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LIFE STYLE OF RENTED LAND OWNERS IN UBUD SUBDISTRICT
A.A. Gde Putra Pemayun

Faculty of Economics 

National University of Education, Denpasar 

email: putra.pemayun@gmail.com
ABSTRACT


This present study was intended to analyze the Life Style of the Rented Land Owners at Ubud Subdistrict. The problems of the study are formulated as follows: (1) what is the characteristic of the rented land owners at Ubud Subdistrict like? (2) How has the process of life style of the rented land owners at Ubud Subdistrict  taken place? And (3) what is the implication of the life style of the rented land owners on their lives? Qualitative method was employed in the study. The data were processed using observation, interview and documentary techniques. 


The workability of the law regulating the demand for land at Ubud Subdistrict motivated the land owners to rent out their land to investors. Apart from that, the internal dimension, which is made up of the economical capital, was the most important element as it could activate small, medium and big enterprises. Another aspect was image which was reflected through perception, cognition, motivation, and attitude of individuals as consumers. As an illustration, they built luxurious houses and showed off luxurious cars to show the image that they were new wealthy people. On the other hand, there was external dimension, namely, the highly rapid development of tourism, which could positively and negatively contribute to the life style of the people living at Ubud Subdistrict. Such an implication could not be avoided. The other aspect was consumerism; the consumers were around the symbol and sign. Mass media were the miracles of the object liturgy; pleasure was defined as the realization of freedom, and the human body was the main object of consumers. The last aspect was the government’s policy which determined that Ubud Subdistrict was a tourist destination. As a result, the local people had the opportunity to rent out their land which was used to expand the industry of tourism and to activate the other economic enterprises. 
Keywords: life style, hedonist, consumerism, image.

INTRODUCTION


The rapid spread of the globalized culture to Ubud area has caused the capitalistic ideological practices within the framework of the industry of tourism such as cultural industry, popular culture, life style and the culture of consumerism to appear. Land, as a production factor, has been commercialized and touristified as an adaptive form in order to follow what is desired by tourists. Such an adaptation represents capitalism and globalized tourism which contributes to new meaning and color. The conversion of the land function as a consequence of globalization and expansion of tourism cannot be avoided. The workability of the law regulating the demand for land at Ubud Subdistrict has motivated the land owners to rent out their land to investors. As they do not intend to run any business, the rent they receive is only spent on their daily needs. By renting out their land which is relatively wide enough, they receive money which is supposed to be able to change their life style. 


This present study was intended to understand the characteristic of the rented land owners at Ubud Subdistrict, the factors causing their life style to change, and to identify the implication of their life style on their lives. It was expected that the results of the present study could be used as a reference when issuing policies regulating life style. In addition, it was also expected that the results of the study would give contribution in the form of ideas to the rented land owners at Ubud Subdistrict that their life style would change following the era development.

RESEARCH METHOD



Interpretative and qualitative method was employed in the present study. Interpretative and qualitative method produces descriptive data in the forms of written and oral words and expressions and behavior of those that are explored (Moleong, 2002). The data were collected through observation guided with an interview guide, library research and supporting documents. In this study, the data were verified and analyzed using a number of theories such as the theory of hierarchy of needs proposed by Maslow, the theory of life style, and the theory of social practice proposed by Bourdieu. They are all classified as the social critical theory. 

DISCUSSION


The results of the study showed several things as follows. If viewed from the ownership point of view, as far as the function of land which cannot be separated from the temple system is concerned, land importantly functions to maintain the social and religious binding which has taken place since a very long time ago (Bagus, 1996). However, after the local people rented out their land, they competitively followed the modern life, meaning that after they rented out their land, their life style changed. Their families became individual families that considered that materialism was a series of the main belief that ownership of land was important in their lives. Materialism was measured by how much wealth was obtained (Goode, William, 2006). On the other hand, the communal families were still controlled by the old costumes and traditions. The relations within the families and communities owning the rented land were highly strong at Ubud Subdistrict. The reason was that they were bound to the social organization which was formed based on the costumes and traditions.

Another important aspect was education. Education is investment. It had rapidly developed and was believed by every family that the development in educational sector highly determined the growth of the other developmental sectors. After they received the rent of the land, they continued their studies to the institutions of higher education in Bali and outside Bali as they had a lot of money. Viewed from the aspect of income, income is the total earning received by every individual in a family owning the rented land at Ubud Sub district for his/her daily, weekly, monthly and yearly performance for a certain period of time (Sukirno, 2006). After renting out the land, they received the rent and salaries as they also worked as employees. Their social statuses varied and this could lead to conflicts. After they rented out their land, they could spend the money they received to enhance their social statuses. Finally, money played an important role in making modernization interfere with the family life, meaning that money was used to guarantee that they could perform their social and spiritual activities. 

Viewed from the internal aspect, the process of change in life style included three aspects as follows. The economic capital aspect; capital was an economic source outside human resources. Capital, including land, in this case, was viewed as the non human economic source. The economic capital was the most important element as it activated the small, medium and big business activities. Capital should always be available in every domain. The value which was provided with capital was connected to various characteristics of social and cultural habitus (Hardyatmo, 2003). In this case, capital was considered  the dominating basis which could be exchanged for with the other types of capitals. The other aspect was competition; competition took place if several parties desired that something would be the center of the public attention. The competition of reinvestment which took place among the rented land owners; they competitively constructed villas. The competition in life style among the rented land owners could be seen from the fact that there were more and more luxurious cars parked in the front yards of their respective houses. The other aspect was image; image was the picture which was constructed through perception, cognition, motivation and attitude taking place in every individual consumer. For example, building luxurious houses and showing off luxurious cars constituted the image of new wealthy people. Power was the context of social life, meaning that what was reflected from the image through the process of simulation could be directed to the constituent to trust what was being imaged before him/her as a reality. Actually, image is part or one of the models of simulation (Baudrilland, 1998). 

Another aspect which was also important was tourism; Ubud Village is a unique tourist destination which has to be visited by the tourists visiting Bali. They feel that there is something missing if they do not have the opportunity to visit Ubud Village. Globalization was also an important aspect. The discourse of globalization, as a process, was marked by the so rapid development of technology and sciences that they had been able to change the world fundamentally. International communication and transportation caused the cultural boundaries of every nation to disappear (Warsono, 2007). The culture of every nation tended to be globalized and the world’s culture; as a result, all human beings were involved. Consumerism was another aspect; the consumer community was around the symbol and sign. The mass media became miracles of the object liturgy; leisure was defined as the realization of freedom, and the human body was the main consumer object. Actually, consuming was a common activity. However, when the present study was conducted, it was recognized that the families owning the rented land did not only consume but they were also caught in the culture of consumerism (Pilliang, 2011). The government’s policy could not be neglected; the Act issued by the Bali Province No. 16 of 2009 concerning the Space Layout of the Bali Province, determined that the tourist areas could be divided into three; they were Nusa Dua, Kuta and Ubud, where tens of star and non star hotels and other forms of accommodation were constructed. 

The implications of the life style of the rented land owners seemed to vary if viewed from five aspects and from the aspect of the pattern of their inter relations and intra relations. Before their land was rented out,   their relations were very close. However, after their land was rented out, their involvement and interaction with their social environment tended to be loose, even in every type of family relation. The development of pragmatism in their families was another aspect. In pragmatism it is taught that a thought follows an action. The education of pragmatism is always temporary in nature; the objective is the medium of acting. Pragmatism only acknowledges the truth if it can be evidenced scientifically. If one objective is already achieved, the result which is achieved is used as a means of achieving the next objective, and so forth. The reason is that pragmatism does not have any final objective; what is available is the objective which is in between. The formation of a new identity was another aspect; the developments of life style are related to one another through institutional reflectivity.  After their land was rented out, the wealthy families owning the land held what is called ‘arisan’ (regular social gathering whose members contribute to and take turns at winning an aggregate sum of money) to form a new identity. In addition, a socialite community, as what has happened in big cities, was established. Spontaneously, the socialites established a new cultural identity.


Economic rationalism was another important aspect. Rationalism is a view which views that mind is the source of knowledge and justification. It is a teaching that refers to the principle that mind should be provided with a main role in giving clarification. The rational economic action was an action which was performed by the rented land owners at Ubud Subdistrict to fulfill what they needed based on their rational attitude and economic principle. In relation to the equality of gender, it was identified that the ladies had recognized that they had equal rights and obligations within and outside their families. The empirical evidence showed that the role played by the ladies in leadership was getting wider. However, attempts are necessarily made to make the ladies more powerful in the development of education in the future so that their involvement in the public affairs would be getting more evident. Without any special treatment, the ladies would not have the access to the protection and differentiation in the structure of the patriarchal community. 
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

The interference of the capitalistic strength in the companies available at Ubud Subdistrict caused the families owning the rented land to change their life style, from the traditional life style into the modern life style. Having adequate amount of money, they changed the function of their money. Initially, money was intended to be a means of exchange, but then it was also used as a means of creating image in various forms featuring modernity. They had interacted in depth with the modern life resulting from the development of tourism. However, many families owning the rented land still maintained the traditional life style, meaning that modernization and globalization did not fully caused the pattern of traditional life to disappear in the families owning the rented land at Ubud Subdistrict. 

As a suggestion, the figures or those who are considered being culturally exemplified by the Ubud community should be aware that their life style is rapidly imitated by the people living around them. The Ubud royal figures and the apparatus of the government of Ubud Sub district should be aware that the families owning the rented land at Ubud Sub district was searching for a model to follow in their daily lives. They were searching for new values and norms resulting from the shift in life style, from the traditional life style to the modern life style and even postmodern life style. It should be recognized that such a shift greatly affected the life condition of the families owning the rented land.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In this opportunity, the writer would like thank Head of Ubud Sub district, heads of all the banjars at Ubud Sub district, the informants, the Library of the Cultural Studies of Udayana University, and everybody who has contributed to the completion of this study.

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