12 Family Life in Bali
Bali is a very famous cultural tourism destination to foreign countries. No wonder, if the longer Bali the more foreign visitors. They come to Bali not just enjoy the beauty of nature. Some of them claim to be curious about the cultural diversity in Bali. One of the things that interest them is the tradition in Bali.
However, the social life in Bali is also interesting to study. It is because the social life is inherited from the tradition itself. Next it will be born some new values in Bali. The value is usually first introduced by the parents at home. Here are some typical family life in Bali.
- Almost parents don’t like to teach farming for their children
Families in Bali tend to be reluctant to teach their children about learning to farm or even just to grow crops. Family farmers in Bali also prefer not to teach their children to farm, even just planting trees at home. The problem of farming activities is considered not promising compared to other work. Revenue as a farmer is also not worth the weight of working as a farmer.
- Using Balinese language for daily actvity
The majority of families in Bali use Balinese as their daily communication tool. This is because the Balinese Language is an Austronesian language from the Sundik branch and more specific than the Bali-Sasak branch. This language is mainly spoken on the island of Bali, the western island of Lombok, and slightly on the eastern tip of Java.
In Bali, the Balinese language has a level of use, for example there is called Bali Alus, Bali Madya and Bali Rough. This happens because the influence of Javanese language spread to Bali since the time of Majapahit, even until the time of Mataram Islam, although the Islamic Mataram kingdom never conquered Bali.
- The custody of broken home child
In the custody of minors in the time the parents die, the child will be cared for by the family of the father. If the parents divorced, the child remains legal in the family of his father so that he carries the rights and duties in the family of his father, in other words the children would be nurtured by his father.
- The status of mother is lower than father
Because of the patrilineal system, maternal status is lower than the father’s status in Bali. In economic activity, the husband as the head of the family is responsible for producing goods and services to be consumed together. This activity is often also assisted by the wife and children. Wives as housewives play a major role in the process of socializing children. Often this kind of activity is assisted by the husband in the form of providing useful advice for the life of the child in the future.
- Most of family in Bali embracing Hindus belief
The value of children and families in Balinese society will not be understood well without first recognizing its social system, especially its patrilineal patterned kinship system, which is imbued with values in Hinduism. This is because Hinduism is the majority religion embraced by the Balinese. So the children they raised also usually hugging Hindus as their religion.
- Daughters are not entitled to inheritance
If the family has only daughters and men only boys who become heirs. This is what makes the customary law inheritance of Bali is gender biased. It is very clear if the daughter is moreover married out, then he is not entitled to inherit and fully become the responsibility of the husband’s family during his marriage lasting.
- The caste system
They control the entire island of Bali by dividing the power among them, the commanders and their descendants. The kings, nobles, priests, royal palaces, military retainers, court servants, and their families from Java (Majapahit) created the top three classes for their circles.
- For pastors and religious leaders, they are included in the highest caste of Brahmana
- For the King, the nobles, the royal officers, and his army, they are included Knights caste.
- For the royal servants, weapons-making experts, scholars, etc. who came from Java were given the Waisya Caste.
- As for the majority of Bali people are not given the position or not caste. They are all included in the lowest class of so-called Sudra (Sudirese Caste), or in Bali known as “Jaba”. This also applies to the descendants of the ancient pre-Majapahit ancient Balinese rulers of the Warmadewa Dynasty who merged into the Sudra society after losing their power.
- Accepting the multicultural
Society in Bali can be regarded as a society famous for its high tolerance. Although the majority of them embraced Hinduism, they can still co-exist with the same customs and cultures despite different religions. Can be taken as an example when Christmas, Hindus also participate and hold several traditions together.
- Most of children go to international school
Almost half of parents in Bali choose to send their children to an international school. This is due to the large number of international schools in Bali. In addition, the demands of competition against foreign residents who settled in Bali, requires them to be able to get a good education and have a good ability to discuss foreigners.
- The married men have the big responsibility
Based on the patrilineal kinship system in Bali, one of the married boys has full responsibility for his parents. The boy is, generally, the eldest son (in the tri-state), and the youngest boy (in the sudra-rangsa). Children who are succeed their parents later in carrying out all customary duties (kahan) in relatives (for example, maintaining and conducting ceremonies on sanggah / pengajan) or in indigenous peoples.
In the performance of duties in the relative’s circle, the other son is a shelter, with the obligation of assisting his brother in full responsibility. In the implementation of obligations in the adat community, the eldest son or the youngest boy, will replace the position of his parents into krama banjar, while the other son becomes krama banjar in his own name.
- It is a must for father in Bali comes to a traditional ceremony
In carrying out religious activities, such as an ancestral worship ceremony (sanggah / pengajan), the husband has the duty / responsibility to perform the ceremony, while in preparing the necessary offerings of the ceremony in such ceremony, the wife who has a more prominent role . As the smallest unit in Balinese kinship structure, kuren also has a function in politics.
- Having a baby boy is something that all Balinese dream
Many Balinese families want boys instead of women. This is because the value of boys appears to be higher than girls, because in both aspects the influence of adat and religion is dominant. In the economic aspect, the value of children can be seen from its role in providing economic value to the parents. The assistance is generally in the form of labor and materials. And in terms of psychology, it turns out children have a positive and negative value for parents.
Those are the family life in Bali. Some of them are good to be adopted and applied in your life. While you visit Bali, you might know these realities that happen to family life in Bali.