Malaysia-UAE Majority Muslim Legalkan Kasino Judi For Foreign Exchange, Can Indonesia Apply?

JAKARTA - Professor of the Faculty of Law, University of Indonesia (UI), Hikmahanto Juwana, encouraged the government to review the discourse on legalizing casinos such as in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

According to him, the proposal can be done by studying policies as implemented in the two Muslim-majority countries in order to increase the country's foreign exchange.

"Indonesia is also a country with a majority Muslim population, just like the UAE, which is currently building a large casino in its country and Malaysia which officially legalized the casino in 1969," he said in Bekasi, Saturday, May 17, which was confiscated by Antara.

He asked the Indonesian government to open its eyes to this, including making an objective assessment or assessment related to three important things.

First, regarding the circulation of money related to gambling problems, considering that based on the findings of the Financial Transaction Analysis Report Center (PPATK), the amount of money circulation in online gambling practices operated in Cambodia and Myanmar is very large.

"The second is can our people, who are said to be predominantly Muslim, continue to be very religious, to escape gambling? It turns out that they are not," he said.

Hikmahanto said that the third point that is no less important is if Indonesia has to make an assessment related to law enforcement issues.

According to him, the state has problems with law enforcement, although the government has intended to eradicate online gambling corporations several times, the corporate problems are in Cambodia and Myanmar which are indeed legalizing casinos.

"Well, if for example these three things are done after an assessment and in our opinion it cannot be resolved, it is not impossible if the government decides to make a casino but only in certain areas, such as special economic areas in Genting, Malaysia or Singapore. But, for Singaporeans, if they want to gamble there, they must have strict conditions," he said.

The UI geopolitical and economic expert stated that Indonesia is indeed a Muslim country but with high gambling activities. Whereas when the Ali Sadikin era served as Governor of DKI Jakarta, this activity was finally legalized.

"At that time we also had Porkas, there was SDSB, it was actually also such forms. Now, now we are only localizing and using the funds later, for example from the taxes generated and so on," he said.

"But of course the funds are for purposes that are not touching, let's say things related to religion and so on," he continued.

He also gave an example of one of the activities in the United Arab Emirates that forbid gambling but open a casino by building a special economic zone.

If in the end Indonesia compromises to open a casino in a special economic area, the government is asked to dare to take this policy by remaining focused on eradicating online gambling which is detrimental to the small people.

"So far, what we have heard is very painful and sad. Those who work in online gambling companies are tortured in Cambodia and so on, we have no control. They have been going in and out illegally, plus doing bad things for our citizens. And suddenly if they are tortured we have to help them to spend money. It's not true if it's like that," he said.

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