By Leah Bjornson
Photos by TheProvince.com
Field school participants claim the article “grossly exaggerated”
On Jan. 25, The Province ran an article claiming that SFU students became ill in Bali on Jan. 18 after drinking methanol-laced spirits, causing some of those students on the South-East Asia field school to respond forcefully against the report.
On Jan. 23, SFU authorities were surprised to receive a call from Province news reporter Ian Austin, who was investigating a night of drinking in Bali which resulted in the students becoming “violently ill,” according to the published article. “This was the first time that my office had been aware that anything happened,” said Scott McLean, acting director of Public Affairs and Media Relations at SFU. After looking into the matter further, McLean said he feels that the connection between methanol-laced spirits and the students’ sickness might have been “only speculation on [The Province]’s part . . . We believe the cause to be over-consumption, due to the fact that there are no lingering health effects.”
Several students on the trip responded quite vehemently to the article, commenting on Facebook, Twitter, and The Province’s own website. Field school student Leonie Kuijvenhoven wrote in the comments on The Province‘s website, “This article is grossly exaggerated, and the author is clearly very misinformed.”
“The author has for some reason included us in a sensationalist article about a very real problem,” commented fellow student Nova Chamberlin, “but should perhaps think of checking his sources before publishing an article that will likely cause undue distress for the loved ones of students involved in this field school.”
Methanol-laced spirits in Bali, Lombok, and the Gili Islands have been responsible for recent blindings, illnesses, and even deaths of many tourists and Indonesians. The situation has become so serious that Australia has even issued a travel advisory for tourists bound for Indonesia.
This danger can be traced back to the rise of import taxes on alcohol in Indonesia in 2010. After the price of importing alcohol skyrocketed (reaching a 380% import tax), many turned to the black market and the bootlegging industry to purchase cheap liquor. Unfortunately, the ingredients used to make the alcohol are not only cheap, they are dangerous.
Despite these dangers, SFU students insist that they were well informed of the risks of drinking in Indonesia. “They are making a provincial news story out of a few adults getting sick after drinking too much,” said field school student Jamshed Colah in an interview with The Peak. “As a class we have no idea why anyone at [The Province] would have been spurred to write this.”
Colah continued, “We were briefed before leaving at SFU, and again while here in Bali by our tour guides, drivers and by Dr. [Michael] Howard, [the field school coordinator]. Drinking is actually minimal by the whole group.”
With concern as to the results of this inquiry, McLean commented, “We are now looking at policies surrounding the field school . . . the safety of our students is of utmost importance.”
The university is currently considering sending two representatives to meet the field school in Thailand to investigate the incident and provide counseling services for the students.
