Jakarta – In recent weeks, we have been alerted to a string of gambling-related suicides and other forms of deep distress resulting from the illegal practice, including the case of a woman who set fire to her own husband for gambling away their fortune.

Eko Damara, a first lieutenant with the Indonesian Navy, reportedly committed suicide on May 25 after amassing Rp 819.3 million (US$49,980) in debt.

Prima Saleh Gea, who enlisted with the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) in West Java, allegedly hanged himself on June 4 over online gambling debt.

First Brig. Rian Dwi Wicaksono was set on fire by his wife and fellow police officer Fadhilatun Nikmah on June 8.

Gambling can harm members of the military or police just as much as it can the ordinary person on the street, making it a strong contender for the new opium of the masses.

Online gambling is addictive by design, employing tricks such as variable rewards and near-misses to keep its victims engaged.

With the ease of access that the internet affords, the risk of addiction and financial ruin is amplified, even though all forms of gambling are prohibited by Indonesian law.

So despite the many upsides of digitization in the country, a glaring lack of effective safeguards, particularly by our security forces, has not only led to the rise of a new menace to society, it has also come back to bite the institutions themselves.

Even where the government has intervened, judging by how widespread this problem is, there is a sense that authorities have not handled the issue to the best of their ability.

Efforts to raise awareness about the issue, for instance, will do little to stem the tide of online gambling if we do not address the root cause of the crisis.

While we do agree that people need to be more informed about the ongoing crisis, relying on educational SMS blasts won't make a difference to users already addicted.

Experts have also dismissed the beating of the war drum by the newly formed online gambling task force as all talk and little action, given the data amassed by the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK).

If Rp 600 trillion (US$36.6 billion) has flowed through online gambling in the country since 2017, what has been done in response? A string of low-level arrests?

Instead, we demand that authorities take the recent gambling-related suicides as a further indication that our security forces may be infiltrated by gambling rings.

Lest we forget, a probe into the murder of junior police officer Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat in 2022 prompted a separate investigation into an online gambling ring in North Sumatra that was allegedly linked to high-ranking police officers who backed the clandestine operations.

That line of inquiry has since died down along with the public's interest, while those who were outed have maintained that they are innocent.

Even if the suspicions of internal corruption are unproven, they stand to undermine public trust in state efforts to curtail online gambling.

While we acknowledge the government's attempt to address the matter more seriously through site blocking and raids, in line with President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's instruction from June 14, the efforts are still piecemeal.

We demand a more comprehensive approach and call on Indonesian authorities to demonstrate their integrity and freedom from online gambling rings.

At the very least, they could do what China has done with its crackdown on mob families operating gambling rings in Myanmar: decisive action against organized crime.

It is clear that we have an urgent need for a multi-faceted approach to tackling the online gambling crisis. We call on the relevant authorities to protect vulnerable groups and restore public confidence in our security forces.

A failure to do so will see us gamble with more lives and risk upending our 2045 vision for a golden generation.

Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/opinion/2024/06/21/gambling-with-lives.htm