Heaven and Hell is a lively cultural and social history of Australia’s favourite holiday island. Detailing the island’s tumultous and often violent past, its mythology, religion and politics, and the last 50 years of western colonization and modern development. It is a place that both appeals and repels. Together with substantial knowledge and research of the island’s early history, Phil Jarratt has plenty of personal first hand experience from the early 70s Bali and so takes the reader on a fascinating and personal journey back into another time and place. Extensive interviews with participants from this time in Bali feature to provide a unique first hand view of the dramatic changes and developments that have taken place. There is no doubt that Bali is a popular destination for holiday makers from around Australia and represents many different things –for numerous young it is their first destination overseas, for some it is a spiritual destination, for some just a place to go and get sun, sex and cheap booze etc., for some a luxurious high end experience, for others a profitable business opportunity. In any regard it has an enduring appeal with many making a regular pilgrimage there despite the dark and dangerous things that have occurred there.
Read More
Phil Jarratt's critically acclaimed book, Bali: Heaven and Hell, is now in paperback and includes an additional chapter.
Phil Jarratt shares his personal, first-hand experience from early-70s Bali and the stories and opinions collected through extensive interviews with Indonesian locals. Bali: Heaven and Hell takes the reader on a fascinating and personal journey into another time and place. Showcasing a lively cultural and social history of Australia’s favourite holiday island, this book details the island’s tumultous and often violent past, its mythology, religion and politics, and the last 50 years of western colonization and modern development.
The additional chapter, 'Bali in the Time of Jokowi', examines the impact of the Jokowi regime on Bali with particular emphasis on the headline-grabbing issues of the death penalty for drug offenders, and the new constraints on foreign ownership. Th Jokowi is the "first government of the people" meant to reflect the broad diversity of political thought in Indonesia with "one size fits all" legislation. Phil looks in detail at how the spectre of the Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran case has affected expats and tourists; assesses social change in relation to Jokowi's attitude to drugs and alcohol; and considers the issue of foreign ownership and its effect on future residential leasehold in Bali.
