Come live in colonial splendour on Indonesia's "Island of 1,000 mosques"!
First the surfers came to Indonesia, then the tourists, and now the bankers.
(Of course, erudite readers will complain that this is not completely true. The Portuguese and then the Dutch came, plundered, enslaved and so on before Sukarno showed ’em the door in 1949.)
But for the sake of modern Indonesia, that’s the lineage.
Let me ask. Are you a habitué of Bali and beyond?
Do you enjoy the terrific deals you can get on a hunk of land and a modernist villa right there on the beach? It ain’t what it used to be in Bali, half-a-million bucks used to buy you a palance, now it’s a villa way off the sand.
The smart money is headed to Lombok, home to Desert Point and only forty clicks across the Lombok Strait from Bali.
And, today, in the newspaper, The Australian Financial Review, there is an excellent story that confirms the rise of the Australian banker in the gentrification, no wait, that came with the tourists, the wolficiation, of Indonesia’s pretty islands.
Let’s wet our toes momentarily into the piece entitled The Australian bankers who built their own luxury resort in South Lombok.
Australians Andrew Corkery and James Nash were typical young gun investment bankers who liked to work and play hard. They met as traders in Hong Kong in 2006 and, like so many others their age, were soon making an annual Bali pilgrimage to surf, relax and drink Japanese beer far from the madding stock exchange.
“We wanted to invest in Bali but couldn’t make the numbers work,” Corkery reflects. “Then we went to South Lombok in 2010 for a surfing trip and it just made sense.”
“But there’s reason to clink beer necks: four of the villas have been completed, with many more sold off the plan. Investors pay $US500,000 ($632,000) on average for a two-bedroom villa spanning 250 square metres, although they are building villas of up to seven bedrooms, the largest home being 910 square metres.”
Can you imagine living out your days in splendour, the lord of the manor, while little brown men and women scuttle back and forth with your citrus-y cocktails, you admiring how they keep those uniforms so white?
Oh I could!
And do you think the people of this island of four million muslims, promoted by the Indonesian government as a sharia paradise and where hotels have signs pointing to Mecca, korans in the rooms, MTV is banned, unmarried couples are turned away etc, are thrilled when hunks of their ancestral land is cut off to be filled with “exclusive communities”?
I think, yes!
The Balinese are still smiling and they sold everything!
Good to see modern day slavery and white privilege working so well together.
Went overlanded to Lombok in the 80’s had fun waves but noted the people were very unhappy and aggressive , theft off tourist was constant and every now and then a gun was let off so they could prove how cool they were. In the 90’s we focused on overlanding DP and they had upgraded to pointing the guns at you as they stole some shit then smashed your car, in the 00’s I upgraded to hiring a fast boat out of Bali, much quicker and safer way to surf DP plus you don’t have to deal with the lombokanese aggressive nature and distaste for non Muslims, a perfect match for the bankers of the 10’s though…
Have heard have heard a few tales of tourist robbery, but mainly up in the mountains where you’re isolated. Been there probably 10+ times without ever having a problem. Generally find showing some interest in the local culture and investment in sticking with the same people where possible is worthwhile.
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Wavestorm!
Lombok is a weird place. You know what’s weirder though? Throwing down serious money in a country where foreigners are forbidden from owning land freehold. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?
The true subversive wears the uniform of their enemy.
Governments have always been most wonderful at legalised theft. Wonder when the wealthy Bules will be left without a leg to stand on when “laws” are amended to discourage foreign investment.
check John Perkins ‘confessions of an economic hitman’… really good..
Me and my biz partner put this whole deal together! You all would be LUCKY to partake in our paradise, you fuckin plebs!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
This is fucking great!
Couldn’t make the numbers work I.e we weren’t going to rake in a fortunate off the hard work of others… until lombok! Hello!!!
Mecca Tele – Vision is banned? Where can I watch 16 & Isisbride?
Bali is fucked – next – lets move to Lombok and fuck that up too
Was there last month for the second time in six years and it definitely hasn’t gotten any cleaner or less crowded. We stayed north of Tanah Lot which was pretty peaceful (and the resort was spectacular) but you’re fairly isolated. We also stopped into Nusa Dua and that”s just as ridiculous also. So I guess Lombok it is!
If you can afford to spend half a million on a 2 bedroom villa holiday home then it’s pretty safe to say you’re an absolute cunt in my books
Behind every great fortune lies a great crime.
-Balzac