Walking home

There’s a change in the Weather

By Kadek Krishna Adidharma

“Do you think climate change will affect Bali?” one of Bali’s nine vice-Regents was asked recently, as part of a study.

“Off course not!” he retorted, face deadpan and serious. “We have Tri Hita Karana!”

Shock. Horror. Does Bali have a magical bubble to protect itself from the ravages of global climate change? Indeed, many people think the tiny island of Bali lies in its own sphere independent of the Indonesian archipelago, but since when did this sphere separate from earth’s globe?

Belief in the power of devotion and ceremony to create a psychic bubble protecting Bali had been shattered by the rude awakening of terrorist attacks. Is this a sign of a resurgence of faith in the island’s inviolability?

Not so fast! A twinkle in the eye and a mischievous grin are detected.

“We have nothing to fear IF we apply this philosophy thoroughly,” he adds.

Touché. The world better prepare for the local wisdom Bali is going to offer in the next two weeks. Local delegates will certainly attempt to usher the beauties of Balinese life philosophy to centre stage.

Tri Hita Karana is most often translated as three reasons for harmony. It refers to the three causes of welfare and security, consisting of Parahyangan, harmony between man and the Divine; Pawongan, harmony between humans and their fellow man; and Palemahan, harmony between human beings and the environment.

It implies that no man is the master of the universe. Nor should man lord over lesser men or creatures. We are all a small part of the whole unity. Each and every one of us has to be conscious of our role.

The Sanskrit word Tri means three and Karana can be translated as means or cause, but the translation of Hita is still a bone of contention as far as I’m concerned. Besides harmony, Hita can also mean lovable being, astral heart path, joy, benefit, welfare, sustainability, or my favorite: Beauty.

If we’re going to market this concept abroad, I would argue that three reasons for beauty would be a lot sexier three reasons for harmony.

Wait! Have we patented this concept yet? It’s a matter of time before it gets ripped off as a Hollywood movie. After all, a prominent Balinese artist has recently been talking of patenting his brush-strokes, and Malaysia accused of stealing Indonesian song and dance! Am I barking mad or just running a fever?

Feverish is an apt description of Bali’s preparations for the United Nations extravaganza unleashing tens of thousands of the world’s top environmental minds upon the tropical paradise tomorrow.

All the world’s major environmental NGOs have been gathering, preparing assessments and action plans.

With experts jetting in early, resident activists have been going into overdrive with meetings, brainstorming workshops, revising reports with latest data. Some are actually working up a high fever, literally, due to lack of sleep and too much time in air-conditioned meeting rooms.

This correspondent bravely accepted a minor role in a team commissioned by WWF-Indonesia for the Coral Triangle Initiative to conduct a study called ‘Rapid Assessment on Climate Change Potential Threats: Its Impact on Bali’s Economy and the Role of the Tourism Industry.’

If there is one thing I learnt from this study, it would be that environmental issues such as pollution and changing land use, while they contribute to climate change, are not new. With or without climate change, these issues need to be addressed. However, climate change can be a trigger to unite environmental adaptation, planning and action. Having audited, measurable improvements, when put in terms of carbon emissions, could allow Indonesia to earn revenue through carbon trade.

But really, we shouldn’t be doing it just for the money.

On the Thursday November 22 edition, the Jakarta Post reported youth protesting for the right of poor people to exploit natural resources to make a living. There seems to be this bizarre notion of the right to be rich becoming a precondition for even caring about the environment.

Effects of global warming are already evident in Java and Bali. Extreme high tide phenomena causing inundation is not only isolated when high tide and rain synergize with the full moon. Just ask the people of Semarang, Demak, Surabaya, Tegal, and Brebes. There, inundation and 15-20cm of ponding can last up to a month, and is becoming more frequent.

Besides sea level rise, warmer sea temperatures and extreme weather conditions, global warming also risks making communicable diseases and lifestyle-related diseases more widespread.

Our three beauties are important moral guidelines, but rhetoric and prayer is not enough. These concepts need to be brought beyond philosophy and politics into the realm of action.

Besides offering local wisdom, Bali would benefit from listening to the global warnings. We have a lot of adjusting to do now that global warming has become a reality.

As one respondent to our questionnaire put it, “The calendar that has been giving Balinese a lot of guidance about when is the best time to do things, especially traditional rice farming and ceremonies, is no longer accurate.”

Has the time come to re-calibrate our traditional calendar to reflect the changes that have already happened to our weather?

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This article was intended to be printed as the pilot for a new column called Three Beauties. It was printed on The Jakarta Post Sunday, 2 December 2007 edition under the Walking home banner by mistake.

To be a more effective catalyst for change, I have since decided that this conversation is more important to have in Bahasa Indonesia to reach a wider Indonesian readership.

For the last six months, it has been a pleasure taking this routine Sunday walk with you. Thank you for joining me and tolerating my rambling raves. As of today’s final column in the Jakarta Post, I have moved this column online. I will blog updated retrospectives of previous columns for you to comment on as well as new topics of discussion. If you’re looking for the back-issues, click here for the static archive.

Cumbersome growth spurts affect us all, be they physical, mental or emotional. On the spiritual aspect, I had a lot of help, especially in the form of a ritual every 210 days to bring me down to earth.

It can be described simply as my Balinese birthday, during which I am guided to honor the guardian angels of our folklore. In Bali, the closest concept to guardian angels is the Kanda Ampat, the four unborn siblings. Their protecting and nurturing presence can be described as the baby’s relationship with its umbilical chord, fetal membrane, amniotic fluid, and placenta. Among these four siblings, a baby grows from a single cell to take human form.

During those sacred moments when I emerged into this world, my siblings’ pulse began to fade and they entered the spirit world. The bonds that connected us during our nine-month-long journey together continue in less tangible forms. They become my mediators with the spirit world as represented by the natural forces around us. I sense them influencing my keen instincts and finer intuition as well as the wrenching warnings deep inside my gut.

At the end of this ceremony I always feel a stronger connection to the natural world. I become more aware of how the human body is a microcosm as complex as the universe itself. Millions of bio-chemical compounds, enzymes and electrically charged molecules are required for the day-to-day processes of a functioning mind and body. The balance called sanity or good health is indeed a miracle.

My afterbirth is buried in the ancestral temple at my grandfather’s land. Reminded of this fact at each birthday, I feel a strong sense of belonging to my family and home. Being part of a huge extended family has also given me a strong sense of knowing my place in the many relationships within a family.

I may travel the world alone, but within weeks of arriving I would adopt a mother, brothers, sisters and father figures at the new place, making it feel like home in no time at all. This is quite a common trait among Indonesians, which goes to show just how strong our family instincts are.

As citizens of the world, technically we are all always at home. Walking home then becomes a metaphor for the search for Self: Identity, belonging, understanding, and acceptance of our inner landscape rather than the world outside.

No matter how often I go away, arriving back to Bali remains a profound experience. Touching down at Ngurah Rai airport, there is a sensation of slipping into a second skin, becoming once again a tiny cell within a much larger multi-cellular organism. Actions, utterances and thoughts become tempered by a communal conscience.

The great open spaces of the world allowed me to grow as an individual. I learnt to enjoy my own company and found out what drives me. However in Bali, until I reproduce it seems I will always be a protected child.
Distance makes the heart grow fonder and offers new perspectives. From the outside looking in, I can observe and mull over issues back home with more clarity.

When migrant workers return (I am almost certain that most Balinese will at least attempt to), there is the inevitable clash of their newfound egos with the super ego of the community. There is a price to pay for belonging.

Dispensation comes with the transient or visitor label. A friend from Sabah built his home here, but rarely needs more than the 30-day visa. Constant travel maintains his freedom and productivity. Rest in Ubud is his reward. Astutely, he reminded me how Bali is a feudal conformist society.

It’s tempting to remain footloose and fancy free, constantly traveling, but being away for too long can diminish your right of say in the family or village. There’s the attitude: ”You weren’t here through the tough times, what do you know?’ As more young minds go abroad and adapt to the ways of the world, I hope their knowledge will be as welcome as the cash they bring home.

I pass clumps of green, yellow and black bamboo to emerge at a lakeside temple. A new affluence has touched its walls and steps, now concreted. But inside, the primitive temporary figurines from indigenous wood and tree-fern remain.

This temple aptly illustrates how I find myself: A hardy modern mix outside, capricious animist inside.