Is Balinese culture a snag for investors?

Is Balinese culture a snag for investors?

By Putu Wirata

DENPASAR, Bali (JP): The uniqueness of Balinese's people and
culture is apt to force investors to be more careful when doing
business on this holiday island. Their costly projects may face
problems if they are viewed as insulting Bali's religion and
culture.

Since early August, the Balinese community has been shaken by
what is described as "an insult to the symbols of the Hindu
religion".

This latest problem was triggered by a Bima and Dewa Ruci
statue at the Denpasar-Nusa Dua-Kuta intersection, a locality
that is, in itself, chaotic and confusing.

The statue, constructed by the Badung regency, depicts Bima
in search of tirta kamandalu (life water) in the sea. In his
search, he fought Naga Raksa and nearly lost. Bima regained his
strength after meeting Dewa Ruci. In this statue, Dewa Ruci is
visualized in the form of Cintya, a statue symbolizing the
oneness of god.

It is the visualization of Cintya which has led to the sharp
dispute.

Nyoman Glebet, an architect who is the most vocal observer of
Balinese culture to date, says the establishment of Cintya at the
crossroads is an insult to a symbol of the Hindu religion.

He says Cintya can be placed only in a temple complex.

Only statues like guardian giant Catuspatha can be constructed
at crossroads, he said.

Similar criticism was also voiced by the head of Bali's
culture office, Ida Bagus Pangdjaja, who has expressed hope that
the Badung administration will quickly dismantle Cintya from the
Dewa Ruci statue, in order to put an end to the dispute among the
Hindus.

Badung Regent I Gusti Alit Putra said the regency had no
intention of insulting Hindu symbols.

The administration approved the construction of the statue,
including Cintya, with the reasoning that everyone passing the
crossroads is expected to remember God the Almighty, he said.

The dispute apparently led to the regent ordering that the
part depicting Cintya, which was considered insulting Hindu, be
torn down.

But, chairman of the Badung branch of the Indonesian Hindu
Council, Ida Pedanda Bajing, said placing Cintya in the Dewa Ruci
statue does not violate the Hindu religion, provided that the
statue is not accompanied by the planting of pedagingan
(consisting of various kinds of metals, three-color yarn, etc.)
and that it is made official with a religious ritual.

Barong

Even though Bajing's statement has led the Badung
administration to leave the statue as it is, the two-month
dispute is still being kept alive through the local mass media.

The Cintya-Dewa Ruci case has caused concern among a number of
cultural observers, as well as religious and custom institutions,
including the Indonesian Hindu Council and the Council for Custom
Development, which have never been involved in the decisions of
projects related to religion and customs.

Usually, they are contacted after a conflict has erupted and
becomes difficult to solve.

The Cintya-Dewa Ruci incident is not the first such case. In
the same period, two Barong statues at Planet Bali -- a
discotheque complex owned by entrepreneur Hartono -- were
dismantled after sharp clashes erupted in newspapers.

Bali's Hindu community sees the Barong as a sacred symbol that
can be placed only in temples. They strongly objected to the
construction of Barong statues at Planet Bali, which was
suspected to be a place used for prostitution.

It came to light that the construction of the Barong statues
had never been discussed with the Hindu and custom institutions.

The Rp 13 billion Planet Bali was closed recently due to an
alleged abuse of the construction permit.

There are many more cases reported to the customs and
religious institutions which have become controversial issues in
the media.

One case was the videoclip Saigon Kick filmed in the Uluwatu
temple, Badung. The Hindu community launched a strong protest
because they saw on television how, with sophisticated editing
techniques, the singer, clad in rags, played a guitar at the top
of the meru (pagoda) of the Uluwatu temple.

The videoclip maker was probably preoccupied with his artistic
considerations and did not consult anyone from cultural and
religious circles.

Another case was the making of the film Nusa Penida in the
1980s. The film was banned in Bali because it contained a love
scene in the yard of a temple.

The most striking concern of many intellectuals was the
construction of the Bali Nirwana Resort only dozens of meters
away from the Tanah Lot temple.

The megaresort seemed to treat the Tanah Lot shrine -- a Hindu
temple constructed in the 16th century by Dang Hyang Niratha --
as a decorative ornament.

The resort's construction violated the Indonesian Hindu
Council's guidance concerning the sanctity of temple -- a radius
of 2 kilometers -- but the case became controversial after Bali's
governor issued a provisional permit and the investor acquired
hundreds of hectares of land and spent a lot of money on surveys.

In fact, Bali's religious, cultural and intellectual circles
have often raised their voices in order that the government
involves the people and listens to their aspirations in making
decisions on matters related to religion and culture.

Their cries are mostly in vain, and the number of
controversial cases related to custom and religion keep
increasing.

"If the local administration is consistent in taking culture
and religion into account when it carries out development
programs, it should listen to the aspirations of religious and
custom institutions as well as independent intellectuals," said
Putu Suasta, a young cultural observer who says he is very
concerned about the many customs and religion cases arising from
the decisions made by the government.

"If cultural aspects are not seriously taken into account,
there will be many more cases in future," said Suasta.