Everyone here's talking about...

Everyone here is talking about President Bush’s planned visit to Indonesia on Monday. He’s only coming for a couple of hours, but it still fills the newspapers. The Jakarta Post reports that in other parts of the country there have been large protests, but here in Bali there is a slightly more relaxed attitude. Protesters in Denpassar marched with a banner that read ‘Welcome to Indonesia, Mr Bush. You may come, just don’t dictate (to us)’… a sentiment I agree with. Also in Bali a ‘man claming magic powers drank freshly slaughtered animal & snake blood as part of a ritual he said would jinx the upcoming visit… “I don’t hate Americans but I don’t like bush” said Pamungkas… he believed the ritual would cause Secret Service agents guarding Bush to fall into a trance and believe the US leader was under attack causing chaos’.

Bush is here to talk to the Indonesian president and one of the topics of discussion may well include terrorism and the continuing tsunami relief effort. Both terrorism and the tsunami have had a profound affect on Bali, the bombings in 2002 and the tsunami in 2004 all but destroyed tourism on the island. For the peaceful Hindu community of Bali the bombs were shocking but instead of reprisals against Muslim & Javanese immigrants working in Bali leaders of various faiths prayed side-by-side during purification ceremonies. The police were also swift in identifying the perpetrators and brought in a number of security measures across the island.

Tsunami 'information' sign on Sanur beach

These security measures are still evident. Many western organisations have strict security; cars and bags are searched before entering places like the language schools, nightclubs and McDonalds. I went out in Kuta (the main tourist resort where the bombing occurred) on Saturday night and saw all this first hand. I also witnessed the force of the police when the club I was in was raided for drugs. The music went off, the lights came on & everyone in the place was (thoroughly) searched. Everyone co-operated ­– no illegal substances were found and no arrests were made – and everyone cheered when the police announced this.

I don’t think Bali is really like the rest of Indonesia – the benign approach to Bush’s visit, the ‘cleansing’ after the bombing – I look forward to seeing another side of the country when I leave for Flores next week.