Expat expo rocked by Bali bomb explosion<\/p>\n
Cameron Bates, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
It was marketed as the first international exhibition of products
\nand services for the expatriate community in Jakarta. Instead,
\npain, despair and an overwhelming sense of tiredness with life in
\nIndonesia descended on many of those attending Expo 2002 on
\nSunday.<\/p>\n
The suffering but resolve to carry on with the show at the
\nInternational Sports Club of Indonesia (ISCI) was no better
\ndemonstrated than by club adviser Sam Clayton, who struggled to
\ncome to terms with the fact that five club members in Bali for a
\nrugby tournament were missing, probably dead.<\/p>\n
A total of nearly 40 rugby players from the tournament were
\nlisted as missing.<\/p>\n
\"It's a shock to the club ... a couple of years ago we lost
\nfour family members in the Silk Air crash ... but you can't
\ncompare accidental deaths like that to an act of terrorism,\" he
\nsaid in a voice cracked with emotion.<\/p>\n
The five, whose names have not officially been released,
\ninclude three Australians, a New Zealander and a Canadian. Two of
\nthe men were fathers, while a third was understood to be recently
\nengaged.<\/p>\n
Surviving members of the 27-strong group from ISCI continued
\nthe ghastly, unimaginable task of searching morgues for their
\nfallen friends, aged between 25 and 35 years, on Monday and
\nTuesday, but without success.<\/p>\n
The team returned to Jakarta on Tuesday and were planning to
\ndiscuss arrangements for a memorial service.<\/p>\n
PT Sinar Expo Prima exhibition manager Yuanita said only about
\n1,000 people attended the expo on Sunday, well down from the
\nhoped for 5,000 plus.<\/p>\n
The theme of the expo was supporting foreign investment in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
\"All the major foreign investors are here and they are tired,
\nobviously sad, very sad. There is obvious shock and grief over
\nwhat has happened, but the overall mood is 'what for?', 'what are
\nwe here for?'\" Yuanita said.<\/p>\n
She said expats would not renew contracts, while others were
\nalready booking flights home.<\/p>\n
\"People are just saying, 'Right, I don't want my children here
\nanymore'. But there is no real sense of fear, there is just
\npeople saying 'I want to take my kids somewhere else.'\"<\/p>\n
Expo stall-holder Eammon Saddler, who runs the Jakarta Comedy
\nClub, said the barbaric attack was a disaster for Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"Bali was the last thing that Indonesia had that was safe and
\noutside all the problems associated with (Indonesia).<\/p>\n
\"It was the last stronghold of normality in Indonesia. Bali
\nwas like the untouched thing that carried on through it all and
\nnow it's over.\"<\/p>\n
Milton Bavin, the manager of the Indonesia branch of Trantek
\n(International) Group, a human resources and business services
\nconsultancy, said the impact of the attack on business would be
\n\"huge\".<\/p>\n
\"It's just another nail in the coffin for the economy. I mean
\nwhat have you got, you've got oil and gas and you've got tourism
\nand Bali was it.\"<\/p>\n
He said the Australian International School, which his son
\nattends, had been closed indefinitely and the future looked bleak
\nfor expats in general.<\/p>\n
\"I would imagine nobody would want to come here to work at
\nthis point after this sort of thing. Who would?\"<\/p>\n
However, Englishman Peter Pool said he was looking at the
\npossibility of establishing a construction company in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"It's bad ... but if you run away from things like that you
\nare going to run out of places to go in the end. It happens in
\nLondon, it happens in America, it happens everywhere. It's very
\nunfortunate and very sad but you've just got to box on.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/expat-expo-rocked-by-bali-bomb-explosion-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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