Education: A necessity for Bali to move forward
Bali has developed from a traditional village culture, to a tourist culture in many parts of the island. Those village attitudes, ideas and ways of interacting are part of what makes Bali special. Visitors can find it quite enchanting when a waiter or waitress approaches, quite independently and engages them in conversation. One of the problems in Bali is the lack of education and a reliance on the village mentality to conducts business.
In Seminyak I see many businesses that are closed. Contract finished, the signs say. In other places I see sign advertising land for sale. What happens here in Bali is that the locals are eager to get outsiders (foreigners and other Indonesians) to rent and develop land. They wait and see if the new renters new business is a success. If it fails so be it. If it is a success the landlord will often ask for a massive increase in rent, sometimes 10 times the original price. The most successful landmark of the 1990s. Goa Café on Jl. Legian had to close because the lease was up and the owner wanted an impossible increase. I have had Indonesians tell me the same thing.
So the business owner closes the business, only to start up somewhere else and the original space remains empty. This economic model is designed for failure and I would not ever want to be in the retail business here.
How does education change all that? Education teaches people that business relationships take time to cultivate and are worth something. Trashing them and starting over wastes other peoples time and your time. Get rich quick (or rip off quick) is a sure-fire way to stay poor 20 years down the track. The problem is that not many people here can see that.
By Nick | Permalink
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The only way out for the Balinese and Indonesians is to invest heavily in education. Simple things such as rubbish disposal techniques are either not understood or not applied. Bali has a very real pollution problem on it’s hand which has to be addressed. Other day I was out at Dreamland and the place is being trashed. Sad to see. Their lack of business understanding is part of the poor education system.