Come Wednesday, people are going to have a lot of free time as the holiday Nyepi falls upon us.
But Bali’s governor is urging the public not to use this time for naughtiness, such as gambling.
During Nyepi, the Balinese Hindu New Year and Day of Silence, the island powers down (literally), as people stay at home and inside, limiting use of electricity and keeping noise to a minimum. So basically it’s an optimal time for cooped up, idle gamblers to do their thang: rolling dice and playing cards to pass the time.
But traveling, working, and entertainment are also refrained from during Nyepi, so gambling wouldn’t exactly fall in line with that. And gambling’s not officially allowed here anyways.
“During Nyepi, I do not want people to use the event for drinking and gambling,” Governor Made Mangku Pastika said in Denpasar on Sunday, as quoted by Okezone.
The time should instead be used for self-reflection on the past and what can be done in the future, Pastika said.
