Interesting vid and experience.
One time I was at a family ceremony for a new temple in Amlapura and one of the arriving visitors (all family members) was a dwarf, not a particularly small dwarf but nevertheless a dwarf.
Now the Balinese man I was sitting next to (and whom I'd been having a civilized conversation with) suddenly pointed out the dwarf as he walked past us. Not attempting to hide his pointing or hilarity at this dwarf's handicap and expecting me to join in with the "fun".
I have to say this deeply disturbed me for quite a while and I made it absolutely clear to my neighbor at the ceremony that I found nothing funny about the dwarf and particularly my neighbor's behavior.
This met with no understanding on many of those present but, and here's my point, most of those that had more to do with foreigners did understand and were embarrassed about my neighbor.
The dwarf didn't seem to even notice.
Here's the thing and my take on the vid: I think there's a simple type of person here that really does not have a bad bone in his/her body and cannot imagine that finding a dwarf or a black person amusing could in any way be hurtful to the focus of that attention.
Perhaps I'm being naive too but when did innocent laughter at something strange or different become racist?
What do I know?
One time I was at a family ceremony for a new temple in Amlapura and one of the arriving visitors (all family members) was a dwarf, not a particularly small dwarf but nevertheless a dwarf.
Now the Balinese man I was sitting next to (and whom I'd been having a civilized conversation with) suddenly pointed out the dwarf as he walked past us. Not attempting to hide his pointing or hilarity at this dwarf's handicap and expecting me to join in with the "fun".
I have to say this deeply disturbed me for quite a while and I made it absolutely clear to my neighbor at the ceremony that I found nothing funny about the dwarf and particularly my neighbor's behavior.
This met with no understanding on many of those present but, and here's my point, most of those that had more to do with foreigners did understand and were embarrassed about my neighbor.
The dwarf didn't seem to even notice.
Here's the thing and my take on the vid: I think there's a simple type of person here that really does not have a bad bone in his/her body and cannot imagine that finding a dwarf or a black person amusing could in any way be hurtful to the focus of that attention.
Perhaps I'm being naive too but when did innocent laughter at something strange or different become racist?
What do I know?
I think people with racial prejudice attitude are everywhere in the world. Look at Donald Trump he was in New-York lately and thousands of people literally embraced his view against Muslim and building a wall between U.S. and Mexico.
Maybe some people are not well educated but I doubt that it's the majority of Balinese people. I never experienced such things but I understand it can happen. In my experience Balinese people are friendly and respect foreigners. Let's not forget the official national motto of Indonesia is "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" which means "Unity in Diversity".
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Maybe some people are not well educated but I doubt that it's the majority of Balinese people. I never experienced such things but I understand it can happen. In my experience Balinese people are friendly and respect foreigners. Let's not forget the official national motto of Indonesia is "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" which means "Unity in Diversity".
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Good night I remember this woman! She was carrying a bagful of overripe durian, and people couldn't believe it!
Seriously now are blacks in Bali such a novelty especially in the often visited tourist areas? As with many it has been my experience to visit the Cafe Dian on Monkey Forest Road in Ubud having a cold one with friends and engaging in people watching to kill some time. While doing so it hasn't been rare for me to see black tourists. In fact I would wager that it occurs daily.
By the same token during travels to more remote areas in the past and being a bule my presence would often bring a lot of attention especially from children. It never bothered me, in fact by wiggling my ears and engaging in other acts of animation which would in more well travelled areas would have probably labeled me as some kind of nut, the children were delighted.
Still today when buying fresh cumi cumi in a rather isolated fishing village in Jembrana the kids come bailing out of their respective homes by the dozens to see my idiotic ear wiggling. There isn't a hell of a lot of amusement available obviously and I delight I'm making them happy, something rarely attainable with my lavishly spoiled grandkids.
Sometimes, just sometimes people seem to be able to get their nose out of joint for anything responding to their very sensitive radar. Due to the redundancies in this recitation I would be hard pressed to believe the extensive travel cited unless one has the budget of a rajah, and in that case you perhaps would be immune to much outside contact.
Frankly it sounds like bull**** from a very immature and unsophisticated complainer.
Seriously now are blacks in Bali such a novelty especially in the often visited tourist areas? As with many it has been my experience to visit the Cafe Dian on Monkey Forest Road in Ubud having a cold one with friends and engaging in people watching to kill some time. While doing so it hasn't been rare for me to see black tourists. In fact I would wager that it occurs daily.
By the same token during travels to more remote areas in the past and being a bule my presence would often bring a lot of attention especially from children. It never bothered me, in fact by wiggling my ears and engaging in other acts of animation which would in more well travelled areas would have probably labeled me as some kind of nut, the children were delighted.
Still today when buying fresh cumi cumi in a rather isolated fishing village in Jembrana the kids come bailing out of their respective homes by the dozens to see my idiotic ear wiggling. There isn't a hell of a lot of amusement available obviously and I delight I'm making them happy, something rarely attainable with my lavishly spoiled grandkids.
Sometimes, just sometimes people seem to be able to get their nose out of joint for anything responding to their very sensitive radar. Due to the redundancies in this recitation I would be hard pressed to believe the extensive travel cited unless one has the budget of a rajah, and in that case you perhaps would be immune to much outside contact.
Frankly it sounds like bull**** from a very immature and unsophisticated complainer.
I think she might be slightly over reacting,im sure all of us at sometime or another have been the focus of attention in Indo,i know I have but not in a way like she said,
My little son gets way too much attention because he is mixed,so much that his Mom gets scared,stopping short of handcuffing him to herself,we are in Surabaya and not so many mixed kids here,couple of times people have stopped us and asked if they could have their picture taken with him,Mom gets furious,i simply smile and let him deside for himself,at first he was ok with it but now it seems to bother him because recently he tells them to leave him alone,
I guess my point is that unlike most of us who come from multi racial country's the Indonesians don't and when they see something a little different they show either their excitement or curiosity very clearly,
As for the young lady on the video I do feel for her and understand her feelings,lets be honest without being racist here,but the percentage of black people who visit Bali compared to us lot is very small,i remember the first time I saw a black guy walking down the street in Sanur I was sorta surprised myself,
If it was as bad as she says then I can understand her feelings,but advising other black people not to go to bali is not the right thing either,in fact advise others TO go, this way the Balinese people will become more familiar with blacks and perhaps be more acceptable of them,
My little son gets way too much attention because he is mixed,so much that his Mom gets scared,stopping short of handcuffing him to herself,we are in Surabaya and not so many mixed kids here,couple of times people have stopped us and asked if they could have their picture taken with him,Mom gets furious,i simply smile and let him deside for himself,at first he was ok with it but now it seems to bother him because recently he tells them to leave him alone,
I guess my point is that unlike most of us who come from multi racial country's the Indonesians don't and when they see something a little different they show either their excitement or curiosity very clearly,
As for the young lady on the video I do feel for her and understand her feelings,lets be honest without being racist here,but the percentage of black people who visit Bali compared to us lot is very small,i remember the first time I saw a black guy walking down the street in Sanur I was sorta surprised myself,
If it was as bad as she says then I can understand her feelings,but advising other black people not to go to bali is not the right thing either,in fact advise others TO go, this way the Balinese people will become more familiar with blacks and perhaps be more acceptable of them,
Since the majority of my Balinese in-laws never shut up about skin colour, and I personally get called out as "Hey Bule!" by the rude and well intentioned alike, I have no problem believing this girls story.
About 90% of the time, being white is a blessing and it makes everyday life here really pleasant, lots of people you normally wouldn't talk to want to introduce themselves and will often remember you from months before.
The other 10% of the time it's a total pain in the arse. Walking past a group of teenage boys, is always interesting. Sometimes I can salvage the interaction if I'm feeling confident and on my A game, but when I'm sick or stressed out, I just want to punch their moronic faces in. YOU JUST HEARD ME SPEAK INDONESIAN, YOU LITTLE ****, I'M STANDING RIGHT HERE. I HEARD WHAT YOU SAID AND IT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE. YOU DICKHEADS ARE LITERALLY LAUGHING AT NOTHING. MORONS!
If it was up to me, I'd force all Indonesian males over the age of 5 into some sort of discipline/manners boot camp, then I'd let 'em out when they turned 30.
About 90% of the time, being white is a blessing and it makes everyday life here really pleasant, lots of people you normally wouldn't talk to want to introduce themselves and will often remember you from months before.
The other 10% of the time it's a total pain in the arse. Walking past a group of teenage boys, is always interesting. Sometimes I can salvage the interaction if I'm feeling confident and on my A game, but when I'm sick or stressed out, I just want to punch their moronic faces in. YOU JUST HEARD ME SPEAK INDONESIAN, YOU LITTLE ****, I'M STANDING RIGHT HERE. I HEARD WHAT YOU SAID AND IT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE. YOU DICKHEADS ARE LITERALLY LAUGHING AT NOTHING. MORONS!
If it was up to me, I'd force all Indonesian males over the age of 5 into some sort of discipline/manners boot camp, then I'd let 'em out when they turned 30.
I do a fair amount of hashing and we travel to a lot of remote places and myself and other bule friends are a center of attraction but I would not rate it as racism. My other experiance is is with my friend who has been travelling to Bali for the last 7 years he is a UK born black person parents from Jamaca. I have a place out in Ketewel and we visit Sanur quite often and i have never seen actions like the girl was saying. My friend Earl eats in the village he often comes on the hash and his treatment is the same as me so i disagree with the young ladies opinion.
That reminds me. You can't compare how a man would be treated to that which a woman would experience.
I had a red-headed friend tell me about the mild, but constant, harassment she experienced in public places when walking by herself. This shocked me at the time, as I still thought Bali was a paradise and hadn't seen anyone act like that while we'd been walking around together.
I also witnessed first hand the ruckus a blonde haired, European beauty caused at a ceremony in Kesiman, Denpasar.
I wouldn't go so far to say Bali is unsafe for single female travellers, but I'm also not surprised by stories of sexual harassment.
Basically, if you tell me a horror story about Bali, I'll believe it. Tell me a fairytale, and I'll believe that too.
