In the quiet dawn before new days begin across Bali’s graceful shores, there are moments when laws and lives intersect like lines on a map. A simple ribbon of tape — red and white, placed as a sentinel by local officers — can become a symbol of respect, community, and shared space. When that thread was lifted by a visitor, it set into motion a sequence of calm yet firm actions that underscore how societies hold their borders of order and expectation.
On Monday night, a 56-year-old South Korean man identified by his initials CHK was escorted onto a Jeju Air flight from Denpasar to Incheon after the Indonesian immigration authorities concluded he had violated local public order rules. The case centered on his removal of official Satpol PP sealing lines in several Badung Regency sites where activity had been officially paused by civil investigators. The lines, plain in their appearance, carried with them the weight of local regulation and collective respect — a weight that authorities deemed essential to uphold.
CHK, who held a Limited Stay Permit known as ITAS, had been residing in Bali under a family unification permit valid through August 2026. Yet upon confirmation of his actions, his ITAS was revoked, he was deported, and immigration officials proposed his addition to Indonesia’s immigration blacklist — a step that, in effect, closes one chapter while signaling clear expectations for others.
Officials emphasized that this decision is not a singular act of exclusion but a peaceful reaffirmation of shared norms. The Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP) of Badung, working alongside the immigration office, operates under regulatory frameworks that reflect both community wishes and statutory order. For the authorities, cooperation among agencies underscores consistency in how rules are explained, respected, and, when necessary, enforced.
In this event, the figure of the immigrant and the lines drawn by local enforcement intersected like overlapping currents. One was a human journey shaped by family ties and cross-border lives; the other was a community’s determination that laws — visible or implied — are threads that hold the fabric of public life together.
As the plane carrying CHK departed into the night sky, it carried not only a traveler but also a reminder: that in places where cultures and lives converge, the quiet observance of shared sacred lines — whether they be ribbons on land or agreed rules of co-existence — often defines the harmony of the whole.
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Sources
CNA Indonesia; CNN Indonesia; detik.com; Indo Bali News; Pikiran Rakyat Solo Raya.