Unspun

It is greatly amusing to see the spat between two Australians writing about Bali.

On one corner is an Australian calling himself Made Widjaya who writes a column called Stranger in Paradise in the Sunday edition of the Jakarta Post (Has anyone noticed that the Jakarta Post on Sunday seems to be teeming with bule columnists recently? Must be difficult to get Indonesian writers in this country of 230 million, many of whom have good English).

On the other corner is Mark Forbes, correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald.

On the May 28 edition of the paper, Made took issue with an article Forbes wrote for his paper headlined Abandoned Bali Waits in Hope. He started by poking fun at Forbes’ prosiac intro: “The candles flicker on the restaurant tables like the stars over Jimbaran Bay…”; accused Forbes of interviewing mainly only masseuers or prostitutes for his story and picked at other points raised by Forbes.

Not one to take such at attack sitting down, Forbes shot back with typical Aussie bluster, calling Made a “Balinese wannabe” who had authored a “spiteful and totally inaccurate attack” on his story. He then concludes that “Perhaps Made should stick to the narcissistic name-dropping efforts that dominate his columns rqather than misguided attacks on those who attempt to cover the issues facing Bali in a realistic and sympathetic manner.”

Wow! Was all this an intellectual disagreement or an all-out bitchfight? Whatever it is, I haven’t seen such entertainment since I worked at a pub in Gepps Cross, Adelaide, many years ago. Good One Mates.