Permit for TV quiz deferred

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Social Services Yustika S. Baharsyah postponed her ministerial decree permitting PT Lintas Artha Raya (LAR) to launch its Analisa Olahraga (Sports Analysis) television quiz amid rising public pressure.

Yustika said on Tuesday she would review the contents of the quiz to decide if the quiz constituted gambling or if the possibility existed the public could misuse the quiz for gambling.

"We earlier received an explanation and decided that the quiz did not contain gambling. Later on, some people who don't really know about this business said it was gambling. They also said the quiz could be misused for gambling."

"If the quiz can be misused and produce negative impacts and cause the public trouble, particularly during the upcoming elections, I will decide to delay the decree," she said.

The Ministry of Social Services issued a decree on March 4 permitting PT LAR to launch the quiz. It issued another decree on April 12 giving the company permission to market the quiz.

Prospective customers must buy products -- either pens, pencils or postcards -- from PT LAR for about Rp 3,000 before receiving two coupons which contain sports questions.

If customers answer four questions correctly they win Rp 6 million. Three correct answers garners Rp 750,000, while two correctly answered questions earns customers Rp 150,000.

Yustika said she would revoke both ministerial decrees if she discovered any irregularities during the review.

The minister's decision to issue the decrees was supported by the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) through its edict dated March 25. Jakarta's MUI chapter said the quiz fulfilled the Islamic law on trading.

But on Monday, the central MUI annulled the Jakarta branch's recommendation, saying the venture included usury, which is unlawful.

The ministry's spokesman, Ferry Johannes, said PT LAR could continue to sell its products without distributing the coupons.

He also dismissed allegations the ministry received a portion of the sales of the coupons from the company. "We don't know if PT LAR has profited from the sales because the drawing has only been held twice," Ferry said.

PT LAR spokesman Zulkarnain Surya was quoted by Antara as saying his company would continue to sell its products and stop distributing the coupons. He said the company would wait for the results of the ministry's review. (ivy)