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Sinkieland's love-hate relationship with the casinos

Rogue Trader

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April 13, 2014 7:00 am JST
Singapore's love-hate relationship with its casinos

WATARU YOSHIDA, Nikkei staff writer

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The Marina Bay Sands casino and resort complex exerts a strong pull on foreign tourists in Singapore. (Courtesy of Marine Bay Sands)

SINGAPORE -- Policymakers in Singapore are faced with a tough challenge: how to build up the casino industry while preserving the safe, squeaky-clean image they have worked so hard to create for the country.

Some rules that apply outside the city-state's two casinos -- such as a strict ban on indoor smoking, which carries fines as high as 1,000 Singapore dollars ($800) -- are waived for the gambling facilities. The government wants to promote these powerful magnets for foreign tourism without negative spillover into society.

One of the casinos is the Marina Bay Sands. Known for its spectacular design marked by three hotel towers capped by a single horizontal structure that looks like a cruise ship, the resort complex can wow even jaded travelers. It has separate entrances for foreigners and Singaporeans. Foreign visitors can enter for free by simply flashing their passports, but Singaporeans have to pay 100 Singapore dollars to get in.

Both the Marine Bay Sands and the Resorts World Sentosa, the country's other casino and resort complex, opened in 2010 amid controversy over how they would impact society. Critics argued that the facilities would erode public security and trigger a rise in gambling addiction. One of the government's responses to such concerns was to make it expensive for locals to patronize the casinos.

Pulling them in


From the beginning, the idea was to draw tourists from abroad and discourage business from Singaporeans. Four years on, both complexes are flourishing, providing a boon to Singapore's tourism industry. According to preliminary data, roughly 15.5 million foreign tourists visited the city-state in 2013, up 60% from 2009, before the casinos opened. The country's total tourism income surged 80% during the same period.

The occupancy rate of the Marine Bay Sands hotel adjacent to the casino is 98.6%. Sheldon Adelson, CEO of Las Vegas Sands, which owns and operates the Singaporean complex, says the sprawling facility has only been good for Singapore and has added a new attraction in the country.

There is no question the casinos are driving the growth of Singapore's tourism sector, but the government has shown conflicted feelings about the huge success of the casino industry.

A senior official at the country's Tourism Board says no decision has been made on whether to allow a new casino to be built. And in June last year, the government introduced a rule restricting the number of times Singaporeans with incomes below a certain threshold can enter a casino. The move reflects growing concerns about the ranks of addicted local gamblers who frequent casinos despite the high entrance fee.

Singaporean bureaucrats are regarded as being among the country's best and brightest. Most are from elite schools and all are rigorously screened and trained -- a legacy of the system established under the strong leadership of Lee Kuan Yew, the country's founding father and first prime minister, who ruled for three decades. Many of them regard casinos as a necessary evil to attract tourists.

The short-term results have been impressive from an earnings perspective, but a number of policymakers feel uneasy about possible long-term negative side effects of the casino industry.



Copyright © 2014 Nikkei Inc. All rights reserved.
 

Leongsam

High Order Twit / Low SES subject
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I admire the way that the PAP has managed gambling to the point where it can have its cake and eat it too.

The casinos earn huge amounts of foreign exchange which is good for everyone. At the same time, Singaporeans are insulated from the adverse effects with the imposition of restrictions for entry.

If only NZ was similarly astute. In Auckland, the casino and the pokey machines spread around the city have caused major problems for those who are addicted to this vice. Why they do not go down the same route as Singapore is beyond me. Perhaps it's because the NZ government does not really care for its citizens the way the PAP government does.
 

laksaboy

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Policymakers in Singapore are faced with a tough challenge: how to build up the casino industry while preserving the safe, squeaky-clean image they have worked so hard to create for the country.

That's like saying I want to fuck around and yet remain a virgin. Hypocritical and unrealistic. :rolleyes:
 

halsey02

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Asset
That's like saying I want to fuck around and yet remain a virgin. Hypocritical and unrealistic. :rolleyes:

The "whities" never had it so good, every fresh election, they have fresh "virgins" to f#@#@#k....:roll eyes: ha ha ha ha ha
 

tanwahtiu

Alfrescian
Loyal
anything from MSM or PAP no one believes them anymore. The hotel high occupancy rate is because of travel package deals and cut throat prices lah.

Not as if Casino biz are new, less you believe in PAP you are much happier.




I admire the way that the PAP has managed gambling to the point where it can have its cake and eat it too.

The casinos earn huge amounts of foreign exchange which is good for everyone. At the same time, Singaporeans are insulated from the adverse effects with the imposition of restrictions for entry.

If only NZ was similarly astute. In Auckland, the casino and the pokey machines spread around the city have caused major problems for those who are addicted to this vice. Why they do not go down the same route as Singapore is beyond me. Perhaps it's because the NZ government does not really care for its citizens the way the PAP government does.
 

kaipoh

Alfrescian
Loyal
What your logic? I think NZ gov. care it's citizens, knew the damages to the citizens eg. suicide, broken family, killing, cheating.....Anyway, if PAP utilize the taxes for the people I got nothing to said but to enrich themselves and give them executes for justification of their shameless high pay it just gross abhorrent.
After taxing of billions the transport fares still increased, The medical still "affordable", the poor still salvage cupboard for food... -- One Sunday morning at AMK hawker centre I over heard two 7o+ old ladies conversation "tomorrow got job or not", at this age they should have been happily playing with the grandchildren, still so hard-up for job!
My PRC girlfriend ask me why so many old people working in sintapore I just said the gov. give them work and stop.
You are so lucky to have dual citizenship, can you be my family migration agent? I pay you commission, give you head start for this biz.


I admire the way that the PAP has managed gambling to the point where it can have its cake and eat it too.

The casinos earn huge amounts of foreign exchange which is good for everyone. At the same time, Singaporeans are insulated from the adverse effects with the imposition of restrictions for entry.

If only NZ was similarly astute. In Auckland, the casino and the pokey machines spread around the city have caused major problems for those who are addicted to this vice. Why they do not go down the same route as Singapore is beyond me. Perhaps it's because the NZ government does not really care for its citizens the way the PAP government does.
 
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