Bali Bombing anniversary in Kuta Bali

This afternoon was the anniversary of the Bali Bombing, that put the island on the world terror map. I remember back in 2003, Yahoo!’s homepage said ‘The frontlines of the war on terror, the bomb scared island of island of Bali.’ Jesus, Mary and Joseph, do they sit around making that stuff up?

Today’s ceremony at ‘Ground Zero’ started at 3pm, with a Balinese female speaker and a group of Balinese ladies singing. As usual the traffic was chaotic and I had to go via Jl. Imam Bonjol to get where I wanted to be. The white cloth that ran down Jl. Legian, still good in some places, battered in others.

The speaker talked about World peace, harmony, tolerance etc. An older Dutch lady spoke also about how the bombings had changed her life. At one point the Balinese MC asked everybody to introduce themselves to their neighbor, all a bit like a kids birthday party really, but good vibes anyway.

The whole show wrapped up with a very good gamelan band rattling out a rhythm at the memorial. The continuation of the ceremony starts again this evening and goes till 1am.
The vibe of the audience today was less emotional than in years past and the turn out less. Plenty of Indonesians in attendence and people were attentive.

If you have questions about the Bali Bombing anniversary, or charities associated with it, please contact Dallas Finn, at Bali Peace Park. He is the man with his finger on the pulse.