Monday, August 26, 2013

embracing diversity and cherishing tradition: Indonesia and Bali, a strange marriage

I'm puzzled and happy at the same time. Indonesia is a multi-culture country, and although most of its inhabitants are muslim, other religions are not only allowed but have national status.

Take a look at the calendar of national holidays in Indonesia (the whole country):

Holidays in 2014

Schedule of Indonesian National Holidays Announced for 2014

(8/25/2013)

National holidays set by the government for 2014 have increased by one day over 2013, totaling 15 days due to the addition of May Day. Shared public holidays, introduced by the government to create long holiday weekends, will total 4 in 2014.

In announcing the official holidays for 2014 theCoordinating Minister for the People’s Welfare, Agung Laksono, set the following schedule of official holiday on Wednesday, August 21, 2013.

Official National Holidays for 2014

January 1, 2014	New Years Day 2014
January 14, 2014	Birth date of the Prophet Muhammad
January 31, 2014	Chinese New Year (Imlek 2565)
March 31, 2014	"Nyepi" Bali Hindu New Year (Saka 1936)
April 18, 2014	Good Friday
May 1, 2014	International Labor Day – May Day
May 15, 10214	Buddhist Holy Day of Waisak 2558
May 27, 2014	Ascension Day of the Prophet Muhammad
July 28-29, 2014	Ascension Day of Jesus Christ
May 29, 2014	Lebaran – Hari Raya Idul Fitri 1435 Hijirah
July 28-29, 2014	Shared Public Holidays
July 30-31, 2014	Lebaran – Hari Raya Idul Fitri 1435 Hijirah
August 17, 2014	Indonesian Independence Day
October 5, 2014	Idul Adha 1435 Hijirah
October 25, 2014	Islamic New Year 1436 Jijirah
December 25, 2014	Christmas Day
December 26, 2014	Shared Public Holiday

One can see that - although the majority of national holidays have a muslim background - the other groups in Indonesia also get national recognition. This is something to admire.

However, in the case of Bali, I wonder what is going on. Bali was a Hindu island (actually, the Hindus ran away from muslim Indonesia to build a Hindu society in Bali), but rapidely in our days there is a substantial Muslim immigration in Bali. Is this a good thing? I'm puzzled.

I have a soulbrother in Bali, let's call him mr. W, he's Hindu. He's a permanent resident in Bali. He struggles regularely with his Muslim neighbours. They show absolutely no respect for his Hindu belief and traditions. He reacts against it.

I have a very dear friend in Bali, let's call him mr. D, he's muslim. He's a temporary resident in Bali. I think he's trying to keep his muslim traditions alive in the Hindu society.

I see mosques building here and there in Bali. They install loudspeakers that fill the air with their religion. Louder then my ears tolerate.

This is a weird evolution. On the one hand, I want my very dear friend, mr. D., to be in Bali, where he's happy, and where he contributes to the economy of the island. At the same time, I want my soulbrother, mr. W., to be respected in his Hindu belief and in the conservation of Bali as a Hindu island.

I know that the cast of the priests (the first cast in Bali) is concerned about the balance of religions on the island; it's a regular point of discussion. Obviously, they think that the balance is not yet disturbed. Let's hope the priests look at the topic very closely, and that they take whatever measure that is needed. One wouldn't want Bali to become mainstream Indonesian. It would rip the soul out of the inhabitants of the island. Diversity is nice, but authenticy is nicer.

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Friday, August 16, 2013

exam-fashion

We know there are special clothes for special occasions. The newest hit is the exam-fashion. Cute, isn't it? Like little robots sitting and writing :-) Does the teacher provide each student with a carton box, or do the students have to bring their own?

Guess what country this picture is from?

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Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Water in Bali - a story of thousand years

You know I'm already many years fascinated by Bali. Only recently, I decided to spend more time there.

One of the things that fascinate me there (apart of its people, of course, more on that topic in a following blog) is the magnificent water system in Bali. In one way or another, the upper class (the priests) have built a system that the whole of the island is provided with fresh, fertile water for agriculture. Wherever you walk in Bali, you will find water gushing down in canals, made out of stone (see above picture). It must have been a tremendous task to build this water-system, and it proves that the upper class is really taking care of the interests and well-being of the lower classes.

It is this deep feeling of harmony and mutual taking care that so much attracts me to Bali. Even though it's modernized and youngsters no longer follow all the rules, the island is a remarkable example of how things were done in the past, and we should seriously consider if modern life is really so much better.

Instead of providing you with a link, I decided to fully copy the following article: read it if you have the time. It gives you an insight in a thousand years old system that is close to perfection.

My discovery of Bali continues! Stay with me :-) and by all means, visit me when I'm in Bali!

hugs,

Direct Water Democracy in Bali

The Indonesian island of Bali, with around 1.6 million estimated farmers, has a direct democratic system of water distribution despite its irrigation system being completely hierarchical. Water governance is deeply intertwined in the rituals, the belief-system, the identity, the infrastructure, and even the notion of time. With channels and canals that are often over a thousand years old, the agricultural system and the ecology of the island have become deeply intertwined, acting as one organism. Efforts to drastically change Balinese agriculture in the seventies during the Green Revolution in Indonesia wreaked great havoc on the ancient and sophisticated system, and over the years the modernization efforts were withdrawn.

Location in Indonesia

The island of Bali, 90 miles longest end-to-end

Infrastructure
While one might be surprised at the deeply democratic nature of the island, despite it appearing rigidly hierarchical, the reasons behind the intense cooperation would be even harder to pick up on. Interestingly, it is the threat of pests that holds everyone accountable. As pests are deterred when fields are flooded, if an upstream neighbor decided to take more water, and diverted less to the downstream neighbor, then pests would attack crops upstream. Stephen Lansing, an anthropologist who spent years studying the water system and Balinese society, developed a computer simulation of the system on a large scale, and described how it worked, adjusting variables to show how the system would develop, optimize, and collapse. As he and his colleagues ran the simulation, they determined that as farmers would observe their neighbors farms, they would copy and synchronize each others cropping patterns, and a synchrony would develop across the whole island. While the model showed mathematically how the infrastructure self-organized, Lansing observed and studied the superstructure of Balinese society to explain much deeper synchrony. While the belief-system, rituals and time-keeping systems of the Balinese might seem cumbersome and superstitious to outsiders, Lansing showed how they have deep functional significance in the island-wide production system.

Subak system. Each temple serves a subak, and temples further upstream serve the subaks further downstream

Superstructure
While they are identified as Hindus, the Balinese call their belief-system* Āgama Tirta, or “Belief-system of Water”. Along every major point of diversion along the irrigation system is a water temple devoted to the Water Goddess, Dewi Danu. All the farms downstream of a temple form a Subak, the most basic self-governing unit in Balinese society. The temple is the public space where gatherings happen constantly, whether for practical matters or for festivals and celebrations. When agricultural matters are discussed, all farmers participate and must abandon all rules of interaction based on caste or be reprimanded with fines. The Balinese devote tremendous amounts of time to temple activities, where everyone expresses themselves and the arts flourish to an unparalleled degree, and around 50 holidays and more festivals happen in a year.
In a yearly holiday, farmers across the entire island gather at the temples upstream. People from over 200 villages gather at the temple furthest upstream, the supreme temple of Dewi Danu. The temple sits on the edge of a Mount Batur, an active volcano, flanked by Lake Batur, a massive freshwater crater lake. Mount Batur is key to the ecology of Bali, as rain dissolves phosphate along the edges, and enters the water, which combined with the nitrogen-fixing azollaprovides constant sustenance for agriculture throughout the island. Visitors collect holywater from the steam of the volcano, which is brought back to their respective villages, where more rituals are performed. In this way, each subak and the entire island maintain ongoing synchrony. While in the Western calendar there are two concurrent layers ofweeks and months, in the Balinese calendar there are 8 concurrent weeks that correspond with rituals, markets, and even social identities. As the solar cycle is of little relevance in the perennially warm climate, the 210 day growing cycle of rice forms the basis of a year. Their calendar is in turn synchronized with the Indian Ashaka calendar, and the modern Western calendar.

*While some people use the term science or religion, belief-system was chosen because it does not carry controversial preconceived notions of the exclusive distinction of science vs. religion rooted in the Western tradition

Balance and perfection is a deeply ingrained aesthetic in the Balinese psyche, which they seek in art, agriculture, and spirit. Well maintained rice terraces are likened to jewels, representing purity that one also likewise strives for within.

Traditional Balinese Calendar, painted onto fabric

Modern Balinese calendar, synchronized with modern Western calendar

Coming Around
Though the Indonesian Green Revolution ripped and tore the complex fabric of Bali’s agricultural system, the island retained enough cohesion and rhythm to survive the onslaught. For good intentions, the Green Revolution was pushed throughout Indonesia to feed its expanding, crowded population. The use of chemical inputs was pushed on Bali as a patriotic duty, and farmers were advanced inputs. As the farmers used the inputs, the land became dependent on them, which in turn made them dependent on using the chemicals. This caused great harm to the ecological balance throughout the island, and offshore coral reefs were poisoned and suffocated. As the agricultural planners observed the sophistication of the ancient system and that fertility could be naturally maintained by the geology of the island, they withdrew aggressive promotion, and many now hold the traditional system in high esteem. While some farmers continue to be dependent on expensive expensive inputs, the use seems to be gradually reducing.

Bali is a lesson learned in that there is much more than meets the eye, and one must not judge until a society is understood wisely. The example that Bali demonstrates, that a hierarchical system does not imply a hierarchical society, carries profound meaning that we can all learn from. It also demonstrates that societal balance can exist for hundreds or thousands of years, and only deepen and grow richer with age.

J. Stephen Lansing: A Thousand Years in Bali
The Long Now Foundation

A must-see video. Though long, extremely interesting and full of good detail. Divided into small 1-5 minute chapters.

More multimedia and writing from Stephen Lansing on his website:
http://www.u.arizona.edu/~jlansing/J._Stephen_Lansing/Welcome.html

This entry was posted on December 5, 2009 at 5:45 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackbackfrom your own site.

One Response to “Direct Water Democracy in Bali”

grittee Says:
December 16, 2009 at 6:39 am | Reply
I emailed Stephen Lansing about this blog post, and he replied saying that there is a proposal in the works to make the irrigation system a world heritage site. On his website it says:

Rice Terraces and Water Temples of Bali:
A Proposal to create a UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Landscape
(This proposal would establish a World Heritage site in Bali to support and protect Balinese farmers, subaks, water temple networks, lakes, rivers and forests)

The “Nomination Dossier” explains the system at length, and among other things, gives information about some subaks, and gives lists of the temples and information and their coordinates – a great project for a public google map.

http://www.u.arizona.edu/~jlansing/J._Stephen_Lansing/Current_Projects.html

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