Thursday, October 8
No dates for Singapore Green Lane, overseas e-visas or new VOA yet + Denpasar not enforcing health protocols at businesses + Minister says 100k jobs have been lost, calls for new industries + more!
Good morning! Welcome to The Bali Beat for Thursday, October 8. If you’re not a subscriber, sign up here to get this update delivered directly to your Inbox every Monday-Saturday morning, along with each evening’s Covid-19 update. If you are already a subscriber, thank you! Please be sure to share it with others in the foreigner community on the island by clicking the button below.
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Weather & Waves
Today’s Weather for Southern Bali
Today’s Tides
Surf Outlook
*NOTE: The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has issued a High Wave Warning for a number of Indonesian territorial waters through Thursday. Waves as high as 1.25 to 2.5 meters are likely to occur in several waters, including the Bali Sea and northern Lombok Strait, as well as in the southern Bali-Lombok-Alas Strait.
Weather forecast from Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology & Geophysics Council (Link)
Tide table from Tide-forecast.com.
Surf outlook via Windy.com.
Local Covid Numbers
*NOTE: Two of Bali’s Regencies, Denpasar and Tabanan, remain classified as Red Zones by the national government. This is an improvement from early last month, when all but one of the Regencies was in the “high risk of transmission” range. Learn more here. Click here to see the national numbers infographic and a Regency-by-Regency breakdown of yesterday’s local numbers.
The Big News
"Indonesia in 'Final Phase' of Negotiations for A Reciprocal Green Lane With Singapore: Retno Marsudi" from CNA: "So hopefully in the not too distant future, we will be able to launch this RGL together with this emphasis: That once again this RGL is specifically intended for essential business trips and official trips that are very urgent," Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said. "Hopefully sometime this month, we can announce 'we are ready for that.'" She stressed that it is important for health protocols to continue to be implemented and maintained... When asked specifically when the green lane would be implemented, Mdm Marsudi said: "If we have announced it, it means that the negotiations have been concluded... When it is announced, we agree that not long after being announced, it can be implemented."
"During Operation Yustisi, No Businesses in Denpasar Have Been Closed" from The IDN Times (Indonesian): Per Governor Regulation (Pergub) Number 46 of 2020, the amount of fines applied to health protocol (prokes) violators is supposed to be IDR 100,000 per person, and IDR 1 million for business actors and other public facilities. According to the Head of the Denpasar Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP), I Dewa Anom Sayoga, many businesses in Denpasar have received guidance because they have not regulated distance restrictions. There was still a crowd of customers. He also said that the city of Denpasar has yet to take action against businesses that have been found to have violated the prokes. So far, the only prosecutions have been fines to individuals for not bringing and wearing a mask in the area where the business is located. "Until today, no business manager has been fined or has had their permit placed under review," he explained.
"Indonesia Police Use Water Cannon and Teargas to Disperse Labour Law Protests" from The Guardian: Elshinta radio posted a video on its official Twitter account showing police late in the evening using water cannon against hundreds of protesters in the city of Serang in Banten province, about 70km (43.5 miles) to the west of Jakarta. Other posts on social media also appeared to show water cannon being used on students in Serang. In Bandung, the capital of West Java province, police used tear gas against protesters who hurled rocks and fire crackers and damaged a police car... Critics of the omnibus law, which revises more than 70 existing laws to accelerate reform of south-east Asia’s largest economy, say it is too pro-business with its removal of labour protections and relaxation of environmental rules. Government officials say the law relaxes rigid labour rules and streamlines environmental rules in order to improve the investment climate and create jobs.
(Ed. Note: Protests haven been happening all across the country, including here in Bali, which you can read about here, here, and here. Crowds appear to be relatively small thanks to the pandemic, but there have been larger gatherings and heavy-handed police responses. Check out this report of police arresting ~100 demonstrators in Semarang to get an idea of what it’s like in the streets. Meanwhile, international groups continue to decry the new law. Read about one example, a letter sent to President Joko Widodo from Building and Wood Workers’ International, here.)
>> Classifieds <<
AMERICANS ABROAD - CAST YOUR VOTE FOR THE NOVEMBER ELECTION! We are 5 volunteers helping Americans vote from here since 2002. Due to mail delays you NEED TO START NOW, so CLICK HERE. And yes, we provide individual help too. Please VOTE; it’s so important this year!
Want to share your message with the most engaged members of the foreigner community in Bali? Click here to learn how to place a classified ad.
Other Headlines
"Can Foreigners Overseas Apply for Visas to Indonesia?" from Indonesian Expat: Online systems for applications are back functioning, but there are still many questions about who can enter and what visa options are available. In this short article Gary Joy, the founder of LetsMoveIndonesia, answers your most common questions... "Can foreigners enter Indonesia using visa on arrival?" No, not yet.
"Reducing Covid in Jembrana, Four Puskesmas Remodeled into Isolation Rooms" from Radar Bali (Indonesian): The increase in positive cases of Covid-19 in Jembrana has made the capacity of the isolation room at the State General Hospital (RSU) insufficient. One of the options chosen to treat patients with confirmed positive Covid-19 who are undergoing isolation is to use a health center that provides an inpatient room. "Only four puskesmas will be used for isolation, because they have met the requirements to become isolation sites," said Secretary of the Covid-19 Handling Task Force Jembrana I Made Sudiada. The four puskesmas have a capacity of 40 beds.
"PCR Tool at Buleleng Hospital Operates End of October" from Berita Bali (Indonesian): A Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) swab test kit machine from the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) for Buleleng Hospital will be operational at the end of October 2020, pending operational permission from the Indonesian Ministry of Health. This PCR tool was given to the Buleleng Regency Government to facilitate swab testing and speed up handling and examination of COVID 19. So far, swab samples have been sent to the Bali Provincial Government's laboratory. Once it is operating, Buleleng will independently carry out a swab test for patients diagnosed with COVID 19. Regional Secretary (Sekda) of Buleleng, Gede Suyasa, said, "The laboratory room is ready, supporting equipment has also been purchased. It is targeted that by the end of October it will be operational. If the permit will be facilitated by the Province of Bali."
"100,000 Workers Laid Off, Luhut Asks Bali to Not Only Rely on Tourists" from Suara Bali (Indonesian): Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said that the number of workers on the Island of the Gods who have been laid off as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic is nearly 100,000 people. He called on the Governor of Bali, I Wayan Koster, to not only rely on the tourism sector to create jobs. "Our agreement is that Bali does not just rely on tourists," said Luhut. He continued that the economy of Bali has been battered because foreign tourists arrivals have fallen 99%, resulting in losses of around Rp. 9 trillion per month.
(Ed. Note: Minister Luhut made these comments during the announcement of a massive new government-funded coral reef restoration project. It will span 50,000 hectares and be accompanied by a museum. Read more about it here.)
"Drug Cases in Bali Rise During Covid-19 Pandemic, Kapolda: Small Cases" from The Bali Tribune (Indonesian): According to data from the Bali Police's Drug Research Directorate, drug cases in Bali still exist, even increasing from before the Covid-19 pandemic. "For small amounts of narcotics in Bali, there are still a few," said Dr. Petrus Reinhard Golose, Bali Police Chief, Inspector General of Police... Director of the Bali Police Narcotics Detective, Kombes Pol Mochamad Khozin, said that drug dealers had increased during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the supply coming in from overseas. "Many from Vietnam, then from Vietnam to Malaysia, from Malaysia to Kalimantan, from Kalimantan to Sumatra, then to Java via Serang, Banten, then from there to Bali," he said.
"Eddie Van Halen’s Indonesian Roots Inspire Asian Pride As Tributes Pour in" from Coconuts: Van Halen, widely recognized as one of the greatest rock guitarists of all time, died at 65 yesterday after a long battle with cancer. As tributes poured in from all around the world, Indonesians mourned as if they lost one of their own, owing to the common knowledge here that Van Halen was part-Indonesian... Edward Lodewijk Van Halen was born on Jan. 26, 1955 in Amsterdam to a Dutch father and a half-Indonesian mother, Eugenia van Beers, who was born in Rangkasbitung, in what was then the Dutch East Indies. When Van Halen was seven, his family left the Netherlands to escape racial prejudice, particularly targeted at his mother, his older brother Alex, and himself. They moved to the US, where the brothers Van Halen would eventually form the band bearing their surname.
"Bali Officials Call in Holy Man to Perform Cleansing Ritual At ‘Haunted’ COVID-19 Hotel" from Coconuts: Less than a week after it started hosting asymptomatic COVID-19 patients, local officials called in a Hindu holy man to cleanse a hotel in Ubud following reports of supernatural sightings. Reports of supernatural sightings at an unnamed hotel designated for asymptomatic COVID-19 patients prompted officials from Gianyar regency to bring in a Hindu holy man, locally known as pemangku, to perform a cleansing ritual. “We brought in a pemangku there to ask for permission to use the place,” Made Gede Wisnu Wijaya, secretary of the Gianyar regency, said.
How You Can Help
In response to the collapse of the tourism sector in Bali and the resulting economic crisis, dozens of individuals and organizations have sprung into action, raising funds and distributing badly needed food and everyday essentials to the innumerable families who have suddenly found themselves without any source of income. We've been making an effort to document and raise awareness of these efforts. We will add information on projects in this space as we are able to confirm them. If you'd like to see a list of the efforts that we've featured so far and contribute to them with either time or money, visit our complete list here. You can also see a list of projects that have registered themselves at BaliSolidarity.org. If you know of an effort and would like to have them listed, please send their information to newsletter@migrationmedia.net.
About This Newsletter
This newsletter is a product of Migration Media, the hub for stories from and about the international migrant experience.
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We only include news items from established media sources
We do not share rumors.
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For all stories marked "Indonesian" I have used Google Translate to convert it from Bahasa. In most cases I try to polish the excerpt and/or write a short summary in proper English to help clarify the details.
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