Expository

Tourism vs Culture

by :

Ni Putu Herma Yanthi (0812021030)

Tourism is one important part that supports the life of Balinese. Tourism does not only bring good for Balinese, but also harms. One aspect that gets bad impact from Tourism is Balinese culture. The culture brought by the tourists can affect Balinese pure culture. Some of foreign culture may be good for Balinese, such as the discipline, open minded, and the advance of technology. But not all of them can be accepted in eastern culture.

For example, the way the tourists dress up. Foreigners, especially the females usually wear minim dress, like tank top, hot pants, or even just sport bra. This style is followed by teenagers in Bali. The girls in here also like to wear tank top and hot pants in their daily life. Whereas, Balinese girls used to wear sarong.

Another example is some of those tourists sometimes wear that kind of clothes to visit Balinese temples. It is not good to keep the holiness of the temple. Some sacred dances are also presented to the tourists. Moreover, the temples sometimes are commercialized for tourist object and people should pay to get into the temple. If this happens continuously, the sacred value of Balinese ritual and ceremony will lost their essence.

The culture of togetherness is also decreasing. Nowadays, many people are likely to be more individualistic. The way Balinese greet each other is also changing. We used to put our hands in front of chest while saying “Om Swastyastu” when we meet someone. But now, we just shake hands, kiss them on the cheek, just say “hi”, sometimes even act like we do not care about them at all. You see, past and present are different.