Bali’s entitled tourists, a Thai model who broke beauty standards and a Malaysian fugitive on the run: Asia’s most popular stories in 2021

Bali residents revealed their true feelings about ‘entitled’ foreign tourists after an American ‘digital nomad’ was deported

A Singapore supermarket tycoon’s success tale, Duterte’s attempt to ‘milk’ the US, and an Indonesian plane crash also made it to the list

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Anchilee Scott-Kemmis, Miss Universe Thailand 2021, won hearts her #realsizebeauty message. Photo: Miss Universe Thailand / Facebook

Published: 8:30am, 31 Dec 2021

From China’s warning shot for Australia over iron ore, to Singapore supermarket tycoon Lim Hock Leng’s secret to success, and a Philippine politician’s controversial marriage to a beauty queen half his age, here are the stories that drew the most attention this year.

Entitled ‘little kings’

An American digital nomad was deported from Indonesia over her viral tweets that described Bali as a low-cost, LGBT-friendly place for foreigners to live.

Kristen Gray’s posts were slammed by Indonesians for exploiting Western privilege and lack of cultural awareness about the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, where a 2019 survey found that only 9 per cent of residents agree that homosexuality is acceptable.

Authorities also accused the 28-year-old, who said the tropical island was easily accessible during the pandemic, of visa violations and tax evasion. She ran a graphic design business in Bali.

Gus Dark, a Balinese social activist, said the incident had “opened a tap of emotions” in many, exposing their true feelings about tourism in Bali, which had more than 16 million visitors in 2019, of whom 6.3 million were foreigners.

“Many foreigners [in Bali] have felt like they have diplomatic immunity just because a small number of locals ordained them as ‘little kings’,” Gus said, adding that the Balinese had “pent-up feelings” about the government’s pursuit of tourism while overlooking its negative impacts.

A wave of distress

Seemingly impervious to recessions for decades, cracks started to appear in the Australian economy this year as demand for iron ore from China – its biggest customer – rapidly disappeared.