0 Your letters: Thuggish behavior in Bali

The thought of going to Bali for a holiday is like a dream, which we made possible in December 2012. My friends and I were looking for a villa to stay in with our family. While going through places to stay in Bali we came across a villa in the Seminyak area. We arrived on Dec. 29 and took two villas as we were three families. Our holiday went well up to Jan. 2, a day before we were to head home to Jakarta. 

My wife, who had just gone through laparoscopic surgery in Singapore on Dec. 5, was changing my eldest daughter who is almost 3-years-old when suddenly my younger daughter’s nanny grabbed her and screamed “watch out!” My wife glanced over her shoulder and jumped over my elder daughter to protect her from an artwork portrait that was falling from above the bed. The portrait fell to the ground and hit my wife. It was a very heavy artwork that was made out of wood and stone. 

It took two grown men to carry it out of the room. I assume the artwork to weigh around 30 to 50 kilograms. My wife and my children were in tears. My friends came running over with their families and consoled us. I immediately called the manager to bring him to the villa. When I told him what had happened, he just told me that it was an accident. I told him that my wife was in immense pain. He then said he didn’t know what I should do. I told him that he should be responsible for whatever happened on his property. 

Three men came upstairs into the villa. When I looked at them I realized that the manager had called upon thugs to settle this matter and to make matters worse I could smell the stench of alcohol on them. I immediately started packing my bags and in the midst of this I called my father up and informed him what happened. The doctor arrived and in a rush checked my wife and prescribed her painkillers. I think the doctor was quite scared about the whole situation and was in a rush to leave. 

I called our drivers up and asked them to start putting in the bags to the car one by one. This was already about 11 p.m. After all our luggage was placed in the car, I went down with my family to the first floor. I walked toward the car and settled my family in, while my friends did the same. When our families were already settled in the car, I thought that I would have to face the men, otherwise they would not let any of us leave. Closing our car door, I saw another car enter and park, immediately someone got out and called my name. 

He said he was from the police and was sent by my father here. I was so relieved at that point of time and thanked God. Once everyone realized that the police had arrived, the men stepped aside. The policeman then questioned them about whether there was any problem and they all said there was nothing. They then moved their cars and let us leave. We left the place and checked into a hotel in Kuta around midnight. On Jan. 3, we all flew back to Jakarta and on Jan. 4 I took my wife to Singapore for a checkup since she was still in pain and her back was bruised.

D Umar J
Jakarta
source : the jakarta post