Two weeks ago, a crisis erupted in Bali. One that I had never seen or heard of before. A crisis that unthinkable. There was a coconut milk shortage. Not just the preferred cartons of actual milk, but also the dry powder version.
This may not seem like much to the average westerner, but coconut milk is part of perhaps half of all Balinese dishes – maybe more. It would be akin to a milk shortage at home. Moreover, powdered coconut milk is a lot like powdered milk – generally considered inferior and a last resort measure. When you’re out of powder, you’ve hit bottom.
I may not be Balinese, I may not even cook here – but I know a crisis when I see one. At first I thought that perhaps it was a problem at our supermarket. Then I thought it was an Ubud issue.
I figured that in times of culinary crisis, rations probably went first to the Balinese and that a local would have tricks I didn’t. So I asked Nengah, our housekeeper to please find some coconut milk – since we were running out and dinner was on the line. Nengah scoured the local markets and one of the grocery stores in Denpasar. Nothing.
Eventually, we stopped at Carrefour, the French chain of “hypermarkets” – basically, a Super Target or Super Walmart. Carrefour was literally unpacking very tiny boxes of coconut milk and getting them on the shelves after days of having nothing. They had no larger sizes available and said they were glad to get what they have. So, I did what any sensible person would do and contributed to the problem by panic buying.
A few days later, I asked one of the managers of our supermarket what was going on with coconut milk. All she could answer was that there was a problem with the supplies and they didn’t know when more would come.
The irony of all of this is that Indonesia is the world’s largest supplier and exporter of coconuts. I’m sure the fact that coconuts are literally everywhere here in Bali is part of why the shortage didn’t create a panic among locals – who unlike me know how, or aren’t too lazy to climb a tree, grab some coconuts and make some coconut milk the way their parents and grandparents did. I’m sure the manager was thinking, “Dude, walk out front, get a coconut – chill.”
Oddly enough – and perhaps coincidentally – the Great Coconut Milk Scare of 2011 coincided with the Great Bootleg DVD Crisis of 2011. Among Bali’s many affordable wonders are very high quality, nicely packaged bootleg DVDs sold in stores everywhere.
At the precise moment the Cocomas disappeared from grocery shelves, DVD store shelves went bare. Although most stores wouldn’t explain, saying only that “Movies will back maybe next week…maybe tomorrow….you come back tomorrow….” one store gave away clues by putting large wooden plywood boards over the entrance to their DVD section. It was a DVD speak-easy.
When I went to inquire, one of the store owners said something quickly in Indonesian. The key word seemed to be “polisi” – aka police. This is a word everyone in Bali knows and no one likes.
For a week, the DVD business was on hold. Then sales resumed for a few days, followed by another moratorium. Just yesterday, DVDs were back on shelves and displays in front of stores. It appears that whoever was cracking down on copyright laws made their perfunctory tour to demonstrate Indonesia’s respect for international law and has left. Now it’s back to business as usual.
I haven’t figured out how the DVDs link to the coconut milk. But since the coconut milk disappeared again during the second wave of the DVD crisis, I feel sure there’s some connection. After all, who can enjoy a good movie without a thick coconut curry?
It’s also possible I’ve been on the island too long.
What matters more is the word “polisi”.
When we rented our car, we asked the very nice guy we rent from about what people do when there are traffic accidents. He explained how people check to make sure each other are alright and maybe pay for each other’s damage as appropriate.
“Do people have insurance?” Emily asked.
“Yes, some people have…but it’s very difficult to make a claim. The insurance companies don’t want to pay claims and you need a police report. But no one wants to have the police involved.”
“Why no police? Don’t they help?”
“No! You don’t want the police? We try to figure it out ourselves before the police come. They only bring problems and it takes a long time.”
This of course, led into a discussion I’ve had many times in Indonesia and other Asian countries about corruption. Indonesia is among the most corrupt countries on Earth. Police do two things: carry out government orders and act as a legitimized mafia.
I’ve seen police create checkpoints where they stop all cars on a particular road on a pretense that everyone is speeding or doing something wrong. It doesn’t matter what the reason is because everyone just pulls out 20,000 rupiah, rolls down their window, hands it to the police and is waived onward. It’s a bribe toll booth. Everyone knows it.
Most businesses pay police for “protection” – aka “don’t create problems for me” money.
Because being a police officer is such a lucrative gig, people pay bribes to get into the police academy, pay their way through the academy and then pay to get selected for various duties.
Yet their salaries are very low.
Lee Kuan Yew, the founding prime minister of Singapore – now called “Minister Mentor” – wrote in his book “From Third World to First” about how Singapore rid itself of this same corruption that plagues most of Asia.
According to LKY, the key is to pay police a substantial salary so that they fear losing their jobs. Then, the government can hold them accountable and make them serve according to the law. When the salary is more lucrative than the potential for bribes and the bribes can lead to termination, corruption disappears.
Of course, the leaders at the top have to demand an end to corruption and to have strong ethical standards themselves. Singapore had that – but not all countries do.
“We will never be a rich nation,” a Javanese man sitting at the next table of a cafe said to me. “It’s our culture. It’s impossible to eliminate the corruption. It’s who we are.”
The man worked for a Singaporean company in their Jakarta offices. He was a rare and interesting “bridge” person who understands and has to work with the differences between “straight as an arrow” Singapore and “pay whoever you have to” Indonesia.
LKY reported having a similar conversation once with a foreign minister of Indonesia who told him that Indonesia has every blessing under the sun, but it is the Indonesian people who hold themselves back.
I brought this up to the man. He agreed and said that with all of Indonesia’s natural and human resources, it’s remarkable how poor most people are. Indonesia has along other things oil, natural gas, diamonds, silver, gold, numerous other minerals and can grow untold natural products. Much of the world’s coffee and spices come from Indonesia. Like America, Indonesia has everything it needs and then some.
In the end, a handful of people have everything they need and a tremendous amount more while the average per capita income is roughly $600 a year.
Former Indonesian President Suharto left office in 1999 with $15 billion in cash, assets and holdings. Of this, $9 billion was stored in an Austrian bank. Investigators found he embezzled $571 million from campaign contributions. Suharto was tried and acquitted by a federal judge. Although he fled the country, his family continues to own vast assets, control public companies and are in the thick of Indonesian industry.
This is part Indonesia’s ongoing struggle.
As for me, I haven’t ruled out the Suhartos, police or corruption in my ongoing investigation into the Great Coconut Milk Scare of 2011. I can only say that anything is possible here and that I’m sure someone is sitting on a stockpile of coconut milk. Maybe it’s a government official with a huge house in Java. Maybe it’s a wealthy Balinese man in Denpasar. Maybe it’s an American guy who panic buys at Carrefour. I’ll be getting to the bottom of this.
Sent from my iPad
