Ubud offers respite from Jakarta's travails

Ubud offers respite from Jakarta's travails

By Mohammad Sadli

UBUD, Bali (JP): It is refreshing to get away from the
haunting debate in Jakarta where day in and day out the media
underline the gloom of a frighteningly widening gap between the
rich and the poor. Especially when the rich and super-rich are
associated with the Chinese business minority and the poor
constitute the majority indigenous population or struggling
entrepreneurs. Such domestic media attention sooner or later gets
reflected in the international media. When I visited Melbourne,
Australia, my hosts queried whether the situation in my country
was really that troublesome.

A traveler on their way to a conference in Melbourne can find
respite from these Jakarta worries during a few days' stop over
in Bali, especially if those days are spent in a bungalow in the
middle of beautiful green paddy fields in Ubud. Even more so if
there is no television, radio or telephone within immediate
reach.

Bali is a wonderful place to escape from things. One can spend
a few hundred dollars a day in a five-star hotel or cabin-style
retreat. But for a fraction of the cost one can enjoy the
serenity and soothing beauty of the rice fields, plus a hearty
breakfast and friendly people who aren't shy about chatting. That
is the charm of visiting Bali. People are simple, friendly and
warm, without complexes for foreigners or outsiders.

Ubud bungalows cannot be accessed by cars so one has to walk,
balancing on the narrow top of sawah dikes, less than half a
meter wide but only half of it cemented for the comfort of the
guests. To the left or right there may be deep ravines or steep
terrace walls. But such hazards are no obstacles for the many
young backpackers, often seen venturing into the villages. In the
evening negotiating those narrow dike footpaths is a tricky
exercise, and probably outright dangerous for the uninitiated
during the rainy season. But the great compensation is the
experience of staying in an upstairs room with a balcony and
sleeping with open doors and windows. Sleeping while engulfed by
the rays of a full moon flowing into the room that also
illuminate the paddy fields in an eerie but serene way. All that
for less than US$15 a day -- with no plus-plus.

In a place like Ubud, people aren't haunted by the rich-poor
agony because Bali has an egalitarian society. Of course many of
the tourists, especially those who frequent Nusa Dua and other
five-star resort areas, are rich or very rich, but the Balinese
do not mind. They are not part of that world and, as a matter of
fact, many Balinese earn their living from the wealthy tourists.
One large five-star hotel employs about two thousand people.

There are no local super rich who isolate themselves from the
community. As a Balinese said, with some pride, even a governor
must do his social chores and religious duties if he is back in
his native place.

Bali is an example of a very equitable development, based on
comparative and natural advantages. Tourism as an industry is
very personnel and labor intensive, with a lot of fall out
effects. Bali prides itself that Kuta has the highest non-oil per
capita income in Indonesia and Ubud comes next.

Under the surface there may be a growing concentration of
wealth, which isn't unnatural in a place with such high growth.
Much of the profit and wealth goes to Indonesians and foreigners
residing outside Bali. Therefore the display wealth is not
visible and does not offend local sensitivities.

Bali developed because of non-local investment and
entrepreneurship. The big hotels are financed from outside the
island and the first entrepreneurs in the handicraft industry
came from Surabaya, Jakarta and lately from Yogyakarta and
Bandung. But, apparently, the Balinese did not particularly mind
this invasion, and gradually emulated the innovation and
entrepreneurship that is the basis of their island's prosperity.

One good example of this spread effect is that former
personnel of the first Intercon Hotel are now striking out on
their own to promote new hotels.

Actually the same spread effect is happening in Jakarta, but
in the process many of the intellectuals feel very unhappy about
the end situation and the perceived "dependencia".

So much for Bali and Ubud as an antidote for the mood in
Jakarta.

Mohammad Sadli is a senior economist and former minister of mines
and energy.