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Survivors strive to move on 13 years after Bali bombing
Singing the blues: Children of victims from the Bali bombing rehearse at the bombing monument in Kuta for a performance scheduled for Monday as part of the observance of the 2002 tragedy that claimed 202 lives
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Singing the blues: Children of victims from the Bali bombing rehearse at the bombing monument in Kuta for a performance scheduled for Monday as part of the observance of the 2002 tragedy that claimed 202 lives.(JP/Ni Komang Erviani) (JP/Ni Komang Erviani)
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span class="inline inline-center">Singing the blues: Children of victims from the Bali bombing rehearse at the bombing monument in Kuta for a performance scheduled for Monday as part of the observance of the 2002 tragedy that claimed 202 lives.(JP/Ni Komang Erviani)
Sitting outside a bank next to the Bali bombing monument in Kuta, Markus Affandi tries hard to keep his eye away from an area of Jl. Legian, which is now used as a parking lot.
Affandi remembers that 13 years ago, on that spot, he almost died when a bomb destroyed the Sari Club.
'It was a miracle. I feel that God has given me a second life,' the 44-year-old remembers the tragedy.
On Oct. 12, 2002, when the bomb exploded, Affandi was in the club working to fix the sound system. He was on the second floor of the club's office in the back part of the building. He sustained injuries to his back and other parts of his body as the detonation shattered the windows, sending shards of glass through the room.
Affandi said he almost died when the club manager asked him to fix a lamp in front of the club after he had finished with the sound system. As he made for the front of the building, the sound system went on the blink again, requiring him to turn back, and incidentally saving his life.
'So, I went back to the office to fix the sound system, and later on it happened. I could have died if I had gone to the front at that time,' he said.
After 13 years, Affandi has managed put the tragedy to the back of his mind, but he admits that he still remembers it. He vowed to let the past be the past and move on, for the sake of his own life and his family.
'For a whole year after the tragedy, I would not dare to pass along the road [Jl. Legian]. But then I decided that I could not go on like that forever. I have to move on,' Affandi said, adding that he had rejected any job in the Kuta area for one year to avoid passing by that stretch of road.
As many as 202 people, mostly foreign tourists, died when the bombs exploded that night, one at the Sari Club and the other at Paddy's Pub in the same area. More than 200 people were injured.
On Oct. 1, 2005, the day of the second Bali bombings, Affandi again narrowly escaped death when he was called to see to a sound system for an event at a cafe in Jimbaran, just next to the cafe where the bomb went off.
'I rejected the job that time. I myself do not really understand why I turned it down. I just didn't feel like it,' he said.
Twenty-three people were killed and almost 200 more injured in the second bombings, which occurred in Jimbaran and Kuta.
When asked whether he had forgiven the terrorists that had set off the bombs, Affandi said 'I have forgiven them from the very beginning. There is no point in revenge. I think, everything that happens to us is God's will. If God wills something, it will happen,' said Affandi, who is now the vice chairman of the Isana Dewata Foundation, a community for survivors and widows, widowers and children of Bali bombing victims.
Meanwhile, Raden Supriyo Laksono, who lost his wife in the tragedy, has also forgiven the perpetrators. He said that he had to accept what had been happened.
'At first, I thought I would never forgive them. But as I am getting older, I think I need to leave all the anger behind. I have to stand up for my family's future,' Raden said.
Raden now has a new family and four children, two of them are from his first marriage with his wife that died in the tragedy. Raden said that anger and revenge only hurt him and his family.
Ni Luh Erniati, chairwoman of Isana Dewata, said that the victims and victims' families of the 2002 bombings had mixed feelings about the tragedy 13 years later.
'Some have already moved on from their anger and are focusing on the future, but there are others that still have those feelings,' Erniati, who lost her husband in the bombing, said.
Erniati said that her heart could not forgive them. 'I just don't want to think about it too much. What's the point of revenge or anger? We will only hurt ourselves. We should now only fight for our lives,' said Erniati, who met Ali Imron, one of the bombers, several months ago at the National Police headquarters.
Ali's brothers Ali Ghufron alias Muklas and Amrozi, who along with Ali were infamously known as the Bali bombers' trio, were sentenced to death on the prison island of Nusakambangan in Central Java a few years ago.
Erniati said, Ali Imron, who was instead sentenced to life, explained he had told his brother Amrozi that the bomb should not be detonated in Bali. But as Ali was the youngest among the siblings, he was not heard.
'He has asked for forgiveness from us directly,' said Erniati, who met Ali along with another victim's relative. Erniati did not respond to Ali Imron's plea for forgiveness. 'I could not say anything. Forgive him? My heart still could not forgive him,' she added.
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