The Indonesian Lottery
In Indonesia, the lottery is a big business. The government is not happy about it. It tries to ban it. It says that poor people spend a lot of money on lottery tickets. But this is a false claim. Poor people have many other ways to make a living. They just use the lottery to try to get more. The ban was based on the idea that Islam forbids gambling, but the truth is that it is a social activity and the money is not being used to make profits.
In a way, the shio-lottery is a form of socialism. The winners are not the only ones who benefit from the game, but also the organizers and the government. The winners are also required to pay a fee to participate in the lottery, but that fee is hardly enough to cover their expenses.
The shio-lottery is part of the everyday conversations in rural Flores. Young and old, men and women, talk about it day and night. They are often bragging about their wins. Men especially love to discuss their skills in predicting the results of the lottery. They use a variety of tools to do so, such as interpreting dreams and omens.
The shio-lottery is not a new phenomenon, but it is one that has taken on some unique characteristics. Its emergence in Indonesia is connected to the fact that Islam, which dominates the country, forbids gambling and considers winning money from games of chance to be sinful.