justinbali wroteWhen my father went to Bali in the year 1949, all girls and women were still proudly showing their breasts.
The first president of Indonesia (Sukarno) issued a decree forbidding Balinese females to show their breasts, thereby killing a thousand year old tradition.
My father was a playboy. I held his hand when he said his last words. He said that I have 3 brothers on the island of Bali and probably another four sisters. And then he died. I've never found them. I they are still alive they are more than sixty years old.
I was born in 1951, so I am 62 now.
So Pak Justin you are Balinese correct? Or do you have siblings from same father?
Please forgive me but I do not think that Balinese women were "proudly showing their breasts". The dress of the day not so long ago was merely that of convenience and comfort. Some places in Bali it still happens as you know. Being proud had nothing to with it.
Why did things change? My view is that western influences causing the concept of shame among the Balinese. What other societal garbage was wrought upon the Balinese from the demands of the west?
I think the damage done by Chaplin and others with their moral superiority back in the 40s is typical of the western attitude of we're here to make you life better by being civilized like 'us'.
Thankfully it hasn't gone completely in the toilet.
