Depan Nyoman and Ketut Terancam Hilang, Bali Fokus Kembalikan Tradisi Keluarga Besar

JAKARTA - Concerns about the future of the identity of the local community are the main focus of the Bali Provincial Government, especially regarding the existence of typical names such as Nyoman and Ketut.

The Governor of Bali, Wayan Koster, gave a serious warning that the decline in the number of third and fourth children could have a direct impact on the sustainability of customary practices on the Island of the Gods.

"If this is not managed well then Nyoman and Ketut are gone, they are actually our cultural guardians, if he declines who will take care of this Balinese culture," said Governor Koster in Denpasar, Wednesday.

This step was taken in response to the slowing down of the growth rate of the native population of Bali which only touched the figure of 0.66 percent in 2025. The phenomenon that occurred actually showed an increase in the number of immigrant residents, while the population of local residents who are actively carrying out the tradition actually experienced a decline.

Governor Koster emphasized the importance of the sustainability of religious and customary rituals as the foundation of life in Bali.

"There are odalin activities, full moon, tilem, Galungan, Kuningan, Saraswati, all kinds of things that we have to be aware of, if this does not go well on an ongoing basis, in the future the culture of Bali will be lost," he said.

He believes that if the successors of this tradition are reduced, then the future of Bali as a whole will be threatened. This is because the social and economic sectors of Bali have always depended heavily on the cultural roots as its main driving force, which if lost, will make Bali lose competitiveness with other foreign destinations.

In his instructions, the Bali Provincial Government asked residents not to be fixated on the success of the two-child family planning (KB) program which has been emphasized since the New Order era. BPS data even predicts that this population slowdown trend will continue until 2050 if it is not immediately intervened.

"Don't let it be like in Japan, the phenomenon is now not willing to get married, or want to get married but don't want to have children, or want to get married but have only one child, then he has a deficit (population) in Tokyo, then he gives incentives for people to come," said Koster.

As a form of anticipation, the local government is now actively promoting the four-child family planning program in order to keep Nyoman and Ketut's names from becoming extinct. Currently, residents who bear the name Ketut (fourth child) are recorded as only remaining around 4.5 percent of Bali's total population of 4.4 million. To support this policy, Governor Koster plans to start distributing special incentives for families with children with this name.

"If we don't encourage this, the first thing to disappear is Ketut, not until 50 years later Ketut will live in the museum, then Nyoman is the second one to be threatened because at this time the most is the first child (Putu/Wayan/Gede) the percentage is the highest 39 percent so this is a bad picture of our demography in Bali," he said.