Violence Binge
A slew of murders, suicides, and divorces connected to illegal online gaming have also highlighted the booming industry.
According to local media reports, a 48-year-old man in Central Sulawesi robbed and killed his mother to finance his practice last year, while an East Java estimate set her father on fire as a result of his playing, in June.
Local media has even reported a rise in suicides by playing addicts this year, while Islamic courts on Java island claim to be hearing more breakup requests from women whose husbands refuse to stop.
” Gambling puts our future at risk… even the future of our family and our children”, said President Widodo, more popularly known as Jokowi, when launching the work force.
Experts say, however, that the effort is n’t enough.
Between April and June, authorities say they detained 467 online gambling sites, allegedly securing more than US$ 4 million in property.
However, Indonesian judges have received criticism for issuing liberal jail sentences, with users receiving sentences ranging from seven to 18 months.
” The investigation must be extended to the big names,” said Nailul Huda, an economist from the research group at the Center of Economic and Law Studies ( Celios ).
” Those technicians did not work alone, they answered to one big”.
Surya, however, has quit gambling for a month and says he is committed to stopping long-term.
” Anyone is getting rich from online gaming. Then I’ve learned my lesson”, he said.
Breaking out of the routine is not an easy task for different addicts like Eno, though.
” This is a stupid thing to do”, he said,” but I am addicted”.