Delusions of faith

It is hard to depict Indonesia as a safe and rewarding destination at the best of times, if the fuel riots don't scare you, the impending bird 'flu pandemic might. And now, just as Bali was recovering from the 2002 bombing, it all happens again.

We know Jimbaran beach well. It is an unpretentious area, with a string of basic restaurants along the beach, serving freshly caught fish. Plastic chairs and tables are set out on the sand, and an Indonesian guitar band sashays from table to table playing Bob Marley, Mariah Carey and the occasional Bollywood tune. The place is not a seething mass of semi-naked Australian surfers cavorting and canoodling, offending public morals and Allah. It is hard to see what could offend any of the major faiths; the prices charged are reasonable, and the bottled water is halal.

The outcome from this tragedy will, I guess, be another exodus of tourists from Bali. The surfers will decide that the waves on the Gold Coast are just as high and can be enjoyed without fear of evisceration. The pool dwellers and yoga junkies will de-camp to Thailand, and the package holidaymakers will find the Bali pages ripped out of the brochures, with a note explaining that due to insurance costs that destination has been withdrawn until further notice.

If so, the effect on Bali's economy will be devastating, and may have a concentric effect on the surrounding islands, including Flores. All of this, of course, will eventually impact on the poor more harshly than anyone else. Bombs in London have little effect on the local economy because London is one of the few 'essential' cities in the world. Bombs in Bali mean people go hungry, and it is hard to see how this could be the intention of these sad, deluded bombers.

In true Indonesian style, the heads of the bombers have been on TV to see if anyone can identify them. And I mean the actual heads. Because of the nature of the bombs the bombers were decapitated, and as Asian TV is sometimes horrifyingly graphic, the notion of showing the bombers ID photos was probably never considered. My local colleagues did not think this was in any way beyond the pale, and one is reminded of the ancient Roman method of planting criminal's heads on spikes at the scenes of the crime, pour l'encouragement les autres, as it were.

Comments

[vyv]

One thing the papers here never mention is that although Indonesia as a whole is a Muslim country, Bali is mainly Hindu (isn't it?). One wonders whether this encourages the bombers or if it's purely the presence of Westerners.