Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Travel advisories

Terror has hit the shores of Bali again. This time the death toll is lower than the 2002 bombings at the Sari Club but still many have been killed and injured. And already the criticisms of the Indonesian government and their stance on terrorism have started. I'm not sure whether this is justified or not but it seems that the Indonesian government would not knowingly encourage terrorism against its own people and against Westerners. Yes they are going to have different approaches and sensibilities and different cultural dictates but not so much that this type of violence is encouraged or fostered. Rather than finding someone to blame, perhaps it's time to look at the root cause of terrorism and try to counter it in a constructive way rather than taking point-scoring shots at foreign governments through the press.
On a positive note, it seems not everyone is determined to blame the Indonesian people for this latest atrocity. Overheard at lunch: people at the next table lamenting the plight of the Balinese people - as poor as they are, relying on tourism that now is unlikely to come their way; why should they be made to suffer?
And an interesting comment by a Chamber of Commerce representative in Kuta: if the Australian Government issues travel advisories against visiting Bali following these bombings, why didn't it issue similar advisories following the London bombings and the 9/11 attacks on New York? (Of course, this is where I take myself off to research that statement and see if it is true: just because it sounds right, doesn't necessarily mean it is - but it does sound as though it's true - doesn't it?)

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