On gambling<\/p>\n
I refer to your editorial Gambling: Yes or No? (The Jakarta
\nPost, May 14).<\/p>\n
My experience is that Yogyakarta is in the grips of \"gambling
\nfever\". There must be trillions of rupiah won and lost everyday,
\nand all of it \"black money\", all of it beyond the control of
\nregulation, and moderation. There is betting on the outcome of
\nmatches in the Italian Soccer League, the European League, and
\nthe F.A Cup. And then there is estimating the quantity of
\nnumbered marbles in a jar and speculating on how many segments
\ncan be found inside a randomly chosen mangenstein fruit. There
\nare becak races, counting cars passing a given point and betting
\non vehicle number plates.<\/p>\n
The greatest attraction however seems to be with the animal
\nkingdom -- cricket fighting, pigeon racing, and betting on the
\nnumber of \"chit-chat\" sounds a gecko makes in a certain period of
\ntime. I have also heard that in the bird market there is a
\ngambling outfit that arranges bets, both on site and by
\ntelephone, on how many whistles a certain bird makes. Millions of
\nrupiah ride on the whim of a creature with a brain the size of
\nyour little fingernail. But then, there is the biggest of them
\nall -- fishing.<\/p>\n
People pay huge sums of money to sit around the edges of a
\nhalf-stagnant, slimy green pool and try and catch a tagged fish -
\nand win a car! Fishing equipment shops have sprung up -- like
\nweeds, or perhaps, like reeds.<\/p>\n
Everywhere people are reading fishing magazines like a
\nseasoned gambler would read the track guide, looking for that new
\ntechnique that will \"give them the winning edge. Can gambling in
\nIndonesia ever be stamped out? Anyone want to bet on it?<\/p>\n
ROB GOODFELLOW, Yogyakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/on-gambling-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }