Every year during the rainy season, tides of rubbish washing up on Bali’s most popular beaches capture the world’s attention and zoom in on the pressing issue of plastic waste. In 2021, a “mermaid” on trash-filled Kuta Beach is hoping to use the momentum from her newfound viral fame to call out the corporations behind this mess.

We suppose money doesn’t mean squat when you’re rich, with Indonesians getting to see that embodied IRL recently when Jakarta socialite-slash-drug convict Richard Muljadi said he recently booked an entire flight to Bali for fear of getting infected with the coronavirus while up in the air.

Following the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines from Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac in Bali last night, Governor Wayan Koster announced that he’s ready to be the first one to get the jab on the island to set an example for the public.

The first batch of a COVID-19 vaccine is set to arrive in Bali today, as Indonesia’s new tourism minister brought up the idea of prioritizing vaccination for 70 percent of the province’s population to kickstart tourism on the island.

Update Jan. 6:Coconuts interviewed the woman behind the viral mermaid costume. Read the full story here.

Original story follows.

No one (that we know, anyway) dreams of encountering a mermaid lying amid a pile of rubbish on a Monday, but that’s exactly the sight that a bystander caught this morning on Kuta Beach, a photo of which has been widely circulating across community accounts on Instagram.