Bali Raw: An exposé of the underbelly of Bali, Indonesia

by Malcolm Scott

Every year, millions of tourists visit Bali in Indonesia, but what you don’t see in the glossy brochures is the rampant prostitution, the bloody turf wars waged between local gangs and the drug- and alcohol-induced Western hooliganism. Tourists are robbed, raped and murdered and get into vicious fights. In this raw and extraordinary exposé, Scott offers up a Bali choking with violent street fights, cheap sex and aggressive crime.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2012

Reviews

[Alexandra Schulz · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the worst book I have read to date. VERY poorly written, who edited this?!?! It touches on every offensive/politically incorrect opinion one could have and is written in the most egotistical tone I have ever read. Managed to get through 3 quarters of it before I threw it in the bin. Do NOT waste your money.

[Cassandra Joyce · Rating 1 out of 5]

Biggest load of egotistical crap I've ever wasted my time reading! Do not waste your money. This book should have been called '256pages of me trying to convince you just how tough I am....regardless of the fact that I am unattractive(self proclaimed'
Every chapter is just more and more drivel and totally unsubstantiated 'stories'.

[Akhmal · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rating: 1.5/5 stars

"An expose of the Underbelly of Bali" is wayyy too misleading. I think it should be "an expose of a white Australian man's underbelly in Bali" because this book is all about him and his bad experience in Bali.

You know that one obnoxious white man who everyone hates because he picks unnecessary fights with innocent people and play the victim card when authorities come? This is him.

What I absolutely hate is how he sets a tone saying that majority of the Balinese people are bad. And then he proceeds to creating chaos by fighting with the locals, getting involved with a gang, sleeping with prostitutes and not paying them (even though they insist on getting paid for survival) and many many things. I was most repulsed by him saying that Indonesians are mostly jealous of westerners. That generalisation is so distasteful.

Even though I managed to read the whole thing, I had to cringe every now and then throughout my reading.

So NON-SPOILER SPOILER ALERT: This book is about him and his acquaintances, not about Bali in any way.

I myself do not understand why I bought this in the first place and why it's sold everywhere on the 'hot bestsellers' rack in Bali. It doesn't help at all. But I guess it's because most tourists in Bali are Australians? I don't know. But the point is, this is plain bad and biased and just.... no.

[Sada · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’ll be blunt—Bali Raw inspired my first-ever review on Goodreads, and unfortunately, it’s not a positive one.

This book is a major disappointment and a waste of money. A more fitting title would be "How to Get a Prostitute in Bali, Especially If You're Ugly."

After living in Bali for 10 years, the so-called "author" still managed to mistranslate "pelit" (which means stingy, not skinny). TEN YEARS and no one thought to proofread this? It's baffling.

I powered through the book in one sitting, and the entire time, I felt like I was being taken for a fool. The author seems obsessed with painting himself and his brothers as "macho-men," though their insecurities are glaringly obvious.

These juvenile, shallow tales should have stayed in bars, not been turned into a published work. What a waste.

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Pure torture in short sentences. This book is not about Bali, it's about some Australian douchebag's poor lifestyle choices and actually... his naivety (although he keeps boasting how streetwise he is). Nothing new is exposed unless you have been living under a rock and have never ever heard about prostitutes and sincerely believe that locals all over the world would never rip a tourist off.

[Matt Hutson · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's like a 5th grader wrote this. Repetitive thoughts and poor explanations everywhere. You think you'd learn more about the 'underbelly' of Bali but the book just follows this dude around Bali doing stupid shit with stupid ass dialogue.

[Kathy GWRH · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a load of crap.

Rather than an ‘expose’ of Bali’s underbelly, it’s one man’s badly written tales of his experiences with prostitutes, getting drunk and fighting. And as an added bonus, stories of his friends doing the same thing.

It feels like it was written to show how tough Malcom thinks he and his brothers are & to brag about how many hookers he knows- he’s virtually a pimp for visiting Australians.

Australian expats living in Bali reading this must just cringe at how he describes what he says is their typical experiences.
So many expats either retired or working in Bali embrace and get involved in local life and culture.
They don’t just spend their time getting pissed, bonking hookers and fighting.

This guy is embarrassing and fits the ‘Aussie bogan in Bali’ stereotype to a t. Why he thought it would be a good idea to publish details of what a jerk he is remains mystery- he must have been short of money.

Besides the subject matter being awful, the book had loads of grammatical errors and typos.
I don’t think the author had a proof reader/editor check it out before he had it printed.

I can not believe he went on to write more books, and even more unbelievably, people bought them.

Glad I only paid 50 cents at the op shop for this load of rubbish.
First time in my life I’ve thrown a book in the bin.

[Patrycja · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was fun and entertaining at the beginning, quite a quick read, but it got repetitive really fast. The book wasn't what I expected either. It turned out more of a diary of this Australia guy who basically wrote a guide on how to get hookers in Bali and about his bar fights. Read this after coming back from a trip to Bali, and I am glad I didn't read it beforehand. To be fair, it did give me a different perspective on the beautiful and dreamy holiday destination, which I am glad I did not experience, and do not wish on others to experience. Will not reach for his other books.

[Flattland · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really have no idea why I read it all, and I really have no idea why he wrote the book... Would not recommend it.

[April · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow...possibly the worst book I have ever read. Grammatically terrible and really just read like a wannabe bad ass talking about how much tougher he is than everyone else...reading hours wasted

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't even finish this book. Scam to ever buy this book and think you will learn something.

[Susan Gualtier · Rating 1 out of 5]

Since returning from my second (wonderful!) trip to Bali, I've been reading through all the books I bought in the English language bookshops there. They've been of varying quality, and some have had a certain "ripped from the tabloids" quality, but this one is by far the most worthless. The description sounded genuinely fascinating, and I was looking forward to entertaining stories about Western tourists behaving badly. Unfortunately, this is just a wildly racist and misogynistic red-piller ranting about how much he hates Bali without ever looking for anything to love about it, aside from emotionally abusing the women. He and his loathsome wannabe mafioso brothers just bounce around Kuta, sleeping with sex workers, getting stabbed in the neck with beer bottles, and shooting people's dogs. And of course, none of it is *ever* their fault. As far as grammar, style, and self-importance, it reads exactly as you would expect considering the 4chan cesspit this guy must have crawled out of. Assuming most of these stories even happened, he has to have paid someone to publish this for him. It's so sad that it's sold in so many bookstores in Bali. I'm only bothering to write this so that any tourists with honest intentions toward learning about Balinese culture, even the darker side of it, can spend their money on something that's actually meaningful.

[Navjot · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked this up at Denpasar Airport expecting investigative journalism into the "underbelly of Bali". Was deeply disappointed in learning (within the first 5 pages) that the book was actually a pseudo-memoir of an older Aussie Bogan who does his best to convince the reader of how hard him and his family/mates are.

I would avoid. Gets 2 stars because it is a very easy read.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

not exactly what I wanted- was just an obnoxious seeming man's account of fighting and hooking up with working girls. no thanks!

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was absolute madness. I picked this up thinking it would be an "expose" of the drug world, the criminals, etc. All this was, was a regaling of Malcolms life as an Aussie Bogan that went around Kuta and Legian like he owned the place, starting fights with people if he looked at them the wrong way and getting to know all the working girls. He says he went to work for his brothers business, but it seems he started his own business as a pimp. So many spelling and grammatical errors that at times I had to re-read the sentence multiple times to understand what was trying to be said.
Really disappointing read. Especially the rushed last chapter about his friend that passed away.

[Greg Basil · Rating 1 out of 5]

So many chapters were unnecessary and were a total waste of time. The synopsis at the back made it sound like such an exciting book when in fact, it was just the story about a drunken man's misadventures in Bali. Every time he got into a fight, it was never his fault. People just loved fighting with him. A total waste of time.

[Alex Luscombe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Got 8 pages in. Two questions came to mind:
1. Who approved this to be published?
2. How on earth did it get a sequel?

As a regular visitor to Bali, this is far from a true depiction. Only thing you should take from it is there are a lot of undesirables over there (author at the front of the queue).

[Cholis Nur · Rating 1 out of 5]

Agree with every comments here. This garbage belongs to the bin. Read half of this garbage before I threw it in the bin. Talks about himself and nothing about Bali and I am quite sure most of the stories are made up. Regret spending 20$ for this shit.

[Namsmom · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't waste your money

This is not a book about Bali. It is the ranting of a man who likes to drink, chase women and fight anyone who looks at him. Total waste of reading time.

[mer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sesapa mok beli buku tok ngan aku, sila PM - terima kasih daun keladi.

[Jonno · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a poorly written book, of the seedy life of a complete cretin. If this bloke can scrawl this and get it published, then it gives me the utmost confidence for any of my future endeavours.

[Hollywood · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of stories about, drugs, fighting, prostitutes. I don't know if this is the real Bali or just the Bali lifestyle this guy choose to live. Would not recommend.

“Indonesians fight each other all the time. There is huge animosity between different Balinese villages, between different Indonesian ethnic groups, and of course between Indonesians and Westerners.”

“Indonesian security go after the weak, not the strong. I was an easy target – a Westerner they could hurt without repercussions. After many years in Indonesia, and a lot of time spent in Bali nightclubs, I have seen this scenario play out dozens of times, and inevitability it is the person that is down that gets the beating.”

“Something you notice about Indonesians when you live amongst them is they like noise and they are extremely competitive.”

“Unfortunately, a lot of tourists swallow the hype presented in travel guides that the Balinese are a peaceful, spiritual race of people without a bad bone in their bodies. This is just not true. There is good and bad in any society.”

“Security in Bali is therefore a very lucrative job, and the Balinese keep a very tight rein on it. There are frequent brutal and violent power struggles over security positions that tourists don’t see.”

“In Bali it is possible to purchase ephedrine – this is a medication that is often broken down to be turned into methamphetamine, or speed.”

“Condoms are also a must, and it is smart to carry your own supply. Working girls will sometimes buy cheap to save money and these tend to break halfway through the encounter. It is worth noting that, depending on which official report you read, the HIV infection rate among sex workers in Bali is estimated to be somewhere between 25% to 50%.”

“The Indonesians then sat down to talk. After a brief discussion, I was called over and informed that Mad had made a statement against me for assault. I was told that I would have to go to the police station and make a statement or I would be arrested. I was also notified that the punishment for assault was six years in jail and a fine.”

“Indonesian police stations are not fun. I have been to a few on unrelated issues. You sit for hours, nobody tells you anything and the Indonesian yell and scream at each other.”

“Anyone who has lived in Indonesia for any length of time also knowns that Indonesians win most legal battles against foreigners. In my opinion, Indonesian law favours the Indonesian, and Indonesians know this – unfortunately, most Westerners do not. A frequently seen form of petty extortion employed in Bali against Westerners is for Indonesians to yell and scream in the hope the Westerner will try and make the problem disappear with cash. It is true that when confronted by irate Indonesians, Western tourists tend to panic. Watch any motorbike accident that involves a Westerner and you will witness Indonesians crawl out of the woodwork. They will accuse and threaten the Westerner until he or she hands over cash, even if the accident was the Indonesians fault.”

“These stories are funny to me and I didn’t take what happened to seriously, but sometimes you can find yourself in real danger if you retaliate. It is better to remember that you are being confronted for money and to smile, wave and leave.”

“The Indonesian Government is very strict on pornography and recently an anti-pornography bill was passed that threatened Bali’s very existence as a holiday island; under the new law bikinis are supposed to be outlawed. This anti-porn bill has also led to the internet-download speed being reduced to prevent porn from being downloaded and resulted in the publisher of Playboy Indonesia being sent to jail, even though the magazine contained no nudity.”

“I walked the boys through the whole happy ending experience offered in Bali. It really isn’t that complicated: you choose a girl, she gives you a massage, and then she makes a sly gesture at your crotch and asks, you want? You should always let her say the price first and know that it will be exorbitant, then give her your own price, she will try and get the price up by telling you happy endings are not allowed in the massage parlour. This is generally a lie, but they all say it and you have to be careful as some places in Bali do not give happy endings. The simple rule is, if she offers, then she is allowed.”

“I asked Lita where she was from in Indonesia – this question is important to Indonesians. Indonesia is a large place with many islands, cultures and regional dialects, and Indonesians place a great significance on their place of birth. They love to talk about their origins and their home city or village.”

“One of the many reasons a lot of expats and tourists come a cropper in Bali is the lack of enforced drink-diving rules. It is a bit of an anomaly that Indonesian has the largest Muslim population in the world, yet a larger part of its tourism industry is built on the availability of alcohol. I can imagine it being a bit of a thorn in the side of the more radical Islamic groups in Java, Sumatra and other parts of the country that in Bali the Bintang flows freely.”

[Emil D · Rating 1 out of 5]

Made the mistake of purchasing this colonoscopy of a book during a recent trip to Bali. Expecting some interesting (albeit reasonably obvious) facts about the Bali underbelly I was sorely disappointed.

The book is basically the alcoholic ramblings and made up stories of, what appears to be, a washed up sex tourist with “many tattoos and a goatee”. Why do I write this? Because the stories resonate like a poorly written porn script combined with a C list action flick. Furthermore, the book is incredibly judgmental when it comes to the people of Bali.

I forced myself to read it to the end, although next time I’d rather gouge out my eyes with a spoon and fill the sockets with gravel, I truly and honestly believe that it would be a more enjoyable experience as opposed to reading this travesty.

[FD · Rating 1 out of 5]

I saw this book in the bookstore at Den Pasar Airport on my way back and thought it would be interesting. It wasn't. First of all, I think this author has absolutely no writing talent. The book consists of short stories in which the author uncompellingly recounts the experiences he and his "mates" experience in Bali, where he lives as an expat, iIt is not supported by research or facts. The adolescent adventures of a thirty-something. At the beginning, he indicates that he wants to be honest and therefore runs the risk of coming across as less likable. He's right; he doesn't seem likable at all, more like a selfish, disrespectful sexist. The way he generalizes also rubs me the wrong way. At the end, he admits that he's become what he didn't want to be: a cliché expat. Does he realize that his behavior is part of the problem? It's set in Bali, but it could be anywhere.

[Jessy Munch · Rating 1 out of 5]

I like true stories. But this author and his book were annoying. I mean you are an explant to Bali, super egotistical, left behind your kids in Australia because of a divorce and you don’t sound like a very good person and I don’t see anywhere in you story that you ever learned from anything you went through. Just screams party boy, loose cannon gross man who thinks he’s some awesome person. I read it and it entertained me just like true crime stories but it was pretty disgusting and disturbing to read and know there are men out there like this.

[Julia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dreadful book. The title is extremely misleading.
This book is about nothing more than one Australian man's time living in Bali.
The book in a nutshell (so you don't have to read it) - he moves to Bali to work in a family "business", sleeps with prostitutes, frequents unsavory bars in Kuta, engages in bar fights and is involved with some shady tourists and locals. Written to justify his bogan behaviour.
Nothing to do with Bali as a country. Don't waste your time reading.

[Dyana Daniel · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you think this book is about the arts, attractions or relgious rites of Bali, move on. An author’s experience as a veteran expat, schooling you on the badest part of Bali (mostly Kuta), how to get along with the locals and how they’ll make a quick buck on tourists or anyone white or foreign. Probably written while drunk or high.

[Safen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Keeping it short. I picked it up and read this in Bali; and I think it is very one sided. I do not know why it is called "An Expose of the Underbelly of Bali'; it was in fact more like experiences of the author.

[Alex · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst book i read, it deserved my first review.Poorly editing, poor read, all in all, a waste of money and time. Story of a white man living in the sketchy area of bali and contributing to its misery.

[Valerie Chew · Rating 1 out of 5]

ugh.
i felt like i read a wasted aimless white man's diary.