A travel vlogger is facing online backlash for calling Bali “the whitest island” in Asia in a video.
The Nas Daily Instagram account has 3.9 million followers, and last week contributor Nuseir Yassin shared a post captioned “the whitest island in Asia?”, in reference to the Indonesian isle of Bali.
The caption reads: “I’ve never seen anything like this. It seems like every Western tourist in the world comes to live in Bali. Why? Now that I’m finally inside, I found the answer!”
The post’s video begins by showing Mr Yassin pointing to a smiling woman next to him and saying: “She is white.” After the woman in question greets the camera, it follows many more caucasian tourists.
“Everywhere you go there are white people,” Mr Yassin summarises, before showing a single black man who says: “Wait, I’m not white.”
“Why did they leave home to come live here in Asia?”, Mr Yassin then asks, before covering what makes the island appealing to tourists.
Saying the island has “captured the western world’s attention”, he lists nature, hospitality, low costs and scooters being the main mode of transport as reasons he believes it has become such an attractive destination.
“Everything here is affordable, to white tourists at least”, Mr Yassin says.
The video finishes with him adding: “No wonder so many white people and non-white people call this island their home.”
Followers were quick to respond to the post’s content underneath, with one person writing: “First I thought it was satire, then I expected a plot twist, and now I’m disappointed that you don’t mention any critical aspect of (white) tourism in Bali.”
“This seems like a video talking about gentrification without addressing it,” another added.
A Bali resident posted that the video does not represent the island “as a whole” and said: “we don’t need more tourists, we need more organizations helping us to educate businesses to be more conscious, to grow not over-exploit.”
Another user commented: “If you want to promote Bali, this is wrong on so many levels. If you truly care about Indonesia, read the comments here and take down this video.”
The Independent has approached Nas Daily for comment.
