Online Gambling Is Still Considered A Shortcut To Change Fate

Some online gambling applications are increasingly prevalent and are popular with many people in Indonesia. (BBC Indonesia)

JAKARTA Eradicating online gambling which is increasingly rife in Indonesia is like a slander Like enforcing a wet thread, because it is almost impossible. In addition, the mentality of the lower middle class who hopes to change their fate through online gambling.

Recently, news circulated that a single man with the initials IS (40) in Depok, was desperate to sell his house and now lives in one of the Public Cemeterys (TPU).

Investigate a calibaration, IS is addicted to online slot gambling which cost him all his property, including the house. He sold his house in mid-2023 because he was in debt from online loans for gambling.

Online gambling has caught the public's attention in recent years. Residents urge the government to be eradicated immediately, because the victim is no longer a finger count.

But like mushrooms in the rainy season, instead of easing, online gambling is even more troubling, difficult to eradicate. Even more sad, online gambling targets the lower middle class.

The story of IS who was desperate to sell his house only extended the heartbreaking story of online gambling victims. In Bojonegoro, East Java, hundreds of wives sued for divorce from their husbands for online gambling addiction.

The Bojonegoro Religious Court revealed that from January to April 2024 as many as 971 married couples filed for divorce.

Of the total 971 couples, on average they are 20 to 30 years old and have been married seven to eight years. Of that number, at least 722 cases included a divorce suit because it was filed by the wife. Meanwhile, 249 divorce cases or husbands who filed for divorce.

Still according to data from PA Bojonegoro, the divorce factor that occurred in the oil city was because the husband was addicted to online gambling with the number 179 cases filed for divorce.

Chairman of the Panitera PA Solikhin Jamik said the high factor of online gambling addiction was allegedly because the husband had a great desire, but was lazy to work to earn a living.

What happened in Bojonegoro and what happened to IS in Depok is justification that online gambling addiction is not only damaging to oneself, but also an addict's relationship with the surrounding environment, including his own family, as revealed by forensic clinical psychologist Kasandra Putranto.

Kasandra said gambling addiction can have a negative impact on various aspects of a person's life, including physical and mental health, social relationships, finance, work, and quality of life as a whole (YENNY, 2023).

"For perpetrators, gambling addiction can interfere with daily life, cause financial problems, and damage social relations," Kasandra told VOI.

Online gambling can also have an impact on couples, children, and other family members. They can feel trapped in a circle of fear, horror, and loss of trust," he added.

Minister of Communication and Information (Menkominfo) Budi Arie Setiadi said the circulation of money in online gambling in Indonesia reached IDR 327 trillion throughout 2023.

Meanwhile, data from the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) recorded that 2.76 million Indonesians participated in online gambling.

This is an alarming problem, especially since the majority of people who are entangled in online gambling from the lower classes. In fact, 2.19 million people from PPATK data are low-income.

"Those who become victims are small communities, one day they can spend Rp. 30,000 for slot gambling, 900 thousand a month, even small children. This is a pity, the money that should have been used for other purposes has become in vain," said Budi Arie in an online press conference on August 8, 2023.

The desire of the lower class to change their fate through online gambling is not just a figment. In fact, people have long relied on gambling, both conventional and online.

The film God of Gambirs, starring Andy Lau and released in 1989, seems to legitimize that a person's fate can change through gambling. And this is also what is in the minds of Indonesians who gossip about online gambling.

Professor of Sociology at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) Universitas Airlangga (Unair) Prof. Dr. Bagong Suyanto highlighted the habit of people with a lower middle economy who often do online gambling.

The factor of mentality who wants to take a shortcut. If changing fate with a rational route is no longer possible, so he takes irrational paths in the form of gambling, "explained Prof. Bagong.

Online gambling practices are quite difficult to eradicate because according to Prof. Bagong it has such a big influence, so players are not limited to areas and only need smartphones to access them.

Not to mention the low nominal deposit offer, ranging from tens of thousands of rupiah, which makes online gambling easy for the poor. With this minimum capital, it is difficult for the lower middle class to escape from online gambling without realizing it will eliminate their assets.

'Online gambling offers alternative media to cut the compass of life. There is always a perception 'who knows sustenance' makes gambling addictive,' said Prof. Bagong.

Online gambling networks that continue to mushroom are a latent danger. The government through Kominfo confirmed that it has fought online gambling by blocking their websites. For information in the period 17 July 203 to 7 August 2023, Kominfo has cut off access to 42,622 gambling content. But until now, online gambling sites have not been completely destroyed.