The Bali bombings enrage and sadden me. I have fond memories of the island's rich culture, natural beauty and hospitable people. It is such a refreshing contrast to the rest of Indonesia. Visitors have felt welcomed and safe in this haven even when the rest of Indonesia was wreaked with religious and communal violence.

Obviously such charms are lost to the madmen who planted the deadly bombs. How can the bombing of a tourist enclave reflect positively on their cause? Tourism is Bali's lifeline. I remember my tourist guide telling me how the Balinese consider themselves luckier than the Javanese or Madurese, the latter also flocking to Bali to get a share of the tourist dollar.

Without tourism, Bali will become just another impoverished island with marginal agriculture and non-existent industry.

If indeed Muslim extremists were responsible of the bombing, how can their rage against the West be used as a justification to bomb peaceful, graceful Bali? This is a crime against civilisation.

I compare an earlier incident in Balinese history against this latest act of madness. When the Dutch colonialists decided to invade Bali, the Balinese resisted as best they could against the imminent destruction of their beautiful island.

Faced against the cannons and rifles of the Dutch, the Balinese royalty chose dignified destruction by calmly putting on their best clothes and jewellery before walking toward the blazing guns and into glory still commemorated as "Medan Kepuputan" in Denpasar.

Despite this, the Balinese did not remain bitter toward foreigners for this tragic episode but welcomed all visitors to share their culture. Joy, dignity and grace overcame hate.

The bombers and all who support them should do well to learn from the Balinese. There is no dignity in attacking the innocent, only shame, as the Dutch colonialists of the Balinese expedition encountered long ago.