THE last time Bali's Mount Agung erupted, in 1963, over 1700 people died.
Pyroclastic flows—a fast-moving mixture of gas and volcanic matter—devastated the villages around the sacred mountain. The only place spared was the Mother Temple of Besakih which the lava missed by metres.
Since 21 September, fears of a similar catastrophe have gripped the island, causing panicked villagers to flee. At the time of writing, nearly 150,000 evacuees are scattered across 471 relief centres.
On 1 October, the Ceritalah team travelled to the outskirts of Gianyar (approximately 62 km from Mount Agung) to visit a privately-funded relief centre close to the town's football stadium.
There, sitting on the steps of a community hall-turned-refuge, we met Nyoman Gerti, a 52-year old grandmother of five from the village of Ababi on the slopes of Mount Agung.
Plump and lively, she told us: "On 21 September, we felt the first quake in the middle of the night. I woke up and grabbed the grandchildren. There was chaos. Everyone ran out of their homes.”
“The people who remembered the 1963 eruption told us to keep away from rivers, to stay closer to higher ground to be safe. I refused to sleep in the house again!"
“But the tremors kept on coming back—two or three times a day. I couldn’t sleep, concentrate or eat. So, two days later, we all moved here. I still worry about the house, but I can rest easier knowing we are far away from the volcano.”
Strangely, there are very few working-age men at the centre. Ibu Nyoman explained: "Our families are divided. My husband and sons are still in the village. They are guarding our belongings and taking care of the livestock. The women and the older folk are here with the children, where it’s safe.”
Curious, I asked aloud if this was the case for most families. All the women present put up their hands.
Ibu Nyoman cited her two cows (plus one calf), ten pigs and chickens. Each cow normally would be worth IDR8/10,000,000 and the pigs over IDR1,000,000 each. Shaking her head, she adds: "They are too valuable to be left alone. They are our livelihood. If we lose them, we have nothing.”
"It’s too dangerous for us to go back. Every day, there are three to four quakes. The younger men can get away quickly on their motorbike if anything happens.”
I ask her if she misses her men and she replies stoically: “I’m used to it…Usually, my sons who work as masons go off to the cities and they only come back once every 10 days.”
Today’s situation is an ironic reversal of that, with the women in the cities and the men staying home.
But life before the latest emergency wasn’t idyllic for Ibu Nyoman.
“Our village only got electricity 7 years ago. Before that, we were still using oil lamps. There are no asphalt roads, only concrete tracks.”
Ibu Nyoman runs a small sundry stall in her village. On average, she earns IDR15,000 (about USD1) a day.
“Sometimes, I have enough to feed everybody. Other times, I go hungry so my grandchildren can eat. The economic situation has actually worsened since my father’s time: there are no jobs in the village.”
Despite her daily hardships, Ibu Nyoman beams when she talks about Putu Dobriani, her 17-year-old granddaughter.
“Her mother—my daughter—passed away from throat cancer when the girl was only 3 years old. I’ve raised her as my own ever since.”
“I never learned to read or write. My father was a priest, so he was always at the temple and didn’t have money to send me to school. With Dobriani, I was determined to give her an education.”
“She’s now in high school. The first one in the family to do so. She rides her motorbike to school every day and when she graduates, she really wants to work in a hotel. Her dream is to one day get a laptop…”
But the eruption of Mount Agung could take away what little progress has been made.
Indeed, later that day when we returned to meet her two strapping sons, they whispered to us – as if not to upset their mother – that they'd been forced to sell the livestock at a deep discount.
Ibu Nyoman remains troubled by the disturbances: "I don’t know why this is happening. Maybe God is angry because we have done something wrong? Maybe it’s the mining? They must be disturbing Nature. Maybe it’s because people have been climbing the mountain and disrespecting it?"
“I don’t even know when or if it will erupt. There’s a ritual for the fourth full moon on 3 October. I wanted to go back but my son told me it’s too dangerous. It’s the most important full moon of the year…I feel deeply disappointed.”
For the Balinese, life revolves around worship. Their beliefs and rituals are embedded into their sense of balance in the world. Cancelling or postponing a major ritual is a grave matter, considered an affront to God.
“I want to pray for safety. For my family’s future. I hope that maybe if I pray enough, God will have mercy on us.”
Still, I can’t help but feel that there are more worldly solutions to the island’s problems.
Bali will recover, as it has from countless natural and man-made disasters: its people’s resilience will see to that.
But its leaders should also think of the future.
READ MORE ARTICLES ON CERITALAH ASEAN HERE
Tourism in Bali has enjoyed 20% year-on-year growth. Last year, 4.4 million foreign tourists came to the predominantly Hindu island. The result has been rapid development, with dozens of hotels popping up every year.
But the economic benefits are uneven. While the south of the island is bursting at the seams with visitors, villages in the remote north – like Ababi, have been neglected.
This imbalance must be addressed. A key initiative – after everything has settled down – would be to revive long-stalled plans for an airport in the north, closer to the port city of Singaraja.
This would ease congestion at the Ngurah Rai airport in the south and spread the benefits of tourism to the overlooked but remarkably beautiful, unspoilt north of the island.
The latest volcanic activity should be an impetus for action, not more inertia.
NOTE: Follow Karim Raslan on Twitter @fromKMR / Instagram @fromkmr
Karim Raslan
Wed Oct 04 2017
Karim (extreme left) with several folks during the interview, recently. - Photo by Karim Raslan
Angka korban rakyat Palestin di Gaza hampiri 34,600 orang
Angka kematian warga Palestin akibat serangan berterusan Israel di Semenanjung Gaza sejak Oktober lepas telah meningkat kepada 34,596 orang, kata Kementerian Kesihatan di wilayah itu pada Khamis.
Kemenangan di PRK KKB akan jadi manifestasi perpaduan - Ahmad Maslan
Kemenangan calon PH pada PRK DUN KKB, 11 Mei ini akan menjadi manifestasi perpaduan BN dan PH dalam menghadapi PRK lain, sekiranya diadakan pada masa depan.
Piala Thomas: Malaysia jinakkan Jepun untuk mara ke separuh akhir
Malaysia mara ke separuh akhir Piala Thomas 2024 selepas menundukkan Jepun 3-1 dalam perlawanan yang berlangsung di Gimnasium Pusat Sukan Hi-Tech, Chengdu, China.
Pembinaan Hospital Angkatan Tentera Kem Terendak bermula Julai ini
Pembinaan bangunan baharu Hospital Angkatan Tentera Kem Terendak di sini akan bermula pada Julai depan dan dijangka siap pada 2028, menurut Menteri Pertahanan Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
Saifuddin Nasution akui perlu baiki isu di pintu masuk negara, bakal umum perubahan
Menteri Dalam Negeri Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail mengakui terdapat ruang yang boleh ditambah baik berhubung isu kesesakan di pintu masuk negara.
Program MADANI Rakyat 2024 Zon Utara bermula esok, 196 perkhidmatan disediakan
Platform untuk memberi peluang kepada masyarakat setempat memahami dan menilai dasar serta inisiatif baharu dilaksanakan kerajaan.
AWANI 7:45 [02/05/2024] - Jaminan lulus dengan bergaya | Reformasi sistem pendidikan | RM10.5 bilion tempoh empat tahun | Fail afidavit betulkan fakta
#AWANI745 malam ini bersama Jasmine Abu Bakar;
1. Humban siapa yang bantah kenaikan gaji penjawat awam
2. Sebelum Bank Dunia lapor, kementerian sudah ambil tindakan, kata Fadhlina
3. Microsoft labur RM10.5 bilion, peluang generasi muda teroka keselamatan siber
4. Mahkamah Tinggi tolak permohonan Tengku Zafrul
1. Humban siapa yang bantah kenaikan gaji penjawat awam
2. Sebelum Bank Dunia lapor, kementerian sudah ambil tindakan, kata Fadhlina
3. Microsoft labur RM10.5 bilion, peluang generasi muda teroka keselamatan siber
4. Mahkamah Tinggi tolak permohonan Tengku Zafrul
Kerajaan Negeri, Persekutuan perlu lebih fokus noktahkan miskin tegar di Kelantan - Anwar
Kerajaan Negeri Kelantan dan kementerian berkaitan perlu lebih fokus dalam usaha menoktahkan miskin tegar di negeri itu, kata Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Ringgit melantun semula untuk ditutup tinggi berbanding dolar AS
Pada 6 petang, ringgit meningkat kepada 4.7535/7555 berbanding dolar AS daripada paras penutup 4.7700/7750 pada Selasa.
Pasaran getah ditutup bercampur-campur, jejaki pasaran serantau
Pada 5 petang, harga penutup LGM bagi GMM 20 berada pada 755.5 sen sekilogram manakala susu getah pukal pada 716 sen sekilogram.
Rizky Febian, Mahalini kahwin 5 Mei ini
Berita majlis perkahwinan anak pelawak Sule itu dengan Mahalini mula menjadi perbualan selepas dia berkongsi animasi latar biru seperti background foto buku nikah.
Wanita dipenjara 26 tahun bunuh ibu kandung
Heather Mack juga dituduh bersubahat menyorok mayat ibunya itu di dalam beg pakaian.
Kemarau, kebakaran hutan: Bali isytihar darurat selama dua minggu
Bali mengisytiharkan darurat selama dua minggu susulan kebakaran hutan tanah gambut dan kemarau melanda pulau itu.
Bali bakal kenakan bayaran masuk AS$10 kepada pelancong asing
Pelawat asing yang mengunjungi Bali bakal dikenakan yuran kemasukan sebanyak AS$10 seorang mulai tahun depan, menurut pejabat pelancongan pulau itu, lapor Agensi Berita Jerman (dpa) ).
Bali keluar panduan etika untuk pelancong
Pekeliling itu menyenaraikan 16 peraturan yang bertujuan untuk memelihara budaya, alam sekitar dan keselamatan Bali.
'Content' dipertikai lagi, Nas Daily buat hal dengan Indonesia pula
Nas Daily menyiarkan video di Instagram yang memaparkan Bali dan penduduk berbangsa asing atau berkulit putih.
Bali dilanda gempa bumi dengan magnitud 5.2
Gempa bumi sederhana dasar laut berukuran 5.2 magnitud melanda berhampiran Bali pada Selasa.
Sidang Kemuncak G20 Bali berakhir dengan komitmen tangani cabaran ekonomi
Sidang kemuncak G20 yang berlangsung di Bali, Indonesia melabuhkan tirainya pada Rabu.
G20 berperanan utama bentuk dasar kesihatan global - Presiden Turkiye
Kumpulan 20 (G20) "berperanan penting" dalam membentuk dasar kesihatan global, kata Presiden Turkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan pada Selasa.
Menteri Luar Rusia dihantar ke hospital sebaik tiba di Bali
Menteri Luar Rusia, Sergey Lavrov dilaporkan dibawa ke hospital sejurus tiba di Bali, Indonesia pada Ahad malam.