Bali’s ‘Mr Big’ in Strife over Heavies at Hotel

LEGIAN
The Bali Times
NIGHTCLUB owner Kadek Wiranatha is facing a civil lawsuit and possible criminal action in Bali over a hotel deal gone sour while his advertising publication the Bali Advertiser hovers near bankruptcy, a law firm said this week.
Edy Kurniawan of Roesmanhadi & Associates in Jakarta, representing PT Mountbatten Resorts International (MRI), said a signed [...]

It’s Official: Obama is Headed Our Way

WASHINGTON
Agence France-Press
US President Barack Obama will make what will be an emotional trip with his family to his childhood home of Indonesia in March, and will also visit Australia, the White House announced this week.
Obama, who was known as “Little Barry” when he lived in Jakarta with his mother in the 1960s, said last year [...]

St. Regis’ ‘English’ Butlers Spark Row

NUSA DUA
The Bali Times
THE St. Regis hotel chain stayed silent this week in the face of a growing row over the practice at its Bali property at Nusa Dua of giving Balinese and other Indonesian butlers at the plush resort hotel English names to make guests feel more comfortable.
The row broke following comments – made [...]

Schapelle Finds Another Friend at Court

BRISBANE
The Bali Times
SCHAPELLE Corby has a new friend – flamboyant Queensland lawyer Kerry Smith-Douglas, who will make a fresh bid to free drug smuggler Schapelle Corby.
Smith-Douglas has vowed to “bring Schapelle home.”
Corby’s mother Rosleigh Rose believes the controversial lawyer, who was once charged with supplying and possessing marijuana only later to have the charges dropped, [...]

Wayan Muka, 75, from Badung, sells flowers at Denpasar’s central market. She has 12 children and four grandchildren.
What’s the greatest lesson life has taught you?
Selling flowers has been a tradition in my family for many generations and I’ve learned that it’s important to sell my flowers.
What’s most important?
Family traditions.
What advice would you give the younger [...]

Viebeke Lengkong, from Jakarta, moved to Bali 40 years ago and was a cofounder of the Friends of Bali organisation right after the Bali bombings. She’s now programme director of I’m an Angel, a charity supported by the funds raised by Seminyak restaurant Ku De Ta. The organisation helps to improve the lives of those [...]

From the perspective of Siti Nurkhasamah, 26, a tourism student from Java.
What are we here for?
To love each other.
Do you believe in the Big Bang theory that the circa-13.7-billion-year-old universe and all that’s in it was created by a massive explosion of enormously dense matter at what may have been the beginning of time?
No, I [...]

NAME: Tri Dwi Hantoro
AGE: 44
OCCUPATION: Owner of a leather factory in Denpasar
LOCATION: Java
How do you think the country is doing now?
It will be OK in the future. But people have to be more creative. With China becoming part of ASEAN, if Indonesia doesn’t keep up with creativity we can’t do anything to compete. I also [...]

…. Because people are friendly and the temples give the island a magical atmosphere.
Nyoman Riki, 41, Denpasar
BT/PCAR