Tamasha in Bali

Bali, a small island paradise of Indonesia, has a population of 30 lakh people, of whom 93 per cent are Hindus. A few weeks ago, in the star hotels of this remote corner of the world were assembled around 10,000 important people, representing governments, scientific institutes, and NGOs from 192 countries, to discuss what should be done to counter dangerous global climate change.

The previous Kyoto conference on the same theme failed to achieve anything, mainly because the United States refused to accept enforceable international guidelines for curbing carbon dioxide emissions. This time as well, the United States agreed only at the very last minute to investigate the question further, buying itself time for two more years.

Following the recently published U.N. Inter-Governmental Climate Change report, which won the Nobel Peace Prize, it is abundantly clear that more than a 2° C rise in global temperature by 2050 can cause untold harm to the environment and human societies. It has been calculated that this temperature limit can be maintained if heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are kept to 450 parts per million of CO{-2} equivalent.

To keep to this limit global emission of these gases should not exceed 1,700 gigatonnes in the first half of this century, and Western nations should reduce emissions by 80 per cent below the present levels by 2050. The European Union promises to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent compared to 1990 levels, provided other industrial countries also act, though so far it has not kept even the modest commitments it made at Kyoto.

But many scientists are pleading that global temperatures should be lowered to pre-industrial, that is 1860, levels if we are to strive for security.

Garuda supporters bring Christmas Spirit to Bali

On Tuesday 18 December, Garuda Indonesia in Sydney once again opened its doors for what has become an industry tradition at Christmas time – the annual Garuda “open house”.
Each year friends and colleagues are invited to celebrate the holiday season with some excellent food, a few drinks and the opportunity to share the spirit of giving that epitomizes Christmas by entering a raffle to raise funds for a Balinese charity.

This year the charity was the Baithel Children’s Home in East Bali.

“For several years, Garuda Indonesia’s Sydney staff has been supporting the children’s home with funds raised through regular “jeans” days,” NSW Sales Manager for Garuda Indonesia, Kerry Timms, said.

“The home provides shelter, food and care to some 200 children from Bali and other neighbouring islands; some as far away as Irian Jaya. Their lifestyle is very basic and meals consist mainly of rice and a few home grown vegetables but Bapak Gama and Ibu Sara (pictured) provide a loving and stable environment for the children.”

The raffle raised $384 for Baithel with first prize of a magnum of champagne going to Carmel Eastick and Adam Watson of World Reps. Second prize, a 1.5 litre bottle of Shiraz, went to Elena Lonergan of TIFS.

“The real winners will be the children of Baithel, who collectively consume 75kg of rice per day! So, as you can imagine, the organizers are very grateful for any amount of financial assistance.” said Mr. Timms.