Brides with baby bumps abound

Congratulations to my friend Komang! I saw him for the first time today in two or three months, and he informed me of the birth of his first child, a little girl. He mentioned that she will be named in a traditional ceremony at the age of three months, and I hope to be invited for this ritual.

At first, I was momentarily surprised at his announcement of a baby already three weeks old. After all, we attended his wedding reception on April 4 (a very auspicious day for weddings, when half the island of Bali's population seemed to be getting married!). How many months it that? That was fast!

It is not at all unusual for couples to marry when already pregnant in Indonesia. The two weddings I have attended in the past year in Indonesia both featured a (discreetly) pregnant bride. The bride of a  wedding I attended in the USA was not yet pregnant, but she hopes to be soon.

There is a striking cultural difference here, as it's still a bit taboo for couples in America to get pregnant before they get married. It isn't considered the natural order of things.

On the other hand, it seems that there is an accepted practice of "testing things out" before the commitment is made in Indonesia. Marriage is much about making families, after all. What if a family cannot be made between a couple, for whatever reason, and they've already gotten married? Hmmm...

Culturally unique Bali might reconsider mass tourism

I originally fell in love with Bali in 2004, on my first visit. The land, the sea and the people were all mesmerizingly beautiful, but the most powerful intoxicant to this romantic was the unique culture and elaborate rites and rituals that go along with it.

Where else on earth can you find tiny hand-crafted baskets filled with fruit, flowers and incense outside of every home and business offering up the day’s best intentions? Though they are shuffled and bustled aside with the day’s activities, they are freshly renewed again the following morning, day after day, in Bali.

Where else are you welcomed to witness extravagant funeral processions rolling through the streets on the shoulders of dozens of men as they parade colorful floats meters high, carrying the earthly remains of loved ones to the temple, where the entire edifice is then sent to the heavens in flames? Not only are you invited to witness them, but to dress as part of the family, walk with the procession and photograph these amazements until your heart’s content in Bali.

Like millions, I was drawn in by this unique culture. Millions more have also been drawn by Bali’s many splendors, not all of which are elements of the traditional and utterly unique culture. The pressures of so many visitors on the natural and cultural environment are weighing more and more heavily, as summarized in a recent scathing indictment from the respected French journal Le Monde.

Not only sheer numbers, but a cavalier attitude toward Bali’s cultural and environmental sustainability is also taking its toll. Balinese and Indonesian stewards of these treasures might take note and reconsider the best ways to care for and share of their bounty before they are but a memory.

Dancers Take to the Streets for Pedestrian Friendly Ubud

Ubud, Bali, in the middle of the Indonesian archipelago is the cultural heart of the island with a vibrant community of about 30,000 including many artists, writers and performers among its established families. Increasing legions of tourists and expats from around the globe also sample the magic of Ubud, staying anywhere from a few hours to many years.

A group of Ubud expat residents inspired by Ben Aaron's Dance Walk are taking to the streets. As Ubud's popularity feeds choking traffic congestion on its narrow streets, the dancers want to raise awareness about the joys of pedestrian life while getting some exercise, interacting with locals and making people smile.

Now you can see Dance Walk Ubud in action! 

If this looks like fun, you can start your own Dance Walk in your own town. If you happen to be in Ubud, you can join the Dance Walkers each Friday morning around 9:00 a.m. Look for announcements about location on FaceBook.

US-based Vertical Horizon Rocks Indonesia

Though I have been living in Asia for a few years and don't consider myself "in-touch" with the American music scene, I do know this tune by Vertical Horizon.

Vertical Horizon will play three dates in Indonesia, May 1, 2 and 3, on their 2012 swing through Asia. Indonesia does not draw a great variety and frequency of international rock or pop acts (especially those coming all the way from the USA), so this is big news!

May 1, 2012 : Jakarta, Hard Rock Cafe Jakarta

May 2, 2012 : Makassar, Grand Clarion Hotel

May 3, 2012 : Bali, Hard Rock Cafe Bali

The act's next tour date listed on their website is May 6 in Singapore, a short flight from Bali. Fans recovering from the show will want to keep their eyes peeled on the beach for these guys shoring up with a little R&R themselves.

Impending Smoking Ban in Bali Allows Flexibility

On a recent domestic departure and arrival at Bali's Ngurah Rai International Airport, I was struck by two things--construction and smoke. The airport is in the process of a major expansion and upgrade, so what was once a simple curbside drop-off has become a snaking walk through hordes of tourists and construction barriers.

Also striking was the intense waft of cigarette smoke collecting in clouds among those waiting just outside the domestic terminal. I tried to hold my breath as my family negotiated our path through the crowds of smokers to safely breathable oxygen on the other side.

In the name of public health, Bali's lawmakers have proposed a ban on smoking in public to take effect June 1, 2012. 

This ban would allow for flexibility insofar as some hotels, restaurants and other public places would be designated as "smoking" while others "non-smoking", with a color code system to differentiate fully "smoke free" spaces from those with designated areas allowing smoking.

Most Indonesian men smoke, so even a partial ban could potentially cause an uproar. How effectively the ban will be enforcement at the airport, as elsewhere, is still a question.

Bali Sustains Traditions in Face of Economic Pressures

The fresh lunar year of 1934 began for the Balinese on Friday, March 23, 2012. Nyepi, as Bali's new year's holiday is known, is celebrated as a day of silence. All families across the island, which has a population of nearly four million, remain within the walls of their family compounds or homes and spend the day from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. the following day in rest, meditation, prayer and fasting.

Tourists and expats are expected to follow the strictures to at least some degree, remaining quietly indoors for the 24-hour period. As usual on this island where tourism comprises about 80 percent of the economy, foreigners are given a bit of a pass. Prohibitions for observant Balinese include lighting a fire or using electricity, for instance, which are not strictly enforced for all hotels and expat homes.

All roads and the international airport, which is expected to welcome a record-breaking three million foreign visitors in 2012, are closed for 24 hours in observance of Nyepi. On an island whose economic lifeblood is tourism, one wonders, how long can this tradition continue?

Other traditions under pressure from modern economic reality surround Bali's subak. Subak is the term for a voluntary association of paddy rice farmers who share a common water source for irrigation, as well as the system of irrigation itself, including canals and tunnels that carry water from the volcanic crater lakes to the coast.

Irrigation is only one aspect of this intricate system that has sustained wet paddy rice cultivation in picturesque terraces that have helped make Bali famously beautiful.

Water temples across the island provide forums in which farmers of each subak gather to agree upon planting schedules in order to use their common water source equitably and to coordinate flood periods that prevent pest outbreaks. Farmers in a subak are thus also congregants of a given water temple.

These are democratic participatory institutions, but they are also religious institutions. Farmers, and all Balinese, revere the Goddess of the Lake Dewi Danu as well as the Rice Goddess Dewi Sri.

Farmers belonging to a subak contribute both time for meetings and part of their harvest to their water temple. Their responsibilities also include rituals and rites performed on the Balinese lunar calendar.

This hitherto resilient system may have met its match with the current priority for tourism expansion. Though agriculture was the mainstay of Bali's economy for a thousand years until about three decades ago, the rising price of land has nearly destroyed traditional rice paddy farming.

A pending proposal for UNESCO World Heritage recognition for Bali's subak system could shift priorities. International recognition, and the tourism dollars that follow, could inspire creative thinking about how to balance tourism and agriculture, as well as how best to honor tradition.

Photo by Glenn Chickering

Indonesians Among World's Happiest, Survey Finds

Can money buy happiness? Perhaps... But money isn't a prerequisite, if Indonesians in a recent survey are to be believed.

Despite average per person GDP (at purchasing power parity) of only one tenth that of Americans, over 50 percent of Indonesians in a recent survey reported being "very happy". This compares to about 28 percent of Americans in the poll, conducted by Ipsos, a research firm, as reported in The Economist.

Respondents were given a choice of describing themselves as "very happy", "rather happy", "not very happy" or "not happy at all". The only country whose respondents ranked in the top 15 that had a lower per person GDP was India, which ranked second.

Indonesia, where over half of people reported being very happy, has an average per person GDP of about $4,700 annually, according to the report.

Half-Indonesian Rock Stars Launch 2012 Tour

If you were alive and awake during the 1980s, you are likely familiar with Van Halen. Their hits include "Hot for Teacher", "Jump", "You Really Got Me" and "Panama". Is your head bobbing yet? Your air guitar singing?

Perhaps a little known fact about the brothers Van Halen is discussed in an interview posted on their website:

Mom was from rural Indonesia.

Eddie and Alex's father was a Dutch musician who visited the archipelago to play saxophone on a six-week radio contract and found himself staying for six years. He fell in love and married. Eddie and Alex were encouraged by their Indonesian mother to learn classical piano, and their love of music flowered from there.

Eddie and Alex confess during the interview that they have never visited Indonesia and know no Indonesian language.

The current tour supports Van Halen's first album in 14 years entitled A Different Kind of Truth. No Indonesian dates have, as yet, been posted on the 2012 tour. Perhaps these rockers will reconsider reconnecting with their roots...?