JAKARTA ~ Lawmakers rammed a far-reaching anti-pornography law through parliament on Thursday despite howls of protest by artists and religious minorities who say it threatens national unity. Lawmakers voted by an overwhelming majority to back a modified version of the law, which criminalizes all works and “bodily movements” deemed obscene and capable of violating public [...]

DENPASAR ~ The Bali Consumer Institute criticized the Food and Medicine Monitoring Board this week for not yet disposing of foods containing the toxic chemical melamine, an official said. “Foods containing melamine are dangerous for people’s health and should therefore be taken off the shelves and destroyed immediately,” Institute director Ketut Udi Paryudi said on [...]

A massive Indian Ocean tsunami, similar in size to the behemoth that claimed a quarter of a million lives in December 2004, smashed into Thailand and Indonesia around 600 years ago, scientists believe. The evidence comes from deposits of sand washed inland by colossal waves and preserved under layers of coastal peat, according to studies [...]

Preparations for Departure: Residents of the village of Adat Sumerta Kelod in Denpasar took part in a ngajum ceremony on Thursday morning, prior to a mass cremation of 30 people who passed away some time ago due to be held on Friday. During ngajum, needles are placed in the sacred Hindu image that has been [...]

By Amy Chavez For The Bali Times Tired of the heat? Go to Java, where it’s freezing cold. Yes, believe it or not, there’s an entire town that is air conditioned inside and out. It’s at Mt. Bromo, in East Java, where a Hindu-Mahayana Buddhist community resides around the almost 2,400-meter-high active volcano. Even though [...]

From the perspective of Ian Frasetiantono, a 42-year-old teacher What are we here for? To live, that’s all. Do you believe in the Bing Bang theory that the now 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 [...]

Charles Descotis, owner and founder of the hammock brand Ticket to the Moon, shared his day with The Bali Times Laurane Marchive Being in Bali with people from all over the world is what I like the most; it’s a very cosmopolitan world. My day starts around 6:30 or 7am, when I have breakfast, watch [...]

Dick Buitelaar is a 70-year-old soccer trainer from The Netherlands What’s the greatest lesson life has taught you? To be honest. What’s most important? The most important thing is humility, and the capacity to live in peace with other people. What advice would you give the younger generations? To be fair, open and to live [...]

By Amy Chavez For The Bali Times My name is Myrtle and I am the emcee turtle to introduce to you some of Asian sports performed in this year’s Asian Beach Games held in Bali. As some of the sports are less familiar to Westerners, I hope that through this introduction, they will be better [...]

In Ubud, a Great Debate About the Issues of Our Times By Janet De Neefe For The Bali Times UBUD ~ Once again, this year’s Ubud Writers and Readers Festival brought together a diverse mix of writers from all over the world. For four full days, Ubud was home to authors from Mexico, Africa, Europe, [...]

From the perspective of Prio No, 30, a Javanese beach-station owner What are we here for? To work. Do you believe in the Bing Bang theory that the now 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? [...]

Liat Solomon, founder of the food brand Down to Earth, shared her day with The Bali Times’ Laurane Marchive My dream came true. I wake up at 6:30am to get my daughter ready for school and at 8am I drop her off. I go do some yoga or pilates, which is very important for me [...]