http://balitopproperty.com/html/news/latest/tips-for-buying-a-property-in-bali.html
Bali Top Property will gladly assist your A – Z steps and assure you in getting your right property investment.
1. Decide what you want
a. For your own use.
b. Purely for property investment.
2. Give sufficient information to your Property Advisor if you would like the property for your own use
a. Preferred area.
b. How much you would like to pay (budget range).
c. When you will need the property.
d. The details of the property, such as but not limited to:
- Land approx. area
- Built approx. area
- Certain rooms you would require
If you decide that this is purely for your investment, ask your Property Advisor what they have to offer.
a. Land
- The access road must be clear, if it is on the main road, no questions; if it is a shared road then there should be legal documents supporting that
- The track record of the capital appreciation within the area
- Land zoning must be clear (this is stated on the certificate)
b. Building
- Property management must be there
- If the offer comes with guaranteed Return On Investment, make sure it is part of the agreement and legalized by the public notary
3. Visit and inspect the properties that suit your requirements.
4. Decide which one you will buy.
5. Place your booking fee to secure that selected property and ask for the copies of the applicable supporting legal documents:
a. Certificate / Land Title (freehold)
b. Road statement, when the road is to be shared with other adjoining properties
c. IMB / Building Permit, if it is a building
6. Choose your public notary and set a date when you would like to sign the Deed of Sales / lease agreement. Before the signing agreement take place, we will provide you the draft Deed of Sales (freehold) or Lease agreement (leasehold).
7. The deed signing at the notary, during then all original documents must be presented.
a. Certificate
The notary will check the originality of the certificate before the signing takes place.
b. Road Statement
This document will be attached to the Deed of Sales or The Lease Agreement.
c. Receipt of PBB (land and building tax)
d. The owner or lessor shall pay for all tax before it is transfer to you
e. IMB (Building Permit)
It must be available when you are buying a property other than land
f. Receipt of all other bills (electricity, water and phone)
g. Payment Receipts
Your Property Advisor will also be present to assist you and making sure all required documents are available.
8. Property Handover
Your Property Advisor will assist you in doing proper property handover between the previous owner or lesser to you. This is applied to all property other than land.
23.1.08
Ownership Regulations
http://balitopproperty.com/html/legal-aspects/regulation/ownership-regulations.html
About The Property Laws in The Republic of Indonesia
All property matters, except for those pertaining to the mining and forestry sectors fall under the jurisdiction of the national land agency (Badan Pertanahan Nasional, or BPN for short), which was formed to administer all matters relating to the basic "Agrarian Law of 1960", such as the registration of the use of land. The Indonesian land legislation is based on the basic Agrarian law number 5 of 1960.
The Basic Agrarian Law recognizes several types of rights over Real Estate, all of which are outlined below. However, to the foreign investor, the following three main rights are relevant:
1. Right of exploitation ( Hak Guna Usaha HGU)
2. Right of building (Hak Guna Bangunan HGB)
3. Right of use (Hak pakai)
These rights all authorize the use of land. The differences lie in the duration of validity and nature of utilization and the opportunities for obtaining a mortgage. The right of ownership is an inheritable right that can be held only by Indonesian citizens.
Right of Ownership (Hak Milik)
This refers to absolute ownership of land and corresponds to freehold title in common law terms. This right can only be held by an Indonesian citizen, not a corporate entity whether local or foreign. Certain legal entities designated by the government, such as a state bank, agricultural cooperatives, religious bodies, and social right of ownership is held in perpetuity. It can be sold, transferred, bequeathed, and mortgaged.
Right to Rent (Hak Sewa)
This is the right to use, leasing land owned by another private party for building purposes. The right cannot be registered at the land office and therefore does not exist in certificate form. Land leases are not public documents.
The law does not stipulate a period for such lease agreements and whether this can be transferred or not depends on the original agreement between the parties (lessor & lessee). This right may be held by a foreigner permanently domiciled in Indonesian or a foreign legal entity having a representative office in Indonesia, and may not be mortgaged.
Right to Build (Hak Guna Bangunan)
Better known by its abbreviation, "H.G.B.", this is the right to construct a building/s on a plot of land for a period of 20 or 30 years, and which can be renewed on consideration of policy of the regional government. This right can be sold, exchanged, transferred, and mortgaged, and can be held directly by any corporate entity whether it is a local company or a government approved PMA (joint venture) company.
If a joint venture company needs a land for a factory, storage, employee housing or whatever, the company can be granted the right of building (HGB) in accordance with existing regulations.
Right of Use (Hak Pakai)
This is the right of use over state-owned (crown land) or property owned by public or private persons/entities for a specific purpose for (generally) a finite period and occasionally for an indefinite period. This land right may not be sold, exchanged or transferred unless explicitly stated in an agreement. Hak Pakai may be held by an Indonesian individual or entity. or foreigner permanently domiciled in Indonesia, or a foreign legal entity with a representative office in Indonesia such as foreign Banks, embassies, etc.
Right of Exploitation (Hak Guna Usaha)
This is the right to exploit state-owned land for agricultural, fishery or animal husbandry purposes. Title is normally granted for a period of 35 years, which may be exended for a maximum of 25 more years, conditional that the company is still operational and sound. This right can be held by Indonesian individuals/entities as well as government approved PMA (foreign joint venture) companies, and may be mortgaged.
Foreign investors who have obtained mining rights from the Minister of Mines and Energy or exploitation rights from the Minister of Agriculture or the Minister of Forestry have automatically obtained the right to use the land within their concession boundaries for purposes directly connected with the operations of the enterprise.
Based on Presidential decree number 34 of 1992 concerning the use full of right of exploitation (HGU) and the right of building (HGB) for the joint venture company, stated that in the joint venture company that established on Indonesian Law and domiciled in Indonesia. Those HGU that kept by the joint venture company can be used as collateral and can be transferred after having permission by the Chairman of BPN.
About The Property Laws in The Republic of Indonesia
All property matters, except for those pertaining to the mining and forestry sectors fall under the jurisdiction of the national land agency (Badan Pertanahan Nasional, or BPN for short), which was formed to administer all matters relating to the basic "Agrarian Law of 1960", such as the registration of the use of land. The Indonesian land legislation is based on the basic Agrarian law number 5 of 1960.
The Basic Agrarian Law recognizes several types of rights over Real Estate, all of which are outlined below. However, to the foreign investor, the following three main rights are relevant:
1. Right of exploitation ( Hak Guna Usaha HGU)
2. Right of building (Hak Guna Bangunan HGB)
3. Right of use (Hak pakai)
These rights all authorize the use of land. The differences lie in the duration of validity and nature of utilization and the opportunities for obtaining a mortgage. The right of ownership is an inheritable right that can be held only by Indonesian citizens.
Right of Ownership (Hak Milik)
This refers to absolute ownership of land and corresponds to freehold title in common law terms. This right can only be held by an Indonesian citizen, not a corporate entity whether local or foreign. Certain legal entities designated by the government, such as a state bank, agricultural cooperatives, religious bodies, and social right of ownership is held in perpetuity. It can be sold, transferred, bequeathed, and mortgaged.
Right to Rent (Hak Sewa)
This is the right to use, leasing land owned by another private party for building purposes. The right cannot be registered at the land office and therefore does not exist in certificate form. Land leases are not public documents.
The law does not stipulate a period for such lease agreements and whether this can be transferred or not depends on the original agreement between the parties (lessor & lessee). This right may be held by a foreigner permanently domiciled in Indonesian or a foreign legal entity having a representative office in Indonesia, and may not be mortgaged.
Right to Build (Hak Guna Bangunan)
Better known by its abbreviation, "H.G.B.", this is the right to construct a building/s on a plot of land for a period of 20 or 30 years, and which can be renewed on consideration of policy of the regional government. This right can be sold, exchanged, transferred, and mortgaged, and can be held directly by any corporate entity whether it is a local company or a government approved PMA (joint venture) company.
If a joint venture company needs a land for a factory, storage, employee housing or whatever, the company can be granted the right of building (HGB) in accordance with existing regulations.
Right of Use (Hak Pakai)
This is the right of use over state-owned (crown land) or property owned by public or private persons/entities for a specific purpose for (generally) a finite period and occasionally for an indefinite period. This land right may not be sold, exchanged or transferred unless explicitly stated in an agreement. Hak Pakai may be held by an Indonesian individual or entity. or foreigner permanently domiciled in Indonesia, or a foreign legal entity with a representative office in Indonesia such as foreign Banks, embassies, etc.
Right of Exploitation (Hak Guna Usaha)
This is the right to exploit state-owned land for agricultural, fishery or animal husbandry purposes. Title is normally granted for a period of 35 years, which may be exended for a maximum of 25 more years, conditional that the company is still operational and sound. This right can be held by Indonesian individuals/entities as well as government approved PMA (foreign joint venture) companies, and may be mortgaged.
Foreign investors who have obtained mining rights from the Minister of Mines and Energy or exploitation rights from the Minister of Agriculture or the Minister of Forestry have automatically obtained the right to use the land within their concession boundaries for purposes directly connected with the operations of the enterprise.
Based on Presidential decree number 34 of 1992 concerning the use full of right of exploitation (HGU) and the right of building (HGB) for the joint venture company, stated that in the joint venture company that established on Indonesian Law and domiciled in Indonesia. Those HGU that kept by the joint venture company can be used as collateral and can be transferred after having permission by the Chairman of BPN.
21.1.08
Rick Pursell: Spiritual Activist
Rick Pursell was born in the UK where he lived in the countryside spending his free time wandering with his dog in the woods along flower filled canal paths, feeding spring lambs, driving tractors and playing in hay barns. In 1957 his family migrated to Perth, Australia. Rick eagerly embraced the Aussie lifestyle: surfing at Margaret River and engaging in all the outdoor activities that go along with nine months of great weather. Rick and his wife Lita currently run a spiritual retreat in Payangan in the mountains of Bali.
Have you traveled much in your life?
I’ve been fortunate to have been able to travel to over 30 countries around the world where I’ve worked on many interesting projects. In 1989, I moved from Australia to Asia to work as a Health, Safety and Environmental specialist. I stayed on to explore Cambodia, Burma, Vietnam and India. My last trip was to Africa in 2005 where my wife and I were stationed in Ghana for over a year. We helped the country celebrate their extraordinary wins during the World Cup by rubbing shoulders with our African brothers and sisters as the entire nation erupted in ecstatic happiness!
What do you do now?
I would describe myself as a spiritual activist. I have a passion and drive to see the human race evolve beyond the destructive impulses emanating from the ego-mind into the conscious, caring and compassionate nature that resides within us all.
How did you get started on this path?
I was given my first taste of mortality in England when my exploits as a pseudo “coyboy” came to an abrupt halt one day on the back of an aggravated old horse who dived under a low branch, knocked me out and left me writhing on the ground in agony and gasping for air. Several other profound events shaped my life and put my feet firmly on the path of conscious evolution. The first occurred in 1969 during the Vietnam War and the second alongside the mighty Ganges River as a student of my enlightened master, Swami Kaivalianda.
What was it about these events that changed you?
I found myself engaged in a crazy war in Southeast Asia, complete with all the atrocities of man’s inhumanity to man - complete anathema to my core values. But it was in Vietnam where I was introduced to Buddhism, which was to play an important role in my life. Secondly, I was invited to Rishikesh in India to become a student of Swami Kaivalianda, who rubbed my nose into the depredations of the ego-mind and showed me my Authentic Self.
How does that relate to what you are doing now in Bali?
I have chosen to dedicate the remainder of my life to sharing the incredible gift passed on to me by Swami. We recently opened a Centre for Self Awareness in Bali for just that purpose.
What will you teach at the centre?
Our primary purpose is to guide seekers towards their Authentic Self, that consciousness which lies beyond the ego-mind, to discover our inherent true nature which reveals itself though love, compassion, and connectedness to All That Is. And that is just the beginning.
Is enlightenment the end goal?
Sadly, many seekers are under the popular misconception that the enlightened state is the end of the road, the elusive Nirvana, and that having achieved this their lives will be in a permanent state of bliss. Admittedly, one’s life will change dramatically, be more stable and balanced, but we are in a constant state of flux. We are awakening as a species and we are at the leading edge of an evolving consciousness.
Who in your life has been your greatest influence and inspiration?
Wow! There have been so many for which I am most grateful. Certainly the teachings of the Buddha and Swami have had a profound influence on my life. Mahatma Gandhi with his non-violence approach was another. More recently, the extraordinary body of ground-breaking work by Andrew Cohen (Evolutionary Enlightenment) and Ken Wilber (Integral Theory) have had a big effect on me.
If you had any advice to pass on, what would it be?
Find and follow your passion. It is this yearning that will lead you to what you want to be, do and have. Trust your intuition, be guided by your heart and think positively.
To learn more about Rick’s work,
visit: www.spirituality-bali.com and www.heaveninbali.com or email him at: spiritualitybali@gmail.com
For anyone interested in being considered for Siapa, please contact :
Copyright@2007 Al Hickey
Have you traveled much in your life?
I’ve been fortunate to have been able to travel to over 30 countries around the world where I’ve worked on many interesting projects. In 1989, I moved from Australia to Asia to work as a Health, Safety and Environmental specialist. I stayed on to explore Cambodia, Burma, Vietnam and India. My last trip was to Africa in 2005 where my wife and I were stationed in Ghana for over a year. We helped the country celebrate their extraordinary wins during the World Cup by rubbing shoulders with our African brothers and sisters as the entire nation erupted in ecstatic happiness!
What do you do now?
I would describe myself as a spiritual activist. I have a passion and drive to see the human race evolve beyond the destructive impulses emanating from the ego-mind into the conscious, caring and compassionate nature that resides within us all.
How did you get started on this path?
I was given my first taste of mortality in England when my exploits as a pseudo “coyboy” came to an abrupt halt one day on the back of an aggravated old horse who dived under a low branch, knocked me out and left me writhing on the ground in agony and gasping for air. Several other profound events shaped my life and put my feet firmly on the path of conscious evolution. The first occurred in 1969 during the Vietnam War and the second alongside the mighty Ganges River as a student of my enlightened master, Swami Kaivalianda.
What was it about these events that changed you?
I found myself engaged in a crazy war in Southeast Asia, complete with all the atrocities of man’s inhumanity to man - complete anathema to my core values. But it was in Vietnam where I was introduced to Buddhism, which was to play an important role in my life. Secondly, I was invited to Rishikesh in India to become a student of Swami Kaivalianda, who rubbed my nose into the depredations of the ego-mind and showed me my Authentic Self.
How does that relate to what you are doing now in Bali?
I have chosen to dedicate the remainder of my life to sharing the incredible gift passed on to me by Swami. We recently opened a Centre for Self Awareness in Bali for just that purpose.
What will you teach at the centre?
Our primary purpose is to guide seekers towards their Authentic Self, that consciousness which lies beyond the ego-mind, to discover our inherent true nature which reveals itself though love, compassion, and connectedness to All That Is. And that is just the beginning.
Is enlightenment the end goal?
Sadly, many seekers are under the popular misconception that the enlightened state is the end of the road, the elusive Nirvana, and that having achieved this their lives will be in a permanent state of bliss. Admittedly, one’s life will change dramatically, be more stable and balanced, but we are in a constant state of flux. We are awakening as a species and we are at the leading edge of an evolving consciousness.
Who in your life has been your greatest influence and inspiration?
Wow! There have been so many for which I am most grateful. Certainly the teachings of the Buddha and Swami have had a profound influence on my life. Mahatma Gandhi with his non-violence approach was another. More recently, the extraordinary body of ground-breaking work by Andrew Cohen (Evolutionary Enlightenment) and Ken Wilber (Integral Theory) have had a big effect on me.
If you had any advice to pass on, what would it be?
Find and follow your passion. It is this yearning that will lead you to what you want to be, do and have. Trust your intuition, be guided by your heart and think positively.
To learn more about Rick’s work,
visit: www.spirituality-bali.com and www.heaveninbali.com or email him at: spiritualitybali@gmail.com
For anyone interested in being considered for Siapa, please contact :
Copyright@2007 Al Hickey
Land in Bali - Freehold or Trailer Park?
I really do try to stay cool and impartial when I write this column, but once in a long while I simply cannot contain myself. Please sit down, Dear Reader. I’m building up to a rant.
I happened to pick up a glossy real estate magazine the other week which featured dozens of pictures of land for sale. Most of the photos were of productive rice fields. And almost all the ads stated that the land was freehold.
There are two serious issues here… the legalities of land ownership here and Bali’s rapidly diminishing agricultural land bank.
First, let’s look at this loaded word FREEHOLD. There’s no such thing as freehold title as we know it in the west for foreigners in Indonesia. From a recent interview with Ibu Rainy Hendriany taken from www.BaliDiscovery.com, we have the information that under no circumstances can foreigners own property under Hak Milik (Freehold) title in Indonesia.
According to Ibu Rainy, many of these land and villa sales involve the use of “Name-givers”or “Nominees” whereby the freehold land certificate is in the name of the Indonesian nominee. This is an arrangement that does have risks which will vary according to the full documentation involved and has the potential to create some very unhappy scenarios. For the full story, visit the Bali Discovery website and check out “This land is your land, this land is my land”.
“As the value of property in Bali increases toward international levels and if young Balinese find that they can no longer afford land on their own island, it is possible that legal disputes will become much more widespread than has been the case to date,” said Ibu Rainy. “As a general rule, it is not advisable for foreigners to enter into legal disputes in Indonesian courts.”
(This is a masterful understatement. It will be a snowy Galungan indeed when a foreigner wins a land dispute on Bali.)
Then there’s the interesting issue of due diligence, which is very complicated in Bali due to the custom of multiple children inheriting land under local law, usually without a will or any documentation.
Ibu Rainy continues, ”In advising clients I often ask if, in their own country, they would entrust the ownership of their house or apartment to someone they did not know and, if not, why would they do so in a country they don’t know? I’ve been amazed by how easily normally rational people -- who would be very careful about buying a used car in their own country -- can commit to a substantial real estate transaction in Bali without having a true understanding of the facts.” Quite.
My own experience after 18 years of living and working in Southeast Asia is that a contract is just about as good as your relationship with your Asian partner or landlord.
So foreigners cannot own a piece of Paradise, period. Nor should we. The Balinese benefit very little from losing their land. Middlemen pressure farmers into selling their land cheaply, then they resell it to foreigners at a huge profit. Most land deals leave only a few of those big bucks in Bali; the bulk of the money goes overseas. According to an editorial in the Bali Post back in February 2005, about 85% of the substantial amount of money invested in the island’s tourism industry is in the control of non-Balinese investors.
High real estate prices are very tempting to Bali’s poor farmers. But what could be sadder than a farmer selling the family’s rice fields because his son wants to buy a car or motorcycle? The vehicles will be history within a few years, and the money will be long spent and the land gone forever. Spiraling land costs are also creating new social problems. Consider the anger and resentment generated at a local level when huge amounts of money change hands in poor communities. The Balinese don’t even benefit much from increased employment opportunities. Labourers from Java and Lombok are cheaper during the construction phase. Once completed, most villas employ just a couple of staff and some villa complexes actually hire maids from Java.
And consider this. Every year, Bali’s agricultural land bank is reduced by about 1,500 hectares -- lost to strip malls, tourism projects and villas, mostly owned by non-Balinese and with profits going offshore. Common sense suggests that it’s a bad idea to take farmland out of production on a small, agriculture-based island in a country where food security is an urgent matter. Let me rephrase that. It’s not just a bad idea. It’s insane.
Then we have the issue of aesthetics. No one sets out to turn a beautiful series of rice fields into a suburb, but has anyone seen Penestanan lately? And just what IS a villa, actually? Let’s not be so pretentious, please. Most so-called ‘villas’ are ordinary houses or townhouses of generic design, many shoddily built, and with electrical wiring that will literally make your hair stand on end. I don’t have space here to touch on their impact on supplies of wood, water and other dramatically diminishing resources. But I will. I will.
Do they have to be so ugly? Celebrated landscape architect and designer Made Wijaya’s considered opinion on contemporary villa design: “South Asian holiday homes used to be one-offs –- wildly original. Now they are one-OFS -- all the same. I’m tired of looking at ads for ugly villas. It’s none of my business if the world’s most gorgeous cultures want to turn themselves into Florida. It’s just that the treeless, birdless, godless look of these villas gets on my nerves. The ‘walled crematorium with one temple tree’ look has spread as far as the Caribbean. They all seem to be built from a kit.”
NusaBali reports that data from the Bank Indonesia (BI) show the number of visitors staying outside hotels has risen from 5.9% in 2005 to 10% in 2007. BI estimates that villa operations cost Bali an estimated US$348,000 a day in lost foreign exchange earning. Although they use phone lines, electricity, roads, water supplies and other infrastructure, villas don’t pay taxes like hotels do, so revenue is lost there as well. So Bali is losing foreign exchange, taxes, agricultural land and its priceless cultural integrity.
Bali is beautiful, magical –- and finite. Every year more of that beauty and magic –- the reason people come here in the first place -- is buried under concrete. If you must build, please do so on the Bukit, where there is little agricultural land, or on the beaches, riversides and other land that the Balinese don’t use. And don’t expect to own an asset to hand down to your children. “This villa situation is like a trailer park,” mused a friend of mine who is very savvy about real estate. “You might own the trailer, but you just rent the pad.”
E-mail: bali_cat7@yahoo.com
Copyright © 2007 Greenspeak
You can read all past articles of Greenspeak at www.BaliAdvertiser.biz
I happened to pick up a glossy real estate magazine the other week which featured dozens of pictures of land for sale. Most of the photos were of productive rice fields. And almost all the ads stated that the land was freehold.
There are two serious issues here… the legalities of land ownership here and Bali’s rapidly diminishing agricultural land bank.
First, let’s look at this loaded word FREEHOLD. There’s no such thing as freehold title as we know it in the west for foreigners in Indonesia. From a recent interview with Ibu Rainy Hendriany taken from www.BaliDiscovery.com, we have the information that under no circumstances can foreigners own property under Hak Milik (Freehold) title in Indonesia.
According to Ibu Rainy, many of these land and villa sales involve the use of “Name-givers”or “Nominees” whereby the freehold land certificate is in the name of the Indonesian nominee. This is an arrangement that does have risks which will vary according to the full documentation involved and has the potential to create some very unhappy scenarios. For the full story, visit the Bali Discovery website and check out “This land is your land, this land is my land”.
“As the value of property in Bali increases toward international levels and if young Balinese find that they can no longer afford land on their own island, it is possible that legal disputes will become much more widespread than has been the case to date,” said Ibu Rainy. “As a general rule, it is not advisable for foreigners to enter into legal disputes in Indonesian courts.”
(This is a masterful understatement. It will be a snowy Galungan indeed when a foreigner wins a land dispute on Bali.)
Then there’s the interesting issue of due diligence, which is very complicated in Bali due to the custom of multiple children inheriting land under local law, usually without a will or any documentation.
Ibu Rainy continues, ”In advising clients I often ask if, in their own country, they would entrust the ownership of their house or apartment to someone they did not know and, if not, why would they do so in a country they don’t know? I’ve been amazed by how easily normally rational people -- who would be very careful about buying a used car in their own country -- can commit to a substantial real estate transaction in Bali without having a true understanding of the facts.” Quite.
My own experience after 18 years of living and working in Southeast Asia is that a contract is just about as good as your relationship with your Asian partner or landlord.
So foreigners cannot own a piece of Paradise, period. Nor should we. The Balinese benefit very little from losing their land. Middlemen pressure farmers into selling their land cheaply, then they resell it to foreigners at a huge profit. Most land deals leave only a few of those big bucks in Bali; the bulk of the money goes overseas. According to an editorial in the Bali Post back in February 2005, about 85% of the substantial amount of money invested in the island’s tourism industry is in the control of non-Balinese investors.
High real estate prices are very tempting to Bali’s poor farmers. But what could be sadder than a farmer selling the family’s rice fields because his son wants to buy a car or motorcycle? The vehicles will be history within a few years, and the money will be long spent and the land gone forever. Spiraling land costs are also creating new social problems. Consider the anger and resentment generated at a local level when huge amounts of money change hands in poor communities. The Balinese don’t even benefit much from increased employment opportunities. Labourers from Java and Lombok are cheaper during the construction phase. Once completed, most villas employ just a couple of staff and some villa complexes actually hire maids from Java.
And consider this. Every year, Bali’s agricultural land bank is reduced by about 1,500 hectares -- lost to strip malls, tourism projects and villas, mostly owned by non-Balinese and with profits going offshore. Common sense suggests that it’s a bad idea to take farmland out of production on a small, agriculture-based island in a country where food security is an urgent matter. Let me rephrase that. It’s not just a bad idea. It’s insane.
Then we have the issue of aesthetics. No one sets out to turn a beautiful series of rice fields into a suburb, but has anyone seen Penestanan lately? And just what IS a villa, actually? Let’s not be so pretentious, please. Most so-called ‘villas’ are ordinary houses or townhouses of generic design, many shoddily built, and with electrical wiring that will literally make your hair stand on end. I don’t have space here to touch on their impact on supplies of wood, water and other dramatically diminishing resources. But I will. I will.
Do they have to be so ugly? Celebrated landscape architect and designer Made Wijaya’s considered opinion on contemporary villa design: “South Asian holiday homes used to be one-offs –- wildly original. Now they are one-OFS -- all the same. I’m tired of looking at ads for ugly villas. It’s none of my business if the world’s most gorgeous cultures want to turn themselves into Florida. It’s just that the treeless, birdless, godless look of these villas gets on my nerves. The ‘walled crematorium with one temple tree’ look has spread as far as the Caribbean. They all seem to be built from a kit.”
NusaBali reports that data from the Bank Indonesia (BI) show the number of visitors staying outside hotels has risen from 5.9% in 2005 to 10% in 2007. BI estimates that villa operations cost Bali an estimated US$348,000 a day in lost foreign exchange earning. Although they use phone lines, electricity, roads, water supplies and other infrastructure, villas don’t pay taxes like hotels do, so revenue is lost there as well. So Bali is losing foreign exchange, taxes, agricultural land and its priceless cultural integrity.
Bali is beautiful, magical –- and finite. Every year more of that beauty and magic –- the reason people come here in the first place -- is buried under concrete. If you must build, please do so on the Bukit, where there is little agricultural land, or on the beaches, riversides and other land that the Balinese don’t use. And don’t expect to own an asset to hand down to your children. “This villa situation is like a trailer park,” mused a friend of mine who is very savvy about real estate. “You might own the trailer, but you just rent the pad.”
E-mail: bali_cat7@yahoo.com
Copyright © 2007 Greenspeak
You can read all past articles of Greenspeak at www.BaliAdvertiser.biz
20.1.08
In the Wheel of Time
Jan 4,08
By Paulo Coelho
For The Bali Times
I had proposed to publish here, once a year, texts by Carlos Castañeda, an anthropologist who influenced my generation with his tales of meetings with Mexican sorcerers. For lack of space, I have not done so since 2004. Today I woke up thinking: Castañeda, despite all his critics and all his work that later on seemed so disorderly to me, should not be forgotten. So here we present some of his reflections.
Intention is the important thing: for the old sorcerers of Mexico, intention (intento) is a force that intervenes in all aspects of time and space. To be able to use and manipulate this force calls for impeccable behavior. A warrior’s final goal is to be able to lift his head above the rut where he is confined, look around him and change what he wants. To do so he needs to have discipline and pay attention all the time.
Nothing is easy: nothing in this world is given as a present: everything has to be learned with a great deal of effort. A man who seeks knowledge must have the same behavior as a soldier going to war: absolutely attentive, afraid, respectful and utterly confident. If he follows these recommendations, he may lose the odd battle but he will never cry over his fate.
Fear is natural: fear of the freedom that knowledge brings us is absolutely natural; however, no matter how terrible the apprenticeship may be, it is worse to live without wisdom.
Irritation is unnecessary: becoming irritated with others means giving them the power to interfere in our lives. It is imperative to overcome this feeling. By no means should the acts of others distract us from our only alternative in life: coming in touch with the infinite.
The end is an ally: when things begin to get confused, a warrior thinks about his death and immediately his spirit returns to him. Death is everywhere. Think of the headlights of a car following us along a winding road; sometimes we lose sight of it, sometimes it appears to be too close, sometimes the headlights go out. But this imaginary car never stops (and one day catches up with us). The very idea of death gives men the necessary detachment to go ahead despite all their tribulations. A man who knows that death is approaching every day tries everything, but without feeling anxiety.
The present is unique: a warrior knows how to wait, because he knows what he is waiting for. And while he waits, he wants nothing, and in this way anything he receives – however small – is a blessing. The common man worries too much about loving others, or being loved by them. A warrior knows what he wants - that is all in his life and that is where he concentrates all his energy. The common man spends the present acting as winner or loser, and depending on the results he becomes persecutor or victim. The warrior, on the other hand, worries only about his acts, which will lead him to the objective he has traced for himself.
Intention is transparent: intention (intento) is not a thought, nor an object, nor a desire. It is what makes a man triumph in his objectives and lifts him up from the ground even when he has delivered himself up to defeat. Intention is stronger than man.
It is always the last battle: the warrior’s spirit does not complain about anything, because he was not born to win or lose. He was born to fight, and each battle is the last that he is waging on the face of the Earth. That is why the warrior always leaves his spirit free, and when he gives himself to combat, knowing that his intention is transparent, he laughs and enjoys himself.
© Translated by James Mulholland
www.paulocoelhoblog.com
By Paulo Coelho
For The Bali Times
I had proposed to publish here, once a year, texts by Carlos Castañeda, an anthropologist who influenced my generation with his tales of meetings with Mexican sorcerers. For lack of space, I have not done so since 2004. Today I woke up thinking: Castañeda, despite all his critics and all his work that later on seemed so disorderly to me, should not be forgotten. So here we present some of his reflections.
Intention is the important thing: for the old sorcerers of Mexico, intention (intento) is a force that intervenes in all aspects of time and space. To be able to use and manipulate this force calls for impeccable behavior. A warrior’s final goal is to be able to lift his head above the rut where he is confined, look around him and change what he wants. To do so he needs to have discipline and pay attention all the time.
Nothing is easy: nothing in this world is given as a present: everything has to be learned with a great deal of effort. A man who seeks knowledge must have the same behavior as a soldier going to war: absolutely attentive, afraid, respectful and utterly confident. If he follows these recommendations, he may lose the odd battle but he will never cry over his fate.
Fear is natural: fear of the freedom that knowledge brings us is absolutely natural; however, no matter how terrible the apprenticeship may be, it is worse to live without wisdom.
Irritation is unnecessary: becoming irritated with others means giving them the power to interfere in our lives. It is imperative to overcome this feeling. By no means should the acts of others distract us from our only alternative in life: coming in touch with the infinite.
The end is an ally: when things begin to get confused, a warrior thinks about his death and immediately his spirit returns to him. Death is everywhere. Think of the headlights of a car following us along a winding road; sometimes we lose sight of it, sometimes it appears to be too close, sometimes the headlights go out. But this imaginary car never stops (and one day catches up with us). The very idea of death gives men the necessary detachment to go ahead despite all their tribulations. A man who knows that death is approaching every day tries everything, but without feeling anxiety.
The present is unique: a warrior knows how to wait, because he knows what he is waiting for. And while he waits, he wants nothing, and in this way anything he receives – however small – is a blessing. The common man worries too much about loving others, or being loved by them. A warrior knows what he wants - that is all in his life and that is where he concentrates all his energy. The common man spends the present acting as winner or loser, and depending on the results he becomes persecutor or victim. The warrior, on the other hand, worries only about his acts, which will lead him to the objective he has traced for himself.
Intention is transparent: intention (intento) is not a thought, nor an object, nor a desire. It is what makes a man triumph in his objectives and lifts him up from the ground even when he has delivered himself up to defeat. Intention is stronger than man.
It is always the last battle: the warrior’s spirit does not complain about anything, because he was not born to win or lose. He was born to fight, and each battle is the last that he is waging on the face of the Earth. That is why the warrior always leaves his spirit free, and when he gives himself to combat, knowing that his intention is transparent, he laughs and enjoys himself.
© Translated by James Mulholland
www.paulocoelhoblog.com
Enchanting Ubud – What a Mix!
Nov 30,07
By Mark Ulyseas
For The Bali Times
UBUD ~ Another week has gone by in the hills of Camelot. The sporadic rain has freshened the verdant surroundings with the fragrance of frangipani permeating the air.
Now that you get the drift of the weather up here, let’s skip the niceties and get down on our haunches to discuss, review and pontificate about Ubudian life.
The recent Full Moon religious ceremonies in Ubud have been special as it was Tumpek Landep, a day when the Balinese worship their heirlooms and metal objects like kerises, cars, etc. I got an opportunity to photograph Tjok Raka Kerthyasa and his wife Asri on their way to the temple with a retinue of followers. The moon painted Campuhan in gossamer light that made one feel removed from the material world, a hint of Dali lurking in the shadows.
I suppose the closest I’ve come to surrealism is in the artwork of my friend Wolfgang Widmoser, who has just returned from Jakarta after a grand opening of an exhibition of his paintings titled Venus Rising. The show is on at Bentara Budaya from November 21 to the 30. I am sure you have read about this genius in the making in numerous magazines, newspapers and on the web. Therefore, I am not going to bore you with all the intricate details of his life and work. However, I would like to share with you the conversation I had with him over a whisky sour the other day at my favorite watering hole.
When I asked him as to why he had made Bali his home, he replied, “The spirits of the island, especially Ubud, empower me to be my true self. I am not looking for the lost paradise in Bali, like Gauguin did in Tahiti. I came to Ubud when it was a village. I recall only three restaurants, Lilies, Murni’s and Victor Mason’s Beggar’s Bush, that were meeting points for artists, writers and intrepid tourists. This town has always welcomed creative people and has given them a place to work peacefully and undisturbed. The royal family of Ubud has always encouraged people like me to set up home here. The communication between Balinese and Western artists has stimulated and enriched the cultural ethos. Peter Dettmar, Filippos and me are the third generation of Western artists in Ubud. I hope this continues to remain in the future. I am sure it will.”
Wolf, as his close friends affectionately call him, said that he was a European artist influenced by western sensibilities and not by Balinese culture. But the Ubudian magic that dwells in the landscape mesmerizes and stimulates his creative process, which reflects in his artwork.
Behind this man stands Tony Raka, a Balinese who owns a sprawling well-known gallery by the same name in Maas, Ubud. Tony “adopted” Wolf many years ago by offering him the use of a large studio as well as giving him financial help. The pact between a Balinese curator and a European artist seems to have worked in an environment of enlightenment and cross-cultural synergy. It is also the first time that I have heard of a Balinese gallery owner actually supporting a foreign artist in this manner. In fact, Wolf is the only Western artist that Tony has promoted. We hope that this is a fore bearer of international recognition for Wolf and continued success for Tony Raka’s endeavor in bringing the big buyers of art to this town and inadvertently also exposing even the little-known artists to the global art world. Check out his website: www.tonyrakaartgallery.com.
From a brush with art, we move on to the fourth international Ubud Writers & Readers Festival held in September. You probably know the many faces involved in the festival except one – Ni Made Sri Purnami, or Kadek Purnami for short. She is a young, aspiring poetess who is the community development manager. This soft-spoken lady graduated from the University of Atma Jaya Jogyakarta, majoring in communication and specializing in public relations. She had earlier been a volunteer for the festival but now works fulltime. Kadek has been instrumental in organizing children’s programs, Community Panel discussions, a tribute to the Persian poet Rumi and lectures by Anand Krishna.
Kadek, who speaks Balinese, Bahasa and English, expressed consternation at the dwindling number of people on the island who speak Balinese. But she believes that exposure to other cultures is essential to widening one’s horizons and perceptions of a fast-changing world. The festival has brought Kadek into contact with writers and poets from around the world and in particular those from her home country, Indonesia. An aspiring poetess, she has been greatly influenced by Sapardi Djomo Damono, a poet from Jakarta who attended the festival in 2006. I quote a stanza from one of her poems, translated from Bahasa, titled The Station’s Long, Cold Bench.
I do not know
How many poems were born
From the wounded words
From the elated words
Of our interlocked past
As I sit still
On the station’s long, cold bench
Kadek lives with her husband Putu and his family on Jl. Gautama off Jalan Raya. Putu, who is a gifted batik painter, runs a batik workshop close to their home. She is proud to be Balinese and believes that her people have learned a lot by mingling with other cultures. To her, Ubud is a melting pot that churns out endless creative works, which in turn helps to attract even more artists to the place. If you want to know more about this talented young lady here’s a lead: http://galangbulan.blogspot.com.
Ever walked down Jl. Raya and rubbed shoulders with the rural folk who arrive at the daily market in droves carrying fresh produce from the surrounding villages? The other day when passing this market, I was accosted by Crazy Chris (as some affectionately call him, because of his verbal meandering that loses the listener in a haze of his cigarette plumes). He insisted I visit Wayan’s Healing Centre and Warung on Jl. Jembawan No.5, about three doors from the Ubud Post Office, adding that her warung was mentioned in the book Eat Pray Love by the American author Elizabeth Gilbert.
So the other day I ventured into Wayan’s Warung and was greeted with a glass of turmeric honey juice and a lecture by her on how it cleanses the body of toxins.
Herbal potted plants are neatly arrayed at the entrance of the warung. Each plant has a printed label that prominently displays its name and the curative powers in relation to human ailments like kidney stones and blood pressure.
Wayan suggests a hot shower with a mixture of turmeric, cloves, cinnamon, Asteraceace leaves and jujube to prevent rheumatism. This concoction works as it energizes the body, cleanses and softens the skin.
The food on offer is strictly vegetarian. For instance, Wayan’s very own Multivitamin Nasi Campur that I ordered was served with an unsolicited lecture that delved on the various aspects of the recipe: red rice has Vit B; Tomato chutney, Vit C, for healthy gums; grilled coconut with special sauce, for healthy bones; Seaweed Vit E, for hair and nails; Beansprouts Vit E, for heart and fertility; Water spinach Vit K, for healthy blood; Ginseng we all know; Tempe/Tofu Calcium; and finally, a special sauce of cinnamon, sesame seed and nutmeg.
The Multivitamin Nasi Campur was delicious, and cheap. I didn’t taste her version of Multivitamin Nasi Goreng and Multivitamin Mie Goreng. Suffice to say that Wayan has a delightful mix of natural remedies, massages, healthcare, nailcare, skincare and whatever, topped by a sound understanding of age-old Indonesian remedies for various illnesses. If you feel the wrinkles on your face are showing, drop in to Wayan’s. While you sip turmeric honey juice, she will rub cucumbers, Leucaena Glauca leaves, coconut oil and egg yolk into your skin to make it smooth like a baby’s bottom.
Next week we shall visit the Organic Farmer’s weekly Saturday market that is held at Pizza Bagus, to meet Gede, a Balinese farmer who grows a range of organic vegetables.
Ubud is truly enchanting. The many businesses that thrive here help in dispelling the notion that it is only a place for artists, writers and the blah, blah, blah crowd.
If there is a voice out there in the Ubudian hills that wants to be heard on any subject concerning Ubud, please do write to me at ulyseas@gmail.com or editor@thebalitimes.com.
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Om
By Mark Ulyseas
For The Bali Times
UBUD ~ Another week has gone by in the hills of Camelot. The sporadic rain has freshened the verdant surroundings with the fragrance of frangipani permeating the air.
Now that you get the drift of the weather up here, let’s skip the niceties and get down on our haunches to discuss, review and pontificate about Ubudian life.
The recent Full Moon religious ceremonies in Ubud have been special as it was Tumpek Landep, a day when the Balinese worship their heirlooms and metal objects like kerises, cars, etc. I got an opportunity to photograph Tjok Raka Kerthyasa and his wife Asri on their way to the temple with a retinue of followers. The moon painted Campuhan in gossamer light that made one feel removed from the material world, a hint of Dali lurking in the shadows.
I suppose the closest I’ve come to surrealism is in the artwork of my friend Wolfgang Widmoser, who has just returned from Jakarta after a grand opening of an exhibition of his paintings titled Venus Rising. The show is on at Bentara Budaya from November 21 to the 30. I am sure you have read about this genius in the making in numerous magazines, newspapers and on the web. Therefore, I am not going to bore you with all the intricate details of his life and work. However, I would like to share with you the conversation I had with him over a whisky sour the other day at my favorite watering hole.
When I asked him as to why he had made Bali his home, he replied, “The spirits of the island, especially Ubud, empower me to be my true self. I am not looking for the lost paradise in Bali, like Gauguin did in Tahiti. I came to Ubud when it was a village. I recall only three restaurants, Lilies, Murni’s and Victor Mason’s Beggar’s Bush, that were meeting points for artists, writers and intrepid tourists. This town has always welcomed creative people and has given them a place to work peacefully and undisturbed. The royal family of Ubud has always encouraged people like me to set up home here. The communication between Balinese and Western artists has stimulated and enriched the cultural ethos. Peter Dettmar, Filippos and me are the third generation of Western artists in Ubud. I hope this continues to remain in the future. I am sure it will.”
Wolf, as his close friends affectionately call him, said that he was a European artist influenced by western sensibilities and not by Balinese culture. But the Ubudian magic that dwells in the landscape mesmerizes and stimulates his creative process, which reflects in his artwork.
Behind this man stands Tony Raka, a Balinese who owns a sprawling well-known gallery by the same name in Maas, Ubud. Tony “adopted” Wolf many years ago by offering him the use of a large studio as well as giving him financial help. The pact between a Balinese curator and a European artist seems to have worked in an environment of enlightenment and cross-cultural synergy. It is also the first time that I have heard of a Balinese gallery owner actually supporting a foreign artist in this manner. In fact, Wolf is the only Western artist that Tony has promoted. We hope that this is a fore bearer of international recognition for Wolf and continued success for Tony Raka’s endeavor in bringing the big buyers of art to this town and inadvertently also exposing even the little-known artists to the global art world. Check out his website: www.tonyrakaartgallery.com.
From a brush with art, we move on to the fourth international Ubud Writers & Readers Festival held in September. You probably know the many faces involved in the festival except one – Ni Made Sri Purnami, or Kadek Purnami for short. She is a young, aspiring poetess who is the community development manager. This soft-spoken lady graduated from the University of Atma Jaya Jogyakarta, majoring in communication and specializing in public relations. She had earlier been a volunteer for the festival but now works fulltime. Kadek has been instrumental in organizing children’s programs, Community Panel discussions, a tribute to the Persian poet Rumi and lectures by Anand Krishna.
Kadek, who speaks Balinese, Bahasa and English, expressed consternation at the dwindling number of people on the island who speak Balinese. But she believes that exposure to other cultures is essential to widening one’s horizons and perceptions of a fast-changing world. The festival has brought Kadek into contact with writers and poets from around the world and in particular those from her home country, Indonesia. An aspiring poetess, she has been greatly influenced by Sapardi Djomo Damono, a poet from Jakarta who attended the festival in 2006. I quote a stanza from one of her poems, translated from Bahasa, titled The Station’s Long, Cold Bench.
I do not know
How many poems were born
From the wounded words
From the elated words
Of our interlocked past
As I sit still
On the station’s long, cold bench
Kadek lives with her husband Putu and his family on Jl. Gautama off Jalan Raya. Putu, who is a gifted batik painter, runs a batik workshop close to their home. She is proud to be Balinese and believes that her people have learned a lot by mingling with other cultures. To her, Ubud is a melting pot that churns out endless creative works, which in turn helps to attract even more artists to the place. If you want to know more about this talented young lady here’s a lead: http://galangbulan.blogspot.com.
Ever walked down Jl. Raya and rubbed shoulders with the rural folk who arrive at the daily market in droves carrying fresh produce from the surrounding villages? The other day when passing this market, I was accosted by Crazy Chris (as some affectionately call him, because of his verbal meandering that loses the listener in a haze of his cigarette plumes). He insisted I visit Wayan’s Healing Centre and Warung on Jl. Jembawan No.5, about three doors from the Ubud Post Office, adding that her warung was mentioned in the book Eat Pray Love by the American author Elizabeth Gilbert.
So the other day I ventured into Wayan’s Warung and was greeted with a glass of turmeric honey juice and a lecture by her on how it cleanses the body of toxins.
Herbal potted plants are neatly arrayed at the entrance of the warung. Each plant has a printed label that prominently displays its name and the curative powers in relation to human ailments like kidney stones and blood pressure.
Wayan suggests a hot shower with a mixture of turmeric, cloves, cinnamon, Asteraceace leaves and jujube to prevent rheumatism. This concoction works as it energizes the body, cleanses and softens the skin.
The food on offer is strictly vegetarian. For instance, Wayan’s very own Multivitamin Nasi Campur that I ordered was served with an unsolicited lecture that delved on the various aspects of the recipe: red rice has Vit B; Tomato chutney, Vit C, for healthy gums; grilled coconut with special sauce, for healthy bones; Seaweed Vit E, for hair and nails; Beansprouts Vit E, for heart and fertility; Water spinach Vit K, for healthy blood; Ginseng we all know; Tempe/Tofu Calcium; and finally, a special sauce of cinnamon, sesame seed and nutmeg.
The Multivitamin Nasi Campur was delicious, and cheap. I didn’t taste her version of Multivitamin Nasi Goreng and Multivitamin Mie Goreng. Suffice to say that Wayan has a delightful mix of natural remedies, massages, healthcare, nailcare, skincare and whatever, topped by a sound understanding of age-old Indonesian remedies for various illnesses. If you feel the wrinkles on your face are showing, drop in to Wayan’s. While you sip turmeric honey juice, she will rub cucumbers, Leucaena Glauca leaves, coconut oil and egg yolk into your skin to make it smooth like a baby’s bottom.
Next week we shall visit the Organic Farmer’s weekly Saturday market that is held at Pizza Bagus, to meet Gede, a Balinese farmer who grows a range of organic vegetables.
Ubud is truly enchanting. The many businesses that thrive here help in dispelling the notion that it is only a place for artists, writers and the blah, blah, blah crowd.
If there is a voice out there in the Ubudian hills that wants to be heard on any subject concerning Ubud, please do write to me at ulyseas@gmail.com or editor@thebalitimes.com.
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Om
Breakfast at Ubud Market
Jan 11,08
By Janet De Neefe
For Bali Times
I’m on a mission at the Ubud market to find my favorite breakfast. I enter near the corner of Monkey Forest Road and Jl. Raya, past a row of noisy old ladies dressed in faded sarongs and the long-sleeved lace or printed polyester kebayas, selling fluorescent cakes dyed with pink and green food coloring, soft blue hydrangeas, coconut leaves, green bananas and vegetables of all descriptions bursting out of small bamboo baskets.
As I jalan-jalan round the corner, edging my way past 100 Ubud mums doing their early morning shopping, I’m relieved to find what I’m looking for: mission accomplished.
There lies my breakfast. Ahead of me, shaded from the hot morning sun, is the bubur seller, Meme Leseg, from South Ubud, serving my favorite market treat, rice porridge or bubur. Bubur is soft-boiled rice that is topped with assorted seasonings. In this case, it’s a savory dish.
Meme Leseg’s small foodstall sits beside a community of grandmas at low tables that are set up for the morning’s takeaway trade. These are Ubud’s D.I.Y. walking foodstalls – meals on legs, not wheels, if you know what I mean. Every morning, these diligent grandmas carry cooked rice and assorted seasonings on their heads to the market. Have you seen them? They walk from home, set-up shop and when all is sold, carry the empty pots and pans back again (to their abode), with a somewhat lighter load than when they left.
In the crowded western wing of the market, you can buy sweet or savory rice porridges, bubur or nasi campur from these four grandmas. They have been selling takeaway rice for as long as I, or anyone in Ubud for that matter, can remember. But it’s more than that. This cozy little corner provides an exciting local gathering of sorts, for it’s here you can catch up on all the village gossip in a matter of minutes. What more could a girl want? You can find out about almost anything, told in the most animated, exaggerated way, while buying provisions for the family. That’s what I call one-stop shopping.
The bubur is my all-time favorite and consists of smooth, boiled rice topped with steamed greens and soy sprouts mixed with shredded coconut, sambal and a gentle coconut sauce. It creates a sublime mix of textures, from soft as a kiss to deliciously chewy, with that salsa-dance punch of hot chilli. But what also makes this dish so seductive, (well, to me anyway) is the flavor of fresh coconut oil and lashings of fried shrimp paste. It adds a mellow, luscious base note that gives it a certain depth, rather like the smooth jazz I heard at As One the other night, My Funny Valentine.
The grandma who sells the bubur has a sweet, round face that somehow matches the gentle quality of the food she sells, rather like owners and their pets. Beside her sit the sticky-rice and nasi campur sellers. Apart from their food, I love the distinguishing feature of the towels on their heads. Perched like turbans, these coils of well-worn cloth have seen better days. They range in faded pastel shades and patterns, in an oddly coordinated way.
If you feel like something sweet, you can dine on sticky rice, flecked with pumpkin and topped with grated coconut. And then there is the ubiquitous nasi campur. At the market, it usually consists of steamed vegetables with roasted coconut, tempeh, ground salted fish, sambal and other seasonal titbits. The meals are all carefully wrapped in banana leaves, or brown paper, to be eaten for breakfast, lunch or as a shared snack amongst friends.
To wash it all down, dalumen, that forest-green, slimy drink smelling of wheat grass, can be purchased nearby from Meme Jarni, a woman whose personality is as intriguing as the tonic she sells. I adore this woman and her dalumen is the undisputed finest in town. Meme Jarni is an unusual mix of elegance, comedy and melancholy, and always has the crowds laughing. Her stall, set with the supporting cast of mysterious green dalumen, creamy, roasted coconut milk, palm-sugar syrup and pink squiggly rice flour bits, is her stage where she delivers her lines, combines all the ingredients and stirs each glass with the drama of a Shakespearian actor. Once her potion is finished for the day, she quietens down and looks a little forlorn. If I see her at the temple, she always hugs me and tells me I’m cantik (beautiful). Otherwise, she asks me to give her the shirt off my back. When all her pots are empty, usually by 10am, the table and all its contents are carried home on the top of the coiled towel turban. A busy day’s work in Bali.
But let’s get back to nasi campur, which happens to be my favorite lunch and dinner. Nasi campur is Bali’s national dish and varies in all shapes and sizes around the island. And Ubud has its own distinct style. I’ve been told that visitors from the ragged coast of southern Bali trek to Ubud to enjoy the simple pleasure of this beloved favorite. And at Indus, our nasi campur includes snake beans in coconut milk, grilled chicken tossed with tomato sambal, Balinese satay, tofu, sambal and steamed rice, with green papaya broth served on the side. It’s one of our most popular dishes. Enak banget!
I’ve included my recipe for the snake beans here; you’ll have to go to Indus to work out the rest.
BUNCIS PELECING
Beans in coconut milk
This creamy, luscious dish is brought to life with lime leaves and subtle spices. It’s a little time-consuming, but if you make all the pastes separately, it can be thrown together in minutes.
Serves 6-8
500gm/1 lb. snake beans
2 lime leaves, shredded
3 tbs. fried shallots
salt to taste
Suna-Cekoh
Garlic and white ginger paste
4 cloves garlic 2 candlenuts
3 tsp. white ginger/kencur 2 tbs. turmeric
3 tbs. oil for frying
Grind the garlic, aromatic ginger, candlenuts and turmeric in a mortar and pestle. Alternatively, blend in a food processor with ¼ cup water.
Kuah Suna-cekoh (coconut milk sauce)
Suna cekoh paste (as above)
½ stick lemongrass, knotted
2 cups coconut milk
2-4 lime leaves
2 tbs. fried shallots
½ tsp. white pepper
1 tbs. vegetable oil
To prepare the kuah, blend the suna-cekoh ingredients: garlic, kencur, candlenuts, white pepper and turmeric in food processor or grind with mortal and pestle until fine. Add a drop of water if necessary.
In a wok, gently sauté the suna-cekoh mixture in vegetable oil, over a medium flame, with the lemongrass, lime leaves and salam leaves, for a minute until the mixture looks separated. This will take at least three minutes. Add coconut milk and fried shallots. Stir constantly over low heat, so the mixture doesn’t separate. It’s just like making custard. It will thicken slightly.
Trim the beans, steam or boil, and chop finely or split in half and leave long. Mix the lime leaves, fried shallots, and kuah thoroughly with the grated coconut. Add the cooked beans. Add salt, extra fried onion and lime leaves if necessary.
As a substitute for candlenut, you can use ground almonds.
Note: Add sambal goreng, to taste, for extra spiciness.
Matur Suksme
By Janet De Neefe
For Bali Times
I’m on a mission at the Ubud market to find my favorite breakfast. I enter near the corner of Monkey Forest Road and Jl. Raya, past a row of noisy old ladies dressed in faded sarongs and the long-sleeved lace or printed polyester kebayas, selling fluorescent cakes dyed with pink and green food coloring, soft blue hydrangeas, coconut leaves, green bananas and vegetables of all descriptions bursting out of small bamboo baskets.
As I jalan-jalan round the corner, edging my way past 100 Ubud mums doing their early morning shopping, I’m relieved to find what I’m looking for: mission accomplished.
There lies my breakfast. Ahead of me, shaded from the hot morning sun, is the bubur seller, Meme Leseg, from South Ubud, serving my favorite market treat, rice porridge or bubur. Bubur is soft-boiled rice that is topped with assorted seasonings. In this case, it’s a savory dish.
Meme Leseg’s small foodstall sits beside a community of grandmas at low tables that are set up for the morning’s takeaway trade. These are Ubud’s D.I.Y. walking foodstalls – meals on legs, not wheels, if you know what I mean. Every morning, these diligent grandmas carry cooked rice and assorted seasonings on their heads to the market. Have you seen them? They walk from home, set-up shop and when all is sold, carry the empty pots and pans back again (to their abode), with a somewhat lighter load than when they left.
In the crowded western wing of the market, you can buy sweet or savory rice porridges, bubur or nasi campur from these four grandmas. They have been selling takeaway rice for as long as I, or anyone in Ubud for that matter, can remember. But it’s more than that. This cozy little corner provides an exciting local gathering of sorts, for it’s here you can catch up on all the village gossip in a matter of minutes. What more could a girl want? You can find out about almost anything, told in the most animated, exaggerated way, while buying provisions for the family. That’s what I call one-stop shopping.
The bubur is my all-time favorite and consists of smooth, boiled rice topped with steamed greens and soy sprouts mixed with shredded coconut, sambal and a gentle coconut sauce. It creates a sublime mix of textures, from soft as a kiss to deliciously chewy, with that salsa-dance punch of hot chilli. But what also makes this dish so seductive, (well, to me anyway) is the flavor of fresh coconut oil and lashings of fried shrimp paste. It adds a mellow, luscious base note that gives it a certain depth, rather like the smooth jazz I heard at As One the other night, My Funny Valentine.
The grandma who sells the bubur has a sweet, round face that somehow matches the gentle quality of the food she sells, rather like owners and their pets. Beside her sit the sticky-rice and nasi campur sellers. Apart from their food, I love the distinguishing feature of the towels on their heads. Perched like turbans, these coils of well-worn cloth have seen better days. They range in faded pastel shades and patterns, in an oddly coordinated way.
If you feel like something sweet, you can dine on sticky rice, flecked with pumpkin and topped with grated coconut. And then there is the ubiquitous nasi campur. At the market, it usually consists of steamed vegetables with roasted coconut, tempeh, ground salted fish, sambal and other seasonal titbits. The meals are all carefully wrapped in banana leaves, or brown paper, to be eaten for breakfast, lunch or as a shared snack amongst friends.
To wash it all down, dalumen, that forest-green, slimy drink smelling of wheat grass, can be purchased nearby from Meme Jarni, a woman whose personality is as intriguing as the tonic she sells. I adore this woman and her dalumen is the undisputed finest in town. Meme Jarni is an unusual mix of elegance, comedy and melancholy, and always has the crowds laughing. Her stall, set with the supporting cast of mysterious green dalumen, creamy, roasted coconut milk, palm-sugar syrup and pink squiggly rice flour bits, is her stage where she delivers her lines, combines all the ingredients and stirs each glass with the drama of a Shakespearian actor. Once her potion is finished for the day, she quietens down and looks a little forlorn. If I see her at the temple, she always hugs me and tells me I’m cantik (beautiful). Otherwise, she asks me to give her the shirt off my back. When all her pots are empty, usually by 10am, the table and all its contents are carried home on the top of the coiled towel turban. A busy day’s work in Bali.
But let’s get back to nasi campur, which happens to be my favorite lunch and dinner. Nasi campur is Bali’s national dish and varies in all shapes and sizes around the island. And Ubud has its own distinct style. I’ve been told that visitors from the ragged coast of southern Bali trek to Ubud to enjoy the simple pleasure of this beloved favorite. And at Indus, our nasi campur includes snake beans in coconut milk, grilled chicken tossed with tomato sambal, Balinese satay, tofu, sambal and steamed rice, with green papaya broth served on the side. It’s one of our most popular dishes. Enak banget!
I’ve included my recipe for the snake beans here; you’ll have to go to Indus to work out the rest.
BUNCIS PELECING
Beans in coconut milk
This creamy, luscious dish is brought to life with lime leaves and subtle spices. It’s a little time-consuming, but if you make all the pastes separately, it can be thrown together in minutes.
Serves 6-8
500gm/1 lb. snake beans
2 lime leaves, shredded
3 tbs. fried shallots
salt to taste
Suna-Cekoh
Garlic and white ginger paste
4 cloves garlic 2 candlenuts
3 tsp. white ginger/kencur 2 tbs. turmeric
3 tbs. oil for frying
Grind the garlic, aromatic ginger, candlenuts and turmeric in a mortar and pestle. Alternatively, blend in a food processor with ¼ cup water.
Kuah Suna-cekoh (coconut milk sauce)
Suna cekoh paste (as above)
½ stick lemongrass, knotted
2 cups coconut milk
2-4 lime leaves
2 tbs. fried shallots
½ tsp. white pepper
1 tbs. vegetable oil
To prepare the kuah, blend the suna-cekoh ingredients: garlic, kencur, candlenuts, white pepper and turmeric in food processor or grind with mortal and pestle until fine. Add a drop of water if necessary.
In a wok, gently sauté the suna-cekoh mixture in vegetable oil, over a medium flame, with the lemongrass, lime leaves and salam leaves, for a minute until the mixture looks separated. This will take at least three minutes. Add coconut milk and fried shallots. Stir constantly over low heat, so the mixture doesn’t separate. It’s just like making custard. It will thicken slightly.
Trim the beans, steam or boil, and chop finely or split in half and leave long. Mix the lime leaves, fried shallots, and kuah thoroughly with the grated coconut. Add the cooked beans. Add salt, extra fried onion and lime leaves if necessary.
As a substitute for candlenut, you can use ground almonds.
Note: Add sambal goreng, to taste, for extra spiciness.
Matur Suksme
Ethical Villas
Bali is a real estate hot spot for the villa culture these days. Land prices are shooting up like bamboo and real estate agents are rubbing their hands together so hard they could start a fire.
How good is all this for Bali? Many of the developments are cookie-cutter, off-the-shelf plans without much Balinese character. They run the full range of environmentally sustainable design to who-gives-a-damn extravagance. We assume that environmental safeguards are in place, as they are in our home countries, when we build our dream homes. But sadly, that’s not the case. Everyone who builds or buys a house in Bali needs to take responsibility for the social and environmental impacts it will cause. Some of my good friends have bought or built villas without considering the increasingly rare resources they are thoughtlessly consuming. A marble-floored palace in the rice field with five air-conditioned bedrooms gives a mixed message to the farmer next door who is struggling to feed their families.
On the other hand, there are ethical designers and builders in Bali who are creating beautiful, sustainable homes which have a minimal impact on the environment.
Take the Ethical Villa Quiz and give yourself a star for each of the following statements that apply to you
* No agricultural land was lost when I built/bought my villa
Is your villa beautifully located in the middle of rice fields? That means you’ve directly contributed to the rapid decrease of Bali’s precious agricultural land. Yes, there’s a law that says you can’t do this. No, it is not enforced. The ethical choice is to build on the land at river edges that the Balinese don’t use for farming, and which will also safeguard your view.
* I’m sensitive to the water issues in my neighbourhood
Water is a big issue in Bali. There isn’t enough, and what remains is increasingly polluted. The crater lakes that provide household water to southern Bali are now also being tapped by desperate farmers, and water levels are dropping alarmingly.
All wells lower the ground water table. If you drill a deep well that is tapping the same water supply as your neighbours who have shallower wells, they may lose their water supply. A big problem in the coastal areas is that if the fresh water wells take out more than rainfall returns to the ground, then the heavier salt water from the sea will intrude inland and rise into the existing wells. The cancellation of irrigation water brought in from the mountain subaks is another problem. “Much of Seminyak has been blocked off in the last few years due to building,” notes engineer Nick Lee. “The irrigation water was helping to keep the fresh water table up and hold back the saltwater intrusion. I fully expect our wells to become saline in the next few years.”
The water situation on the Bukit is unique. The whole peninsula is formed of very porous limestone starting near the surface and going down to sea level. Nick, who helped conduct a ground water investigation there in the 1980s, found the fresh water table was very far down. “There’s only a shallow layer of fresh water on top of saline water, which will quickly be exhausted if uncontrolled development is allowed,” he stated. And guess what?
Australia has a great system of capturing and storing rainwater in underground cisterns; it would make sense to adopt it here.
* My septic tank has a floor and runs through a wastewater garden
Sewage is a subject not often discussed in the villa set, but it’s a growing problem in Bali. Many builders skimp on the important issue of the septic tank, making it too small and/or allowing polluted water to enter the water table. A simple, inexpensive waste water garden addresses this problem. If you’re building on the beach, make sure you know where your effluent is going.
* I don’t use chemical fertilizers and pesticides in my garden
All the chemicals you use in your house and garden will eventually leach into the surrounding water table and/or enter the rivers and irrigation systems used by Balinese for bathing. Chemicals sold here are often banned in the west, including DDT.
* I recycle as much of my solid waste as possible
Even the most distracted visitor can’t help but notice that Bali has overwhelming waste management issues. There are systems in place in the most populated parts of Bali to recycle plastic, paper, glass and metal. The informal bicycle scavengers seen all over Bali provide a valuable service; arrange to leave your recyclables outside the gate for them to take away. In the Ubud area, ABC Solutions (tel 0361 978963) will collect your waste, recycle what they can and deliver the rest to a controlled landfill. In the south, Ecobali Recycling (ecobali@yahoo.com) collects recyclables weekly and delivers them to the Temesi demonstration recycling plant. Organics can be composted.
* I used minimal or recycled wood in my villa
Wood is one of the hottest political issues in Indonesia today. The country’s rapidly disappearing forests are being plundered for this increasingly valuable resource and trees in national parks and other protected areas are routinely harvested as well. There is practically no legal hardwood left in the country. Kudos to those who are creative enough to use recycled teak, ironwood or treated bamboo, or minimize the amount of wood used in building.
* I am sensitive to the amount of electricity I consume and incorporate solar/alternative power where possible
Bali is already facing serious power problems. Most of its electricity is imported from Java, which itself is experiencing shortages. The typical Balinese compound, which is these days often home to large extended families, is wired for between 400 and 800 watts of electricity. How would you feel if your kids didn’t have enough light to study at night, while the villa down the road is burning 5,000 watts?
* I support sustainable projects in my community
When a foreigner builds a villa in Bali, the local community seldom benefits. The owner of the land usually runs through his/her windfall in a few months. Locals may or may not be used in the actual building of the villa (Javanese being so much more cost-effective and not having to constantly stop work for ceremonies). A few local people might be hired as staff. If you rent out your villa, the money usually goes overseas. I know of real estate companies and individuals who make a point of repairing village schools which they then sponsor children to attend (see www.ykip.com), subsidize older or handicapped kids in job training (j-mantjika@yahoo.com), start recycling programs (www.idepfoundation.org), and bring craft production or other work to their communities.
Tropical Living Magazine has pledged in its October-December issue that all its villa projects will be ecologically responsible from now on. Congratulations for setting an inspiring example for the industry, and may this mark the beginning of a culture of Ethical Villas.
E-mail: bali_cat7@yahoo.com
Copyright © 2007 Greenspeak
You can read all past articles of Greenspeak at www.BaliAdvertiser.biz
How good is all this for Bali? Many of the developments are cookie-cutter, off-the-shelf plans without much Balinese character. They run the full range of environmentally sustainable design to who-gives-a-damn extravagance. We assume that environmental safeguards are in place, as they are in our home countries, when we build our dream homes. But sadly, that’s not the case. Everyone who builds or buys a house in Bali needs to take responsibility for the social and environmental impacts it will cause. Some of my good friends have bought or built villas without considering the increasingly rare resources they are thoughtlessly consuming. A marble-floored palace in the rice field with five air-conditioned bedrooms gives a mixed message to the farmer next door who is struggling to feed their families.
On the other hand, there are ethical designers and builders in Bali who are creating beautiful, sustainable homes which have a minimal impact on the environment.
Take the Ethical Villa Quiz and give yourself a star for each of the following statements that apply to you
* No agricultural land was lost when I built/bought my villa
Is your villa beautifully located in the middle of rice fields? That means you’ve directly contributed to the rapid decrease of Bali’s precious agricultural land. Yes, there’s a law that says you can’t do this. No, it is not enforced. The ethical choice is to build on the land at river edges that the Balinese don’t use for farming, and which will also safeguard your view.
* I’m sensitive to the water issues in my neighbourhood
Water is a big issue in Bali. There isn’t enough, and what remains is increasingly polluted. The crater lakes that provide household water to southern Bali are now also being tapped by desperate farmers, and water levels are dropping alarmingly.
All wells lower the ground water table. If you drill a deep well that is tapping the same water supply as your neighbours who have shallower wells, they may lose their water supply. A big problem in the coastal areas is that if the fresh water wells take out more than rainfall returns to the ground, then the heavier salt water from the sea will intrude inland and rise into the existing wells. The cancellation of irrigation water brought in from the mountain subaks is another problem. “Much of Seminyak has been blocked off in the last few years due to building,” notes engineer Nick Lee. “The irrigation water was helping to keep the fresh water table up and hold back the saltwater intrusion. I fully expect our wells to become saline in the next few years.”
The water situation on the Bukit is unique. The whole peninsula is formed of very porous limestone starting near the surface and going down to sea level. Nick, who helped conduct a ground water investigation there in the 1980s, found the fresh water table was very far down. “There’s only a shallow layer of fresh water on top of saline water, which will quickly be exhausted if uncontrolled development is allowed,” he stated. And guess what?
Australia has a great system of capturing and storing rainwater in underground cisterns; it would make sense to adopt it here.
* My septic tank has a floor and runs through a wastewater garden
Sewage is a subject not often discussed in the villa set, but it’s a growing problem in Bali. Many builders skimp on the important issue of the septic tank, making it too small and/or allowing polluted water to enter the water table. A simple, inexpensive waste water garden addresses this problem. If you’re building on the beach, make sure you know where your effluent is going.
* I don’t use chemical fertilizers and pesticides in my garden
All the chemicals you use in your house and garden will eventually leach into the surrounding water table and/or enter the rivers and irrigation systems used by Balinese for bathing. Chemicals sold here are often banned in the west, including DDT.
* I recycle as much of my solid waste as possible
Even the most distracted visitor can’t help but notice that Bali has overwhelming waste management issues. There are systems in place in the most populated parts of Bali to recycle plastic, paper, glass and metal. The informal bicycle scavengers seen all over Bali provide a valuable service; arrange to leave your recyclables outside the gate for them to take away. In the Ubud area, ABC Solutions (tel 0361 978963) will collect your waste, recycle what they can and deliver the rest to a controlled landfill. In the south, Ecobali Recycling (ecobali@yahoo.com) collects recyclables weekly and delivers them to the Temesi demonstration recycling plant. Organics can be composted.
* I used minimal or recycled wood in my villa
Wood is one of the hottest political issues in Indonesia today. The country’s rapidly disappearing forests are being plundered for this increasingly valuable resource and trees in national parks and other protected areas are routinely harvested as well. There is practically no legal hardwood left in the country. Kudos to those who are creative enough to use recycled teak, ironwood or treated bamboo, or minimize the amount of wood used in building.
* I am sensitive to the amount of electricity I consume and incorporate solar/alternative power where possible
Bali is already facing serious power problems. Most of its electricity is imported from Java, which itself is experiencing shortages. The typical Balinese compound, which is these days often home to large extended families, is wired for between 400 and 800 watts of electricity. How would you feel if your kids didn’t have enough light to study at night, while the villa down the road is burning 5,000 watts?
* I support sustainable projects in my community
When a foreigner builds a villa in Bali, the local community seldom benefits. The owner of the land usually runs through his/her windfall in a few months. Locals may or may not be used in the actual building of the villa (Javanese being so much more cost-effective and not having to constantly stop work for ceremonies). A few local people might be hired as staff. If you rent out your villa, the money usually goes overseas. I know of real estate companies and individuals who make a point of repairing village schools which they then sponsor children to attend (see www.ykip.com), subsidize older or handicapped kids in job training (j-mantjika@yahoo.com), start recycling programs (www.idepfoundation.org), and bring craft production or other work to their communities.
Tropical Living Magazine has pledged in its October-December issue that all its villa projects will be ecologically responsible from now on. Congratulations for setting an inspiring example for the industry, and may this mark the beginning of a culture of Ethical Villas.
E-mail: bali_cat7@yahoo.com
Copyright © 2007 Greenspeak
You can read all past articles of Greenspeak at www.BaliAdvertiser.biz
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