Begging is probably the oldest profession in the world, although its not a part of traditional Balinese culture. When I walk around Seminyak I see ladies, old and young walking around with their hand out. The places they frequent are Bintang supermarket, Poppies II in Kuta, Jl. Legian and the roundabout at Simpang Siur. Many of these people are from Java and others are from the Bali Aga village of Trunyan. I asked a hawk eyed lady with a kid once where she came from and she said Trunyan.
I know from other expats and locals, that the groups of kids are organized, getting dropped off from a big truck every morning and picked up at night after a day's collecting. I feel sorry for them, but realize most of the money is going to a 'boss', not to them.
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When we were in Bali recently, we were passengers in my son’s car driving on the Bypass. Whilst we were stuck at an intersection, Ron saw some beggars approaching and wound up his window. Then he saw it was a woman leading a man who was obviously blind. He told us that he gives to people who are genuinely disadvantaged and wound his window down to make a donation. I was moved to make a larger donation and the woman’s gratitude was very touching.
I realise that we need to be discerning in view of the large number of “professional” beggars in Bali. Unfortunately, this can mean that some of the genuine people miss out.
We have common ground here Tony. We both feel concern for people who are poor through no fault of their own and feel moved to try to help them.
I can’t speak for you, but I can’t afford to give to every beggar in Bali, no more than I can afford to buy from every vendor. So I prefer to give to those needy people [if I can] who benefit directly, rather than to those who are part of some commercial co-operative with a boss-man skimming off the cream.
You are all so uninformed on world issues. Beggars are all over the world and many people know who to give the money and who not to give the money. Beggars are often people with low prospects who see it as an advantage to get money with no expences. Therefor all revenue no expences. Now that is what i call the america dream!
Child beggars are worse. i refuse to give beggars money on the grounds that everyone else is just as poor as them but they atleast try to make a living.
Living in egypt i know this from expiernce. Begging is an easy job. think about it annoying one person you could get 1 dollar, the average wage of a hand working civil servant an hour. the truley poor do not beg for money.
thanks for your time once again.
In concurrence with Nick, I do know (at least in Java) that babies are actually rented to professional beggars during the day who then ply their trade at the street intersections and return the babies at the end of the day!
Whilst you can never be 100% sure of any individual circumstance, I’m sure blind people can also be “rented” in such a way…
caveat emptor (or whatever it is for donors!) applies here…
Personally I rarely give money unless I’m reasonably sure about who will benefit from it.
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