Asia Times, Oct 4, 2005
Bali bombs cure amnesia
By Gary LaMoshi
DENPASAR, Bali - In anticipation of my annual October 12 Bali bombing anniversary
column, I talked to Gede Wijaya, head of the Bali Government Tourism Office a
couple of weeks ago. July international arrivals to the island had set an all-time high
and the August figures pushed the total for the year above a million, on pace for a new
record. "We don't think about that bomb anymore," Wijaya said. "All of us have
forgotten it."
The proverb says those who forget history are destined to repeat it.
When I heard the initial report on Saturday night, a phone call from a neighbor, I
thought it had to be a mistake, an exaggeration. Everyone assumed that the 2002
tragedy in which 202 people died in terrorist bombings had immunized Bali from future
attacks, and signs of collective amnesia abounded.
But there was no mistake. The death toll from Saturday's night's three bombings in
two popular tourist resorts was set on Sunday at 32, with more than 100 injured. More
fatalities are expected.
At least half of the island's 4 million rely on tourism for their living. Recovery from
single-digit occupancy and double-digit unemployment noticeably kicked in at the
Christmas-New Year holiday 2003, 14 months after the explosions at a pair of Kuta
nightspots. By the start of this year's European holiday high season, Bali's previous
prosperity tinged with arrogance had reemerged.
A government minister from a neighboring country visiting the island for a regional
conference got the "my way or the highway" treatment from a five-star hotel general
manager, who assured the minister's aide that plenty of other people were ready to
book the US$500 a night suite without looking for special favors.
Buy signs flow
International developers such as Novotel, Swiss-BelHotel and Royal joined the parade
of Indonesians and expatriates building villas. One real estate shark had an e-mail out
to his prospect list within 18 hours of the blasts, reminding them of the stock market
adage that the time to buy is "when there's blood in the streets".
Reminiscent of the woman in Woody Allen's Manhattan who whines, "I finally had an
orgasm and my doctor said it was the wrong kind," some in Bali tourism complained
about having the wrong guests amid soaring arrivals and hotel occupancy rates.
Tourists from Asia and Australia, who dominated post-bomb arrivals, don't spend as
much or stay as long as those from Europe and America who have been slower to
return to Bali. Given initial expectations that it would take a decade or more for
tourists to return, these gripes go beyond seeing the glass half empty rather than half
full. They're more like a thirsty man in the desert getting a water hose and
complaining that it's not spouting Evian.
For all that changed in Bali since the 2002 bombing and the dark days that followed,
not enough has changed in Indonesia to ensure Saturday's bombs will be the last
ones.
New Order, old tricks
The New Order loyalists who gave rise to the wave of religious violence that began in
1999 during Abdurrahman Wahid's presidency still lurk in and around the corridors of
power. (See Terrorism links in Indonesia point to military, October 8, 2004) The
brazen murder of human rights activist Munir during a flight to Amsterdam a year ago
billboarded their lingering clout. (See Arresting decay in Indonesia, July 7) But the
almost comic insistence of prosecutors to ignore evidence and testimony of a
conspiracy involving intelligence agency officials indicates that these darksiders have
little to fear from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's regime.
Like the first Bali bombings, the October 1 blasts illustrate how hard it is to put
passions back in the bottle once they're unleashed. At the moment, there's a lot of
passion in the air. The Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins this week, along with
the Balinese celebrations of Galungan and Kuningan. In recent months, hardline
Muslims have denounced tolerance and pluralism, threatening Christian congregations
and even attacking Islamic sects they don't condone, daring authorities to stop them.
Despite claims that the overwhelming majority of Indonesian Muslims are tolerant
moderates, the government keeps kowtowing to extremists and showing a cowardly
lack of interest in enforcing the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.
(Memo to Western governments: the Marriott Jakarta, Australian Embassy and now
the Bali II bombings have all taken place with your public enemy number one, radical
preacher Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, in jail. See Ba'asyir trial: wrong war, wrong time,
November 3, 2004.)
Fueling passions
It's not just religious passions bubbling at the moment. Indonesia's government raised
prices for fuel on October 1. Since 1998, fuel price hikes have triggered massive
demonstrations (see Mega price hikes fuel Indonesia's discontent, January 15, 2003),
and some media last week all but scolded the public's measured response this time.
Although the government announced that the hikes - to lessen the budget burden of
subsidies as oil prices rise - were coming two weeks ago, it wasn't until minutes
before midnight on September 30 that it revealed the new prices. Premium gasoline
rose 87.5% to about US$0.45 a liter, or about $1.70 a gallon. Kerosene, the main
cooking fuel for the urban poor, rose 185.7%.
The message here is one that's come through loud and clear and repeatedly in the
seven-plus years since the fall of Suharto: politicians don't care about the people,
especially the poor and the powerless. Public service in nominally democratic
Indonesia doesn't carry an obligation to help society but an invitation to help yourself.
As long as people continue to see evidence of that so graphically, through rampant,
blatant corruption as well as arrogant public policy, they'll brush aside concepts of fair
play and defy the law when it suits their ends, based on the example set by the
powerful.
These Bali bombs weren't as big or as devastating as the 2002 blasts. You can see
that as progress, or you can see it as evidence that it doesn't take a massive
operation or complex logistics to plan and execute an attack that can have a
devastating impact on people and business.
Until Indonesia changes, it's likely that it will remain a target for terrorists, something
the Balinese and their fellow citizens should never forget.
Gary LaMoshi has worked as a broadcast producer and print writer and editor in the
US and Asia. Longtime editor of investor rights advocate eRaider.com, he's also a
contributor to Slate and Salon.com.
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