Bali Tourism News

Bali promotes World Silent Day

Last Wednesday, hundreds of school students enthusiastically watched special movies on climate change and the Hindu Day of Silence on a wide screen set up on the beautiful veranda of a government office in Denpasar.

The subjects might have been too serious for school-aged children, but the comical appearance of veteran comedian Pan Godogan successfully melted the tense atmosphere.

The children enjoyed the films and Pan Godogan’s jokes, which were actually filled with important messages.

Thanks to his humorous nature and intellectual prowess, Pan Godogan easily turned serious topics like pollution of the environment, depletion of the ozone layer and rising global temperatures and seas into attractive and easy-to-swallow subjects.

“I will grow more plants in my home to make the world greener and produce more oxygen,” said Putu Sari, a participating student.

Putu and her friends added they would start collecting hazardous garbage and stop using dangerous chemical products and plastic bags.

The film screening was followed by question and answer sessions on various social and environmental issues.

The event was jointly organized by a number of non-governmental organizations, professionals, the business community and concerned individuals from Kolaborasi Bali (Bali Collaboration), to promote World Silent Day,

The idea emerged last year when Bali hosted the United Nations’ Climate Change Conference. The Balinese believed that their traditional nyepi, the Hindu Day of Silence, which forbids people from working and leaving their homes for one day, proved to be able to decrease air and noise pollution.

The Balinese claimed that nyepi was an energy-saving activity, since people are not allowed to use electricity or fire for 24 hours. People can also save energy by not using their cars and other vehicles.

“Bali has long adopted traditional and efficient ways to preserve the environment and conduct energy-saving activities. We have priceless, traditional wisdom that is being ignored by modern society,” said Made Suarnatha, director of the Wisnu Foundation.

The one-day event was also highlighted by series of discussions, workshops and exhibitions on various environmentally-friendly activities.

“In this event, we deliberately involved as many children as possible to open their eyes and their minds to environmental problems in easy and fun ways, so they could understand what is going on in their country and the world and how to cope with those problems,” Suarnatha said.

He added that children need to be well-informed, because they were the future guardians of planet Earth.

“It is never too early to inform children about environmental preservation efforts,” he added.

To promote World Silent Day, Bali Collaboration has implemented a number of meetings and workshops with government officials, environmental experts, teachers, students, local communities and other related parties.

The group want to hold World Silent Day on March 21 every year; on the day, people would be required to stay home from work and turn off their electricity supply as part of the global effort to save energy and to prevent rising global temperatures.

On the sidelines of the event, the Bali Collaboration also launched its website (www.worldsilentday.org) to arouse people’s interest and awareness on the importance of supporting their activities and preserving the environment.

“We want to invite people from local and international organizations to take part in this effort,” Suarnatha said.

On Dec. 6, Bali Collaboration plans to hold the Global Day of Action to collect as many as 10 million signatures from supporters around the world to make World Silent Day a reality.

“Together with people from international organizations, Bali Collaboration will send its delegation to the UN’s upcoming Climate Change Conference in Poznan, Poland next December,” he said, adding that the target was to obtain recognition from the international community.

“We really hope the international community will adopt the idea of World Silent Day to combat global climate change.”

– Wasti Atmodjo

Source: The Jakarta Post

Add comment October 24th, 2008

We can learn a lot from Bali: Muscat

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Bali

Some athletes competing in the Asian Beach Games might not have as much to do over the next two years, as the Muscat Asian Beach Games Organizing Committee (MABGOC) has decided to trim the number of sports for the 2010 event in Oman.

In an interview with The Jakarta Post on Tuesday, MABGOC director Habib A. Macki said they had decided to include only 11 sports, compared with Bali’s 19.

“We are looking at different things. Here in Bali, there are many hotels. You can accommodate many athletes,”he said on the sidelines of the general assembly of the Olympic Committee of Asia (OCA) at the\ Westin Hotel in Nusa Dua.

“We don’t want to build that many hotels because there will be not much use.We must think about the future. Therefore, we will concentrate on only 11 sports and a certain number of athletes.”

Even though only 11 sports will be included at the event in Oman, Muscat expects to be able to host a greater number of athletes in its forthcoming Olympic village which, Macki said, would accommodate 3,000 athletes.

Around 1,600 athletes from 45 Asian countries are participating in the Bali Games. Macki presented the masterplan for the Muscat Games before representatives of the 45 National Olympic Committee members under OCA.

The Olympic village, which began construction this year, will be located near the coastal town of Mussanah, an hour’s drive from Muscat. The town’s legacy from hosting the Asian Beach Games will include world-class sporting facilities, a three-star hotel and meeting and conference facilities. The village is expected to become a magnet for the country’s future development of sports.

“We will host these beach games in one village. It will be home to all the sporting competitions, but some events may take place somewhere outside the village because this space will not be sufficient,” Macki said.

“Athletes and officials will be in one village. The media will not be far away from there, just 10 minutes’ drive.

And NOC (National Olympic Committee) guests will be based in a different place.”

He added that MABGOC was looking forward to hosting the Games, because of its expected benefits.

“There are certain things, most importantly tourism. We are looking to bringing in more tourists,”he said.

“Second, for young people… athletes.You (Games participants) have so many young athletes. They are very famous in our country. The Games will give them a chance to (display their skills).

“Economically, it’s very important. Sport is about promotion. We are building infrastructure that we can use again in the future, such as a sport academy,” he said, adding that organizers had allocated a budget of US$200 million for the Games.

The Omani entourage also intends to learn from the organization of the first Asian Beach Games.

“We are learning a lot from Bali because it’s the first-ever Beach Games. Being the first Games,always difficult. I told Madam Rita (Subowo) the other day. I said `Thanks, you are the first and we are the second, so we can learn from you’,”Macki said.

“We have 45 people here to learn, about various departments such as venues. Everything. We want to learn something from Bali and take it with us.”

Source: The Jakarta Post

Add comment October 24th, 2008