Muslims in Malaysia are finding it extra difficult to gamble on the sly now that local officials are enlisting religious watchdogs to monitor who goes in and out of the country’s licensed gaming outlets. The state government in Malacca has announced it will station “religious officers” outside the Magnum, Sports Toto and Da Ma Cai betting shops to ensure that Muslims don’t place any wagers. Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron said the godly gatekeepers would occupy these checkpoints around the clock in what he described as a “last ditch” effort to keep Muslims from violating this specific tenet of their faith.
Idris also promised to investigate why some betting shops had established themselves in predominantly Muslim communities and suggested more powers might be granted to local authorities to deal with this issue. Idris noted that the religious scolds monitoring Muslims’ comings and goings “may not eradicate gambling habits among Muslims completely, as some of them may use runners or a third party to place bets.” However, Idris acknowledged that Malaysia was a multi-faith community, and it was “undeniable” that non-Muslims should be permitted to legally gamble to ensure “the importance of unity.”
Unity isn’t always a priority for some of Malaysia’s more fundamentalist-minded Muslims. In June, representatives from two mosques near Penang’s state capital George Town demonstrated outside a number of betting shops after local authorities failed to respond to their complaints about the shops’ activities. A few of the protesters broke into the shops and smashed up many of the gambling machines inside. The protest’s organizer said he “regretted” the “out of control and aggressive” actions by a few of his flock, but hey, the spirit moved them.
A far different vibe pervades on Mabul Island, off the coast of Sabah, where the Bajau Laut community makes gambling a family affair. Despite their Muslim background, the islanders enjoy playing tikam-tikam aka ‘the guessing game’ on homemade boards using real money, and even the youngest community members are allowed to participate. Local resident Samarin Ilol told the New Straits Times that no authority had ever attempted to stop the islanders from playing the traditional pick-a-square game “and why should they? We are not doing something dangerous.” Samarin acknowledged that outsiders “may see this as a social problem because it involves children but on this island, you don’t see us complaining … I see it as a family activity and this is how we enjoy ourselves.”
