No porn, no strip clubs but sexy dancers are OK

The Indonesian Government is very strict on pornography and recently an anti-pornography bill was passed that threatened Bali's very existence as a holiday island: under the new law bikinis are supposed to be outlawed.

Anti-porn bill leads to slow download speed

This anti-porn bill has also led to the internet-download speed being reduced to prevent porn from being downloaded, and resulted in the publisher of Playboy Indonesia being sent to jail, even though the magazine contained no nudity.

A funny footnote to this is that one of the proponents of this law, and an important Member of Parliament, was recently photographed looking at porn on his tablet during a parliamentary sitting. I found this incredibly funny in an it-can-only-happen-in-Indonesia kind of way.

Strip clubs in Bali

During my time in Bali two strip clubs opened and both places lasted about six months before they were shut down resulting in the foreign owners of both establishments losing a lot of money. I do not know the circumstances regarding the closure of the first place, but the second strip club was shut down because it became overrun by Indonesian gangs.

One practice employed by foreigners owning nightclubs in Bali is to impose cover charges for Indonesians to enter a club - something that is often condemned as being racist. The reasons club owners give for this practice are a) Indonesians do not drink much, b) foreigners do not like to go to clubs and be surrounded by Indonesian men, and c) Indonesian gangs take over the clubs, extort the staff and start trouble with the foreign clientele. The latter is apparently what happened to the second strip club.

The owner thought he had done the right thing by paying the right people, unfortunately he neglected to charge a door fee and within months a gang set up shop in his club. The owner was soon forced out and the gang tried to run the club with little success.

Sexy dancers

Indonesia's solution to its lack of strip clubs is sexy dancers - this phenomenon came to Bali about five years ago and now sexy dancers cam be found in the more popular and upmarket clubs.


From the chapter 'Thumbs Up', Bali Raw.

Hell for Schapelle in Kerobokan Prison

I’m no expert on Balinese law and I do not know enough about Schapelle Corby or her case to comment on whether she is guilty or not. It would simply be unfair for me to speculate either way.

I will, however, be happy if she does walk free from Kerobokan Prison.

I can only imagine that life in that place was nothing short of hell. To be locked up in a foreign land like Indonesia for such a long time would have taken great mental fortitude on her part. And it would be a surprise to me if she wasn’t suffering from some form of mental illness due to her incarceration.

The divide between the Indonesian and Australian way of doing things is massive and, although I am not comparing myself or my circumstances to hers in any way, I am aware that when I do return to Australia for brief periods of time I do suffer a little culture shock.

I am in no doubt that for Schapelle this would have been magnified immensely when she was incarcerated and that it will be just as difficult a shock when she returns home.

I am glad Schapelle's nightmare may be coming to a close. But my hope would be that the Australian people and press allow her the time she may need to readjust to life in her own country.

Avoiding trouble in Bali's nightclubs

About a month after I arrived in Bali to live, I was attacked while walking through a nightclub. Someone decided to take me out and they did it with a king hit.

I had spent the night chatting to a Japanese computer expert who I thought could help me with my new role in the company. I had been given control of the company website and I thought the Japanese guy could give me some advice. I spent the later part of the evening talking to a big South African guy, who happened to grow up in the same place as a friend of mine. All innocent stuff.

I had just excused myself from the South African and was making my way to the toilet when I found my path blocked. I asked some guy if he could move his chair so that I could get past and I even said "excuse me". The next thing I knew, a huge tattooed arm came out of nowhere and slammed into the side of my face. I was sent sprawling through the crowd and ended up in the middle of the dance floor. I tried to stand and defend myself but my legs were jelly; I slipped back to the floor and flopped around in my blood like a landed fish. I was semi-conscious with people staring at me and half my face was caved in. I had a broken nose and a crushed cheekbone, and no one bothered to lend a hand.

Then I saw the Indonesian security heading my way and I knew I was in trouble. These guys didn't mess about and I was an easy target. Again I tried to stand but I could only just make it to my knees. The crowd parted to let the security through, and I was grabbed roughly by the back of the shirt. Luckily, the huge South African I had been talking to earlier stepped between me and the security; he pushed them away, then hoisted me to my feet and put a protective arm around my shoulder.

The South African was a big guy, about six two and a hundred and ten kilos - he was a formidable-looking character and I was very glad he'd come to my rescue. The security was adamant that they wanted me for causing trouble but the South African faced them down. I was in no shape to protect myself or argue my point but he would not let them near me.

Eventually the security relented and they told the South African to take me outside; they said they didn't want me in their club. I was pretty sure I didn't want to be in their club either.

The big South African put an arm about my waist and carried me outside - he ended up covered in blood and for that I was sorry. It was a big sacrifice for him to make when he was on holiday and just wanted to have fun.

I felt I had hit rock bottom that night, I didn't want to call my brother for help but I had no choice. I felt isolated in a foreign land that I didn't understand. I wondered why the security hadn't gone after the guy who king hit me.

Now I know better. I was incredibly lucky that night; I now know from experience that I would have received a kicking from the Indonesian security guards if they had dragged me outside. Indonesian security go after the weak, not the strong. I was an easy target - a Westerner they could hurt without repercussion. After many years in Indonesia, and a lot of time spent in Bali nightclubs, I have seen this scenario play out dozens of times, and it is inevitably the person that is down that gets the beating.




From the chapter 'Turn the Other Cheek', Bali Raw

Aussie tourists and HIV-positive hookers in Bali

Did you see this story by Steve Pennells in the West Australian newspaper on the weekend about Australians and HIV- positive working girls in Bali?

Here's a taste of the article:

"Australians are not good," Lily says, sitting on the floor of a small room in Sanur surrounded by cheap glamour photos taken of her in a bikini. 

 The young ones are always "mabuk", she explains, using the Indonesian word for drunk.  

And they are often rough.  

"I see it at Paddys Bar all the time. They are drunk, stupid and fighting," she says. She has sex with at least one Australian tourist each night, picking them up at the iconic 

Paddys Bar where she pays the staff RP50,000 ($5.43) to get inside and flirt with the tourists. When she goes back to their hotel, many refuse to use a condom.  

And she never tells them she is HIV positive. It's bad for business.

You can't be too careful. Seriously. I've seen so many men pick up a girl in a bar, without realising she's a working girl. And I've seen nearly as many offer to look after a girl so she can stop working and behind his back, she's still on the game. The prevalence of AIDS among working girls in Bali is SHOCKINGLY high, and tourists who stupidly insist on no protection are making a huge mistake.

This is exactly the kind of thing that made me start to write Bali Raw. People need to know the truth about the dark side of Bali.

What's Bali Raw?

For too long, Bali has been portrayed to the world as the paradise of paradises. But Bali is also violent, ugly, distasteful and living in Bali can be a game of survival.

This is the Bali that I know and I have called home for almost a decade, a Bali where the fittest survive and those with the biggest wallet and the greatest connections endure.

There is much I love about Bali, but I became so tired of tourists gushing blindly about how wonderful Bali is. The truth about the people living in Bali - the Balinese, Indonesian locals and expats, including myself - needs to be known, and journalists often seem afraid to write about it. 

And so I started writing a book called Bali Raw: An Expose of the Underbelly of Bali, Indonesia ...