Tourism, Culture and Society

So has Tourism changed Bali? Yes Tourism has changed Bali for the better and the worst. The positive impacts include the economic benefits such as average income per capita increasing, the country's Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) increasing, the income multiplier increasing. In facet everything has increased over these years since tourism has stepped in. Tourism has also helped to preserve the island's country through tourism. A seen in this video, the Bali native had said that Balis' culture was flexible and both tourism and culture are able to co-exist together.

Bali's culture
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyRlN1SumXM

However there are just as many negative impacts. In fact there are more if you look from the point of eco tourist. Not only are forest being cut down rapidly, the coast line is changing, tourism has affected Bali in many ways, some directly and indirectly. Tourism has also brought about commodification, disneyfication and globalisation.

Even though the island is affected by all these impacts, the question is why is it still thriving? Why is the island still able to have a continuous increase in tourists arrivals despite over population and cluttered roads? My answer to that would be because Bali is still able to retain it's culture and thrive on tourism. Traditional villages are still present and they have not been modified nor have the villagers decided to move to bigger cities. They are in fact still happily carrying out their lives in the villages. Tourism has in fact allowed them to lead better lives and enabled them to keep their culture alive

Famous Bali

Credits to concierge

Bali is known as the island of paradise to many. One of the reasons why tourists is constantly flocking is because of the beautiful and alluring beaches the island offers. These beaches have white soft sand, good waves to surf and offshore reefs that are perfect for scuba diving. Some of the famous beaches include Sanur beach: excellent place to watch sunrise, Kuta and Legian beach: popular for surfing, Jimbaran: famous for seafood, Nusa Dua: suitable for swimming, Lovina beach: able to see dolphins, Candi Dasa Beach: snorkeling and diving.

With resorts, hotels and tourists packed on these beaches, much environmental impacts have occurred. Some of the negative environmental impact that has already taken its toll includes 48 of Bali’s beaches having undergone acute erosion. This has resulted in the coastline having lost 181.7 kilometers of land this last decade, which amounts to 41.5 percent of the island's total shoreline.

Education in Indonesia

All Indonesian citizens are required to undertake nine years of compulsory education, six years at elementary level and three in junior high school. The educational system is divided into 2 sectors, formal and non-formal.

A formal education is then divided again into three levels, primary, secondary and tertiary education. Indonesians whom attend elementary schools are usually aged 7 to 12, elementary school is compulsory to attend. The next step after elementary would be Middle school which students aged 13 to 15 attend. Upon graduating from middle school, students are not required to further their students unless they are willing to. Therefore one can either choose to further studies or otherwise.

Those interested in furthering students have options such as or academy, polytechnic, institute and university. The higher education system develops you in either the academic aspect or professional education.

credits to Jakarta post

Education in Bali

A report dating 3 months back to 3 September revealed that 302,523 Bali residents aged 15 and over is still illiterate, as said by the provincial government spokesman, I Ketut Teneng. In addition, statistics have shown that 9 % of the people have no education, 27% have not graduated from primary school, 35% have graduated from primary school, 13% have graduated from junior high school, 12% have graduated from high school, and only 4% have completed higher education degrees. These statistics have proven that even with an education system in place, Bali still has a high percentage of people not being educated.

This is no surprise because Indonesia is one of the countries with the highest illiteracy rates in the world. A 1993 report by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said these nine countries, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan and Indonesia, were home to 70 percent of the world's illiterate population and 40 percent of global school dropouts.

Because of the education for all project by (UNESCO) which aims at cutting 50 percent of the world's illiterate population by 2015, Indonesia illiteracy rate has successfully declined to less than 10 percent of its 240 million population.

Bali is also taking action to reduce its illiteracy rate. Teneng mentioned that “the provincial administration had in 2010 allocated Rp964.4 million from the regional budget to support various programs such as technical supervision of tutor training and activities to increase the quality of education for students.” Since 2008 more basic literacy classes has been implemented with a target of making 36,697 people literate by 2010 and 265,826 more gradually starting in 2011.

East Bali Poverty Project (EBPP)

Ban was the poorest village in Bali, with 99 percent of the 3,000 people being illiterate. As quoted by the Jakarta Post, “Infant mortality stood at between 30 to 50 percent of children under one year, mothers had never heard of maternal health clinics, nurses never visited, and the national census ignored the existence of these people.” That is how severe the situation is even though tourism is booming in other parts of Bali.

David Stone who started the East Bali Poverty Project (EBPP) contacted UNICEF in the late 1990s when he realized that beside the poor education system, the villagers were mostly malnutrition.

David Stone had upgraded Ban a place with the lack of education, access to health and markets and cassava diet coupled with fouled water supplies into a more educated Ban. People are now leading better lives. The first school was started in Bunga, a sub village in Ban. In the Jakarta Post article, a child named Alit was one of the first children to have benefited from the new school. He learnt how to read and write overtime and became a teacher. With formal education, the villagers are able to earn a higher income through the selling of cattles. In the past, farmers were earning around US$80 per cow but now they are able to sell it for up to 10 times more because they learnt the value of money.

A change is happening in this small village in Bali, this is a change for good. Globalization is the cause of this change. The help of different organizations like UNICEF has elevated the village from poverty and provided them with a better environment to live in.

All schools now offer karate lessons with a former Indonesian champion, Mangku Wayan Pajek. Children are also offered the opportunity to focus on the arts, with volunteers such as Israeli Esia Simantov sharing his drama and music skills fine honed at Tel Aviv University.

Some of the articles worth looking at on the education on Bali include two articles by Jakarta Post,

Bali province to have free education in 2010

Wasti Atmodjo,, Contributor,, Denpasar | Sat, 01/24/2009 3:35 PM | National http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/01/24/bali-province-have-free-education-2010.html and

12-years of school mandatory
Mon, 07/27/2009 4:24 PM | National

Language

Indonesian is the national language used in the education system and for all administrative purposes, it also now widely used. Bahasa Indonesia allows non- Balinese working and living in Bali to communicate with the Balinese in work places and throughout Bali. However, Bahasa Bali is spoken by all Balinese. The language is a member of the Malayo-Austronesian language family. Children are brought up to speak Balinese as their first language by thier families.

Balinese often speak in Indonesian in work places however once they enter their villages they will revert to Balinese.

Some basic words in Balinese language according to the 3 levels, credits to lowlands-l

In the past, Bahasa Bali used to have multiple levels but overtime these levels have been reduced to only 3 forms. Balinese has 3 main forms and many variations. The 3 main forms are Ida / Basa alus (high), Ipun / Basa Bali Madia (Middle / Polite) and Ia / Basa kasar (low).

Upon meeting a stranger, a person would usually use the middle language, Basa Bali Madia and address the person. Once the level of caste is determined, both parties will use the appropriate levels to converse.

The 4 main castes in Bali are Brahmana, Ksatria, Wesia and Sudra.
•Brahmana (priest) caste
•Ksatria (rulers, warriors) caste
•Wesia (merchants and officials) caste
•Sudra (rice growers) caste

For example a person from a higher caste speaking to another form the lower caste will use the Basa Kasar. On the other hand the person from the lower caste will reply using the Basa alus. In everyday life, Basa Kasar is used to be spoken to friends and families while the middle language is spoken to strangers.

English
Another language that the Balinese have picked up is English due to tourism. Because locals work in hotels, shops and attractions they are required to know Basic English which enables them to converse with the tourists and understand them. In addition, many Balinese have also picked up a variety of language such as French, Japanese or even German. Some of the older generations are even able to speak Dutch. With tourism rapidly growing in Bali, in the near future all Balinese would be able to speak English. This language may even be more commonly used than Indonesian or Balinese if the younger generations become influenced by the westerners.