Driving a motorbike into the sea, painted-on face masks: Misbehaving influencers draw Bali residents ire

JAKARTA: An Instagrammer in Bali was deported after riding his motorcycle off a pier into the sea. 

Two other influencers who flouted COVID-19 restrictions by drawing on face masks in an attempt to enter a supermarket were also made to leave the country.  

Since the pandemic began, there have been several high-profile instances of misbehaving influencers from abroad on the resort island. Reports of these brash and disrespectful behaviours have angered some Bali residents and even Indonesians in other parts of the country.

“By pulling these stunts, these influencers are encouraging others to do the same. Not only are they giving Bali a bad reputation but they are also endangering others with their behaviours,” Bali-based designer Niluh Djelantik told CNA. 

University student Putu Aryana added: “Bali has had many cases of foreigners misbehaving before but to misbehave during a pandemic when everyone is suffering is just unacceptable. What is more alarming is that some of these people were influencers with millions of followers.”

The authorities have pledged to adopt a zero-tolerance approach towards misbehaving tourists.

COVID-19 BREACHES, DISRESPECTFUL BEHAVIOURS

Although Indonesia's visa-free and visa-on-arrival programmes are still suspended, it is possible for tourists to enter after applying for a visa from their respective countries prior to their arrival.

According to the Indonesian Justice Ministry, 160 people were deported from Bali last year for various offences. 

This was a slight drop from 2019, when 165 people faced deportation from Bali. However, Bali welcomed 6.3 million foreign tourists that year. In 2020, because of the pandemic, there were only 1 million international travellers to Bali.

So far this year, authorities on the island have deported more than 60 people.

This year’s figure included a Taiwanese YouTuber with three million subscribers. Josh Paler Lin, along with Russian influencer Leia Se, fooled a supermarket security guard into letting them enter the premises with drawn-on face masks.

Prior to their deportation, the pair posted an apology video online. "The intention to make this video was not at all to disrespect or to invite everyone to not wear a mask," Mr Lin said. "I made this video to entertain people because I'm a content creator and it is my job to entertain people."

In January, a Russian influencer with five million Instagram followers, Sergey Kosenko was expelled from Bali after he posted videos of him and his friends partying without following COVID-19 protocols. He also posted videos of him and a female friend launching a motorcycle off a dock and into the sea.

He has apologised on his Instagram account but did not take down the videos.

Also in January, immigration authorities deported Kristen Gray, an American woman, after she attracted criticism on Twitter for promoting an e-book she was selling that told people how to bypass strict regulations barring foreigners from visiting during the coronavirus pandemic.

Ms Gray wrote a week after her deportation that she had made a mistake in writing and publishing the thread on social media. "I am sorry to Balinese people for promoting travel to the island during this time," she wrote on a Bali-based expatriate community Facebook page.

The latest case involved Canadian yoga instructor, Christopher Kyle Martin who promoted online a "Tantric Full Body Orgasm" class. He was deported on May 9 after the promotion went viral on Indonesia's social media, irking some conservative groups.

Mr Martin apologised during a press conference organised by the Bali government on the day of his deportation. 

With 80 per cent of Bali's economy relying directly or indirectly on tourism, this meant that for the past year, the island has been hit with a recession, according to the Indonesian Statistics Agency. Bali’s economy, the agency noted, has been contracting between 9 per cent and 12 per cent every four months.

At least 75,000 people have lost their jobs, while many more have been forced to take severe pay cuts. To keep their heads above water, hotels have been offering massive discounts to attract tourists.  

Azril Azahari, a tourism analyst and chairman of the Indonesia Tourism Intellectual Association (ITIA) said the massive discounts have been attracting foreigners impacted by the pandemic and looking for a cheap place to live. 

In particular, foreigners looking to escape more stringent COVID-19 regulations in their home countries have been attracted to Bali, he noted.

“The government has been encouraging people to come to Indonesia but the majority of tourists are still wary about travelling, particularly to a country where the pandemic is still raging,” Mr Azahari told CNA.

“This leaves us with people who don’t take the pandemic seriously and those who don’t care about health protocols.”

READ: Vaccines effective against COVID-19 variants but overseas travel still not safe, says WHO

Indonesia has a total caseload of 1.7 million with a death toll of more than 48,000, making it the worst-hit country in Southeast Asia.

Bali, with 4.3 million residents, has recorded more than 46,000 COVID-19 cases and nearly 1,500 deaths since the pandemic began. 

The government had hoped to completely open Bali for international travellers in August 2020 and resume its visa-free and visa-on-arrival programmes. Currently, there are plans to inoculate 3 million Balinese, which is about 70 per cent of the island's population, before the reopening.

CALLS FOR FIRMER ENFORCEMENT

Locals have called for more stringent enforcement actions against unruly foreigners. 

Among them is Komang Indrawati, who works in the hospitality sector. “There are many foreigners who don’t wear masks and disobey social distancing rules. We have been very lenient against them. It is time for the government to crack down,” she told CNA.

Mr Albert Chandra, who owns an arts and crafts business, claimed that he has seen foreigners who don't wear masks at the beaches, public places or while riding motorbikes.

“They don't seem to care about the pandemic and whenever locals tried to remind them, they got angry. The government needs to crack down on these people and not only focus on cases which have gone viral,” he said.

“We are very worried about this situation. That's why most locals tend to avoid seeing these foreigners who don't follow health protocols because we don't know whether they have been here for a long time or just came back from a COVID-19 hotspot.”

Mr Azahari of ITIA added: “If our enforcement is weak, there are bound to be more foreigners who pull off similar stunts and bad behaviours in the future.”

READ: Bali's unemployed turn to odd jobs, hard labour as COVID-19 ravages tourism sector

Mdm Djelantik, the designer, said with the pandemic hitting Bali’s economy hard, some residents have been trying hard to follow health protocols in the hope that the pandemic will be over soon. 

“We have even restrained ourselves from conducting religious activities which involve a lot of people,” she said. “And here comes these foreigners who think that they can break the law and get away with it.”

Indonesians, including Mdm Djelantik, have been reposting videos and posts made by these law-breaking influencers in the hopes that they would get the authorities’ attention. 

But she has received her fair share of criticism as well. “I have been labelled moral police, an immigration spy, an attention seeker and so on. They think I will drive the tourists away. It doesn’t bother me. They are entitled to their opinions. All I want is for everyone to show some respect to the rules of this country,” she said.

“WE WILL SHOW NO TOLERANCE”: TOURISM AGENCY CHIEF

Meanwhile, the authorities have pledged to take firmer actions.

Responding to CNA's queries, Mr I Putu Astawa, the chief of Bali Tourism Agency said that the police, the military and public order officials will be deployed to monitor the behaviour of visitors.

“We will show no tolerance. These people are damaging our efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19. Our task force has been working tirelessly to handle the impact of COVID-19 and these people are undoing the good work that we have done,” he said.

“They are setting a bad example to others, especially given the fact that some of these people are influencers. Furthermore, they are disrespecting the rules and regulations of this country. We have to show that we do not tolerate such behaviours and that the law applies to everyone.”

READ: Without tourists from Singapore, Bintan's resorts get creative to make ends meet amid COVID-19

During a press conference on May 10, Bali governor I Wayan Koster promised to clamp down on foreigners who have violated health protocols as well as those who disrespected Indonesian norms and values. 

“I as governor of Bali will be more firm in taking actions against foreigners who have been behaving badly lately. We will no longer tolerate these kinds of actions,” he said. 

Mr Koster said although the resort island is looking forward to the recovery of its tourism sector which had been hit hard by the pandemic, he hoped all visitors would show respect to Indonesian law and customs. 

“There shall be no more tourists whose behaviour disrespect the law and the values observed by the people of Bali,” he stated.

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