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)