Letter from Leong Sze Hian 04:45 AM Aug 03, 2011
I refer to the article "IRs here have not created more gambling addicts: CRA" (July 30). On the call for greater transparency regarding the number of Singaporeans entering the casinos, it states that Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) chief executive Lau Peet Meng had agreed that the legality of the information - and how it is shared - could be looked into more carefully.
I find it strange that the Casino Control Act can be crafted such that statistics on how many Singaporeans are entering the two casinos may not be revealed. I have read the Act and am unable to find such a prohibition. Can the CRA point out the specific section(s)?
Then how was the former Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister able to disclose last September in Parliament that more than a million Singapore residents had visited the casinos since they opened?
While CRA chairman Richard Magnus said last week that it was an "urban legend that quite a number of our (residents) frequent the casinos" and had cited an Institute of Mental Health study that gambling addiction numbers remain the same, surely giving the statistics on Singaporean visitors would be the best way to end speculation that more are gambling.
And it is not just how many are gambling; another aspect of the issue is how much they are losing and the social consequences.
United Kingdom-based gaming consultancy H2 Gambling Capital ranked Singapore No 2 in the world last year for gambling losses, at €822 (S$1,409) per adult resident. If we add the S$100 daily casino entrance levy (and the annual S$2,000 levy), might we be No 1, ahead of Australia's €902?
http://www.todayonline.com/Voices/EDC110803-0000403/Singapore-ahead-in-the-losing-game?
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