Bali protests

[spicyayam]

I have been busy the past few days and haven't been following the news. There are some news reports about avoiding Bali because of protests of changes in the criminal code. I have seen some protests in Jakarta and Bogor but no mention of Bali.

Any evidence of this or is fake news again?

 

[harryopal]

Well, there are protests and PROTESTS. One person holding up a sign can be a protest and a million marching is also a protest. Haven't heard of anything happening in Bali. Wife hasn't heard of anything on her grapevine. And the only person marching and holding up a sign yesterday at Jimbaran beach was the ice cream vendor. But then.... watch out for Molotov cocktails .... wait on... I think it's Hong Kong for Molotov cocktails

 

[spicyayam]

Interestingly, I was looking at the Australian government's Smart Traveler website and there is no mention of Hong Kong, but Indonesia and Bali has travel warnings.

 

[harryopal]

Over many years I found I could get more reliable advice re troublesome areas from Non government agencies than Aus govt sources.

 

[Markit]

Anyone know why this is? The Oz press and Gov have such a terrible attitude to Bali/Indonesia yet the "common folk" love it.

Fecking schizo.

 

[matsaleh]

The reason why the Australian government is so over-the-top with warnings about Bali and Indonesia stems back to the Bali bombings (1 and 2). At that time, the Australian public were on the warpath, blaming the Oz government for not warning the citizens of possible terrorist attacks, even though (as was later revealed) there had been credible evidence to suggest attacks were imminent.

Now, every time there is even a whiff of danger anywhere in Indonesia, the government sends out a warning, to avoid another outcry. It's called butt covering.

 

[harryopal]

Matsaleh, your response snuck in as I was writing the following:
As far as media is concerned the big stories that run are things like the Bali bombing, murder and the threat of executions for drug offences. They tend to hang over the story possibilities like a dark cloud. Intrinsically, what happens day to day week to week in the many South East Asian countries is not seen as having much interest for the general Australia public so it is the weird, intensely cute or sensational that makes the headlines.

As far as governments are concerned the thing is to be seen to govern and be responsible and not get caught out by unexpected turns of events. So what with the apparent volatility of Indonesian politics, the harbouring of extremist groups. the occasional volcanic eruption or natural disaster such as a tsunami it is felt better to make a general warning so when something does go wrong they can say, "We warned you." rather than being caught on the hop after the event.

 

[Markit]

Well I just wonder if this will have that "boy who cried wolf" effect sometime when something really dangerous should happen since all the dire tales of doom and death are roundly ignored now. I also wonder how many more Ozzies would be storming Bali if the gov/press warnings weren't happening.

 

[mugwump]

This couldn't possibly have anything to do with Australian dollars escaping to a neighboring country could it?

 

[harryopal]

This couldn't possibly have anything to do with Australian dollars escaping to a neighboring country could it?

If your comment suggests maybe a plot to keep dollars in Australia by warning them off Bali? I don"t think so. If that were a serious concern they might invest some money in the tax office and start looking seriously at corporations sending money out of Australia where the overseas head office charges "fees" to the Australian firm as a means of siphoning off profit. I can remember a case some years ago of a Japanese mining venture in Australia where over 20 and more years they had never once declared a taxable profit by the simple expediency of the home office charging "fees" as an easy way of getting money back to Japan. And our dear former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull insisting he was doing nothing illegal by having an account in the Cayman Islands. Of course he wasn't doing anything illegal. But then... what was the point of the exercise?

 

[JohnnyCool]

I have been busy the past few days and haven't been following the news. There are some news reports about avoiding Bali because of protests of changes in the criminal code. I have seen some protests in Jakarta and Bogor but no mention of Bali.

Any evidence of this or is fake news again?

There was a large group of protesters outside of the Bali Governor's office in Renon a bit over a week ago.
Caused (yet another) traffic jam. Not sure what the outcome was (apart from the crowd protesting) and the macet.

 

[Mark]

No protests in Ubud area, but some locals are grumbling. Ironically, one of the main issues causing angst is the new criminal code's regulations about keeping dogs tied up and not allowing them to roam free. Ought to be a fun one to enforce in Bali.

 

[Markit]

For a group of people that are singularly obedient I've never understood the Balinese ability to ignore GOOD LAWS in favor of bad. Witness the speed with which all shops made booze disappear and the regs against littering...