Influencer Slammed For Performing Squats Next To Religious Ceremony In Bali

A woman who appears to be a social media influencer has been branded insensitive after she was filmed performing squats wearing a small swimsuit just metres away from a religious ceremony in Bali, Indonesia.

The woman was wearing a pink swimsuit while doing some exercises for the camera while a friend filmed her, but they seemed to be completely unfazed by the fact that there was a group of locals in traditional attire preparing a Hindu offering a short distance away.

The strange set of events is believed to have taken place on a beach in Canggu and was shared on Instagram bearing the caption 'Ignorancers in the Wild'.

Since it was shared, the video has been viewed 30,000 and received a whole load of comments, mostly from people who are shocked at the influencer's actions, and accuse her of being insensitive to the culture of the country that she is visiting.

To be fair, the people who are preparing for the offering ceremony didn't seem that bothered by the whole thing, but maybe they were just being polite.

The NZ Herald speculates the women were performing a Canang sari, a daily offering of praise and prayer performed by Balinese Hindus.

One person commented: "Is it that hard to respect a culture that open to everyone seriously?"

Another person added: "The amount of disrespect.... and f***s not given."

The post also featured comments from locals, for whom this is clearly not the first instance they've seen of people failing to respect the traditions of their area.

One said: "Getting sick of this kind of bule [Indonesian for foreigners]"

After heading into lockdown three months ago, like much of the world, Bali has started to return to something approximating normality last week.

It's been three months since the first case of Covid-19 was recorded on the island.

A load of local communities have 'unofficially' reopened their beaches already.

In the figures to 15 June, 741 cases of coronavirus have been reported in Bali, which led to the death of six people.

The tourism industry, which is vital to the economy of Bali - and Indonesia, too - has taken a hit as a result of the pandemic, with tourism dropping by 60 percent in March.

There was a ban put in place on international visitors in March, as the outbreak spread around the world.

That ban remains in place to this day, but the authorities are hopeful that they will once again be able to receive international visitors in Bali from October.