BeritaBali reports that Bali Governor Wayan Koster is seeking to clarify a video playing on social media in which he is seen raising his voice and ordering a member of the public to “shut up.” Koster dismisses the video as capturing an “old incident” filmed while he was involved in a zoning enforcement campaign in the Bingin Beach area of Bali.
Koster’s clarification was delivered after he attended the 48th Plenary Session of the Bali Provincial Regional House of Representatives (DPRD) on Monday, 07 September 2026. The Governor dismissed the incident as “old history” and not depicting a current occurrence.
Koster said the subject video was recorded while he was personally leading an enforcement operation targeting buildings on state-owned land in the Bingin Beach area. The operations targeted the removal of villas, bars, and restaurants that lacked the required permits.
“Diam Kamu – Shut Up!”
”At that time, I was very animated; those villas weren’t allowed—they had to be demolished—and the bars and restaurants too. It required high energy to carry out the demolition because they were violating regulations,” Koster said, explaining the charged emotional atmosphere prevailing at the time of the filming.
Koster then explained the context behind his remark recorded in the video. While officers were demolishing the buildings, someone standing on the sidelines interrupted to ask about job opportunities and the fate of the workers involved.
According to Koster, the question from the sidelines was not directly related to the enforcement operation currently underway. He spontaneously told the person to be quiet.
”I said, ‘Shut up!’ (diam kamu). ‘We are focused on the demolition, yet you’re thinking about the workforce. There will be a time to think about the workforce later,’” Koster commented.
He believes the recirculated video has been edited, meaning the full context of the event is not actually visible. According to Koster, this situation could lead the public to form a different perception of what actually happened. “Ah, that’s the one that was circulated again recently. But the context was framed differently. It made it look as if—what do you call it?—as if I was snapping at someone,” said Koster.
Although the video gave the impression that he had snapped at someone, Koster said he was not overly concerned about it. He stated that he chooses to remain patient in the face of various public opinions provoked by the video uploaded to social media.
”They say I snapped at someone. Well, that’s fine; let people think that—I’ll stay patient,” Koster said casually.
Koster even responded to the video going viral again with a touch of humor. He expressed gratitude to those who shared it, noting that it had raised his public profile. “It makes me look even cooler since it went viral. Thank you,” he concluded.
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