While many businesses in Bali respect local culture and go out of their way to preserve and elevate Balinese cultural values and protect the land, rapid tourism development is leading to what many local stakeholders are calling exploitative and culturally disrespectful behavior.
As Bali continues to depend on tourism for a massive proportion of its provincial GDP, balance is increasingly hard to find.
The conversation hit local headlines once again after a beach club in Canggu conducted a fireworks display while the local community performed a ceremony on the same beachfront.
Local politician Wayan Puspanegara has spoken to reporters and shared his insights on the matter.
Noting that the events were disturbing, his strongly worded statement outlines the views of many communities across Bali.
He explained, “Regarding the firework party and loud music when Hindus were holding a yagya ceremony, which was carried out by the Puput Sulinggih on the beach; it shows arrogance, lack of respect, and no sense of empathy or sympathy for the religious activity in question.”
Finns Beach Club in Canggu put on a fireworks display last week. In initial communication with complainants, Finns Beach Club said that they had permission to conduct the fireworks show, and local senators have now investigated the matter.
Arya Wedakarna, as a Regional Representative Council (DPD) Member for Bali, stepped in to mitigate the conflict between Finns and the Banjar Tegal Gundul community.
A meeting was held on October 17th at Finns Beach Club, and a series of solutions were proposed.
Wedekarna explained. “The first solution is that Finns must perform three Guru Piduka ceremonies, based on recommendations from PHDI.”
He continued, “We are asking Finns to provide CSR assistance in the form of permanent lighting for the area so that it can be used for Hindu Yadnya ceremonies.” He also noted that “The police must jointly supervise fireworks displays, not only at Finns but at all beach clubs in Bali.”
Wedekarna is committed to finding a way to promote harmony between Balinese culture and tourism on the island.
He told reporters, “We will bring together the management of Bali’s beach clubs to make this case a jurisprudence that respects Tri Hita Karana, Bali’s cultural heritage, indigenous communities, and to maintain the security and stability of Bali as a tourism destination.”
Wedekarna plans to bring together all beach club management teams in Bali to use this situation as a case study moving forward, demonstrating the importance of all people in Bali living in accordance with the principles of Tri Hita Karana.
Finns Beach Club has issued an apology and stated that they had been in touch with the local community before the fireworks display and had sought permission from Badung Police.
A statement from Finns explains, “Finn’s management met with the Banjar and local community representatives before the ceremony and offered to cancel or postpone the fireworks display that night.”
They added,” Representatives from the ceremony advised that there was no need to cancel, and they were happy to continue their ceremony in a positive way.”
The police have not said the situation was a miscommunication between the beach club and community leaders.
Local politician Wayan Puspanegara calls this kind of event a cultural tragedy and has called for more to be done to prevent it from happening in the future.
The Acting Governor of Bali, Sang Made Mahendra Jaya, has also issued a statement on the case. He told reporters, “All parties, including business actors, are obliged to respect, honor and maintain Balinese customs, traditions and culture.”
The Actin Governor also responded to concerns about a viral video showing a cliffside for sale in Nusa Penida, just one of hundreds of plots of land, rice fields, and clifftops on the market.
He told reporters that he would look into the matter but that if the land was being sold in accordance with the law and regulations, the government could do little.
Bali is awaiting a moratorium to be introduced that will see a ban on many new tourism developments for a minimum of two years.
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