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

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Expect nothing. Live frugally On surprise. become a stranger To need of pity Or, if compassion be freely Given out Take only enough Stop short of urge to plead Then purge away the need. Wish for nothing larger Than your own small heart Or greater than a star; Tame wild disappointment With caress unmoved and [...]

By Vyt Karazija Western notions of time do not transplant-easily to Bali. My pre-Bali life was characterised by what seems now to be an obsessive desire to know which particular instant of time I was inhabiting at any given moment. For me to be comfortable back in my past life, I needed to constantly know the day, [...]

While lounging in a fantastically comfy bean bag on the beach in Sanur a few nights ago I decided I really must spend more time at the beach. Sipping my beer, chatting with friends and watching our kids play in the sand, I felt calm, cool from the sea breeze and extremely happy. Sanur in [...]

Although Bali’s tourists increased by 32 percent in the last year, many visitor sites continue to lack basic facilities. Ida Bagus Ngurah Wijaya, chairman of the Bali Tourism Board (BTB), spoke with Carla Albertí de la Rosa about how the tourism industry’s low budget holds back its development. Q How did the US embassy in [...]

Michael R. Czinkota and Charles J. Skuba Large banks are under siege by governments. There are widespread cries of outrage as banks announce their bonuses for 2009 performance. In the UK, Alistair Darling, the finance minister, already revealed a 50 percent “supertax” on all UK bank bonuses above £25,000 (US$ 40,000). France has announced that [...]

By Shabbir Cheema Post-election tensions are high in Sri Lanka, after the country’s election commission declared incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa the winner of last week’s contest with more than 57 percent of the vote. Rajapaksa’s main opponent, General Sarath Fonseka, has challenged the validity of the election results, alleging vote rigging, intimidation and censorship. Soldiers [...]

Many of our readers have rightly been outraged that the St. Regis hotel operates a stable of Balinese and other Indonesian butlers who during their working hours are not known by their given name but one taken from the Western world of subservience. It is a disgraceful affront and a violation of the intrinsic human [...]