Denpasar, NU Online
Academics said Sunday that globalization and modernization had changed the Balinese character and culture, causing an identity crisis on the island.
"The face of Bali, which is usually full of religiosity, friendliness and natural charm, now has started to show its dark side," Ida Bagus Gunadha told a cultural congress at the Indonesian Art Institute in Denpasar.<>
The congress was one of several activities held in conjunction with the 30th Bali Arts Festival, which was opened Saturday by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Gunadha said that on one side holy buildings stood gloriously on every street corner, filled with the high intensity of religious rituals, but on the other side there were also illegal red-light districts and increasing criminality.
"These phenomena show the Balinese are having an identity crisis in the middle of complex and quick changes of globalization, and that Bali's identity culturally becomes blur," he was quoted by The Jakarta Post as saying.
He said challenges faced by the Balinese were increasingly difficult, especially with the focus on the development of the tourism industry, which was also the gateway for foreign culture to enter in Bali.
"This is increasingly problematic because tourism has been the foundation for Bali's economy. But on the other hand this sector has brought many negative excesses that will destroy Balinese culture," he said.
He said the Balinese should revive their own identity and develop a strong cultural foundation.
Adrian Vickers from the department of Southeast Asian studies at the University of Sydney shared similar views, saying the Balinese culture was in need of redefinition.
He said that since the middle of the 20th century there had been much discussion of threats to Balinese culture, particularly at the hands of Western culture.
"Balinese culture is not only defined by its rituals, arts or religious activities, but also the sense of place, a physical location that is now being built over with villas for non-Balinese, where golf courses encroach on major temples," he said.
"As a result most foreigners now think that Bali is focusing on resort tourism instead of cultural tourism," he said.
He said that in the 1990s tourist brochures moved away from a focus on Balinese culture to selling properties like hotel rooms.
"Another version of Balinese culture is that it has become the decoration of hotel buildings and interiors, so many people who come to Bali prefer to stay in their hotel-resorts," he said.
He added that Bali then becomes a set of motifs decorating their resorts.
He made an example of bale (a traditional, wooden platform for sitting), which could be more easily found in foreign hotels now than Balinese houses.
"For tourists who come to Bali, their impressions of Balinese culture is now quite limited," he said.
He added that many foreigners were also worried about the land sales and destruction of the environment such as the removal of large trees in Buleleng and near the airport at Tuban, along with a lack of action on the part of political leaders.
Putu Rumawan Salain, an architect lecturer at Udayana University, said the Bali administration lacked development planning, and the people who work in the non-tourism sector also felt the impact of such runaway development.
"Ordinary people like us have to face high costs of living on the island so that earning money has become the power that controls everything," he said.
Gunadha said it was time a speech about ajeg Bali (preserving Bali) be made to defend Balinese local culture and values in the midst of the globalization era.
"Even though tourism is the pillar of our economy, it does not mean we can sell Bali for the sake of tourism," he said.
He added that Balinese should not accommodate all tourist needs if any were incompatible with Balinese cultural values. (dar)
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