@bambang
An interesting post. Suzi's own post gained some quick currency partially because it was pretty well argued, with depth and some thought. Yours, on other hand seems to be a fairly poorly thought out swipe of a broad brush that is far more contradictory than anything she wrote, as well as factually suspect.
Her piece, now much circulated, also gained currency because there are many, both expat and Indonesian who would agree with very large parts of it (although not all)..myself included.
And for the record many of us are not part of your slighted 'chattering classes especially those expats making their living there in the so called "arts"'. Myself, I have made my living over some years in Indonesia manufacturing and working very closely with Indonesian companies across Indonesia (and exporting millions of dollars of Indonesian goods in the process) Does my opinion count, or am I not one of your anointed few who can live here and comment? You did yourself no favours with that slight and it belittled the rest of your post, which did contain the odd good point amongst the sneers and rather childish tone.
I had to smile at your 'howler'...perhaps the intended irony in the statement about Singapore and Myanmar missed you? And for all that, Singaporeans enjoy a standard of living that many Indonesians would kill for. I suspect many would swap a vote for good healthcare, low child mortality, some of the world's best education and clean air & water.
Many Balinese would argue with your statement:
Indonesia rightly uses tourism revenue to benefit all Indonesians. In return Bali enjoys a special status, infrastructure investment far beyond any similar sized region and a degree of autonomy in its administration.
Bali is the number one earner of forex in Indonesia but this is not reflected in the return to the island. I spend a lot of time in Java and the expenditure on roading and other infrastructure far exceeds that found in Bali. That massive roading project north of Semarang would exceed the cost of anything in Bali in recent years. Or the recent purchase of SU-35 fighter aircraft for the airforce. And once the infrastructure is built, it's maintained..unlike Bali, where roads built, to very shitty standards (like the new-ish East Coast Road) are falling to pieces. In Java, mostly, traffic lights work. I don't think many here would argue that tourism should benefit all Indonesians but if you want to maintain that benefit you at least need to offer infrastructure that equals Java, let alone the major international destinations in SEA that are killing Bali in drawing in tourists.
The airports of Indonesia are shambling run down messes, often dirty and broken, served by airlines that, correctly having spent many hundreds of hours on them, are banned from Europe. Thankfully there are some moves to fix Ngurah Rai this year, but why has it aken so long to do even simple things. I arrived at international yesterday..there were three flights in, all sadly 2/3 empty, and there were two trollies for the flights..both missing a wheel. Paint is peeling off the walls and the arrival sign outside remains broken after a year.
Bali as part of a developing country has always been a budget holiday destination where the mainly Japanese and Australian tourists go to enjoy the tropical weather and maybe even a cultural experience at a budget price.
For decades Bali has provided a destination to all ends of the market. Perhaps you missed those very high end and very long term hotels and villa complexes around Jimabaran, Nusa Dua and Ubud. On a per head basis those people spend an awful more than the low end budget travellers and their proportion of the tourist mix has increased heavily in recent years. You would, it would seem, be happy to lose that very lucrative part of the 'tourism revenue to benefit all Indonesians'. The service charges and taxes on this top end of the market is massive.
The high end hotels are, if released figures are to be believed, all doing rather well. Certainly the jalans of Seminyak are busy and thriving and the restaurants in Laksmana are overflowing some nights. Many of your 'largely unpatronised fashion boutiques' are making pretty good money. Just as in other countries worldwide, those that hit the market work, those that don't, miss out. Go and ask the owners of places like Surfer Girl or Lola how business is......or the multitude of high end spas that are turning folks away.
The majority of restaurants and hotels in the tourist areas are struggling to survive. That's because the majority of tourists come for a week, spend their money in the large hotels, sit by the pool, go on a couple of tours and go home.
Once again, simply untrue. Figures released regularly show that most hotels are doing pretty well, and that the mix has changed quite dramatically in the past few years, since the first bombing and a very big part of the industry is the villa and luxury tourist. One only has to open one's eyes to see that. Friends in the hotel industry who tell me that at just about every level hotels have done extremely well in recent years from both domestic and foreign customers. Sure some struggle and some restaurants are sparse but simply put, if you provide a service that people want you do well. I live in Sanur and many of the cheaper, Nasi Goreng and Nasi Campur places are not busy, but then they never have been. On the other hand, other places, that cater to the market's demands, are roaring..Massimo, Little India, The Village, The Bonsai and more, are all doing well.
I'm not comfortable with Suzi's broad sweep about Balinese work habits but only a fool would argue that corruption is central to the problems faced by Bali, and that many of the problems, the garbage, the traffic issues, road toll and more, could be easily solved by Balinese if there was the will. There is a complacency and lack of drive at the very top to tackle much of this, and despite the best efforts of many further down the chain, these things are getting much worse. In the years I've been coming to the island and then living here, these things have gotten increasingly worse and this
is an island on the edge of a crisis. Simply sticking your head in the sand and crying third world economics, doesn't help anyone, and from what I read that seems to be your only response.
This 'cacophony of criticism', as you put it, has nothing, for heavens sake, to do with the tax on alcohol and has been voiced over the years by, if you'd been listening, by many. Suzi is hardly a lone voice and your attack on her, both on her thoughts and, it seems, on her personally, belittles both them and the people of Bali. Suzi's concerns and the way she's expressed them seems, to me at least, to show a level of care for the island she calls home which goes far beyond your patronising 'Balinese need to learn to accept their lot' attitude.
) lady with a remarkably eclectic background, and, above all, a head on her shoulders. Her original article, Does Bali Needs a System Reboot? can be seen on her website