Police Castigated over Trial of Thousand-Rupiah Theft Boy

DENPASAR Bali’s Police and prosecutors were heavily criticised this week after a 15-year-old boy stood trial in Denpasar for stealing Rp1,000 (11 US cents). The affair follows other recent incidents regarded by many as evidence of police heavy-handedness in trivial cases, including that of another teen who stood trial in Sulawesi for stealing a pair [...]

Health Chief Seeks Clarification amid HIV Tattoo Storm

DENPASAR Bali’s Health Department has reiterated demands for clarification and evidence from the Australian authorities over claims that a tourist from West Australia contracted HIV after getting a tattoo in Bali. The claims emerged after Australian broadcaster ABC News reported that the West Australian Health Department was stating that a patient had contracted HIV after [...]

New Death Sparks Renewed Rabies Fear

DENPASAR Officials fear that rabies may have reached Nusa Penida, one of the few parts of Bali to remain free of the disease, after a local woman died of the disease last week. Head of rabies management at Sanglah Hospital Dr Ken Wirasandhi said that two patients from Klungkung regency had died of suspected rabies [...]

C151 Scoops ‘Favourite Hotel’ Award

SEMINYAK Seminyak-based hotel group C151 has been awarded a “Best Favourite Hotel of the Year” award, at a ceremony in Jakarta. The honour was bestowed by the International Achievement Foundation and Achievement Center Indonesia as part of its Indonesian Quality Service Excellence Tourism Awards and included a citation for “service excellence.” The government-backed awards recognise [...]

Progress but More Challenges Ahead: Governor

DENPASAR Bali still has many developmental challenges despite recent progress, Governor I Made Mangku Pastika said during his end-of-year address. “We still have many unresolved problems,” he said. According to the governor, poverty remains a key issue in many areas despite Bali’s rapid economic growth. “There are 10,000 families who are living in uninhabitable houses [...]

Schapelle a ‘Naughty Child,’ Says Prison Chief

KEROBOKAN The head of Kerobokan Prison has said that Schapelle Corby may not receive further remissions on her 20-year sentence, after the Australian drug smuggler refused to join a special Christmas mass for inmates. Corby had been among 53 Christian inmates put forward for remissions to mark Christmas. Prison officials had recommended a six-week cut [...]

Australians Stabbed in Club Clash

KUTA Two Australian tourists were stabbed on Friday night after a confrontation in Kuta’s popular Bounty Nightclub. Two local people were also reportedly injured. Another Australian man and an Indonesian were subsequently charged in relation to the attack. According to police one of the Australian men, named as Jake Benjamin Whitehead, 21, was slashed across [...]

Bedugul Power Plant Idea Not Dead Yet

BEDUGUL Despite opposition from local authorities, including the Bali government, the central government is pushing for the controversial Bedugul geothermal power plant to go ahead. According to recently appointed Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Jero Wacik, Bali’s energy needs are expected to double by 2017, and new sources of power need to be identified. [...]

Island’s Population Rises

DENPASAR Bali’s population increased by 2.15 percent in the last decade, the fastest period of growth in half a century, according to officials. I Gde Suarsa of the Bali Statistics Agency said that between 2000 and 2010 the island’s population rose from 3.15 million to 3.89 million, with growth fuelled by a combination of natural [...]

Crisis Team Tries to Save Lake Batur

BANGLI With Bangli’s Lake Batur facing serious environmental threats, the Bali administration has formed a special team to try to save it from further degradation. Head of the Bali Environmental Department Anak Agung Gde Alit Sastrawan said the lake was not just a tourist attraction and an important ecosystem; it was also a key source [...]

Robin Lim Named CNN Hero

DENPASAR Bali-based midwife Robin Lim has been named the 2011 CNN Hero of the Year. Lim, an American citizen, runs the Yayasan Bumi Sehat (Healthy Mother Earth Foundation), an NGO that works with pregnancy and childbirth issues amongst local women in Bali. Lim was named Hero of the Year from a list of Top 10 [...]

British Minister Praises Security

NUSA DUA Britain’s Minister of State for the Asia-Pacific region has praised the Bali authorities for improved security in the decade since the first Bali bombing. Minister Jeremy Browne was in Bali last week to attend the Democracy Forum in Nusa Dua. He said improved security had helped the island to attract more British visitors, [...]

Rally Cancelled but Tensions Continue at Tanah Lot

TABANAN A plan for a massive protest rally at Tanah Lot on Monday was put on hold over the weekend, but the tourist attraction and sacred site remains at the centre of a bitter dispute between local villagers over revenues. Management of the site surrounding the offshore temple – one of Bali’s most popular tourist [...]

Corruption Must Be Tackled ‘at Recruitment Stage’

DENPASAR The chain of corruption in government needs to be broken at the recruitment stage, according to a senior official. The assistant deputy for systems development supervision and administrative reform at the Ministry for Administrative and Bureaucratic Reforms, Hendro Witjaksono, said law-enforcement and careful recruitment were among the most important anti-corruption measures. “If measures for [...]

Politicians Blame ‘Cafe Culture’ for AIDS Spread

DENPASAR A senior politician has blamed the proliferation of cafes – late-night drinking venues which often double as venues for prostitution – for an increase in HIV cases in Bali. Ketut Kariyasa Adnyana, deputy head of the Bali regional assembly, said cafes, which are popular with many local men, and have been associated with drugs [...]

Lianto Tjahjoputro, 47, born in Banyuwangi, is one of Bali’s best-known classical guitarists, and runs an academy on the island. He shared his day with Savitri Sastrawan. What time I get up depends on when I’m teaching but mostly I rise between 8am and 9. Usually I give lessons either in the morning at noon [...]

Dewa Putu Merta Pastime, 83, formerly worked at the Tourism Department and was a commando in Buleleng during the war for independence. Now he lives in Denpasar with his wife. What’s the greatest lesson life has taught you? Always have a good attitude and help those in need, without expecting anything in return. What’s most [...]

From the perspective of Desak Putu Mahadnyani, 21, a biotechnology student from Buleleng. Do you believe people arrived in their present form on Earth? I don’t think we were always like this. Do you think a supernatural force has been guiding our evolution? Maybe. There’ll always be a reason but I don’t think it’s supernatural [...]

Name: Ni Ketut Indrawati Age: 18 Occupation: Design Student Origin: Denpasar How do you think people overseas see Indonesia? Unique and full of culture. What are the barriers to development in this country? The way that people think. The government is trying to change it but the people are not listening. For example, some people [...]

Jero Asri Kerthyasa, 56, from Sydney, Australia, is a member of the Ubud royal family and is a Seminyak restaurateur I came to Bali in 1973, when I was with friends and we were just travelling around, including Bali, Java, Singapore and Malaysia. It was a semester break from university and to be honest I [...]

…because I find tolerance and harmony in living spiritually, culturally and worldly. Dewa Widyasena, 19, Buleleng, Bali BT/SS