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