Anti pornography bill: who will really benefit?

I was gathering with a friend for drinks after office on Friday. As usual, we talk about everything until we came across the anti-pornography bill and how the FPI (Islam Defenders Front), FBR (Betawi Forum) and other so-called Moslem brotherhood groups have been so worked up about the issue.

They have even accused women supporting the anti-pornography bill as “wretched women” and told one of the most popular artistes in town to leave Jakarta (typical of the Betawi Forum members, who blame the non-Jakarta residents for their failure to get a job in their own hometown).

My friend said that these groups have an agenda: to have the Syariah laws applied in the country. But I wonder if it’s that simple. Who pays for their demonstrations? And who actually benefits if the bill pass? Nobody seems to have an answer so here’s my theory.

In the 1970s, Ali Sadikin, the governor of Jakarta, allowed gambling in the city. Ancol was where the gamblers gathered, it was off limits to civil servants. It was big business, the gambling joints paid tax, and till today Sadikin goes down in history as the only governor that really built and improved Jakarta. In short, gambling was allowed, the casino owners paid tax and the money went to build Jakarta.

After Sadikin stepped down, gambling was banned. The casinos were officially closed down. But as everybody knows, if you want to gamble, you can easily – the casinos are all there behind thinly-disguised clubs. Its all very well organized. The casino owners pay for the security of their businesses – to either the local police or somebody high up in the army. Because it is illegal they of course don’t pay tax to the government.

The present governor, Sutiyoso once tried to legalize gambling by proposing some islands in the Thousand Islands area off Jakarta. The plan was killed when groups, in the name of Islam, demonstrated against the plan. This was strange for Sutiyoso who has faced down critics when he wanted to set up the city’s busway system and fencing off the Monas area.

What’s all this to do with the anti-pornography bill? If it is defeated then businesses that sell soft-core porn or merely explicit content, such as DVDs, magazines or books would be legit. If they are legit then they pay tax and do not have to pay protection money to the highly placed people in the police and military.

So maybe this is the reason why groups such as the Islam Defenders Front and the Betawi Brotherhood, who are not much more than just a group of “preman” or gangsters are so diligent about preventing the anti-pornography bill from being defeated.

These groups are not unknown to have spared alcoholic establishments or dance clubs in exchange for protection money. Perhaps they are not beyond being paid incentives from these gambling and porn overlords to ensure that anything that can be considered porn is considered as illegal?

The more things that are illegal means the more protection money is paid instead of the money going to tax. So who will really benefit if the anti-pornography bill is passed? You decide.