Paradise lost
September 30, 2012
There used to be 500 families involved in seaweed farming on this beach – but not anymore.
image by Deborah Cassrels – source The Australian
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I guess it starts the debate what’s best for the Balinese, jobs and a better economy which in tern pays for better health etc or a hand to mouth existence.
Being personally selfish I just think off another pack of surfers in the water.
We’d definitely need eternity to settle that debate Glen.
Bali (and Indonesia’s) socio-economic/political concerns remain a complex issue. If only it was that simple.. that a growth economy would automatically translate into a better life for those Balinese in need. But with a culture based on a caste system – that perpetuates social division & inherent nepotism… its probably safe to say there will always be winners and losers in this story.
Good comment BB really like your thinking
Without doubt the most shocking development I have seen, the size of it all and the area it spans, the loss of how it had been. There isn’t much green space left in the surfing areas of the Balinese coast. I think of the friends I made on that beach, the massage ladies and sarong sellers hanging together in the shade making offerings chatting and laughing, there wont be any of that anymore where do you go to meet up with your friends. This development really can bring a tear to the eye.
Yeah LS… the scale of this thing is certainly a challenge to process… and sadly inevitable… as are the saline drops that follow…
wow bear i was tripping when i saw how our florida fish master has slowly been pushed into the temple headland over the years. slowly being caged in from all angles except from the south . i guess the only way to get to his place now is to pay to enter . i frequent the centara hotel and resort chain in thailand often and they seem to be growing at a faster rate than any other chain in the asian region and i doubt the older seaweed farmers will have to rake seaweed for pennies anymore when their kids can get a real job with service and healcare benifits with room to grow from an entry level position working as gardeners & grounds keepers. unless if they went to tourism school and know some english they most likely will be in behined the scenes jobs . the local banjar has already sold its sole to first the nikko and then the st regis and now the monster of all ” the grand centara “i dont recon any real balinese locals aspiring for a modern world job are having a hard time finding work in the number 1 industry on the island. and the generations to follow. 125 years ago here in hawaii it was the same and now we have a concrete jungle called waikiki where naked hawaiians once threw hand made nets to catch dinner for their families while living in huts along the beach made of drift wood and palm leaves as the villages of nusa lembongan and nusa dua did 30 years ago or in some places still do . there are many places still out there on the other 12,000 islands of indo where hotels will not build. it only starts with an airport and then it all over from there on. jump on a boat and sail past any island with infrastructure electricity and internet and mobile phones and i’m sure it will be like finding the lost island. as bali was 100 years ago. surf, beautiful people and no hotels and no jobs.
You can’t stop progress Dave… and any island home (and its people) that such progress effects… deserve to benefit. But when drawing comparisons between Hawaii and Bali’s histories, one probably also needs to consider the vast socio & geo-political differences… which cannot possibly be explored sufficiently within the limits of this comment box.
Obviously our opinions have no real bearing on where things are going here.. and nor do I feel the right to demand any say over what happens. But history has shown that humanity will always find a way to apapt – no matter what happens.
I guess the next question is: How will the environment cope?
i hear you Bear, have you seen whats going on at the limestone quary beach 2 km east of bali cliff ? .. is this what lies in bali’s future …? resort, resort and wait ..more resorts and oh yes jl uluwatu is the main Bukit highway right.?? are you kidding me??? the new kuta ?? how about the “new bali” ? LOL !!!
kecak dance gridlock at 7 pm will be a thing of the past. couse it will soon be constant bumper to bumper madness from 6 am til midnight 365 (except day of the dead hari raya nyipi.) does the new road from jimbaran still stop at village balangan ? where is the master plan for new roads ? and i also am wondering what the hell is going on with the Alana what happend to that ugly site? does anyone know ? IMB Bull shit or too tall ? PLN… no money? or probably all of the above !!!!! Crazy Bali !!! Love It,..Hate IT,. It’s still Bali..!
aloha, and mahalo nui loa
Paradise is relative to one’s definition… which is always evolving. Whatever we seek… we all get our turn at finding… living… and losing the dream. Best to forget what you had… and make the most of what you got. Can’t see it any other way…
in reality, you guys are discussing someone else’s land – maybe the lady who sold sarongs ends up owning a shop on the strand there and her sons go to Kings School in Sydney – how is that bad?
Yep… we’re definitely discussing other people’s business here Pete… these comment boxes tend to attract that kind of action.
Nothing could ever be bad about a lady who sells sarongs and then lives to see her grandson graduate from Kings College… develop a successful business… and have her family’s life turned around. It happens all the time on this island. Mixed marriages between foreigners & Indonesians – for example – have produced generations of kids who represent many of the islands contemporary success stories.. bridging the gaps between East & West.. providing inspiration for many other young aspiring Indonesians.
But this isn’t the only way… the only path…
It also possible that these displaced seaweed families could re-invent their futures, by finding employment at the very same hotels that bulldozed their homes. There are job opportunties in hospitality… security… mantience… as well as other periperal tourist-based industries.
But when you exist at the bottom of the socio-ecomonic ladder… in a 3rd world landscape with no social welfare and no formal education – finding your way to owning a shop on the Strand – putting your kids through Kings… and spending summers at Wategos – might be a bit of a stretch.
so howcome so many if “us” want them to stay that way? – at the bottom.
Best to direct that question to the Indonesian government mate…
Stop suger coating this, its a fuckin crime against nature.
where does all the poo go?
It lays upon that lawn of deckchairs…
Interesting discussion. Nusa Dua, going the way of Dreamland…its sad to see. The planet is being eaten alive and there’ll no stopping it .Greed has always ruled but it is much more destructive in this technology driven time.
Nusa Dua used to be “no good” land used for peanut fields, scraggly coconut groves, fisherman jukung haul outs…but in the late 70s the government already slated the area for master tourism development, the idea being to keep the rest of Bali pristine. Hasn’t exactly worked out that way. Where the Mulia is now was doomed from the get-go, already surveyed and plotted out by the mid 80s or so, just took a while for the bulldozers to catch up. Those of us who were there for those two decades in the 80s and 90s were fortunate that it took that long and to get it when we did…so many epic surfs, and horrible surfs too. Nusa Dua can be a bitch.