The World Cup: An irony<\/p>\n
From Republika<\/p>\n
To Indonesians, the 1998 World Cup soccer matches could at
\nleast comfort them as entertainment during the ongoing economic
\ncrisis. Soccer enthusiasts should thank all the country's
\ntelevision stations, private and state, for airing reports of the
\nevents live or otherwise. Even the print media seemed to be
\ncompeting with one another to keep their readers abreast of what
\nwent on in the championship by devoting special World Cup space.
\nIn short, the World Cup was a \"festivity\" to virtually everybody.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, this \"festivity\" was an irony indeed because at
\nthe same time, our fellow countrymen in remote places of the
\ncountry are starving as they can no longer afford to buy rice. In
\nthe Gunung Kidul area, for example, some local people have
\nstarted eating dried cassava, locally called gaplek, because they
\ncan no longer afford to buy rice. In other remote areas, women
\nfor whom milk is now unaffordable simply give their babies air
\ntajin, thick water made from cooked rice, as a milk substitute.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, soccer enthusiasts freely spent their money
\njust to satisfy their desires. Pak Samsuri, for example, readily
\nparted with Rp 250,000 just to buy his son the outfit of one of
\nthe squads participating in the World Cup. (Kompas, June 16,
\n1998). Many more soccer fans forked out handsome amounts of money
\nsimply to collect items related to the World Cup in particular
\nand soccer in general. They seemed to turn a blind eye to
\nproblems now confronting the entire Indonesian population.<\/p>\n
So, this is one of the hazards which may be brought about by
\nlahwun munadldlomun, organized games and entertainment. Some
\ngames have been managed in such a way that they demand full
\nprofessionalism on the part of those involved. Branches of sports
\nof this type have become centers of activities and attention to
\nyoung and old in this country. The activities related to these
\nbranches of sports and the attention devoted to them have led to
\nthe emergence of individualism and have turned the attention of
\npeople away from their problems. In the name of professionalism,
\nlahwun munadldlomun is a commodity no less attractive than other
\ncommodities in completing the avarice of capitalism. John
\nHergreaves has concluded that \"sport is a mirror of a microcosm
\nof modern capitalist society, an integral part of the system of
\nclass domination and exploitation\" (Republika, June 20, 1998).<\/p>\n
DADANG SUPRIYANTO<\/p>\n
Bandung<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-world-cup-an-irony-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }