• About Us
    • Fact Checking Policy
    • Ownership & funding information
    • Volunteer
  • Subscribe
  • Letter submission
    • Submissions Policy
  • Contact Us
The Online Citizen Asia
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
The Online Citizen Asia
No Result
View All Result

Singapore Bets on Casino Revenues

by onlinecitizen
07/09/2012
in Commentaries, Current Affairs, Economics
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0

By Chun Han Wong –

City-State Hopes for Economic Jackpot While Guarding Against Social Ills

SINGAPORE—Two years ago, Singapore launched its first casinos in a bold bet that it could bolster its economy without attracting social ills, such as organized crime and gambling addiction, that have plagued other casino capitals.

Today, its two new casinos—Las Vegas Sands Corp.'s Marina Bay Sands and Genting Singapore PLC's Resorts World Sentosa—are financial winners, generating about US$6 billion in gross gambling revenue in 2011. But the social experiment has yielded mixed results, pressuring authorities to do more to contain gambling ills even as the global slowdown and rising competition threaten growth in the country's fledgling casino industry.

To be sure, the feared rise in organized crime never materialized, and gambling overall in the city-state has actually declined. But government leaders are concerned about surveys that indicate more low-income residents are betting larger sums and frequent gamblers are playing more often, while more people are seeking counseling for gambling troubles. Anecdotal reports of problem gamblers in the local media—some of whom have turned to crime to fund their gambling addictions—have also alarmed people.

In response, the government is upping the ante. Authorities recently expanded a program that prohibits locals who are bankrupt or reliant on government aid from going into the casinos, with about 43,000 people now barred. In July, the government proposed significantly increasing disciplinary penalties for casino operators that don't follow Singapore's casino-control laws, which include taxing locals S$100 (US$80) a day or S$2,000 annually to enter the casinos and tough limits on gamblers' ability to get credit in them. More steps are in the works, such as limiting the frequency of casino visits by some local gamblers.

Singapore already had some of the strictest casino rules in Asia, with restrictions that prohibit casino advertising targeting locals and limits on the presence of junket operators—the middlemen who bring high-spending gamblers to the tables, issue credit and collect on debts in exchange for commissions. They are the linchpin of the world's largest gambling hub by revenue, Macau, but they also have been linked to organized crime and have largely been blocked from operating in Singapore so far.

The results of Singapore's experiment are being watched closely across the world. Lawmakers in Japan, backed by gambling interests like U.S. billionaire Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas Sands, have stepped up calls for casino legalization to help revitalize the country's economy. Taiwan and Mongolia have flirted with the idea, as have U.S. markets like Miami. Wealthy private backers, including Japanese pachinko magnate Kazuo Okada, are pushing ahead with projects in the Philippines and Vietnam, with more potentially to come.

It still isn't clear how well policies like the ones enforced in Singapore work—or whether they can be sustained in the long run, especially as casino revenue growth there slows and other countries launch competitors.

"Singapore's regulatory approach is a good approach in principle [but] the evidence would indicate that these policies have actually had a relatively minor impact in Singapore," said Robert Williams, a professor at Canada's University of Lethbridge and researcher at the Alberta Gambling Research Institute. Others disagree, saying the rules have helped to prevent trouble.

The data are somewhat inconclusive. The casinos say visits by citizens and permanent residents—estimated to account for about 20% to 30% of all visitors—declined in 2011 from the previous year. The overall gambling rate among locals age 18 and above—which includes any participants in horse-racing, sports betting and lotteries— fell to 47% in 2011 from 54% in 2008, according to a survey published by the National Council on Problem Gambling in February.

The crime rate in Singapore fell 5.3% last year from 2010 to a 20-year low, while casino-related crime—mainly cases of theft, cheating and counterfeiting—has remained stable at less than 2% of total crime in 2010 and 2011, according to police data.

But more low-income players are betting large sums while frequent gamblers are playing more often, the latest NCPG survey found.

"We note from [the NCPG survey] that problem gambling issues in Singapore are largely contained," Singapore's Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports said. "However, we prefer to be proactive" in tackling gambling-related social problems. "The experience from other jurisdictions tells us that it usually takes three to five years for the situation to stabilize."

For just US$7.50 a month, sign up as a subscriber on The Online Citizen Asia (and enjoy ads-free experience on our site) to support our mission to transform TOC into an alternative mainstream press.

Related Posts

Singapore warns slower economic growth in 2023
Labour

Less than 1 in 10 jobs created in first three quarters of 2022 went to Singaporeans?

28/01/2023
Peru Congress rejects president’s plan for early elections
AFP

Peru Congress rejects president’s plan for early elections

28/01/2023
UMNO purging members as it sacks former health minister Khairy and suspended ex-defence minister Hishammuddin
Malaysia

UMNO purging members as it sacks former health minister Khairy and suspended ex-defence minister Hishammuddin

28/01/2023
WHO panel in talks on COVID emergency status
AFP

WHO panel in talks on COVID emergency status

27/01/2023
AFP

Two years after Myanmar coup, UN says situation ‘catastrophic’

27/01/2023
Grab driver supposedly earned $5,227.82 in a week prior CNY, netizens voice worries over his health
Community

Grab driver supposedly earned $5,227.82 in a week prior CNY, netizens voice worries over his health

27/01/2023

Latest posts

Singapore warns slower economic growth in 2023

Less than 1 in 10 jobs created in first three quarters of 2022 went to Singaporeans?

28/01/2023
Peru Congress rejects president’s plan for early elections

Peru Congress rejects president’s plan for early elections

28/01/2023
UMNO purging members as it sacks former health minister Khairy and suspended ex-defence minister Hishammuddin

UMNO purging members as it sacks former health minister Khairy and suspended ex-defence minister Hishammuddin

28/01/2023
WHO panel in talks on COVID emergency status

WHO panel in talks on COVID emergency status

27/01/2023

Two years after Myanmar coup, UN says situation ‘catastrophic’

27/01/2023
Grab driver supposedly earned $5,227.82 in a week prior CNY, netizens voice worries over his health

Grab driver supposedly earned $5,227.82 in a week prior CNY, netizens voice worries over his health

27/01/2023
Philippines to appeal ICC resumption of drug war probe

ICC grants new inquiry into Manila’s deadly ‘war on drugs’

27/01/2023
Minister refutes claims of Malaysia consulting Singapore on housing policy due to its inefficient civil service

Minister refutes claims of Malaysia consulting Singapore on housing policy due to its inefficient civil service

27/01/2023

Trending posts

Two Indian nationals paid about S$330 and S$730 respectively for forged certificates submitted in their S-Pass application

MOM found issuing EPs meant for foreign PMETs to PRC waitress and general worker

by Correspondent
26/01/2023
36

...

Earning only S$400 a month, delivery-rider turned hawker threw in the towel after two years of running a rojak stall

Earning only S$400 a month, delivery-rider turned hawker threw in the towel after two years of running a rojak stall

by Yee Loon
26/01/2023
24

...

Ho Ching breaks silence over Temasek’s write down of its US$275 million investment in FTX, says it “can afford to be contrarian”

US regulator questions VCs’ due diligence work prior to investing in FTX; Ho Ching says Temasek can afford to be contrarian

by The Online Citizen
24/01/2023
28

...

Indian rupee falls 60% since signing of CECA while Singapore becomes top investor in India

by Correspondent
25/01/2023
55

...

Temasek and GIC reportedly in talks with Adani Group accused of “brazen” market manipulation and accounting fraud

Temasek and GIC reportedly in talks with Adani Group accused of “brazen” market manipulation and accounting fraud

by The Online Citizen
26/01/2023
46

...

Singapore Bets on Casino Revenues

by onlinecitizen
07/09/2012
0

...

September 2012
M T W T F S S
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
« Aug   Oct »
  • About Us
  • Subscribe
  • Letter submission
  • Contact Us

© 2006 - 2021 The Online Citizen

No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Civil Society
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
  • Politics
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Subscribers login

© 2006 - 2021 The Online Citizen