosts regional revenues. But poor tourism planning within the park and in its surrounds has led to local resource degradation, water pollution, sprawl, competition for space between hotel developers and fishing families, and the demise of distinctive local culture.
Ecotourism is often idealised as benefiting tourists, local people, and the natural attractions that are its objects. Visitors have the opportunity to experience the raw beauty of the park’s wildlife while staying in ‘eco friendly’ accommodation with a touch of local culture. Tourism operators are required to contribute financially to the conservation of the national park. Yet park managers are very much aware that over-use by seasonal influxes of tourists can lead to the demise of the park’s overall conservation values.
The tourism industry also affects communities in areas around the park. Many local residents have abandoned traditional rural occupations – whether compelled to do so by park rules, or attracted by higher incomes in new hospitality and construction occupations that cater to the tourism industry. Coastal villagers have sold land to developers for tourist accommodation. Land along Bali’s northwest coast that is available for local residents’ use is now extremely limited and prohibitively expensive. Local communities must also compete with tourist development for limited fresh water. These communities have become increasingly dependent on tourism for their livelihoods – and at the same time more vulnerable to sudden down-turns in tourism.
Managing visitors and the demands they place on the park and its staff are problematic at Bali Barat. Infrastructure catering to visitors must be maintained, and new demands anticipated. Some 65 rangers working at Bali Barat could be adequate. Ironically, in part due to limited revenue because of tight controls on tourist visits, rangers are poorly equipped and finding resources for holistic park management is difficult.
No simple solution
Bali Barat managers recognise that there are no simple solutions to the environmental dilemmas and the impacts of tourism upon the park and its local community. Their experience demonstrates that innovative community-based management is essential to overcome obstacles to long term conservation. It is crucial to offset the potential loss of local income from the park’s conservation status and to foster a sense of pride and ownership of the park within neighbouring communities. But limited funds restrict what park staff alone can achieve.
Partnerships with international conservation groups and local communities help. In 2003, Bali Barat managers joined with WWF to establish the Friends of the Reef Project. The project encouraged local people to become involved in coral monitoring and boat patrols for illegal fishing activity within the marine reserve. Through this project, community involvement has fostered a sense of ownership, pride and personal protection over the national park. It has also seen reduced illegal fishing within the marine reserve.
The success of conservation efforts requires local communities to seek livelihoods that do not rely on harvesting or degrading natural resources within the park. Providing sustainable employment alternatives to fishing, hunting and logging is critical. Seaweed cultivation is one tool used at Bali Barat to involve the community in conservation work that presents direct economic benefits. It is about community empowerment and providing local people with alternative employment opportunities that support Bali Barat’s conservation objective.
It is timely to recognise and celebrate the conservation work and dedication of park managers, international conservation groups, and local communities in Bali Barat National Park’s silver jubilee year. After 25 years, Bali Barat remains largely rugged and wild, with its myriad of lush tropical landscapes and crystal clear seascape, its rare bird species and vibrant coral fish. Bali Barat truly is a paradise, and has become not only a nature sanctuary, but a source of economic and social benefits for the western end of Bali. ii
Louise O’Flynn (oflynn_louise@yahoo.com.au) is an environmental planner who works for the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service. She is a regular visitor to the island of Bali.
Source: http://insideindonesia.org/
April 7th, 2008
In Kuta, a local surfer has found that it is worthwhile to share waves with tourists.
Alex Leonard
Kuta, Bali. An hour before dawn. Pak Nyoman Santosa of Poppies Lane 1 steps onto the cool sand of Kuta Beach, net in hand. The two dogs that attached themselves to the old man halfway down the lane run and splash about as he wades in and casts his net out over small, gently breaking waves. When he was a young man, Pak Nyoman fished for a living. Now he is a wealthy landlord, with rent coming in from a hotel, a restaurant, a bar and four shops, along with proceeds from sales of the coffee and oranges that grow on the land he owns up at Bedugul. He still goes fishing, but now it’s just for fun.
Half an hour later, Joni and Iqbal, two young men from Kediri, East Java, who share a small room in a house on Imam Bonjol Street, about three kilometres east of Kuta Beach, arrive pushing carts full of surfcraft and beach umbrellas. A group of young Timorese men jog by, a football team in training.
Six Japanese surfers, two of them young women, get out and check the surf.
Sunrise. A dark blue Toyota Kijang pulls up on Kuta Beach Street, surfboards piled high on its roof. Six Japanese surfers, two of them young women, get out and check the surf. Further down the road, two motorbikes carrying surfboards in side-racks pull up, the French surfers riding them bare-chested and wearing only thin plastic helmets and flip-flops.
By eight in the morning there are 50 surfers in the water and no spots left for cars on the side of the road. Pak Nyoman has gone home with a bucketful of ikan penpen (silver sardine) and plastic wrappers, and the traffic on Kuta Beach Street has begun to roar.
A Kuta surfer at home
A hot sun soars overhead and the morning passes. Down by the water, a solidly built, pale-skinned American stands before a long-lensed camera on a tripod, his eye fastened to the viewfinder and one hand twisting the lens as he moves it to keep up with a surfer on a wave. The surfer – a slight, dark-skinned Balinese – carves up and down the face of the wave until it closes out on the shore, where he performs a final flying manoeuvre before stepping off and running up the sand with his board under his arm.
The surfer is Made Dendi, sixth and youngest child of Nyoman Santosa. Made is 25 and a professional surfer who has too many surfboards to count, a Toyota Kijang of his own, and friends in many countries. One of these is Vanessa, his French girlfriend, who has been to Bali six times in the last three years and is coming again for a one-month stay very soon.
Made and the photographer, Jeff, greet each other and chat for a few moments. Jeff reaches into the backpack at his feet and pulls out a magazine: Surf Time, ‘the original Indo surf mag’. He thumbs the pages and stops at a spread in the middle, which he opens for Made to see. It is a two-page advertisement for the surfwear company Quiksilver, featuring Made riding a very big wave at Padang-Padang, the famous surf spot on the Badung Peninsula 40 minutes’ drive south of Kuta.
A Japanese-Hawaiian surfer, Jason, who spends six months of every year in Bali and a tall, thin Chinese-Indonesian surfer, Ivan, who was born and raised in Kuta, pass on their way to the water’s edge. ‘Made,’ Ivan calls, ‘don’t get a big head now!’ Made grins and raises his middle finger in reply. ‘Go home, tourist!’ he yells.
Made hasn’t always been so friendly with tourists. When he was a teenager, he had a reputation for hotheadedness. He often shouted in frustration and anger in the surf, and sometimes punched tourists who got in his way. ‘Go home, tourist!’ he would yell as he did so.
If Made’s brother Ketut Arta saw that Made was angry at a tourist he would paddle over and tell him to restrain himself: ‘Don’t embarrass us, Made! Don’t give us Balinese a bad name. Better for tourists to like us and want to be our friends. All that guy did was drop in on you once or twice – let him know it’s not right, but remember there’ll always be more waves.’
A Kuta surfer away from home
Before he moved to Japan with his Japanese wife Sachiko, Ketut Arta ran a small surf shop in front of the family’s house on Poppies Lane 1. As a boy Made helped out and learned English and Japanese in dealings with customers. When he was 18, an Australian friend with a surfboard factory on Queensland’s Gold Coast bought him a ticket to Australia and took him travelling for a month, up and down Australia’s east coast, from Queensland to New South Wales and Victoria, surfing all the way. Back in Bali, Made won a major contest against older and more experienced surfers. This was the break he needed and in the years that followed sponsors showered him with surfing equipment and accessories, and gave him money to travel to Australia, Japan, Hawaii and California.
Over time and in the course of his travels, Made changed. ‘You’ve mellowed, Made,’ Ketut told his brother on a visit to Bali last year. In the travel stories Made told Ketut – of impossible crowds at Trestles in California and gigantic waves at Sunset in Hawaii – lessons in patience and humility figured prominently.
‘Don’t give Balinese a bad name!’
Now it is Made who reminds younger Kuta surfers to restrain themselves and to treat visitors well. ‘It’s not hard, is it, to be humble?’ he says. ‘After all in Bali we live from tourism. If there were no tourists we couldn’t live. Better for tourists to like us and want to be our friends. And who knows maybe one day we’ll be guests in their homes…’
‘Made!’ Jason calls from the shore. Made is still gazing at the advertisement in Surf Time. ‘Stop looking at yourself – your head’s getting big! Come surfing!’ Made grins and raises his middle finger in reply. ‘Go home, tourist!’ ii
Alex Leonard (alex.h.leonard@gmail.com ) has been a surf tourist and anthropology student in Australia, Indonesia and Japan, and has been away from his local spot (Thirroul, New South Wales) for more than ten years.
Source: http://insideindonesia.org/
April 7th, 2008
By Christine McCabe
SMALL bats swoop beneath the eaves of our thatched living pavilion as butler Wiwied lights candles strung from a twisted frangipani tree.
A fire has been lit in the stone pit by the swimming pool and, far below, in the jungle ravine, a mountain tributary rushes towards the sacred River Ayung.
This is Sound of Fire, a villa at the heart of the Como Shambhala Estate at Begawan Giri, 20 bumpy minutes by paved road and village track from Bali’s hill town of Ubud.
“Sacred place of bliss” is the estate’s calling card and, indeed, it is hard to imagine a more serene retreat. A series of contemporary thatched pavilions set among coconut palms and pea-green manicured lawns spill down either side of a jungle ridge high above the river.
A natural spring, revered by locals for healing properties, feeds an elegant water garden, part of designer John Pettigrew’s restrained landscaping that deftly melds the cultivated with the untamed forest.
With the opening of a cutting-edge spa and under the guiding hand of savvy Singapore-based hotel entrepreneur Christina Ong, the Como has established itself as one of Asia’s leading health retreats, providing bespoke programs in surroundings at one with nature.
Celebrities are not immune to the lure of this magical place (rock star Sting is one of many famous guests) and the absolute privacy of the accommodation has much to do with Como’s star status.
The retreat is configured as a series of large villas with pools, but many guests opt for a private residence, of which there are five, each with its own butler and staff, four or five suites and a full-sized swimming pool.
Given the retreat’s health bent, the minibar is stocked with juice, water and organic tea bags (although wine is available with meals). Breakfast is organic and meat-free (although there is smoked salmon), with fruit grown on the estate and a nutritionist on hand to help tailor individual menus.
Dedicated non-dieters, fear not: you are well catered for. Dinners in the charming Kudus, an 150-year-old Javanese house lined with ornately carved teak, are a treat. The beef rendang is a standout and dinner generally begins with a sharp palate-cleanser such as passionfruit granita followed by crisp beans served with a spicy Indonesian soy dipping sauce. If you are feeling lazy, Kudus’s staff will deliver dinner to your residence or villa.
The food is excellent but the new spa is where Como really shines: it features nine minimalist treatment rooms perched on a grassy ledge with lap pool and jungle views.
A large team of professional staff, including Ayurvedic doctors employing the latest equipment (from hydrotherapy pools to a hi-tech colonic hydrotherapy machine), ensure guests are able to destress, detox or simply recharge by the time they check out.
Signature treatments include the Pizhichil massage, in which warm oil flows continuously over the entire body to supposedly balance doshas and correct the flow of prana (energy). And I have to recommend the deep-tissue massage: the best I’ve had anywhere.
Body treatments form only one element of Como’s holistic approach to health. Yoga is key here and attracts leading exponents. One-on-one sessions are available.
A complimentary daily schedule of activities begins with an early morning jungle walk. From there it might be on to tennis, rafting, martial arts, Pilates or climbing.
Personal trainers can assist in the airconditioned indoor gymnasium and, yes, there is even a jungle gym.
The pick of the excursions is the Kintamani freewheel. Participants are dropped at the rim of the Mt Batur volcano just after sunrise to freewheel a bicycle down bumpy country roads through villages and forest, arriving back at Como in time for breakfast.
Better yet, spend an afternoon at the jungle rockpool hidden at the base of the ravine like a set from a Tarzan movie, replete with chattering monkeys and a diving platform.
The long climbs inherent in a stroll in this neck of the woods are made easier with the judicious placement of daybed platforms thoughtfully draped with mosquito netting and set with comfy bolsters.
Like everything else at Como, vertiginous walks are entirely optional: do as much or as little as you like. I can report that a gin and tonic while bobbing in the pool by the light of a blazing fire proves very destressing indeed.
Christine McCabe was a guest of Como Shambhala.
Source: http://www.news.com.au/travel
April 4th, 2008
(Balidiscovery) Indonesia’s MRA Group has signed on as the main naming sponsors of the Bali International Triathlon set for Sunday, June 29, 2008.
The three-year agreement between Bali International Triathlon (USA) and MRA (Mugi Rekso Abadi Group) means that the more than 34 companies operated by the Indonesian group have entered into a marketing alliance that will showcase their wide range of products via the popular international sporting competition held on Bali’s Jimbaran Bay.
The MRA Group
Among MRA’s diversified areas of business are:
Media Division
• Cosmopolitan Magazine • Spice Magazine • Cosmo Girl Magazine • Harpers Bazaar • Good Housekeeping • Auto Car • Trax • Bali & Beyond Magazine • FHM • IP Entertainment (Impresarios and Artist Agents) • Men’s Fitness Magazine (To be Launched in 2008)
Broadcast Division
• Hard Rock FM • Trax FM Radio • Cosmopolitan FM Radio • I-Radio FM • Media Network Indonesia
Retail & Lifestyle
• Bulgari Jewelry • Bang and Olufsen • Vision Home Entertainment
Food & Beverage Division
• Hard Rock Café • Haagen Dazs Ice Cream
Automotive Division
• Ferrari Maserati • Harley Davidson
Hotel & Property Division
• Bulgari Hotels & Resorts (Indonesia)
MRA Bali International Triathlon
Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay will serve as “race central” for the MRA Bali International Triathlon on June 29, 2008. The Olympic distance event is the only international-caliber triathlon held in Bali.
Jimbaran lies on the western side of Bali’s narrow southern isthmus, located on a sweeping bay that curves from the southern side of the airport to the bushy headland that borders the Four Seasons Resort. The event is comprised of a 1.5-kilometre swim in the warm waters of the bay, a 40-kilometre bike ride from the edge of Jimbaran Bay through hilly paved roads to Nusa Dua looping back to Jimbaran, and a 10-kilometre mostly-flat run on paved roads through Jimbaran and Kedonganan villages ending with a beach finish at the Four Seasons Resort Jimbaran Bay.
In its inaugural year, the event attracted more than 150 athletes from 16 countries. This year, athlete participation is slated to increase significantly with the event also expected to attract a large number of spectators to watch the race and partake in the music and festivities at “race central.” On Saturday, June 28th, the day before the race, the Four Seasons Resort will be the meeting venue for the athlete briefings. In the evening, this setting on the Indian Ocean will be the venue for the athletes’ high carbohydrate Pre-Race Dinner, designed and prepared exclusively for the occasion by the Four Seasons’ world-acclaimed chefs.
To welcome the athletes, The Four Seasons has dedicated all of their 7 elegant Private Estates to providing housing for the participants and their families. Located along the beach and just steps away from the start and finish lines, the Private Estates have been specially priced for race participants.
Official Hotels
The Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bali and Intercontinental Bali Resort are serving as the official hotel partners for the MRA Bali International Triathlon.
A Truly Balinese Event
Spiritualism dominates every aspect of daily life on the Hindu island of Bali with the MRA Bali International Triathlon also includes a bike blessing Prayasita ceremony in addition to a Majaya Jaya ceremony to bless and ensure the spiritual protection of all the participants and to neutralize any demonic forces. A Pemangku priest will conduct the ceremonies, using special offerings including fruit, yellow coconut juice, grains of rice, sandalwood powder and young coconut leaves tied with white thread and Chinese coins. Further adding to the special character of the event, Balinese musicians and sarong-clad race marshals will be stationed along the race course to guard and entertain the racers as they pass through traditional villages.
More information about the event is available in Triathlete magazine and via the official website [MRA Bali International Triathlon]
Source: www.balidiscovery.com
April 3rd, 2008
Bali in favour …
Last year, 204,473 Australians visited Bali, up from 137,000 in 2006. Only the Japanese outstrip us in their enthusiasm for the beautiful island.
If that kind of growth continues, then 2008 will beat the 2004 record of 267,500.
But while Australian tourists have confidence in Bali, our Government does not and this is causing angst among a group of Australians involved in the tourism industry there.
The Little Bali Hotel and Resort Company argues it is time for the Government to reconsider its grade-four warning for Bali, especially in the light of DFAT’s downgrade of its Kenya warning from a grade four “reconsider your need to travel” advisory to a grade three “[exercise a] high degree of caution” recommendation.
The group’s founding member, Adrian Forsyth, says much work and resources have gone into keeping Bali’s key tourist areas safe.
“Local authorities regularly sweep all local residential areas to ensure that all people living in the area have the right to be there and police posts and vehicle inspection points have been erected on many streets entering the Kuta/Legian areas,” says Forsyth, who manages the Bali Garden Hotel in Tuban and the Samsara Hotel and Spa in Kuta.
“The Australian Government attitude continues to amaze us all,” he says.
“Just last December, Bali hosted the United Nations conference on climate change, which involved government ministers and heads of state from around the world - including the new Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd.
“If it is safe enough for the PM to come here, why does DFAT continue to warn Australians against travelling to Bali?”
… and flavour
One Australian doing her bit to lure tourists to Bali and beyond is Maeve O’Meara. The energetic writer, television presenter and founder of Gourmet Safaris has added a Bali “girls-only” trip to her company’s schedule this year.
“It is such an incredible destination,” says O’Meara. The inaugural Bali Gorgeous Safari, from May 18 to 23, will be at the Warwick Ibah Resort in Ubud, owned by expat Asri Kerthyasa, who has lived in Bali for 30 years after marrying a Balinese prince.
O’Meara, who operates numerous gourmet trips around Sydney as well as taking international trips for both men and women, decided three years ago there was a gap in the market for female-only tours.
Vietnam was her first destination. It struck a chord, she says, as five-star resorts, shopping and spa treatments tend to appeal to women.
“In that time we have had only one man on these trips; brave soul that he was.
“And while he enjoyed it, we all agreed it was best to keep the Gorgeous Safaris exclusively female. Men tend not to want to try the 15th shoe shop looking for that perfect pair of shoes.”
As well as Bali, Gourmet Safaris has three more women-only trips to Vietnam and will launch into Thailand on June 8-15.
See www.gourmetsafaris.com.au.
Capital assets
Come September, the harsh glare of the spotlight will turn away from Canberra’s Parliament House and be trained on the slopes of Commonwealth Park, the home of Floriade, the capital’s biggest festival. Work has started on the site on the banks of Lake Burley Griffin, with more than a million flowers to be planted next month.
All things going to plan, the flowers will burst into bloom for the opening on September 13.
The theme for this year’s Floriade, the 21st, is the films that have shaped our nation. The festival’s creative team is promising a spectacle with floral displays ranging from the bus from Priscilla to the wedding dress from Muriel’s Wedding.
Floriade 21 will run from September 13 to October 12. And it’s free.
See www.floriadeaustralia.com.
Port Arthur in focus
Something more immediate but also quintessentially Australian is the photographic exhibition 130 Years Of Tourism At Port Arthur, due to open on site at Port Arthur on April 11.
The exhibition traces the history of tourism at the prison, which kicked off almost as soon as the prison shut down in 1877.
See www.portarthur.com.au.
Green and gold
Given the gusto with which the travel industry is embracing responsible tourism, you could be forgiven for thinking gogreenireland.com.au is a website about eco-friendly options around the Emerald Isle. But nothing like it. The site is a new online campaign dreamed up by Tourism Ireland to encourage Australians to trace their roots and, of course, be inspired to go and see where they came from.
Being one of the 30 per cent of Australians with Irish blood, I gave the website a trial run by typing in my surname.
For the record, O’Sullivan is an anglicised version of O{aac} Su{aac}illeabha{aac}in; it is the third-most common name in Ireland and originates from either County Kerry or West Cork on the south coast. (County Kerry, as it happens.)
The site then offers links to explore further as well as sites for booking flights, accommodation and tours.
See www.gogreenireland.com.au.
Mobiles take flight
Passengers on Qantas flights will be able to send and receive email and text messages via their mobile phones or personal electronic devices by the end of the year.
Qantas has partnered with AeroMobile, the company that has developed the technology that allows mobile phones to be used safely without interfering with aircraft systems or ground communication. Qantas has trialled the technology and the response from passengers to inflight connectivity was overwhelmingly positive.
Send news to smarttraveller@fairfax.com.au.
Source: http://www.smh.com.au/news/
April 2nd, 2008
Travel agents from around Australasia gathered in Bali this month for a weekend of indulgence and celebration.
The occasion was Garuda Orient Holidays’ TAG2008 (Top Achievers Group) weekend, the highlight of which was a magnificent Gala Awards Dinner at the stunning Maya Ubud Resort & Spa (the image on the cover of the brand new, “Bali on ANY budget”2008) to recognise Australian and New Zealand travel agents achieving outstanding sales throughout 2007.
The awards were presented by Mr. Poerwoko Soeparyono - Director, Garuda Orient Holidays. The Australian Top Achiever award was accepted by Ms Sarah Brown on behalf of Travel Hotspot, W.A., while the New Zealand Top Achiever award went to Holiday Shoppe, Ponsonby, and was accepted by Manager Mr. Wayne Leigh.
The evening culminated with the official launch of the 2008 edition of the iconic “Bali on ANY budget” brochure. The brochure was well received by all in attendance once again offering the best packages and deals for any traveler heading to Bali.
During their stay the Top Achievers lived it up at the stunning C-151 “Smart” Villas in Seminyak. They enjoyed lunch at the luxurious Karma Kandara Resort, perched on the cliff top at Uluwatu, and a rooftop dinner at the new Anantara Resort, beachfront in Seminyak.
“We asked guests what they wanted to do on a reward weekend… they chose everything from shopping trips to site inspections, a visit to the Elephant Safari Park Taro, to Spa treatments”, said Michael Woods, GOH Marketing Manager
Continuing the “Bali-Your Way” theme the guests also had the option to indulge in lavish spa treatments at the Ritz-Carlton, Dala Spa at Villa de Daun, and Prana Spa at The Villas, whilst some enjoyed a round of golf at the Bali Golf and Country Club and New Kuta Golf Club, Pecatau.
Mr. Paul Deans, Manager, Travel Corner, W.A. and winner of the GOH Rising Star Award for W.A. summed up the weekend best, “The way that the travel industry has changed over the past 10 years it is refreshing to see wholesalers giving back and referring to GOH where I was recently taken to Bali on the Top Achievers Weekend, GOH and GA staff bent over backwards to assist in our requests and to make sure we were all very well looked after at every opportunity” he said.
Supplies of the 2008 edition of “Bali on ANY budget” can be obtained through TIFS or by contacting your local Garuda Indonesia Sales department.
Source: http://www.etravelblackboard.com/
April 1st, 2008
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