Keeping Bali special, wonderful for tourists<\/p>\n
By Simon Marcus Gower<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): For the many tourists that arrive in Bali each
\nyear, the Balinese experience can be wonderful and special. Bali
\nis world renowned as a holiday destination and by now epithets
\nattached to the island have, to a degree, become commonplace and
\nfamiliar.<\/p>\n
"The Island Paradise", "the Morning of the World" and the
\n"Island of the Gods" are among the glorifying titles attributed
\nto this "Jewel in Indonesia's Tourist Crown".<\/p>\n
But in order to retain the special character and culture of
\nBali that has made such epithets appropriate, care and caution
\nwill have to be exercised. The worst excesses of a quite
\ndifferent and far less desirable culture -- namely that of a
\nshallow tourist culture -- are and will likely continue to
\nundermine the cultural integrity of the island.<\/p>\n
Similarly, the overbearing nature of a tourist culture is
\nundermining the special qualities that have for so many years
\nbrought so many tourists to Bali.<\/p>\n
What, then, constitutes this potentially damaging tourist
\nculture? Anyone who has taken a walk on Kuta or Sanur Beach or
\nwalked among the many shops in Bali selling anything from "I've
\nbeen there\/done that" T-shirts through to fine and expensive art
\npieces will be familiar with one attribute of this tourist
\nmentality.<\/p>\n
Street hawkers of necklaces, bracelets, rings, watches,
\nsunglasses, sun hats, sarongs, wood carvings, paintings, shells,
\nmanicures, pedicures, massages, temporary tattoos ... (the list
\ngoes on) swarm around the hapless visitor like bees around a
\nhoney pot. While there is nothing too damaging in the selling of
\nmementos or services to make a visitor's time and memories of a
\nplace in some way more special, there does need to be some degree
\nof control and respect brought to such trade.<\/p>\n
Verbatim comments from just a handful of visitors to the
\nisland recently illustrate how excessive attempts to sell to the
\ntourist can conjure up negative sentiments which Bali could do
\nwithout.<\/p>\n
An visitor from English noted "I couldn't believe that people
\nwere trying to sell me souvenirs right in the middle of Besakih
\nTemple -- a holy place that I was trying to respect, even if they
\ncould not".<\/p>\n
Further, a Swedish couple spoke of being "constantly harassed
\nby people asking us to buy their trinkets", and the female
\npartner spoke of feeling "threatened by men standing on street
\ncorners calling out "Hey lady, you want transport? Where do you
\nwant to go?"<\/p>\n
Similarly, two travelers from Austria noted that they could
\nnot "escape from people trying to sell you something or other;
\nthey just won't leave you alone. Even if you are lying in the sun
\non the beach."<\/p>\n
Perhaps most disturbing for Bali are the comments of a
\nbackpacker from Holland who expressed discomfort upon arrival
\nfrom Thailand: "In Bali the people are always trying to get you
\nto buy something. In Thailand if I asked for directions,
\nsometimes the people would actually take me there. Here they
\neither say I don't know or, oh, you want to buy a map, do you?"<\/p>\n
It has to be recognized that these are the comments of only a
\nhandful of visitors, but further observations in Bali suggest
\nthat they are not exceptional or excessive and may even be
\nconsidered quite typical experiences. Indeed, further
\nobservations tend to suggest that these experiences are quite
\nmodest. Street selling in Bali also has a more unsavory and
\nunacceptable nature, which is far more threatening to the Island
\nof the Gods.<\/p>\n
Illicit and illegal commodities and services are also offered
\nto the visitor to Bali by street sellers. It is doubtful whether
\nthere are many places in the world where the oldest profession
\nhas not at sometime been practiced. While one moment, you may be
\noffered transport, the next it could be the services of a woman.<\/p>\n
Distasteful<\/p>\n
It seems, then, that these street sellers of transportation
\nservices (who may approach with a smile and a "welcome to Bali")
\nmay also be street pimps for the sex industry in Bali. Offers of
\nsexual services are unsavory enough but when they are followed
\nwith a sales pitch of "I have young, clean girls for you,
\nmister," such an encounter is rendered all the more distasteful.<\/p>\n
Similarly distasteful, but perhaps more worrying, are the
\noffers of drugs that may readily be encountered on the streets of
\nBali. Currently in Indonesia, hardly a day goes by without news
\nof the seizure of illegal narcotics at ports of entry to the
\ncountry or the capture of drug dealers by the law enforcement
\nagencies or even the gunning down of drug runners.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is a young country and the average age of its
\npopulation speaks of a relatively young populace. Almost
\ninevitably, therefore, Indonesia is experiencing the development
\nof its own youth culture, but it is to be hoped that illegal and
\ndangerous drugs can be kept out of such a culture.<\/p>\n
In Bali, though, the offers of drugs suggest that narcotics
\nare finding their way onto Indonesian soil and that the supply
\nlines of anything from soft right through to hard (and dangerous)
\ndrugs are being successfully maintained. It would appear that
\nBali needs greater law enforcement efforts to curb these
\nsupplies. It is, of course, difficult to determine the exact
\nsources of these supply lines but on the streets of Bali greater
\nefforts may be made to at least confine, hinder and even prevent
\nthe activities of sellers.<\/p>\n
The problem of hawkers of legal souvenirs and mementos of Bali
\nis, surely, mostly a problem of degree and thus regulation. It is
\ndoubtful that anyone is really offended by being approached by a
\nseller during a typical day's holiday in Bali but when one is
\napproached by, literally, one every minute of every day in Bali
\nthen the degree of acceptability is probably being exceeded and
\nirritation and annoyance is likely to follow close by. With
\nregulation, the number of street sellers in a particular location
\nat any one time could be controlled and also certain locations
\nmay be deemed as off limits to hawkers -- such as temples or
\nmuseum grounds.<\/p>\n
Hawkers and peddlers of illegal commodities and services
\npresent a different challenge. Sellers of souvenirs and gifts
\npresent a challenge of control which may be quite readily
\nachieved through the issuance of licenses. Illegal and illicit
\nsellers present a challenge of detection and, thence, the
\napplication of the law.<\/p>\n
Perhaps a starting point for the streets of Bali would be a
\ngreater uniformed police presence and the setting up of a
\ntelephone drugs hotline to gather and disseminate information
\nabout drugs.<\/p>\n
Some may suggest that a greater police presence would go
\nagainst the holiday atmosphere of an island such as Bali, but the
\ncomments of an American visitor recently are worthy of note. In
\nthe context of disturbances on Lombok he observed "If trouble
\nstarts in Bali, I am happy to see the police and the Army on the
\nstreets to restore peace."<\/p>\n
If Bali is to retain its peaceful and special character, then
\nmany battles will have to be won in the war against the worst
\nexcesses of the tourist trade. In particular, the battles and
\nvictories currently occurring throughout Indonesia against the
\ndrugs trade will have to be maintained to prevent Bali's good
\nname from becoming sullied.<\/p>\n
Bali is a remarkable and exotic island -- long may it remain
\nso for both the people of Bali and the millions of guests that
\nthe island has welcomed to its shores.<\/p>\n
-- The writer lives and works in West Java and has
\nenjoyed a number of stays in Bali.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/keeping-bali-special-wonderful-for-tourists-1447893297",
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