Word: indonesia
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...Balinese to hold onto their culture and religion even as they accept modern life. Bali?s focus on tourism business has also shielded it from much of the economic hardship over the past five years. And because the Balinese economy has remained relatively strong, compared to other areas of Indonesia, the political and social situation has remained calm and orderly. Bali?s pervasive peace has brought a wave of internal migration of Indonesians to the island, looking either for work or for a safe place to invest...
...however, everyone - Balinese, Javanese and foreigners - seems to be in a kind of daze, not understanding what is happening in the world or how they should feel about it, or what Indonesia?s stake in all of this might be. Meanwhile, the country seems to be drifting right into the line of fire in this conflict, without giving it too much thought. The information available to Indonesians is quite limited and overwhelmingly biased...
...Most of the news about Indonesia that reaches the U.S. comes from the cities of Java - Jakarta, Surabaya, Solo and Yogyakarta - where demonstrations are held frequently outside US consular facilities. This is where extremist groups generally issue their threats, warning that Americans and foreigners will be "swept" out of the country by Islamic groups. The problem has been not so much the threats themselves as the government?s lack of response to them. Instead of condemning the intimidation, the government seems to first avoid making any comment and then, when pressed, to assure people that the extremists are far more...
...local level, however, which is where security is really handled in Indonesia, the situation varies considerably. In Bali security is handled more by village governing groups, called banjars, than by the police or army. A banjar is usually made up of around 200 families. The group handles all social functions throughout life from birth through marriage, children, to death and cremation. We live in a fairly large village or town, probably with a population of 7,000 to 10,000. Within our village there are 9 banjars. Balinese banjars are famous for delivering village justice on the spot, including shotgun...
Although the U.S. government has called for Americans to avoid travel to Indonesia and has urged Americans in Indonesia to leave, I suspect that all Americans and other foreigners here are making their decisions according to their local realities. Last night, in a conversation with my electrician, who is a Muslim from Sumbawa, I heard a story about an American community on that island. There is a U.S.-managed gold mine on Sumbawa that employs several hundred Americans who live there with their families and who supervise a workforce made up of thousands of local people. As soon as this...