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The
Straits Times, 8 Nov 04
No
win-win situation, so let's drop the idea
I REFER to the article by Ms Tan Sai Siong, 'Betting on the
good sense of S'poreans' (ST, Nov 2). Ms Tan contradicts herself when
she says she shares the view that a casino 'is intrinsically as bad
today as it was in 1964' and subsequently, she asks readers to 'support
a casino wholeheartedly'. How does one convince oneself to support
wholeheartedly something that is bad?
We are also advised to 'get our act together fast, stop all this debating
and wrangling' before a full-fledged Las Vegas-quality casino springs
up in Johor Baru. This is putting the cart before the horse. An issue
with wide-ranging repercussions must be debated before one arrives
at a decision. Anyway, a Las Vegas-style casino can always be set
up in JB even after one is set up in Singapore! Ms Tan's anxiety to
push this issue through is misplaced. If another casino operator builds,
say, a vast theme park with a casino in Batam, with free hotel stay
and food thrown in, the Singapore Government will be forced into a
game of one-upmanship. It will have to do so to protect the casino
operator's investment.
Where will it end? The likelihood is we will meet the same fate as
the airline industry, in which excessive competition is likely to
lead to a collective loss of billions of dollars this year. Aren't
we also forgetting we are competing on different grounds? For similar
costs, Singaporeans can holiday in a five-star hotel in Malaysia rather
than stay in a chalet in Downtown East. Competing on costs and services
alone anywhere north or south of Singapore, we will lose hands down.
Nor is there anything 'pro-nation' about setting up a casino as this
is just a huge gamble on an experiment with definite trade-offs which
are presently not quantifiable. Why should we live in hope that everything
will turn out well? We should not be eternal optimists, like the writer,
thriving on hope there will be negligible negative effects from setting
up a casino in Singapore.
Ms Tan agrees a small percentage will succumb badly, with families
ruined by gambling addiction. But a small percentage may mean thousands
of families. This is no small matter as the repercussions will be
felt far and wide. Are we to buy her argument, look at the bright
side, and say it's actually not so bad as it creates jobs for counsellors
and psychologists?
Insisting there are positive spin-offs in any 'evils', such as job
creation in related and unrelated activities, is to ignore the bigger
picture. Take smoking addiction as an example. Smoking has created
a need for more doctors to treat lung cancer patients, related medical
services and cigarette salesmen. The Government has belatedly recognised
the dangers of smoking and more than doubled the price of a packet
of cigarettes in the past few years to discourage it. Have such measures
really helped to reduce the number of smokers or lung cancer patients?
The answer is no.
Gambling addiction which arises subsequently will be equally difficult
to treat. It may be impossible to prevent Singaporeans from entering
a casino. But there is no good reason why the Government should make
entry easier. Ms Tan's conclusion is to be like the lotus - growing
and thriving in the mud without getting dirty. Allowing a casino will
be like inviting mud to be thrown all over us. How then not to get
dirty? A casino masks addiction perfectly by grouping like-minded
people together. It becomes the mother of all denials. An addicted
gambler only sees through his addiction when the problems he has created
overwhelm his ability to solve them. When an addict becomes a statistic
in problem gambling, his actions would have already caused untold
misery not only to himself but also his loved ones. Current statistics
on problem gambling are but the tip of the iceberg. A vice does not
change with the passage of time.
Other countries have succumbed to the easy way to increase their government
coffers. Cases of problems with loan sharks or housewives turning
to prostitution as a result of gambling are frequently highlighted
in overseas press. They are now accepted as part and parcel of society.
Wise leaders like Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew clearly understood
Pandora's Box must not be opened at any cost. Singaporeans are proud
of the legacy he left us - a government which stood its ground when
many others succumbed. A casino does not result in a win-win situation
for everyone and the idea should therefore be put to rest.
Phillip Ang Keng Hong
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