In Reply to: maybe you need to tell Indonesians first posted by marcia on Thursday, 8. July 2004 at 09:36 Bali Time:
I recently went to a cremation advertised via the Ubud tourist office. Some points:
- I was really interested to seeing the ceremony
- I felt *extremely* uncomfortable at the idea of being a Western spactator, or being seen as an inconsiderate 'voyeur' of some kind
- I enquired twice with the tourist office as to whether I should dress formally. They laughed and said no no, because it wouldn't be inside a temple
- I decided to dress formally anyway, ie. long sleeves, sarong, sash, generally smart
- 3 other tourists I didn't know came in the car with me
- None of them were dressed very formally, particularly one scruffy guy with a video camera, but they all brought sarongs
- It turned out to be a ceremation ceremony for the local village priest, so an extra special one
- Video camera man filmed everything at close range
- I expressed my embarrassment at this (as another tourist) to a local woman there. She said 'don't be silly, it's fine'
- I stood right at the back during the prayer etc.
- Two polite young men welcomed me, and explained that they were the dead priest's grandsons
- Local people insisted on giving me a big lunch, and brought me tea etc.
- Given their hospitality, it soon became more embarrassing to continue to appear uncomfortable, if you see what I mean
- VC man continued to film everything and it still looked extremely inconsiderate
- One local man was praying wearing a funky sarong and Jimi Hendrix t-shirt combo
- Another local man was praying wearing a sarong and cartoon t-shirt with the slogan 'It's not a beer-gut, it's a fuel tank for a sex machine'
- During the procession, several well-educated, English speaking, middle aged local men approached the Western tourists, keen to chat and explain what was going on
- One man who approched me wanted to know how I knew about the cremation, and when I told him, he was delighted as it had been he who had given the details to the Ubud tourist office
That's all I have to say. And based on that experience alone, I don't feel that it's so clear-cut either way.