It took quite so long for me to get interested enough to even consider a trip to Bali. Bali to me was too ‘over-exposed’ that I could name at least a dozen of my friends on my FB list who had been there and had posted pictures of them in just about every corner of Bali – leaving nothing for me to discover or even brag about in case I went to this tropical tourist magnet.
One thing you gotta know about Bali is the fact that it is part of the Indonesian Republic. And when we’re talking about Indonesia, we can’t help but associate it with corruption and bribery. Corruption, from the smallest scale among the lowest rank of government officers to the million-dollar ‘under-the-table’ businesses that have had in the past involved among others, Indonesian presidents.
So – true enough, my encounter with corrupt officers came quite too soon. At the immigration counter inside the terminal building of Bali Airport, we could only see the counters with VISA signs hanging overhead (or plastered, I can’t remember) and even though we were quite sure that we didn’t need a visa to enter Indonesia, we joined the rest of the people to line up for the immigration check.
When my turn had finally come, the immigration officer in being a little bit cynical to a Malaysian like me, sarcastically said ‘Pakcik! Malaysia di sebelah sana lah’ (Uncle! Malaysians over there!). Fine, pakcik. That was so funny I could laugh my dick off.
Apparently the immigration check counters for those who don’t need visa to enter Indonesia are a little bit further down the hall so you wouldn’t immediately see them unless you walk a little bit further on.
So, thinking that may be I should write something about it and may be I might need a picture to come with it in my blog; I casually took a picture of the right counter (to go to). That was when I heard one of the immigration officers yelled out to me, saying something like ‘woi!’ and repeatedly saying ‘Mari! Mari! Mari!’ (come here! Come here! Come here!) as if a teacher asking a 6-year-old kid to come back to class after a recess. The way he waved me over was already disrespectful.
The no-photo sign was quite far from where I was standing so it was impossible for me to see them from a distance of 15 meters or so. Walking towards the officer, only then I noticed the sign but of course I was expecting I’d be get warned and asked to delete the picture that I took – as any civilized person would do.
Apparently, it turned that it was much more than just a warning and deleting of photo. He took the camera away from me and said ‘Ngak bisa ambil gambar! Ngak bisa! Ngak bisa!’ (Cannot take photo, cannot! Cannot!).
Then he said ‘Look down there, there’s a sign that says no photography’ while pointing at the side of the counter. I looked and there was none. Caught off-guard he pointed at another counter and said ‘May be over there’ and again, no sign of no-photography there. You see, he didn’t even know where the sign was. Wherever he was pointing at, there was no sign of ‘no photography’ there. And he didn’t care. Of course he was up for something else.
‘I am going to take this camera’ he said, as if it taking a camera is not a big deal to him, as if he’d taken so many cameras from foreigners all throughout his working hours as an immigration officer.
I was dumb-struck. The had just bought the camera for some USD600 a few days before the trip. It was not really about the price but the fact that I was coming into Bali without a camera was too bitter to swallow.
I really thought he was joking. He looked at another officer who was standing somewhere in the back and said ‘That is my ketua’. The man whom he referred to as his ketua (head officer) flashed a conspiratorial smile, nodding his head a little as if reiterating that he was indeed the ketua.
I was still expecting that he’d come up with a warning and return my camera but he wouldn’t show any sign of compromising. He continued doing his work as if the thing with the camera was over and the camera was now his.
When he sensed that I wouldn’t go away, he swiveled around in his chair (I was by then through with the passport stamping and was on the other side of the counter) and beckoned me over. He didn’t even bother to look around or at least lowered his voice when he asked ‘How much have you got?’.
Oh well, I knew right from the beginning that he was up for money. He really asked it so casually as if asking for money in front of the public is something so normal to do.
Of course I wouldn’t give him money just like that. I told him I didn’t have money, that I was there on a sponsored trip, that I was broke, and I was from Malaysia, and that Malaysians are mostly broke – JUST LIKE YOU PEOPLE. Yupp, I said that right in his face.
But he wouldn’t buy it. ‘Mana mungkin. Datang melancong ke Bali mesti banyak uang’ (How come? You come to Bali, you sure have plenty of money). I was beginning to get upset. I looked around, looking for somebody from whom I could get at least some concerns if not sympathy.
I was so sure that most of the officers heard every word he said since they were quite close to each other but NONE of them would even bother to look or care. It was very obvious that they all had the same kind of shitheads.
The only person that I could trace some sympathy from was a man, probably in his 50’s, who was there to double check on the cards of arrival. He was walking from one counter to another to collect the stamped cards and I took the chance to talk to him and told him my problem. “I want to talk to your ketua or whoever the person in-charge here”, I told him. He asked me to wait and he disappeared briefly. When he showed up again, nobody was with him. Again, he asked me to wait with a hand-gesture and I waited. He seemed to be unsure of whether to help me or not.
Again, the immigration officer turned to look at me in between his stampings, probably knowing that I was attempting something that he knew would lead to no avail, and said ‘So how? I can’t give you the camera back just like that. The ketua would be angry. He already saw me take the camera just now. I need to give him some money too”.
HOLY SHIT. Can you believe he said that?? He HAD to give his ketua some money as if was like an obligation or something. At that point, I was getting really really angry. I knew I could just give him some money and get it over with but that was not me. I knew what they were doing was wrong and I was not going to let myself fall into the trap that they had set for unsuspecting tourists like me.
I told him I wasn’t going anywhere until he gave me my camera back. “Biar pun sampai malam” (Even if I had to wait til night) I told him.
So I waited and the officer would return to doing his work and he’d turn to me again, hoping that I’d give up and give him money. I told him, I wouldn’t give him any money and that I was in no rush and that I wouldn’t leave until he gave my camera back.
That appeared to have worked on him a little. When this ketua of his had finally turned up again, he handed the camera to him and said ‘Apa yang perlu kita buat untuk dia ini?’ (What are we going to do with this man?).
The ketua took the camera, shook his head with dissatisfied face and handed the camera over to me. “Ambil kamera ini. Lain kali jangan buat”. (Take this camera back. Never do it again).
Hell. Wasn’t it the right thing to do right from the beginning? Wasn’t that stupid officer supposed to do that in the first place instead of asking for money?
SO – my trip to Bali didn’t start off quite well. But I tell you, Bali is full of cheaters as I’ve come to find out later in my trip. You might want to read my next posts on Bali if you plan to go there anytime soon. A lot of those cheats can be avoided if you KNOW how to deal with them in the first place. I didn’t do much research when I went there so I was actually letting myself fall right into their nets.
So think Bali, think Indonesia, think corruption.
You can’t be wrong about it.
wah.. if they were to take my camera just because i took some photos at the airport, i’d be so angry! even in the UK, they’ll just ask me to delete my photos – that’s all.
how can they just snatch the camera? should ask them for black and white rule – where is it stated “if photo taken at airport, camera will be confiscated”.. mana mana?
Yupp Ken, very true. They should put that up if it really was the regulation (to confiscate cameras). I took photos at Melbourne airport (some countries allow, some not, can’t really know) and the officer only asked me to delete them and she asked me very nicely it didn’t even sound like a warning at all.
it’s quite normal over there,
even their own people complained about it.
Ya Thomas. Indonesia is a very interesting country to travel to but these issues with corruption involving tourists are putting many people off. My friends who had been to Medan and encountered the same problems had sworn never to come back there again.
Pingback: My Eat Pray Love Adventure: Hello Bali! » www.jipp-world.com
My cousin recommended this blog and she was totally right keep up the fantastic work!
Thank you daigoumee. I appreciate your good feedback. 🙂
If you are open to having a guest blog poster please reply and let me know. I will provide you with unique content for your blog, thanks.
Pingback: The Blanco Renaissance Museum » www.jipp-world.com
To be sure, Indonesia suffers from entenched corruption. It certainly is not unique in this regard. But as a long time Bali resident who has experienced serious corruption related issues for many years, your story leaves me scracthing my head.
Your quoting of Indoensian officials does not help. In my experience, Indonesian immigration officials speak indonesian not Malay. Does the Malayasian passport photographed in your post belong to you? Are you Malaysian? Do you have an axe to grind?
While most Malaysians, like most Indonesians are fine people, I can’t help but reflect on the long term simmering rivalry between Malaysians and Indonesians which in recent years has involved everything from traditional dances, to cooking, to territorial disputes and even the estranged Indoneisan, teenage wife of the Malaysian Prince,
I can’t help but wonder if the way you have recounted your story does not have more to do with a related anti-Indonesian agenda than with what really happened to you and your camera? Certainly it does not help to attribute comments to Indonesian officials at length in a language that is not recognizable as Indoneisan and which I assume to be the related (dervitive?) Malay language. “Pakcik”? – Try Om In Indo. “Ngak bisa ambil gambar! Ngak bisa! Ngak bisa!’” Wrong again. An Indonesian would say “tidak bole” NOT “tidak bisa.” “Lain kali jangan buat” and “Apa yang perlu kita buat untuk dia ini?” – close but no cigar!
There certainly are many problems in Indonesia but on balance it is a friendly, polite and safe country for visitors. Your post does a diservice to those who have indeed endured serious problems as a result of corruption and your disparging generalizations do a diservice to the fine people of Indonesia.
Thank you Barry. Whatever I recounted in my post has nothing to do with whatever history of rivalry between Malaysia and Indonesia that you’re talking about. I don’t question the safety, friendliness and politeness of Indonesia to its visitors. What happened to me at the Bali airport came as a surprise to me as well but then that was what happened to me and that was what they did to me so you gotta accept the fact even though it might be bitter for you to swallow esp if you’re Indonesian. But then, if you’re Indonesian, you should know better. As an avid traveler, I feel the responsibility of sharing this uncalled for incidence to other travelers so that they can at least be cautious not only when they come to Bali/Indonesia but other countries as well. I mean we do have corrupt officers in any part of the world even though some countries might have bigger volumes than others.
your full of crap mate everybody knows indonesian people are hard wired towards corruption and will do anything to extort money ive experienced it myself in jakarta look at all the info and the net and open your eyes
Barry,Barry: i don’t know where you live, but it seems that you doesn’t want to accept the reality of your country. The corruption is everywhere and in any possible authority post the officers wants your money. I’m leaving in Indonesia since twenty years and i have so many experiences with the corruption.
are you reading the news or watching the tv news? are all of them wrong? are all of them against the Indonesian country? Can’t believe it, they are also Indonesian citizen. Is sad what happened but it is the real truth. The corruption is eating your country, as you said the nicely and friendly way of your citizens and your believes. Open your eyes and look around.
When you take it as part of the reality you will be able to start to change some things.
Pingback: Renting A Bike in Bali » www.jipp-world.com
I’ve read a few good stuff here. Definitely worth bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how much effort you put to create such a fantastic informative web site.
Thanks a lot I really enjoyed reading this. It makes me want to start my own weblog! Just what topic though? I am a dentist by trade but can’t imagine most people wishing to read about dentistry? Maybe I am wrong! web site
This article has really got me thinking Bruce Lee has got the right idea on this for me: “Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.” I love the philosophical approach from Lee
Thanks for one’s marvelous posting! I genuinely enjoyed reading it, you could be a great author.I will always bookmark your blog and will eventually come back in the foreseeable future. I want to encourage yourself to continue your great posts, have a nice day!
After visiting /attempted visit to Medan, I have now come to know that what I have heard about indonesia is true. About 8 hrs back I was denied entry through Polonia International. The immigration tried to tell that, there is a number/code missing in my visa which was duely issued from one indonesian embassy. They also mentioned that they have a solution which will cost USD 100 only.
Ofcourse, me and my friend turn this proposal down. In the end after lot of persuation even from the boss we did not accept the offer and we were send back to KL again.
They even ran lot of scans on our luggage, mentioning if there is even a trace of illegal drug there will be hell to pay. All the time they were either threatening or cajoling us to go there way.
The experience that we had will discourage us to visit the country in the future.
OMG! That’s so terrible! But then, in addition to what I have experienced in Bali, I’ve also heard a lot from friends who were scammed and ripped off in Indonesia. A friend of mine has sworn never to come back to Indonesia ever again after she was ripped off ALL throughout her stay in Medan. With such a bad reputation, it only makes Indonesia more and more ‘backward’ in term of tourism development especially now that countries like Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar are gaining more and more good reputation as places of choice among tourists nowadays. I hope things are changing for the better in Indonesia because it really is a beautiful country.
Yupp. Upin and Upin seems to be so popular in Bali and probably in Indonesia as a whole. I have no problem with that. I was only upset (or rather angered) by the way they tried to make money out of the situation that they themselves had created. So opportunistic and corrupt. Thanks God I had traveled quite a lot to be able to handle it the way I thought it should be handled. Otherwise I would have simply fallen for it.
Medan airport, 10/12. U.S. citizen. Passport has 4 pages in back for additions. Immigration Officer very unhappy when he sees its. Wants to send me back to Malaysia. We discuss the problem. Lake Toba tour guides waiting. Then Medan airport “helpers”get involved. They ask how much can you afford to solve the problem. I low ball a figure. They talk to the Immigration Officer. After a little negotiation the figure is $125 U.S. The “helpers” are still not happy but. Accept. The talk to the Immigration Officer. I wait. Then I go into his office with the cash in an envelope. He tells me to give it to the “helper”‘, not wanting to touch the envelope. I get my Passport stamped. One of the “helpers” is still not happy and asks for 10 ringett!What. What balls. One of the tour people who knows what is going on talls me the Immigtation Officer could have stamped it without any deal being made. I was simply being taken advantage of. Bottom line:I will NEVER go to Medan again and tell this story’s until I am blue in the face.