Speeding up Bali's recovery

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.