Friday 29 June 2012

Why was this young Australian murdered?


Police suspect an Australian man found dead on the side of a road near a popular resort area in Bali was murdered.
It was initially thought Mark Ovenden, from the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, may have died after falling from his rented motorcycle.
But it emerged on Monday that police in Bali had opened a murder investigation after an autopsy report found asphyxiation from a wooden stick or other hard object was likely to be the primary cause of death.

Why isn’t this making headline news right across Australia? Nothing against Schapelle Corby, but if the Australian beauty student coughed loudly it would be front page news.

A young Australian has been murdered in Bali and very few details of the incident are being released. Why is that? The question needs to be asked. Is it the Bali Police, the Bali Government or are the Australian media just not that interested? Or is there something far more sinister going on? I don’t know. But I would like to know.

I witnessed this when a young Kiwi tourist was bashed in a Bali nightclub and died the next morning. Yes it was reported but it was by no means given high priority in the media. I still don’t know if anyone has been charged over the case, or if anyone was sent to jail.

What happened to the young Australian recently murdered in Bali? And what will happen to the perpetrators of this crime if they are caught? Will they be given the death penalty? Or is that particular punishment reserved for stupid Australians who try and smuggle drugs into Indonesia?

It does appear that nobody wants to report on the bad things that happen in Bali. And I can’t help but wonder if this because Australian journalists are afraid of being arrested or deported if they say something bad about Indonesia...

Wednesday 27 June 2012

Bali Raw on Indonesia Matters

I've been lucky enough to have people write some good things about my book. Ok, they also write some bad things, but that's the way it goes. Bali Raw is not for everyone, I know that.

You can read what people are saying on Indonesia Matters right now...

Bali Raw selling out in Bali

Bali Raw is apparently selling fast in Indonesia. A mate rang me yesterday to tell me he'd been in a Periplus store and the owner told him he got 20 copies in and sold 15 in a week! My publisher is reprinting so don't worry if you don't get a copy now, there'll be more coming in soon.

Have you read it? Let me know what you think...