Taken from ‘Bungklang Bungkling’, ‘Lengeh’, in Bali Post, Sunday, 12th April 2009,
a column by I Wayan Juniartha
Translated by Putu Semiada
a column by I Wayan Juniartha
Translated by Putu Semiada
STUPID
The result of the election has been known. What do you think of it?
“First, I would think that Balinese have forgotten their ancestors, says I Made Pawah Congah.
Everybody is smiling. The palm toddy ‘warung’ is getting quiet once the campaign session ends. No more donations from the calegs (parliamentary member candidates).
“What do you mean by forgetting our ancestors? Look! How high cremation tower (badé) and how big cremation wooden sarcophagus we make. And we are always proud of our ancestors. How dare you say that?” asks Doktor Shri I Gusti Ngurah Bingin Polé Celagi Gendong III.
I Shri is a kind of person who respects his ancestors very much. Even his name is full of his ancestors’ names. If his friends hadn’t warned him not to have too long names, he would even have had longer. He says that he often receives divine revelation from the gods.
“My conclusion is based on the situation that not many people voted the political party that claims to preserve Balinese culture. If they had done so, many people should have voted,” I Made further says.
As he always thinks of divine revelation, he might have forgotten one thing: the gods have no ‘voting right’ nor included in the voters list.
“The second conclusion is that Balinese are lazy. They like the money but do not want to do the job,” I Wayan Basang Bangbang interrupts.
I Wayan is a smart person. During the campaign sessions, he approached all the calegs and the political party. He told them that he had a lot of potential voters.
But during the election day, he didn’t even show up at all.
“I was sleeping during the election day. I didn’t really think I need to vote. I got their money though. And there was an interesting football match on television too,” he further says.
Everybody is laughing. Even they are lazy, but Balinese are getting smart. Formerly, it was the calegs that cheated the people, but now they cheated each other. It is all because of money. It makes the situation getting worse. The more the calegs spend their money on ‘money politics’, the more the people abstain.
In Bali, it is estimated 35% of the people abstain, which exceeds the vote percentage gained by Demokrat and Golkar.
“The third conclusion is that shaman and doctors will get lots of patients,” says I Made.
Before the election, the calegs usually visited the temples and prayed but after the election, there will be many of them visiting the doctors and shamans.
“The calegs in Bali are about 5000, while there will be only 300 parliamentary seats available. So there will be more than 4000 thousands people will suffer from stressed, depressed, stroke, heart attack, high blood pressure, etc after the election” I Made further says.
“First, I would think that Balinese have forgotten their ancestors, says I Made Pawah Congah.
Everybody is smiling. The palm toddy ‘warung’ is getting quiet once the campaign session ends. No more donations from the calegs (parliamentary member candidates).
“What do you mean by forgetting our ancestors? Look! How high cremation tower (badé) and how big cremation wooden sarcophagus we make. And we are always proud of our ancestors. How dare you say that?” asks Doktor Shri I Gusti Ngurah Bingin Polé Celagi Gendong III.
I Shri is a kind of person who respects his ancestors very much. Even his name is full of his ancestors’ names. If his friends hadn’t warned him not to have too long names, he would even have had longer. He says that he often receives divine revelation from the gods.
“My conclusion is based on the situation that not many people voted the political party that claims to preserve Balinese culture. If they had done so, many people should have voted,” I Made further says.
As he always thinks of divine revelation, he might have forgotten one thing: the gods have no ‘voting right’ nor included in the voters list.
“The second conclusion is that Balinese are lazy. They like the money but do not want to do the job,” I Wayan Basang Bangbang interrupts.
I Wayan is a smart person. During the campaign sessions, he approached all the calegs and the political party. He told them that he had a lot of potential voters.
But during the election day, he didn’t even show up at all.
“I was sleeping during the election day. I didn’t really think I need to vote. I got their money though. And there was an interesting football match on television too,” he further says.
Everybody is laughing. Even they are lazy, but Balinese are getting smart. Formerly, it was the calegs that cheated the people, but now they cheated each other. It is all because of money. It makes the situation getting worse. The more the calegs spend their money on ‘money politics’, the more the people abstain.
In Bali, it is estimated 35% of the people abstain, which exceeds the vote percentage gained by Demokrat and Golkar.
“The third conclusion is that shaman and doctors will get lots of patients,” says I Made.
Before the election, the calegs usually visited the temples and prayed but after the election, there will be many of them visiting the doctors and shamans.
“The calegs in Bali are about 5000, while there will be only 300 parliamentary seats available. So there will be more than 4000 thousands people will suffer from stressed, depressed, stroke, heart attack, high blood pressure, etc after the election” I Made further says.
