Read on Twitter
a thread on whats happening with indonesians and kristen gray
it started with this thread posted by kristen gray, to summarize it, she basically talked about how her life became better while living in bali https://twitter.com/gastricslut/status/1350698371632173058?s=20
why is this a problem? in her thread she talked about how she has been living in bail since 2019 and is currently still staying there. her visa is not valid as she's using the b211a visa (one visit visa) which is given for travelling, family, social, arts and culture-
-government-related tasks, non-commercial sports, studies, and education. she was supposed to stay for 6 months for tourism / travelling but she's clearly staying in bail longer than that so she's been exploiting / abusing her visa.
not only that, but she also talks about how she lives in a treehouse for $400 USD. the reason for this is because of the vast difference in currencies between USD and IDR. 1 USD is equal to around 15.000 IDR. this difference showcases how easy it is for her to be financially-
-stable or even become wealthier. she also mentioned that she doesn't pay Indonesian taxes despite living in bali for more than 6 months. https://twitter.com/bonjeurs/status/1350763070402924553?s=20
another problem is that she ENCOURAGES others to come to bali as she's promoting her book on how she managed to do so. this is a problem because Indonesia is already suffering enough from the covid-19 pandemic, many Indonesians don't adhere to health protocols and the fact that-
-she's encouraging foreigners to come to bali is making it worse. Bali is a popular tourist destination spot for many other foreigners even now during the pandemic. a while back many foreigners arrived in Indonesia amidst the pandemic and Indonesians were furious. this is a-
-similar case, as she's a foreigner promoting and encouraging others to go to bali in the middle of a pandemic. Indonesians are rightfully furious over this, as covid cases are rising each day, medical staffs are overworked, a recent plane crash, earthquake, flooding, etc.
as indonesians are criticizing her for making said thread and encouraging the gentrification of bail, there are foreigners who stir this situation into racism and/or anti-blackness. the problem Indonesians has isn't about her race or her sexuality, its- https://twitter.com/PKhakpour/status/1350655597050474500?s=20
about how she abused her visa, evaded taxes, and encouraged other foreigners to go to bali in the middle of a pandemic. yes there are some who are being racist and/or anti-black and that is NOT the right thing to do. the gentrification of bali is further perpetuated by this-
thread as it encourages others to go to bali and/or move to bali. the privilege that westerners have when they come to bali is insane. the difference in currency value that they hold is already a privilege. the fact that they can EASILY enhance their lifestyle is a privilege.
locals in bali are struggling to make ends meet–hell even the ones in Jakarta are struggling. foreigners can easily live in bali and uphold a luxurious lifestyle even in the pandemic due to their privilege. you don't even have to be white to have privilege here because as long-
as you're a westerner, as long as you're rich, you're practically above the law. an example is that its so easy for westerners to disregard health protocols such as wearing a mask because they can afford it. if you don't wear a mask you're gonna get fined a hefty amount, but for-
westerners? its no big deal. all they need to do is throw in a couple dollars and they can continue to do whatever they want in the pandemic. these people come to our country, these people easily avoid the law, then they have the AUDACITY to do the same?
indonesians and local balinese people have the right to be furious, if you're not Indonesian or balinese don't tell us how to feel or what to think. /end of thread
this girl DOES NOT deserve the hate and racism that she's facing, however, please stop defending her actions in regards to the thread and saying that Indonesians are just jealous and blowing this out of proportion.
if you say Indonesians draw the line at black women and not white westerners, i'd like to add that Indonesians have been speaking about this for YEARS about many other cases. you don't see it because it's talked about locally and no one is talking about it to promote anything.
if you think gentrification isnt going to happen then think again because this woman PROMOTED her book in which she talked about how to live a luxurious lifestyle in bali. she promoted this across her Instagram with 10.4k followers, she promoted it to her tiktok and people are-
interested in doing the same thing. there are already so many foreigners in bali and we're not sure that they're all there legally, Indonesians have been vocal about this for years so please don't say that we're drawing the line here because she's a queer black woman.