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View all search resultsBali mulls legalizing cockfighting
Bali Legislative Council deputy speaker supports legalizing tajen (cockfighting) as a part of cultural heritage, saying this could help the provincial economy.
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Far off Bali's tourist trail, heavily tattooed men gather at a clandestine site for traditional cockfighting known as tajen that meshes a bloodsport with ancient Balinese Hindu traditions. (AFP/Juni Kriswanto)
D
eputy speaker of the Bali Legislative Council, I Wayan Disel Astawa, has supported and welcomed the suggestion by some councilors that tajen (cockfighting) be legalized because the activity could bring about economic benefits for Bali.
“There are great benefits for development in Bali, just like Jakarta in the past, before the city had toll roads. Through casinos, the city started to develop all over,” Astawa said after a council plenary meeting in Denpasar on Monday.
He said Bali wanted to enjoy similar development benefits to Jakarta by using tajen.
“Concerning tajen, look at when Ali Sadikin was Jakarta governor, he had the courage to build casinos,” he said.
“Why can’t Bali do the same? We have a cultural attraction as the genius loci.”
In addition to the secular tajen, which is often associated with gambling activities, Balinese Hindus also perform religious cockfighting, known as tabuh rah as a blood offering.
It is believed that tabuh rah was introduced into Bali by Majapahit exiles who fled from Java to Bali in the 1200s.
