The Magic of the Mobile Phone

By: Sita van Bemmelen

There is no doubt about it: the mobile phone has conquered the world. Even in remote and poor villages on the island of Bali, people have succumbed to its magic. The first group of buyers in the 1990s consisted of the wealthy, when the mobile phone was still expensive. But in the last couple of years, the young have come under the spell of the modern device. Teenagers came first, but today children of pre-school and primary school age walk around with a ‘hp’, short for hand phone, as well.

The seven-year-old son of my domestic help has a hp as well as his older sister. It is not a fancy one, equipped with the latest applications, but at least they can pride themselves in owning one and therefore do not have to feel inferior to their classmates. For their parents, the expense has been considerable. With a joint income of around 200 dollar a month, twenty dollars for a mobile phone was a financial sacrifice.