Oh
Rats! Another problem
All of a sudden, The Cage has rats. We are taking steps to eliminate the problem
(and the rats) but the incident has prompted further intemperate thought about
the vagaries, and difficulties, of life on Pulau Rusak. The rats in question appear
to be brown (Norway) rats rather than ratus ratus – that’s the genealogical
name, not pidgin Indonesian for hundreds of the beggars; our infestation fortunately
seems to be in rather smaller numbers – and as well as trying to eradicate them
within the household and its surroundings, we are trying to establish their
provenance.
Their initial appearance, unidentified by type at that time, caused some
moments of mirth. Having lived in places where plague is endemic – it’s a zoonotic
disease that generally affects humans in large numbers only when its animal
vector is overstressed, exactly as rabies periodically breaks out and bites
people – your diarist’s instant response, aside from acquiring poison, was to
fly around madly spraying the whole house against fleas.
This
is not a deadly necessity in Bali, or at least it is not known to be. There are
two listed foci of wild plague in Indonesia and both are in Central Java, said
to be (though this may also be questionable) remnants of the great 1894-1925
China-India pandemic – which actually began in Burma – that spread around the
world, fortunately for the most part in controllable outbreaks. A note on that:
the last World Health Organization-recorded plague outbreak in Indonesia – it
was only minor – was in 1997 and not in Central Java at all. It was at Pasuruan
near Surabaya in East Java.
As
with rabies, of which Bali was “free” until the current (150 deaths and
counting) outbreak surprised everyone by appearing in 2008, it perhaps pays not
to be fooled into thinking that absence of reports of a disease equates with actual
absence of the pathogen responsible.
But guarding against itinerant rat fleas is still desirable, as well as necessary.
In Bali they can carry murine typhus, a
much less deadly but still highly unpleasant disease. Rats are also vectors for
a range of other unnecessary distempers. They thrive in filthy environments. We
have redoubled our local efforts to get people to deal properly with their household
rubbish. A tip: it won’t do to just toss it away in the bushes, or over the
wall, and forget about it. The rats won’t.
Burning
Question
Speaking of rubbish, readers may remember a
story that surfaced in the Bahasa press a little while ago and was duly reported
in précis in some of the local English-language media, concerning the problem
of medical waste. The official incinerator at Sanglah, something else that’s
apparently on the Rusak List, was no longer able to cope with the quantum of
contributions from other hospitals, which had therefore been denied access to
the facility and presumably were told to dispose of their medical waste as best
they could.
One of the hospitals named on the no-more-access list was BIMC at
Simpang Siur. Since this establishment – it now has a sister hospital at Nusa
Dua, opened in May – promotes itself as an international-standard health
facility, it was surprising to learn that it had not hitherto been incinerating
its own medical waste in infrastructure furnished at its own expense.
We wanted to do the right thing by them, however, and asked for comment,
hoping that we’d hear something positive. We’ve heard nothing yet.
Greener
Pastures
Leticia Balacek, architect and artist (and
The Diary’s Most Favoured Argentine) has flown the coop. She’s gone to Europe
on a new venture – which we sincerely hope will be properly remunerative, since
people here go ooh and aah about art and much else but are Scrooge-like when it
comes to parting with their money (which despite appearances and assertions to
the contrary many of them don’t have, unless it’s someone else’s) – and has
left with strict instructions to keep in touch.
It’s not often you meet someone whose vibrancy level consistently exceeds
the safe limit; it is tremendous fun when you do; and it’s not a good thing to
let friends go.
Balacek’s art, as we’ve noted before, has an attractively naïf quality
and would look good in a collection, or even just on a wall. For her exhibition
in 2011 that helped promote the then newly opened El Kabron, the fine watering
hole on the cliffs at Bingin on the Bukit, she presented among other works
Yellow Dog, a delightful ink and wash sketch that precisely captures the
ambience of Bali.
Yellow Dog is but one among many, but it’s our
pick of the season.
More
on Annie
Robert Epstone of Rotary Seminyak and –
more importantly in this instance – the charity group Sole Men has given us a
cheering update on little Annie, of Sideman in Karangasem regency. We reported
in the last edition on this poor little mite, aged eight and at that time
weighing 8kg, who was found living distressed, disastrously malnourished and at
serious health risk and was immediately assisted by Jimbaran resident Sarah Chapman
and her Balinese friend Yuni Putu.
Epstone’s group took on responsibility for raising funds to help Annie
as an individual case and got her into Semarapura Hospital for full assessment,
which indicates she’ll need long-term rehabilitation – the works, in fact –
since her family lives in abject poverty and Annie herself has significant
medical and developmental problems.
Epstone told Seminyak Rotarians in an update after his own visit to
Annie: “I have to say
that yesterday was one of the most distressing days I have experienced – I have
never seen a human being as close to being an animal as Annie who is the very
sweetest little person totally damaged by her situation caused by poverty,
ignorance and superstition in the community up where she lives. Thankfully due
to veritable Angels like Sarah Chapman and her friend Yuni, little Annie may
now stand a possible chance of rehabilitation but only with a great deal of
time, work, therapy and no doubt ongoing costs involved as well as a HUGE amount
of TLC.”
Anyone who would like to help Annie or her family is welcome to drop
Hector an email at reachme61@yahoo.com
and we’ll put you in touch with Chapman and Epstone. If you’re on Facebook, you
may want to friend Indonesia Sole Men.
By the way, Sole Men have their fourth Barefoot Walk coming up in
September, a major element of their fundraising and awareness-raising effort.
They’re looking for sponsors. In July they distributed copies of their Child
Protection and Safety book – partly sponsored by Rotary Seminyak – to children,
parents and teachers at schools, orphanages and villages around Bali during
medical checks and health presentations.
A
Sad Loss
Jack Daniels, of Bali Discovery Tours and
Bali Update, lost a very good friend recently and has The Diary’s deepest
sympathy. He wrote a lovely piece about him, so touchingly that it made us sad
we hadn’t known him too. Bobby was a Labrador, but according to Daniels, was
probably the best editorial assistant he’ll ever have. Among his many
self-selected office jobs was to ensure that piles of newspapers did not fly
away in the breeze. He was very good at lying on them, Daniels writes – and
even under them, if the leaf-through-and-discard process was under way.
Apparently Bobby was a dog of several significant other talents too. He
was often to be seen following the gardener around with a bucket or some other
implement he deemed essential to the task at hand.
No pets reside at The Cage. One of us is a cat person, the other is a
dog person, and this domestic political schism – now of three decades’ standing
– has never been resolved and indeed may never be so. But we have neighbour
pets whose days, we hope, are enlivened by our visits.
Here’s Cheers
We hear some good news from Voyager Estate, the winery in Western
Australia’s Margaret River region that offers attractive Cape Dutch
architecture and magnificent roses along with a wide range of very superior
plonk.
After extensive planning and
renovations, they have opened their new Wine Room, saying it offers a
completely different wine experience in Margaret River. Their email magazine
e.magnum (neat!) tells us it’s all about the discovery and celebration of wine,
whether you’re a wine aficionado, are keen
to learn more, or just enjoy tasting and comparing wines.
We must make a date with
sommelier Claire Tonon on our next visit to the wine country, scheduled for
October when – we hope – the chills of southern WA’s unusually cold winter will
be long gone.
And Jeers
The wicked price of alcohol in Bali has
always had a capacity to astonish anyone who comprehends that tourism is an
essential element of the island’s economy. There are the mark-ups, of course,
which tend to rise in concert with the level of class drink-serving
establishments award themselves. But then there’s the availability, licensing
and excise and other duties components to be put in the mix.
It’s a hefty cocktail, and one that periodically gives everyone a
headache. At the latest industry grumblefest about it, Rizki Handayani,
director of MICE and special interest promotion at the Ministry of Tourism and
Creative Economy, promised to follow up on the input with related agencies at
the ministry and other institutions, including the Trade Ministry. “This is
valuable information to be shared with the minister,” Handayani said.
Is
anyone holding their breath on an outcome?
Hector's Diary appears in the Bali Advertiser newspaper, out fortnightly (and online at www.baliadvertiser.biz). Hector is on Twitter @scratchings and Facebook (Hector McSqauwky)
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