Help Bali Help

Help Bali, the Balinese and other islanders against the cancer of corrupt Indonesia

The Balinese need your help to make Bali a paradise for them too, free of the cancer of endemic civil and human rights abusing Indonesia.

Please do not go on holiday (vacation) to Bali where you put money into the pockets of corrupt Indonesians and foreigners. Please support genuine Balinese and Bali friendly hotels and other businesses only. Please do not allow yourself to be so easily sold into kidding yourself that your preferred hotel is just that simply because this is what you wanted to hear or rather anesthetize yourself with.

Just because the tourist area Balinese always smile at guests to their island does not mean they are happy; Bali has one of if not the highest suicide rates in SE Asia, perhaps the world. Please, do not pay the Balinese lip service, please chose only Bali friendly tourism businesses (see Ethical / Responsible Bali Hotels & Travel Companies).

The more I understand the enormity of whitewashed, swept under the carpet Balinese suppression, the more I know they need individual westerners' help.

Understand that the Balinese are unlikely, under present conditions, to speak their minds about what they would really like for their island. They only lost their royal family and independence to the Dutch within the last 100 years. Many thousands of Balinese were murdered by the Indonesian military and Suharto / Golkar party loyalists "Laksar" (mafia). The TNI (Indonesian Armed Forces) believe that it is their duty to uphold the sovereignty and national integrity of Indonesia against all enemies including their won civilian government, political parties and their own people. Indonesian political parties rely on support from the military and their influence to be able to get anywhere in elections and most politicians are former army officers anyway. Understand that because the TNI only get 1/3 of their operating budget from the state, their officers need to get money to pay their troops wages and for military equipment from elsewhere. When you also realize the Indonesian armed forces only recruit from trusted families and that it costs over US$2,000 in bribe money for someone to become an army officer cadet when the pay is so bad, you will understand army officers clearly are very successful at making money elsewhere. An example is that the main beer supplier for the luxury hotels in Nusa Dua is actually an army officer and no-one dares buy elsewhere; this is why prices in Bali are so high when they should not be in comparison with other neighboring countries and why the Balinese can not compete in their own main industry on their own island.

The Balinese can't compete against army / Suharto owned or connected businesses. The political parties can not offer them any solution to the problem and even if they could they did and were allowed to live or even continue, Indonesian elections are at best totally flawed at worst rigged so they would not get into power anyway. Any Balinese protests against their corrupters or corrupt conditions are likely to be put down if considered to be of any risk to Jakarta. Any Balinese standing up and shouting "Bali Independence" which is their legal right under International law would likely "disappear" along with their whole family if they were really unlucky, as countless thousands have before. With the widespread state murder in other regions of Indonesia which seek independence, the Balinese really are not able to tell the world what they want or even so much as speak out against Indonesia's corrupt hold on their island.

In order for Bali to be able to express itself and its wishes, Indonesia has to be dealt with as the militarily controlled unlawful state it is. So apart from boycotting all Indonesian and foreign businesses on Bali which are not 100% legal, ethical and Balinese friendly, you need to do more if you claim to love Bali, be a humanitarian or both. I truly believe in order to support the Balinese you must also support your own political parties at home whose foreign policies truly recognize the human rights of others and are prepared to take measures against governments like Indonesia. Second I believe where people have either had their independence taken away from them by Jakarta or have clearly shown a desire for self-determination as is their international legal right, I believe it is important for us all to support their leaders both morally and financially against Jakarta. I believe it is also critical to show support for the oppressed groups of Indonesia, such as the Christians who have their churches burnt down, new church building licenses denied, parishioners butchered, plus civil and human rights abused. Only by doing for others what we would wish others to do for us if we were in their shoes are things ever going to change for the better in Bali.