Scott Thomson To Raise Fund, Runs Bali-Jakarta

Scott Thomson To Raise Fund, Runs Bali-Jakarta

He is really vivacious. A Scottish man named Scott Thomson, 54, should run from Bali to Jakarta. This man ran along 1,250 kilometers across 30 cities in five provinces in Indonesia for 25 consecutive days. He took the start at the Ngurah Rai International Airport on Wednesday (Mar 8) and accomplished the ‘struggle’ on April 1, 2012 in Jakarta.

At the press conference held at Bali Niksoma Boutique Resort, Scott Thomson said the action he carried out was to raise fund for two social charity institutions in Indonesia namely the Cinta Anak Bangsa Foundation (YCAB) and Mary’s Cancer Kiddies (MCK). Similar action was also done in 2010 by running along 250 kilometers in the Sahara Desert, Africa.

“With the support of dozens of sponsors in Indonesia, I managed to raise funds amounting to IDR 3.3 billion for YCAB and MCK,” he said.

Before implementation of the running activity from Bali to Jakarta, the director of one of the Scotland’s leading energy companies claimed to get a lot of support. “I expect all the funds collected can be used for children of Indonesia to improve their health and education. I did this with full of awareness and a greater risk for the Indonesia’s children,” he said seriously.

General Manager of Bali Niksoma, Ketut Astama, said that Scott Thomson was a well established man in his life. However, he did something for someone else by taking advantage of his leave. Then, he selected Bali as the venue. “This event was very positive in creating the tourism image of Bali and Indonesia in general. By all means, it could inspire the other world runners to follow his footsteps. Representatives of the sponsors also came to Bali,” he said.

According to him, the event was very beneficial for Bali. The action undertaken by Scott Thomson could indicate that Bali was still safe because he dared to run from the Island of the Gods to Java. On that account, the Bali Niksoma also supported it. “This is part of our CSR and implementation of the Tri Hita Karana concept (Pawongan),” added Astama proudly. (BTN/015)

In Berry Hotel Kuta: ‘Be Berry, Be Happy’ to Start Enjoying Bali

Festive atmosphere and intimacy colored the first anniversary of the Berry Hotel Kuta on Saturday (Feb 25). Expression of happiness showed off by the face of each staff and hotel employee made the celebration more meaningful. Moreover, various activities such as competitions and art performances were staged to grace the event. By all means, it could engender the sense of familial atmosphere.

Pinnacle of the celebration was marked with the cake-cutting ceremony done by General Manager I Gede Made Artawan together with General Manager Corporate of Avilla I Gusti Agung Ngurah Darma Suyasa. The celebration night was studded with several creations. Despite unlike the original dancers, the employees were able to present their performance happily. The performance of Balinese dance, music, modern dance and the events were carried out impromptu. At that happy night was also presented the prizes for all the winners of competition held previously such as the eels catching, arm wrestling, tug of war, chess, facial makeup and the making of a dance record.


Artawan said that various activities undertaken posed the implementation of Tri Hita Karana concept. They were starting from spiritual activities namely by organizing pilgrimage to great temples in Bali such as the Tanah Kilap, Batur, Puncak Singgal and Melanting Temple. Meanwhile, the social activities undertaken consisted of the visit to orphanage, beach clean-up and race activities.

As a hotel for young people, Berry Hotel had a very distinctive look namely stylish and trendy with the motto “be berry, be happy.” This 3 star hotel had 50 rooms (5 Prime Berry Suites, 36 Ori Berry Rooms, and 9 Pool Berry Rooms were the most favored by tourists. The rooms were quite spacious spreading on 36 square meters designed in modern minimalist with stylish ornaments equipped with a balcony.

Market segment of the Berry Hotel was mixed. However, it was more targeted at domestic market such as guests from Jakarta, Surabaya and Semarang, while the minor foreign market was targeted to the Australian tourists. “Although designed for the young people, there are also many married tourists staying here,” said Artawan while adding that his party had rebranded the Berry Hotel in 2012 by changing the corporate identity such as the company logo, staff uniform, humanistic room and other related elements.

At the beginning of 2012, the hotel had a pretty good occupancy, namely with an average of 70 percent, unlike in the previous year which only reached 65 percent. (BTN/015)

Customary Village in Bali Exist Since the Presence of Mpu Kuturan

Ngaben or cremation ceremony is one of the ritual activities
performed at customary village. (BTN/doc)

According to the lecturer of customary law of the Udayana University, Prof Dr. Nyoman Sirtha, the customary village in Bali was estimated to have existed since the presence of the sage Mpu Kuturan during the administration of Dalem Waturenggong. Earlier, in Bali lived and developed about nine schools of Hinduism that were worried to result in disharmony. The King Waturenggong asked Mpu Kuturan to take any measure to anticipate the matter.

Mpu Kuturan then unified the nine schools or sects into Shiva-Buddha. After organizing a congregation in the Samuan Tiga Temple, it was born the concept of customary village along with its trinity temple namely the Puseh Temple, Baleagung Temple and Dalem Temple. Pursuant to the concept of Tri Murti (trinity), each family temple was equipped with three-chambered shrine. Since then, the social and religious life in Bali was getting organized and better. The chief of customary village was called bendesa adat or uluampad. His responsibility was to lead the indigenous village related to religion and customary affairs. In carrying out the duties, the customary village was completed with by-laws in what the so-called awig-awig adat.

According to the book entitled Pemberdayaan Desa Pakraman (Empowerment of Customary Village) written by Prof. Dr. IB Gunadha, the by-laws regulated three key points namely harmonious relationship of human to God (Parahyangan), human to fellow humans (Pawongan) and human to its environment (Palemahan).

Meanwhile, based on the data of General Assembly Customary Village (MUDP) of Bali, there were totally 1,483 customary villages in Bali, where according to the data of Section Head of Customary Affairs of Bali Cultural Agency the customary hamlet amounted to 3,200 in 2009. Today, it was estimated to reach 2,700. (BTN/kmb)