Bali, Indonesia surfing?

Is it time for Australians to boycott Bali and Indonesia as a holiday and business opportunity?

• 2 more bomb blasts sends a pretty clear message , Australians and other foreigners are not wanted in Indonesia, so lets humour them. Indonesia needs the west more than the west needs Indonesia , if they would prefer to die in their squalid little 3rd world country with their corrupt government , military, lawyers , police and judicary then I say leave them to it and we can put our money into infrastructure in other places, perhaps even use it for AUSTRALIANS. Besides being a cheap holiday in oither peoples misery then Bali is just a front for a government that hates Australia but loves and needs our money. Perhaps we should be looking at other asian neighbours for cheap holidays and give Bali and Indonesia a big miss. perhaps even help East Timor develop into a holiday destination , at least they appreciate and are grateful for Australian support after the tyranny and murder committed by the Indoneisan military. Your thoughts!

• Answer:

  As a Westerner living in Jakarta very happily I will try to reason with you... Why on earth would you want to penalise the Indonesian people for the actions of a handful of criminals who are funded from Malaysia? It is not the people of Indonesia who are against the West, I live in Jakarta and I am a New Zealander, Indonesia is one of the most pro-Western countries in Asia and has transformed into a vibrant democracy that has a popular culture much the same as a Western country. Asia's best pop & rock bands are from Indonesia. We are all (here in Indonesia) incensed by what happened yesterday, after the last bombings at least 4 years ago, the Indonesian government came down really hard on these people. The people that suffered the most are Indonesians. The President here has vowed a fresh crackdown. The Indonesian police are way better at hunting and catching so called terrorists than the West's "anti-terror coalition". Indonesia is, in reality a very stable country since at least 2004, and that is what the Malaysian backed criminals hate... the fact that the Muslims in Indonesia are 99.9% pro-Western and the most liberal Muslims in the world. Boycott us? No you should help us root these guys out and make the region safer for all of us. Most Indonesians I know really like Australia and are surprised that New Zealanders don't like Australians as much as they do. In reality Indonesia is more comfortable with the West than it is with China so don't drive us out of the fold. That would be like saying Boycott New York because some buildings got blown up. The mood here in Jakarta today is sombre, but its business as usual, we are not scared but really angry that all our hard work for the last ten years to build a stable democracy can be threatened by the acts of a very small group of criminals. And we are well aware that people around the world will think as you do. But your standpoint is wrong, we need you to stay with us and not let the criminals win. As for your reference to the Indonesian Military, they have been out of power since 1998 and you need to get over that viewpoint, Indonesia has come a long way really quickly and you need to recognise that. The people that suffered the most under the military were the people of Indonesia, but that is over now. Its History. Indonesia is currently the most stable democracy in SE Asia. BTW - Indonesia is neither squalid nor little (you've never been here right?), there are slum neighbourhoods but most of Indonesia is a tropical paradise and much more beautiful than most parts of Australia. Bali is not a miserable place, its the second wealthiest province in Indonesia, and very clean and presentable. Jakarta is dirty and some other cities are too, but others are very nice. You should come and see the reality before you pass judgement. Moving to Indonesia from New Zealand and NOT moving to Australia is one of the best decisions I ever made. I love it here.