Balinese sociocultural values at stake
By Winarta Adisubrata
JAKARTA (JP): This paper on April 26 ran an article on the rapid changes in Bali brought on by tourism.
The article, based on a seminar, quoted Udayana University professor Ida Bagus Adnyana Manuaba as saying that a large portion of Bali's revenues from the tourism sector will be lost if the island's social settings and cultural traditions are forced to change.
The seminar was jointly organized by The Bali Post and the Kresna Naradha Foundation.
The staggering increase in tourism was reflected in the sector's 30.5 percent contribution to local revenues in 1994, up from 17.4 percent in 1988. On the other hand, the contribution of the agricultural sector dropped from 37.4 percent in 1988 to 21.3 percent in 1994.
Meanwhile, I Gde Sudibya from the Kuturan Dharma Budaya Foundation was quoted as saying that "investors must be careful because increasing competition in the tourism and handicraft industries seems to be resulting in excess supply".
Sudibya, however, did not mention the possible negative effects of tourism on the Balinese.
In the same edition, The Jakarta Post published a news item in the "Across the Archipelago" column. It quoted John Hopson, an Australian tour operator, as saying that many tourists from his country canceled their trips to Bali and instead went to Penang, Malaysia.
The paper quoted him as saying: "The vendors (in Bali) sometimes use rude words and intimidation to make the tourists buy".
Recent media reports on tourism in Bali have left observers very much apprehensive. Being one of the front guards in tourism and cultural resilience, the predominantly Hindu island is also recognized as a unique community.
Even a layman can see that the last bastion of Hinduism in Indonesia is likely to be swept away by modernity and the negative effects of tourism and the electronic media.
Safety and security are now a source of concern, as is the staggering number of abortions among the younger Balinese, which reached 3,000 in 1995. This is an alarming situation never before experienced by the Balinese.
The number of venereal disease and AIDS patients has also risen significantly. One suspects that the increase is linked to drug deals conducted mostly by foreign backpackers flocking around Kuta Beach, the majority of whom are Australian.
In other developing countries, tourism has been blamed for increases in crime rates, drug abuse and the spread of AIDS.
The recent imbroglio over beer levies only underlined the heavy consumption of the drink by visitors. This undoubtedly influences the behavior of local youngsters, who eagerly copy the way foreigners dress and the way they eat and drink.
It is safe to say that tourism has changed the way of life of the locals in return for a better standard of living, but the sociocultural values of the Balinese are now at stake.
Bali has always been known as the safest place in Indonesia, a condition linked to their Hindu religion, but after more than three decades of booming tourism, this attribute has come into question.
Like the pop song Kembalikan Baliku Kepadaku (Return my Bali to me), it is time to address these social illnesses before they spread to other islands in the vicinity.
The writer is an observer of tourism affairs.