Excerpts taken from an Time article on the growing excessiveness of the Gambling Problem in Asia. It’s entitled “Asia’s growing gambling addiction”. Rather thought-provoking article… makes one wonder if SG will go down that path and how long will it take before we degenerate into a debased society that is fraught with problems but blinded to them….
“A dozen people have gathered inside the Industrial Evangelistic Fellowship’s modest community center in Macau, where the Rev. Jimmy Tan strums his guitar and belts out Christian songs with the small group before him. Latecomers trickle in well past the meeting’s 9:30 p.m. start time, but no one seems to mind — many of them work multiple jobs and are used to odd hours. Seated in a semicircle of plastic chairs, the engineers, police officers, health-care workers and casino dealers have something in common: they are all addicted to gambling. The group meets once a week to hear Tan speak, and to share stories of angry spouses, loan sharks and backsliding. A young nurse who hadn’t placed a bet in six months admits she relapsed four days earlier after a fight with her husband. “He wanted money in order to grant me a divorce,” says the mother of two. She lost $515 playing baccarat. A well-dressed engineer says that he’s considered kidnapping children for ransom in order to pay off $500,000 in gambling debts. Tan has heard these stories before. He listens patiently and delivers a PowerPoint presentation about coping with addiction. “Don’t read the racing papers and don’t carry too much cash,” he warns. “And stay out of the casinos.”
Easier said than done. To get home after they leave the meeting, the afflicted must run Macau’s gauntlet of gambling resorts, their mesmerizing neon and ritzy, come-hither ambiance carefully calculated to encourage a fling at the tables. Temptation seems to be everywhere. Since the city began issuing new gaming licenses five years ago, the number of casinos has more than doubled to 27, boosting tourism and investment and revitalizing Macau’s economy (the city’s gaming industry took in $6.95 billion last year, vaulting Macau past Las Vegas as the city with the most total annual wagering revenue). But for a small proportion of Macanese like those at Tan’s meeting, the gambling boom has been a curse that has fed their addiction. For habitual gamblers and those prone to developing the habit, “Macau is really dangerous nowadays,” says Ava Chan, former counselor at the Yat On Pathological Gambler’s Counselling Centre in Macau. “Next to your house, there are slot machines. Across the street, there are casinos. Society doesn’t realize the problem. They just think: Economic growth, no problem.”
But Asia does have a gambling problem — and because the industry is expanding rapidly throughout the region, mental-health workers and researchers fear pathological gambling could reach epidemic proportions in coming years. Macau’s success has inspired other Asian cities and countries to allow new casinos. In Vietnam, a $4 billion luxury gaming resort will open near Ho Chi Minh City in 2009. Ground has already been broken for a pair of casino complexes in Singapore. The Philippine government is planning to open a 100-acre (405,000-square-meter) gaming complex that will employ 40,000 Filipinos in Manila Bay. In an attempt to lure Chinese gamblers over the border, Kazakhstan is creating the “Las Vegas of the steppe” in Kapchagai and Shchuchinsk. Governments in Taiwan, Thailand and Japan are considering legalizing casinos. According to Merrill Lynch, gaming companies are expected to spend $71 billion in Asia over the next four years alone.”
“Leaders in at least one Asian city that’s poised for a gambling boom appear to recognize the need to take at least a few measures to protect the vulnerable few. In July, Singapore’s National Council on Problem Gambling introduced a responsible-gambling code of practice, urging casinos to display numbers for gambling hotlines and to train staff on how to help problem gamblers. In an effort to keep Singaporeans who can’t afford the vice away from the tables when the city’s two planned casinos open in 2009, locals will be required to pay a $68 cover charge just to get in the door.
But that relatively small surcharge hardly seems sufficient to overcome the seductive pull of casinos and their multimillion-dollar marketing budgets. “The gambling industry is so big,” says Poon Yan-chi, director of the Macau center where Tan delivers his PowerPoint presentations on the evils of gambling. “It’s like David and Goliath.” David sometimes wins. But that’s not the way to bet.”
For those of you interested, you can read the full article HERE. It’s worth a visit if you can spare 5-10mins. Hope it makes us all think a bit…
Filed under: Random Thoughts, Reflections, sab's 5-cents worth | Tagged: Gambling, singapore, vices | Leave a comment »
Arc-en-ciel Noir 