The People Answer Back: A Case Study in the Balinese Asserting Their Opinion About the Ormas

Abstract

The Balinese traditionally prefer to avoid direct confrontation and will stay silent rather than express a critical opinion. Obviously, this tradition suited the authoritarian order of the Suharto era and since then protest has been uncommon in Bali. When the ormas began their billboards campaign in 2015 nobody protested against the symbols of violence in the public space. This chapter reports the findings of two opinion polls in which Balinese respondents felt free to express their disapproval of the ormas and put their view that the government should regulate them more effectively rather than disband them. This is not exactly approval and it shows that in an era of freely contested elections and press freedom the Balinese find responding to opinion polls is a culturally appropriate way of expressing critical views.