SEVEN years may have passed, but for many of those who survived or lost loved ones in the 2002 Bali bombings, the pain does not ease with time.
United in grief, about 60 people gathered in Denpasar yesterday to remember those who died in the terrorist attacks. Eighty-eight Australians were among the 202 people killed in the bombings of the Sari Club and Paddy’s Bar in the popular tourist area of Kuta on October 12, 2002.
Under heavy guard, survivors and family members of victims joined Australian and Indonesian officials and diplomatic representatives from 12 countries for yesterday’s memorial service and wreath-laying at the Australian consulate-general.
Commemorations were also held at the permanent memorial near the bombing sites, as well as at Kuta beach, and in Sydney at the Bali memorial at Coogee Beach, where about 300 people gathered.
“This is a day which Australians won’t forget,” Kevin Rudd said in Launceston yesterday.
“It’s a day the families of those who lost their lives, and those who were injured, won’t forget either.”
Reflecting on their loss, Australian survivors and relatives of victims said in Denpasar yesterday that while they harboured no ill-feeling to Indonesia, the pain did not subside with time.
“It doesn’t get any easier, this time of the year, it’s really hard, it builds up,” said Spike Stewart, from Perth, whose son Anthony, 29, was one of seven members of Perth’s Kingsley Football Club killed in the bombings.
“It’s not a good time for me. There’s a lot of sadness.”
Barry Wallace, from Byron Bay, lost his daughter Jodi, 29. On her first trip to Bali, she had arranged to meet her boyfriend for drinks at the Sari Club.
“It’s tough coming here. Each time, you just feel gutted. It’s very stressful. This is a time for Jodi but it’s our way of making a connection. I feel her presence here strongly,” he said.
“No one should have to bury their kids — it’s the worst nightmare, the worst place you can go.
“But we have to deal with it. You have to play mind games to survive it and the only way is to live in the present. It’s very intense being here.”
Also attending the service in Bali was Noel Hackett and his wife, Barbara, from Coogee in Sydney. They lost their daughter, Kathy Salvatore, 37. A mother of two young girls, she had been celebrating a birthday with friends. Emotions were still raw, said Mr Hackett. “It was such a horrendous act but the Balinese are such lovely people.”
Despite the grief, the seventh anniversary has come at an auspicious time, with the Bali Peace Park Association saying there has been a breakthrough in establishing a commemorative park on the former site of the Sari Club at Kuta — a plan that has been in contention for some time.
Although local businessman Kadek Wirantha has a 30-year lease on the land, with plans to build a nightclub complex, the Governor of Bali, Made Mangku Pastika, has put his weight behind the stalled park, saying no development except the park would be permitted on the site.
Chairman of the association Nick Way is confident an agreement will be sealed within three months, with completion of the park expected by October next year.
