Speeding up Bali's recovery

Almost a month since a terrorist bomb demolished a section of what was once Bali's thriving entertainment center at Kuta, leaving more than 180 people dead and injuring hundreds, Indonesia, with the help of a sympathetic international community, is making determined efforts to revive the island's shattered image as a haven of peace and tolerance.

On Monday, for example, thousands of spectators, both Indonesian and foreign, attended the Bali Memorial Concert organized by United Care for Bali, an organization that was set up by concerned Indonesians in Jakarta immediately in the wake of the Oct. 12 terrorist bomb attack. Many of those who attended were moved to tears as child singer Sherina delivered a touching rendition of Ibu Pertiwi, a song about the country in mourning, accompanied by Jakarta's Twilight Orchestra.

In a manner of speaking, that solemn event on Monday, which was held at Garuda Wisnu Kencana park at Jimbaran, not very far from the site of the Oct. 12 blast, may be just the appetizer before the main course. For its part, the Ministry of Religious Affairs has announced plans to organize religious ceremonials on the island -- on a much larger scale than Monday's concert and in a more joyous mood -- complete with the usual pageants and festivals that are part and parcel of so many of Bali's religious and traditional rituals.

Scheduled to be held simultaneously in several places on the island some time before the Christmas holidays, the festivals will be held "to prevent the Oct.12 tragedy from happening again," Minister of Religious Affairs Said Agiel Munawar said in Banjarmasin, Kalimantan, this week. "I think all believers, especially Hindus (Balinese), should be involved in these religious and traditional festivals, which are scheduled to last for four days at the very least and move from regency to regency. The Ministry of Religious Affairs will coordinate with other ministries to ensure success," the minister said.

The ministry's director-general for Hindu-Buddhist Affairs, I Wayan Suarjaya, has already flown from Jakarta to Denpasar to take up the matter with the governor of Bali and officials in Denpasar. "I don't know what form the festivals will take, but the minister says the main purpose is to strengthen religious harmony in Bali and in Indonesia in general," he said.

But Bali being Bali, preventing another terrorist attack on the scale of the Oct. 12 disaster from recurring is obviously not the only motive for holding those festivals. Rekindling the island's shattered tourist industry is obviously not very far in the back of the minister's mind. It even seems reasonable to suspect that that is the foremost reason for organizing the festivals.

In fact, Minister Said Agiel admitted as much when he told reporters that he hoped holding the pageants around Christmas time would persuade tourists, both foreign and Indonesian, to visit the island and stay there until after the season's holidays are over. With international airlines cutting down on flights to Bali and hotels on the island suffering a drastic cut in occupancy rates, increased tourist arrival figures and longer stays would certainly do Bali's shattered tourist industry good.

To some people in Indonesia, selling religious events as tourist attractions may indeed sound like sacrilege. As long as things are done discreetly and with taste, however, the Balinese probably won't mind. After all, tourism is the lifeblood of the island, and besides, the Balinese zest for life and for living in harmony with both their environment and with others is well- known. Bali and the Balinese certainly deserve all the help that Indonesians, wherever the live, and the international community can give them to help the island recover from that brutal attack of Oct. 12 and regain its stature as Indonesia's foremost tourist destination.

To this latter end, the ninth ASEAN summit, which is slated to be held in Bali in early October next year, will most certainly also contribute much toward helping Bali recover. Needless to say, all this is well appreciated, not only by the Balinese but by the Indonesian nation as a whole. Bali, after all, is not just Indonesia's leading tourist destination. Even more valued than that is the island stature as a symbol of an Indonesia that is peaceful and tolerant of differences.