Govt upset by TV's 'gambling in disguise'
Govt upset by TV's 'gambling in disguise'
JAKARTA (JP): The government will reprimand managers of
private television stations for organizing "gambling", under the
guise of quizzes and sweepstakes, without official permits.
The ministry of social services plans to summon the managers
in order to reprimand them, the director general of the
ministry's social aid supervision department, Syafei Anjasmaya,
told reporters after a hearing with legislators of the House of
Representatives yesterday.
He cited Kuis Kotak-Katik, Benyamin Show and Kuis Bulan Madu
as examples.
Indonesia has five private TV stations: SCTV, RCTI, TPI,
ANteve and Indosiar.
During the hearing with Minister of Social Services, Endang
Kusuma Inten Suweno, legislators asked what action the government
had taken to stop gambling which, they said, was again rife only
a year after the state-sponsored lottery, Philanthropic Donation
with Prizes (SDSB), was discontinued.
Gambling is illegal in Indonesia.
SDSB, was scrapped following a storm of protest from Moslem
groups.
Anwar Kusuma, a member of House of Representative's Commission
VIII on social affairs asked what the government would do to deal
with gambling that has re-emerged in more sophisticated forms,
which included sweepstakes advertised in the print media, TV
quizzes and children's games held in amusement parks.
All of these games, he said, awarded the winner a certain
amount of money.
"Do they have permission from the ministry of social
services?" he asked, adding that in the past permission from the
ministry had been mandatory in such cases.
Legislators R. Robianto Koestomo and Sri Hardjo also inquired
about the ministry's control over gambling on board foreign
passenger ships, and about travel bureaus which offered tours to
places "infamous for their gambling facilities".
Robianto said that, according to the law, those who encouraged
gambling practices were as guilty as the gamblers themselves.
"I know of legal and illegal travel bureaus which offer tours
to places like Christmas Island. Although they may not explicitly
offer a tour to the island's casinos, everyone knows that
gambling is the place's main attraction and no travel bureau, I
believe, would miss a thing like that," he said.
Inten explained at the beginning of the session that the
government had decided to prohibit every form of gambling in
Indonesia, meaning that no "legal gambling" would exist.
She said that gambling was "against Pancasila as well as
religious and moral values and endangered the society and the
nation".
"Although development programs may benefit from money raised
through legal gambling practices, the negative impact is greater
than the benefits," Inten said.
"Therefore the government considers it is necessary to stop
issuing gambling permits, for the sake of the people's welfare.
Gambling will in future be considered a crime," she said.
There was, however, disagreement about the definition of
'gambling', Inten said, and what some people considered gambling,
others saw merely as a game or a sport played for entertainment.
In Nov.,1993, the ministry bowed to public pressure and banned
the controversial SDSB lottery, although the government argued at
the time that it was a means of raising funds to finance sports
development and social services, rather than gambling.(pwn)