Transcript
VATSIKOPOULOS: The Hindu holy week of Galangan is supposed to be a time of joy, a celebration of the triumph of good over evil but this sacred event has been desecrated yet again. For the second time in three years, the demons of terror have exploded their bombs on this predominantly Hindu island, in the worlds most populous Muslim nation.
The bombers were Islamic fundamentalists from the neighbouring island of Java. In 2002 they killed two hundred and two, this time it was twenty. This deeply spiritual society that thrives on order, has been plunged into chaos.
Three years ago the bombers took out the Sari nightclub and Paddys Bar, so called symbols of Western decadence. The Balinese felt sadness, shame and a spiritual culpability. But when terror returned on October the first, its target was the Jimbaran Beach precinct and Rajas Restaurant not exclusively western, favourites of the Balinese and their families. The mood had changed to anger and outrage.
Why Bali again? Why couldnt the authorities protect them and why are the first bombers still alive? The anger has spilled onto the streets.
MALE PROTESTOR 1: We have been caught unguarded!
MALE PROTESTOR 2: This isnt being caught unguarded, you cant say were unguarded every day.
MALE PROTESTOR 3: I want Amrozi brought back to Bali!
VATSIKOPOULOS: Balis prison has become a rallying point. This is where the bombers of Jemaah Islamiyah were kept on death row. The angry young men of Bali want them dead. Theyve been moved to Java but this has not placated the mob. Their very existence has become a rallying point for all things troubling Bali terror, identity, tourism, drugs and the latest bombings are a dangerous trigger.
Tjokorda Krishna Sudharsana is a Prince of Ubud, descended from a cast of warriors.
TJOKORDA KRISHNA SUDHARSANA: I was worried. You know I went to my village and I explained to the people there not to be reactive you know and calm down.
VATSIKOPOULOS: Hes the son of a celebrated soldier for Indonesias independence, fighting back is in his blood but these days Tjokorda Krishna Sudharsana is a revered secular and sacred leader. Hes a moral compass to his people and this warrior Prince is anxious to restore calm.
TJOKORDA KRISHNA SUDHARSANA: They were angry for quite some time actually, they were frustrated and angry but then they understood you know? Angry but you know didnt do anything physically you know and we went to our temples, village temples and we prayed and we felt at ease after that, yeah.
VATSIKOPOULOS: But the Prince is also a businessman. Praying may have eased the mind after the bombings but it failed to balance the budget. The bombs were a powerful reminder to him and others who relied on tourism that an industry that has sustained them for three decades could be blown away in a matter of seconds.
TJOKORDA KRISHNA SUDHARSANA: I think we are in a very big confusion now like most people say that we are, we are living in modern world now you know? But we dont understand it. Most of us dont understand it you know?
VATSIKOPOULOS: Back in the capital Denpasar, theres an extraordinary gathering of Balis powerbrokers. The guest of honour, Balis hero, the man known the world over for catching the 2002 bombers, Police General Made Mangku Pastika, now a man under pressure in the middle of a new bombing investigation, nevertheless he finds time to be here to address Balis elite. Priests, media tycoons, government officials, businessmen and women. Theyve all come together as supporters of Ajeg Bali or Bali First, a movement galvanised by the bombings, a rallying cry for Balinese assertiveness. General Pastika may be Indonesias most famous policeman but here he is Balinese First.
GENERAL PASTIKA: [Addressing conference] If we dont change we will be annihilated. We cannot just talk, we need action.
VATSIKOPOULOS: General Pastika knows about surviving. Hes become Asias hero in the so-called war on terror. Hes now determined to save his people and he has a solution, the creation of a Balinese diaspora modelled on the Jews.
GENERAL PASTIKA: [Addressing conference] I have an obsession, and this relates to the Jewish people. The Jewish people are a small group but they are very influential in the world. Even though we are not like them there is a certain quality, and the Balinese people, not just in Bali, but those living in Jakarta or wherever even those living overseas also have that quality.
VATSIKOPOULOS: Its a provocative analogy to make for the three million Hindu Balinese surrounded by more than two hundred million Muslim Indonesians. Like the Jews, the Balinese he says, should draw strength from adversity.
GENERAL PASTIKA: [Inspector General of Police, Bali] We have to be able to take this attack to become our opportunity. We have to make this moment as a sign to wake up, rise up, speak-up.
VATSIKOPOULOS: For thousands of years Bali has resisted the ravages of history. When Islam swept away Hinduism in the rest of Indonesia, it flourished here in Bali. It became a haven for fleeing Hindu priests, artists, dancers and musicians. Because Bali is special, its now demanding special treatment from Jakarta.
NYOMAN RUDANA: In some places the cultural heritage is already dead it doesnt exist anymore. In Bali, many of those things exist and because of that we need special care.
VATSIKOPOULOS: Art collector, Nyoman Rudana, is speaking out for Bali. Hes now free to do so since being elected in a new assembly designed to give the provinces a voice.
NYOMAN RUDANA: Especially after the bomb, most Balinese opened their eyes and we feel special autonomy is necessary.
VATSIKOPOULOS: Hes one of four Balinese politicians whove just drafted a bill demanding special autonomy from Jakarta and established a team of prominent Balinese to push the agenda. Such a thing would have been considered unthinkable, even treasonous during the repressive Suharto years but a precedent has already been set.
NYOMAN RUDANA: and Aceh, because all of them are Muslims, they gave special autonomy to Aceh.
VATSIKOPOULOS: Special autonomy for the troubled province of Aceh was a compromise to end a bloody independence struggle. Jakarta does not need yet another breakaway from the other side of the archipelago, but this is about taking control without conflict or confrontation.
NYOMAN RUDANA: Bali doesnt want independence, but how to manage Balis government, how to manage Bali economically, how to manage Balis tourism, how to manage Balis culture, Balis people... that has to be special. And specially the budget for Bali what we make in Bali from tourism, most of it goes to Jakarta.
VATSIKOPOULOS: Tourism is Indonesias third highest money earner. Aceh may have oil and gas but Bali has tourism and thats worth two billion dollars a year to Jakarta. With special autonomy, theyre demanding a greater share of the money but its not just about money, its also about land and ten per cent of its lucrative real estate is now in non-Balinese hands.
TJOKORDA KRISHNA SUDHARSANA: Land is part of identity and its very dangerous actually if we keep losing it you know? Thats the ground that we live in. You know you can imagine if we lose that, then we lose our identity.
VATSIKOPOULOS: Since 2003, land sales have gone up by 200% a year to rich Indonesians and foreigners who buy by proxy. General Pastika is urging his people to buy back their inheritance.
GENERAL PASTIKA: [Addressing conference] I urge the Balinese who are living outside of Bali and have money, please buy land in Bali so that the land is not purchased by others. Whats really scary is when the money is used to buy land in Bali and then to destroy Bali.
VATSIKOPOULOS: On this island dependent on tourism for survival, only 15% of hotels are actually owned by the Balinese. Bali First sees this trend as sowing the seeds of future strife.
SATRIA NARADHA: We are really worried about the land in Bali being sold, and there being an imbalance within the size of the Balinese population the native Balinese, and the migrant population.
VATSIKOPOULOS: Satria Naradha dominates Balis media. He owns eleven radio stations, seven newspapers and Balis only local TV station, which he uses relentlessly to promote the Bali First agenda.
SATRIA NARADHA: We must think about this so that there is no conflict in Bali as a result of the population growth not being managed properly because our land is no longer owned by our people.
VATSIKOPOULOS: And that could lead to strife?
SATRIA NARADHA: Yeah.
VATSIKOPOULOS: Like there is in Ambon or other places?
SATRIA NARADHA: Yeah thats right.
VATSIKOPOULOS: This is the Ambon of the international news bulletin six years ago, a Christian versus Muslim confrontation. Such horrific sectarian clashes Satria Naradha believes Bali must avoid.
Three years ago he launched Bali TV as a platform to deliver the Bali First message, predominantly in the Balinese language.
SATRIA NARADHA: Everyone in Bali can watch MTV, and can watch other TV from outside Bali. But we are trying in the midst of this strong tide of media to raise awareness in order to counter that.
NEWS READER: [Bali TV] The first court hearing of the Bali 9 with nine Australians as suspects...
VATSIKOPOULOS: To the rest of the world theyre known as the Bali 9, to the Balinese theyre just a few more foreigners caught up in an endemic problem that is tearing apart the fabric of their community. The public drug raids, the harsh sentences making examples of the users, the Mr Bigs it seems are as elusive as ever.
But if drug raids like the bombs are driving away tourists, Balis new narcotics chief is unapologetic. Its not about Australians and other foreigners, its about Balis future.
EDISON HATORANGAN PAND-JAITAN: [Bali Police Narcotics Chief] The policy of our government is to ward off the destruction of the nations moral values, because this is the next generation of the nation the youth.
VATSIKOPOULOS: This is about young Balinese like Wahyu Ngurah, a top student from a middle class family, hed never even smoked a joint when he had his first encounter with a needle at the age of seventeen.
WAHYU NGURAH: I looked at my friend using and I wanted to try... I wanted to try and I tried.
VATSIKOPOULOS: And so began an eight year heroin addiction that cost him a marriage, landed him in gaol, destroyed his fathers business and made him HIV positive.
What were you thinking?
WAHYU NGURAH: I am dead tomorrow. I dont want to make death quickly. I know maybe fifteen years Ill die, maybe ten years, maybe five years - but I dont want to make death quickly. If I use, for sure its more quickly.
VATSIKOPOULOS: While Wahyus on the road to rehabilitation, Balis leaders are lamenting the prospect of the destruction of the next generation.
GENERAL PASTIKA: What Im thinking about is stop hurting or stabbing our own body by doing gambling, narcotics, prostitution all these things because these are one of the factor of hurting or losing our heritage, losing our values, our culture, losing our excellence. That is one thing that I asked them.
VATSIKOPOULOS: On the anniversary of the 2002 bombings and only a week after the second attacks, Balis top cop is preaching love.
GENERAL PASTIKA: [Addressing crowd at memorial service] This life is very beautiful. This life is very worth it. Bali is a fertile, a very fertile soil for love. Lets go ahead. Together we will win.
VATSIKOPOULOS: Earlier across town his men were moving to a very different beat. Bali trades on its reputation as a holiday paradise of great beauty, culture and a placid friendly people but theres a darker side to the Balinese temperament. These angry men are too young to remember back to the sixties when these streets ran with blood. As many as one hundred thousand Balinese were slaughtered in anti-communist and communal violence.
If the Islamic fundamentalists intend driving a wedge between Hindu Balinese and their Muslim rulers than they may well be succeeding. Anonymous SMS messages have been inciting the Balinese since the bombings, specifically calling for Javanese Muslims to be slaughtered.
What would happen to this place if there was another bomb?
TJOKORDA KRISHNA SUDHARSANA: Its hard to say. Its really hard to say. I just said to my friends actually if it happens again it should happen so close to me that it will kill me instantly.
VATSIKOPOULOS: The spectre of Bali as another Ambon, another Aceh, a separatist conflict along religious lines, thats something even those born to lead will not dare contemplate.
VATSIKOPOULOS: The Hindu holy week of Galangan is supposed to be a time of joy, a celebration of the triumph of good over evil but this sacred event has been desecrated yet again. For the second time in three years, the demons of terror have exploded their bombs on this predominantly Hindu island, in the worlds most populous Muslim nation.
The bombers were Islamic fundamentalists from the neighbouring island of Java. In 2002 they killed two hundred and two, this time it was twenty. This deeply spiritual society that thrives on order, has been plunged into chaos.
Three years ago the bombers took out the Sari nightclub and Paddys Bar, so called symbols of Western decadence. The Balinese felt sadness, shame and a spiritual culpability. But when terror returned on October the first, its target was the Jimbaran Beach precinct and Rajas Restaurant not exclusively western, favourites of the Balinese and their families. The mood had changed to anger and outrage.
Why Bali again? Why couldnt the authorities protect them and why are the first bombers still alive? The anger has spilled onto the streets.
MALE PROTESTOR 1: We have been caught unguarded!
MALE PROTESTOR 2: This isnt being caught unguarded, you cant say were unguarded every day.
MALE PROTESTOR 3: I want Amrozi brought back to Bali!
VATSIKOPOULOS: Balis prison has become a rallying point. This is where the bombers of Jemaah Islamiyah were kept on death row. The angry young men of Bali want them dead. Theyve been moved to Java but this has not placated the mob. Their very existence has become a rallying point for all things troubling Bali terror, identity, tourism, drugs and the latest bombings are a dangerous trigger.
Tjokorda Krishna Sudharsana is a Prince of Ubud, descended from a cast of warriors.
TJOKORDA KRISHNA SUDHARSANA: I was worried. You know I went to my village and I explained to the people there not to be reactive you know and calm down.
VATSIKOPOULOS: Hes the son of a celebrated soldier for Indonesias independence, fighting back is in his blood but these days Tjokorda Krishna Sudharsana is a revered secular and sacred leader. Hes a moral compass to his people and this warrior Prince is anxious to restore calm.
TJOKORDA KRISHNA SUDHARSANA: They were angry for quite some time actually, they were frustrated and angry but then they understood you know? Angry but you know didnt do anything physically you know and we went to our temples, village temples and we prayed and we felt at ease after that, yeah.
VATSIKOPOULOS: But the Prince is also a businessman. Praying may have eased the mind after the bombings but it failed to balance the budget. The bombs were a powerful reminder to him and others who relied on tourism that an industry that has sustained them for three decades could be blown away in a matter of seconds.
TJOKORDA KRISHNA SUDHARSANA: I think we are in a very big confusion now like most people say that we are, we are living in modern world now you know? But we dont understand it. Most of us dont understand it you know?
VATSIKOPOULOS: Back in the capital Denpasar, theres an extraordinary gathering of Balis powerbrokers. The guest of honour, Balis hero, the man known the world over for catching the 2002 bombers, Police General Made Mangku Pastika, now a man under pressure in the middle of a new bombing investigation, nevertheless he finds time to be here to address Balis elite. Priests, media tycoons, government officials, businessmen and women. Theyve all come together as supporters of Ajeg Bali or Bali First, a movement galvanised by the bombings, a rallying cry for Balinese assertiveness. General Pastika may be Indonesias most famous policeman but here he is Balinese First.
GENERAL PASTIKA: [Addressing conference] If we dont change we will be annihilated. We cannot just talk, we need action.
VATSIKOPOULOS: General Pastika knows about surviving. Hes become Asias hero in the so-called war on terror. Hes now determined to save his people and he has a solution, the creation of a Balinese diaspora modelled on the Jews.
GENERAL PASTIKA: [Addressing conference] I have an obsession, and this relates to the Jewish people. The Jewish people are a small group but they are very influential in the world. Even though we are not like them there is a certain quality, and the Balinese people, not just in Bali, but those living in Jakarta or wherever even those living overseas also have that quality.
VATSIKOPOULOS: Its a provocative analogy to make for the three million Hindu Balinese surrounded by more than two hundred million Muslim Indonesians. Like the Jews, the Balinese he says, should draw strength from adversity.
GENERAL PASTIKA: [Inspector General of Police, Bali] We have to be able to take this attack to become our opportunity. We have to make this moment as a sign to wake up, rise up, speak-up.
VATSIKOPOULOS: For thousands of years Bali has resisted the ravages of history. When Islam swept away Hinduism in the rest of Indonesia, it flourished here in Bali. It became a haven for fleeing Hindu priests, artists, dancers and musicians. Because Bali is special, its now demanding special treatment from Jakarta.
NYOMAN RUDANA: In some places the cultural heritage is already dead it doesnt exist anymore. In Bali, many of those things exist and because of that we need special care.
VATSIKOPOULOS: Art collector, Nyoman Rudana, is speaking out for Bali. Hes now free to do so since being elected in a new assembly designed to give the provinces a voice.
NYOMAN RUDANA: Especially after the bomb, most Balinese opened their eyes and we feel special autonomy is necessary.
VATSIKOPOULOS: Hes one of four Balinese politicians whove just drafted a bill demanding special autonomy from Jakarta and established a team of prominent Balinese to push the agenda. Such a thing would have been considered unthinkable, even treasonous during the repressive Suharto years but a precedent has already been set.
NYOMAN RUDANA: and Aceh, because all of them are Muslims, they gave special autonomy to Aceh.
VATSIKOPOULOS: Special autonomy for the troubled province of Aceh was a compromise to end a bloody independence struggle. Jakarta does not need yet another breakaway from the other side of the archipelago, but this is about taking control without conflict or confrontation.
NYOMAN RUDANA: Bali doesnt want independence, but how to manage Balis government, how to manage Bali economically, how to manage Balis tourism, how to manage Balis culture, Balis people... that has to be special. And specially the budget for Bali what we make in Bali from tourism, most of it goes to Jakarta.
VATSIKOPOULOS: Tourism is Indonesias third highest money earner. Aceh may have oil and gas but Bali has tourism and thats worth two billion dollars a year to Jakarta. With special autonomy, theyre demanding a greater share of the money but its not just about money, its also about land and ten per cent of its lucrative real estate is now in non-Balinese hands.
TJOKORDA KRISHNA SUDHARSANA: Land is part of identity and its very dangerous actually if we keep losing it you know? Thats the ground that we live in. You know you can imagine if we lose that, then we lose our identity.
VATSIKOPOULOS: Since 2003, land sales have gone up by 200% a year to rich Indonesians and foreigners who buy by proxy. General Pastika is urging his people to buy back their inheritance.
GENERAL PASTIKA: [Addressing conference] I urge the Balinese who are living outside of Bali and have money, please buy land in Bali so that the land is not purchased by others. Whats really scary is when the money is used to buy land in Bali and then to destroy Bali.
VATSIKOPOULOS: On this island dependent on tourism for survival, only 15% of hotels are actually owned by the Balinese. Bali First sees this trend as sowing the seeds of future strife.
SATRIA NARADHA: We are really worried about the land in Bali being sold, and there being an imbalance within the size of the Balinese population the native Balinese, and the migrant population.
VATSIKOPOULOS: Satria Naradha dominates Balis media. He owns eleven radio stations, seven newspapers and Balis only local TV station, which he uses relentlessly to promote the Bali First agenda.
SATRIA NARADHA: We must think about this so that there is no conflict in Bali as a result of the population growth not being managed properly because our land is no longer owned by our people.
VATSIKOPOULOS: And that could lead to strife?
SATRIA NARADHA: Yeah.
VATSIKOPOULOS: Like there is in Ambon or other places?
SATRIA NARADHA: Yeah thats right.
VATSIKOPOULOS: This is the Ambon of the international news bulletin six years ago, a Christian versus Muslim confrontation. Such horrific sectarian clashes Satria Naradha believes Bali must avoid.
Three years ago he launched Bali TV as a platform to deliver the Bali First message, predominantly in the Balinese language.
SATRIA NARADHA: Everyone in Bali can watch MTV, and can watch other TV from outside Bali. But we are trying in the midst of this strong tide of media to raise awareness in order to counter that.
NEWS READER: [Bali TV] The first court hearing of the Bali 9 with nine Australians as suspects...
VATSIKOPOULOS: To the rest of the world theyre known as the Bali 9, to the Balinese theyre just a few more foreigners caught up in an endemic problem that is tearing apart the fabric of their community. The public drug raids, the harsh sentences making examples of the users, the Mr Bigs it seems are as elusive as ever.
But if drug raids like the bombs are driving away tourists, Balis new narcotics chief is unapologetic. Its not about Australians and other foreigners, its about Balis future.
EDISON HATORANGAN PAND-JAITAN: [Bali Police Narcotics Chief] The policy of our government is to ward off the destruction of the nations moral values, because this is the next generation of the nation the youth.
VATSIKOPOULOS: This is about young Balinese like Wahyu Ngurah, a top student from a middle class family, hed never even smoked a joint when he had his first encounter with a needle at the age of seventeen.
WAHYU NGURAH: I looked at my friend using and I wanted to try... I wanted to try and I tried.
VATSIKOPOULOS: And so began an eight year heroin addiction that cost him a marriage, landed him in gaol, destroyed his fathers business and made him HIV positive.
What were you thinking?
WAHYU NGURAH: I am dead tomorrow. I dont want to make death quickly. I know maybe fifteen years Ill die, maybe ten years, maybe five years - but I dont want to make death quickly. If I use, for sure its more quickly.
VATSIKOPOULOS: While Wahyus on the road to rehabilitation, Balis leaders are lamenting the prospect of the destruction of the next generation.
GENERAL PASTIKA: What Im thinking about is stop hurting or stabbing our own body by doing gambling, narcotics, prostitution all these things because these are one of the factor of hurting or losing our heritage, losing our values, our culture, losing our excellence. That is one thing that I asked them.
VATSIKOPOULOS: On the anniversary of the 2002 bombings and only a week after the second attacks, Balis top cop is preaching love.
GENERAL PASTIKA: [Addressing crowd at memorial service] This life is very beautiful. This life is very worth it. Bali is a fertile, a very fertile soil for love. Lets go ahead. Together we will win.
VATSIKOPOULOS: Earlier across town his men were moving to a very different beat. Bali trades on its reputation as a holiday paradise of great beauty, culture and a placid friendly people but theres a darker side to the Balinese temperament. These angry men are too young to remember back to the sixties when these streets ran with blood. As many as one hundred thousand Balinese were slaughtered in anti-communist and communal violence.
If the Islamic fundamentalists intend driving a wedge between Hindu Balinese and their Muslim rulers than they may well be succeeding. Anonymous SMS messages have been inciting the Balinese since the bombings, specifically calling for Javanese Muslims to be slaughtered.
What would happen to this place if there was another bomb?
TJOKORDA KRISHNA SUDHARSANA: Its hard to say. Its really hard to say. I just said to my friends actually if it happens again it should happen so close to me that it will kill me instantly.
VATSIKOPOULOS: The spectre of Bali as another Ambon, another Aceh, a separatist conflict along religious lines, thats something even those born to lead will not dare contemplate.