Last April, a video of a YouTuber wearing a fake “mask” went viral in Indonesia. The content creator had a fake mask painted on her face and entered a supermarket with her friend. Their prank was successful in the moment but they were later questioned by the authorities. The duo posted an apology video on Instagram, saying they didn’t intend to make fun of local rules. Rather, they said, their prank was meant to entertain people as it’s their “job” as content creators.
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In December last year, an Instagram celebrity drove his motorbike into the ocean, violating a local environmental law that could lead to three years in prison. Further investigations revealed that the stunt was done in conjunction with a large party he had set up at the time. More than 50 people had attended the party, violating the restrictions on crowds. He apologized for his actions and was deported back to his homeland.
Bali struggles to find the right punishments to scare naughty foreigners. Weak punishments hardly have any effect on them; the fine applied for not wearing a mask in public places, for instance, is just IDR100,000 (about USD 6.7). Tourists would simply laugh it off and pay the measly amount. The officials have come up with more creative punishment, such as asking the rule breakers to do push-ups, but this has not been taken seriously either.
Anti-mask foreigners (tourists and expatriates) have argued that since “many locals” didn’t wear masks, they should not be forced to wear one. However, according to the officials, foreigners make up 80% of all health protocol violators.
Many foreigners think that they’re being specifically targeted by the authorities. Some believe that since it’s mostly locals who have caught the virus, the focus should be on disciplining the locals. They may forget (or they do not care) that a person can be a carrier of the virus without having any symptoms. They may not feel sick while still actively spreading the virus to the people around them.
The reason locals have been more obedient to Covid-19 rules is that not many of them want to waste a valuable IDR100,000 during these hard times. People are losing jobs and businesses, so it can take weeks to get that much money. Little money means limited budgets, which often leads to a decision to limit expenditure. A mask may not cost a lot of money for foreigners, but it means an additional expense for many affected locals. Foreigners who think they’re being specifically targeted have misunderstood the whole situation. They’re not in the same boat as most locals.
Those who have been living in Bali know that entitled tourists have been around for a long time. They would ignore local customs, commit crimes, and disrespect holy sites, knowing they would only receive a verbal warning or light punishment. Bali’s officials may be afraid of taking stern action against those tourists, fearing that they may upset them. They don’t want them to stop visiting Bali since tourism is the largest contributor to the island’s economy. All these bending-over backward behaviors have made foreign tourists more negligent, looking down on local rules and customs.
Before the pandemic, you’d often find foreign tourists riding on motorbikes without helmets on the streets of Kuta. Some would chug several pints of beer before jumping onto their scooters and driving away without a helmet. They might not do these things in their home countries but, for some reason, they were fine doing this in Bali. Perhaps, they enjoyed the special treatment given to them. Or maybe, they thought the lives of the people living here mattered less than those of the people they met back home.
Not wearing helmets and speeding are among the most common traffic violations committed by foreigners. Some of them have argued that they did what the locals did, which is a bad excuse, since two wrongs do not make a right. Locals have always been held accountable, in fact they often face harsher punishments. The officials can take away their motorbikes, which they can only get back after attending the traffic court a few weeks after. Tourists don’t have this problem since they ride on rented motorbikes and the police won’t take away a rented bike.
Riding on a motorbike in Bali requires more than having a driver’s license and wearing a helmet. One should also know the local traffic regulations.
Bali’s over-reliance on tourism has pushed the province to become very permissive and over-tolerant toward rule breakers. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
In June last year, an Instagram influencer was killed in a motorbike accident in a resort town in Kuta. She suffered a serious head injury. Her boyfriend mentioned that she had been wearing a helmet and that she was not speeding. He said that she only went about 80 to 100 kph at the time. He might not know that the speed limit for residential areas is maximum 30 kph; and up to 50 kph for inner city areas. This is why knowing local traffic regulations is very important.
The police department has stepped up their game in dealing with traffic violation problems. They’ve installed an electronic device that can capture different kinds of traffic violations, such as expired plate numbers, speeding, and many others. As for the anti-maskers, there’s only a small hope for change. If an increased fine could not deter those rule breakers, maybe detention would.
Bali’s over-reliance on tourism has pushed the area to become very permissive and over-tolerant toward rule breakers. But it doesn’t have to be that way. When the pandemic is over, Bali can attract as many tourists as possible. But it will not be over soon, if the region keeps lowering itself to meet the desires of these irresponsible tourists. Bali should apply stronger punishments against the rule breakers and see it as filtering out bad tourists instead of “losing” them. Because, if rule breaking is what they want to do, they may not be the calibre of tourist that Bali so desperately needs.
Image credit: Vera Davidova