Amid tears, Bali reclaims love of life

by Jonathan Head BBC correspondent in Bali

A year on - memories are still painful

The tears flowed freely throughout the day here in Bali. Yet this was not a sombre occasion, but something closer to a celebration of life.

The formal memorial service for the Bali bomb victims, organised largely by Australia, took place on Sunday morning, in a beautiful, limestone hollow high above the beaches which have for so long been a playground for the young and free-spirited.

It could hardly have been better suited for the occasion.

Peaceful and intimate, in stark contrast to the raucous alleys of Kuta, it was originally designed as a cultural arena, with scenes from the great Hindu epic, the Ramayana, carved on the white-stone walls.

Those walls this morning were draped with photographs of the dead.

At the centre, a row of candles, one for each of the 22 nations who lost citizens in last year's bomb attacks.

And a pool, in which relatives laid leaves and flowers, in the Balinese tradition.

The service was simple, informal, and profoundly moving.

Incomprehension

There was no posturing.

A year later, and families of those who died were still expressing their incomprehension over the attacks, the violent end to so many young lives, on an island which had always seemed somehow cut off from the troubles of the world surrounding it.

Even Indonesia's Security Minister, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a seasoned military general, told the mourners his government could not understand why such an atrocity, carried out by his countrymen, in the name of his religion, had taken place.

It was not a sombre occasion - closer to a celebration of life

We will hunt them down, he promised - they have no place in our society.

Australia's Prime Minister, John Howard, a politician once thought to lack charisma and communication skills, has proved surprisingly skilful in responding to the unprecedented shock of the Bali bomb.

In his address on Sunday he referred to the way the attack had brought Indonesia and Australia, neighbours with an often prickly relationship, closer together - but also to the way it exposed the real character of his country, as both tough and caring.

Mr Howard's standing with his countryman and women was evident when he laid flowers at the bomb site later in the day.

Backpackers in shorts and bikinis, not his natural constituents, broke into applause and cheered.

Recovering love

But it was left to the late afternoon to mark this anniversary in a way which perhaps best reflected the character of this island.

Many still find it hard to comprehend

A motley crowd of Balinese in ceremonial dress, holiday-makers and victims' relatives gathered on the beach at Kuta, clutching candles, walked slowly into the rolling waves of the Indian Ocean, as the setting sun turned the tide a flickering, liquid gold.

Local and foreign surfers then paddled out on surfboards adorned with wreaths, and formed a circle out in the sea.

There were tears, smiles and laughter.

Bali is recovering its love of life.

Even those who lost family and friends to the bombings, seemed lifted up by the spectacle.