I could rant for ages about how wrong the Indonesian legal system is and how those arrogant corrupt and mindless customs officers, judges & politians ignore and bend facts to their liking but i wont. Yes i dont want to wish harm to the nice people of bali trying to make a living but this barbaric justice system of theirs has to be addressed some how! Can you imagine how many others(Aussie or not) are being locked up for either pissy little drug possessions (which would attract a fine in Aus) or worse still are innocent!! I from this day on will boycott all things indonesian and in particular BALI..... I will not visit that country out of protest to their corruption and lack of humanity....what an absolute JOKE!! Just imagine your own sister, daughter, wife or girlfriend in her Chair today.....bloody SAD. Shame on you John Howard! Step in you friggin coward!! PS: I have a client who when delivering major items to Balis wharf, has to store cases of quality scotch, ciggarettes and other western trinkets so they do not get held up for weeks before docking.... this is standard practice in BALI where money buys shortcuts!
yep, stuff em if they're not going to give people fair trials then why should we go blow heaps of cash over there and help their crappy economy. Stuff them, too much risk - I for one will NEVER go to that 'tip.
Good point But don't stop at boycotting one corrupt/barbaric country. You can add: Thailand China Vietnam Cambodia Laos Burma India + handfuls of the middle-eastern countries + South America and so on... plus any other less-developed country in the world you can think of. Ever been through customers in any of these countries? I agree with what has been said, but the ways in Indonesia aren't that different to most other developing countries. But then let's throw in some of the well-off countries too. Let's throw in the US. On the surface it may appear a democractic, fair, civilised country. But scrape the surface, and wouldn't you all agree that it's the stuff that happens behind closed doors that makes it one of the most viscuous countries in the world? Corby is just one of a million examples of what has happened for years and years. Actually, in relative terms she is extremely lucky. The judges would have ignored clear laws in sentencing her to 20 yrs instead of life or giving her the death penatly. The media saved this one.
What about all the cash we threw at them for tsunami... Screw them, let them rot on their island - the people of Bali are just as bad, from the custom's officers and the police down to the guy on the beach waiting to rip off your camera.
I agree on that too... 1. We threw squllions of $$s at them. ==> therefore, when they catch someone that they 'believe' has broken their laws, they outta put their laws aside and apply ours. After all, we gave 'em a tonne of money when they truly needed it and therefore that is a debt owed from them to us. 2. The places is full of crooks/crims/cons Their entire public service force is corrupt. From the wrong-doing heartless, ungrateful prime minister, to the blind judges, the corrupt officials, the corrupt cops, the money-hungry airport officials. True. You can't get through customs without bribes. It aint just the little guys. It goes right up to the very top Kahuna. Putting aside the ones in power, the little sh1t-kickers at the airports that expect a $10 bribe to let you through the gates are low-life scum. But corruption is also part of their system. It is their way of life. When you dine out at a restaurant in the US, it is expected that you tip. Waiters get sh1thouse wages that ASSUME they will get tipped. Same in Indonesia. They are paid on the basis that they will get bribes. Off the record of course. They guy on the beach that nicks the unsuspecting innocent tourist's camera is an unforgiveable scoundral. I bet that d1ck will go and pawn it off for beer money or (surprise surpsise) drugs! Shame shame. But why does that happen so often in countries like Indonesia and not Australia? The avg wage in Australia is $40k-$50k as I understand it. Even assuming $30k after tax, that is something like $600 bucks a week. That buys a sh1tload of beer. What about the Indo schmuck on the beach? $90/week? If he's lucky? Everyone wants food/cars/smokes/beers. And if you deprive a person enough in a world where he can look around and see Mr Tourist earning 5 times more, what's he gonna do? Steal. Of course, it doesn't make it ok. But it is a fact. Take a well-developed country, taje away 9/10ths of everyone's income and what do you get? Anarchy. Theft. Corruption. 3. Their legal system is fcked. No - their legal system is frighteningly similar to ours. The implementation of the system is fcked. That comes back to what is driving this whole thing - politics. I'm as p_ssed off as everyone else, but it is easy to get blinded by outright hatred/prejudice/racism.
FFS, are we going to start calling the Balinese Indonesians now or what? Lets just get it clear in our minds who we're talking about we we say "them" in all the above posts. Shall we also start calling the East Timorese Indonesians by extension? Why stop there, how about the people of Aceh and Irian Jaya?? The so called BALINESE justice system, and the people holding powerful positions in Bali, are Indonesian! The poor bloody Balinese - not only do they have to deal with being under the control of a state such as Indonesia, they also get boycotted by Australians, traditional peace keepers in the region and good tourists, because of what the Indonesians are doing in their country!
Re: Ask the people of East Timor or Aceh if it makes any difference... I believe the people of Bali were very pro Schapelle. Just the Wankers of mainland Indonesia that hate Australians and basically all westerners. Not that I mean to stereotype "ALL" mainland Indonesians either, but as a majority they hate Australians. Did you hear the fuckpigs cheering the verdict and jail sentence, and then the prosecution also wants to appeal the sentence because they feel it is too leanient, for christ sake!!! I Say Mr Howard, get off your A&^%&%, and make the 1 billion dollars of aid you promised Indonesia over the next 5 years conditional on the full pardoning of Schapelle. As for the media coverage, I don't care what legal system you have, there is no way that a judge should ever be allowed to talk about the case outside of the courtroom, especially to the media, and the head judge has the audacity to give a full interview. That was disgusting. As for the total disreregard to all the defence evidence and testimony, well we are low lifes so what does it matter. Anyway, I've got no doubt she will be released whether by appeal or pardon, but not before here life is ruined by what has passed or is still to come. Ever wonder where our next threat of invasion will come from. 140 million of them I beleive!!
Correct me if I am wrong but I took your response as ... "Sat-tyre". Whether Bali is "occupied" or not by Indonesia (most Australians probably did not realize until the Bali bombings that Bali was part of Indonesia); my grip is not with the people of Bali or Indonesia ... It is with the Indonesian legal system and the Australian government (whose "help" was too little too late"),
*coughs* Yes, I believe 90% of mainland Indonesians believe she's guilty. Hmmmm, pex... perhaps you are emotionally disturbed by what very well could be an injustice, but frankly I find your comments distasteful. You don't understand, the judges had absolutely no choice but to convict, ten pounds of pot was discovered in her possession and a crime has been proven. Under Indonesian law possession even without prior knowledge demands a conviction. And well, I wish all judges gave interviews instead of hiding in chambers. And why did the Indonesians cheer? Because they think it's another poor lil rich white kid who got caught, like the 100's of others before her. Perhaps her defense could be blamed? Or very good prosecutors? Or even bad sentiment and the press over there beating it up? But your attitude is only going to make things worse. Fuckpigs? *sigh*
Re: Correct me if I am wrong I agree. It would be a shame for tourists to shun Bali, as they need Aust tourist $$$ for their economy, and they have indeed been supportive of Schapelle. In my opinion, the courts just want to make an example, and prove that they are still hard line. AS I mentioned before, I am sure that on appeal, her case will be acquitted.
Re: Correct me if I am wrong I understand your point, i just think its stupid that comments such as "Boycott Bali" are being made when it should read "Boycott Indonesia". Its not fair to blame the Balinese people for acts committed by the legal system of the country occupying them. Edit: This anti-Bali sentiment is the same ill-advised shit that happened after the Bali bombing and the crisis in the months before and the days after the East Timorese gained independance... its just illogical. The only people who suffer are the Balinese - Hindu people. How is destroying their livelihoods going to bring stability to our corner of the world??
Re: *coughs* I normally don't have too much to say on matters pollitical. Perhaps my grammar was a little dis-tasteful , and if you found so, then I apologise. I fully understand that under Indonesian law, posession is ten tenths of the law, and we all knew the verdict would be guilty. As also mentioned, when taken to a higher court, when defence evidence can be presented properly and considered with due merit, I am sure the case will be acquitted. As for poor little rich kid, I won't have the same feelings for the Bali 9. But I do appreciate your thoughts on my comments, and hopefully the debate won't suffer as a result of anything I have written.
Strange behaviour??? I try not to go through customers anywhere. This is just my personal choice, but each to his own I say. :LOL::LOL:
