Peter is dead
Peter is dead
Peter lay in a coma for a week. First in Denpasar, in Bali
Public Hospital's intensive care unit for three days until his
friend found him, provided an identity and had him flown to
Singapore's state-of-the-art medical facilities.
Peter's mother and father came quickly from England but Peter
never saw them. On Sunday, Feb. 16 -- seven days after he arrived
in Bali to spend a two-week holiday -- he was already brain dead.
His distraught parents accepted their only son's fate and the
respirator, which was the only thing keeping him alive, was
switched off. His Bali holiday and his life were over.
Peter was a student from the south of England. He was 20 years
old. It was his first visit to Bali and before he slept his first
night on the island he did something local residents of boom-time
Kuta and Legian haven't done themselves at night for years. He
went for a walk. His last. Police found him unconscious on Monday
(Feb. 10) morning in front of one of Kuta's primary schools,
deserted for the school holidays.
Peter had been struck at the base of the skull with a heavy
instrument, police assume a metal bar.
Knowing Kuta as the locals do -- but not the naive first-time
visitors -- there is no need to speculate on the motive behind
the murder, which it now is, since the area attracts predators
from across the archipelago. Predators who feed off the tourists.
And Peter -- like many other unsuspecting innocents -- fell
victim to one of them, disappointed no doubt because Peter's
pockets were empty. He wasn't even carrying the key to his
upmarket hotel room where his traveling companion waited in vain
for his return.
Even though police knew where he was, because they carried the
unconscious youth to hospital, it took three days for his friend
to find him. He was sinking deeper into coma and suffering from a
massive chest infection and collapsed kidneys and being kept
alive with the device that breathed for him.
The grief Peter's family and friends must now endure for the
rest of their lives can only be imagined by those few who share
such an experience. Grief and pain which will intensify every
time they hear the word Indonesia or see an advertisement
extolling Bali as the last paradise on earth. And it makes one
wonder how long this ugly side effect of tourism is allowed to
continue.
When fresh-faced British students like Peter are murdered on
Bali streets it might be time for some responsible action before
the dream is over for everyone. Tourism is a game. Admittedly a
sad, often tawdry, foolish and expensive one. It can also be fun.
But when one pays with young life the allure fades.
It is not the Balinese way to cause pain and horror,
especially to strangers. Rather the opposite, which is why so
many people come here at the economic benefits of the famed
Balinese "attitude" are quite obvious. But is the quest for money
worth such anguish? I don't think so and I don't think there is a
single Balinese who will disagree.
It is Galungan (a holy day), the time when Bali's Hindus
celebrate the triumph of good over evil. An appropriate time to
pray for the soul of Peter. And to pray also for Bali -- or to
grieve for it.
BOB HOBMAN
Padangbai, Bali