In Reply to: Cock Fighting in Bali posted by Barong Naga on Wednesday, 31. March 2004 at 19:37 Bali Time:
I salute Bali Chief of Police, General Pastika, for his remarkable work following the Bali bombing. The man has been outstanding in his tenacity and successes in pursuing the terrorists, and also for his integrity. However, gambling in Bali does not compare with al-Qaida, and I will safely bet a whole case of bintangs that he won't be successful in stopping it. Gambling in the Balinese is part of their genetic make up.
Already, back in 1981, the Indonesian Government tried to ban gambling, in particular cockfighting. Well, you know what happened to this noble enterprise.
What would the old guys (and the young men also) in the villages do with their evenings if they did not take care and exercise their fighting cocks, showing them off at the bale banjar? Beat on their wives or kids instead? The banning of cock fighting would surely result in a revolution (I am not kidding).
It is true that cockfighting has somewhat declined over the last few years, following the Bali bombing. For the real "serious" cockfight aficionado, the money available for the betting has been seriously eroded. One of my good friends, a cockfight enthusiast who used to own no less than 50 -60 fighters at a time, not exactly a pauper, was complaining that he does not attend his almost daily fights anymore, because of the lack of money available for the betting.
And what will we do at the Odalans, if the other types of gambling, like my favorite 'kochock,' are also no longer available?
As for the people who are rejoicing at the possible ban of cockfighting in Bali, I can safely say that they are simply ignorant people or hypocrites, as I am sure they all enjoy eating a good chicken dish. Do they think that the way a chicken sold in the super markets is more humanly treated than its counterparts raised for the arena? First, a fighting cock will have a long, pampered life: special diet, daily exercised and massaged, and at the end...GLORY (chicken glory that is). He even has a name! Of course, nothing is perfect, and its sex life will be rather limited to only breeding new champions. Second, its death in the ring will in most cases be quick. Not like the death of a comestible chicken which is eviscerated alive, and often thrown in boiling water while still kicking, before being plucked.
Like Igmar said in the movie 'My Life as a Dog,' 'one must always keep things in perspective.'