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Malaysians gamble ‘S$3 million daily at S’pore casinos’
By Ion Danker – November 21st, 2010
A Johor state assemblyman says about 3,000 Malaysians board buses to Singapore daily to gamble away S$3 million at the integrated resorts (IRs).
According to a Utusan Malaysia report, Datuk Tee Siew Kiong, who is a central committee member of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), a key party in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, asked the federal government to take measures to control the flow of these Malaysians to the IRs.
Mr Tee, who is the assemblyman for Pulai Sebatang Pontian, said, “They spend a minimum of S$1,000, which is equivalent to S$2.9 million a day, or S$83 million a month, for the purpose of gambling.”
Malaysian politicians are also concerned by the number of locals travelling to Singapore to gamble.
The same paper added that Mr Tee was the first to state the number of Malaysian visitors daily and how much they spent, but did not say how he arrived at those figures.
MCA Youth chief Datuk Wee Ka Siong recently expressed concern over the hike in the number of ‘free tours’ taking Malaysians to the casinos. He said he initially thought that such tours were organised only from Johor, but revealed that they are also available from Penang.
Mr Tee added that from the information he received, 30 buses make the daily round trip, with seven of those being buses from Singapore, the report said.
“This can raise social problems and destroy the family institution as there are local tourists who gamble until they have to borrow from ah long (loan sharks),” he said.
Utusan reported Mr Tee claiming that there were Malaysians working in Singapore who spend their entire salaries at the IRs, and that there had been instances where life savings were drawn out and properties sold to feed the gaming habit.
He suggested to the federal government to stop tourism agencies and buses from taking Malaysians to the casinos. “We do not want this thing to continue because it has more negative effects than positive ones,” Mr Tee told the paper.
Some people Yahoo! Singapore spoke to were not surprised by the number of Malaysians visiting the IRs.
“I guess for those staying further south and close to Singapore would want to come here to gamble as it’s more convenient,” said salesman Jay Chan, 32.
Store supervisor Zack Goh, 29, said it’s not expensive to travel down to Singapore. “My relatives from Malaysia are visiting the casinos quite often because its affordable and they are drawn by the new IRs.”
Thank you for the incredible, amazing response to Yahoo!’s Fit-To-Post blog so far. We continue to welcome your views and comments but please don’t abuse this opportunity. Be nice. Be courteous. Be sensible. Respect the feelings of others and refrain from using any kind of offensive language. And in the spirit of great conversations, please don’t stray from the topic at hand.
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Malaysians gamble ‘S$3 million daily at S’pore casinos’
By Ion Danker – November 21st, 2010
A Johor state assemblyman says about 3,000 Malaysians board buses to Singapore daily to gamble away S$3 million at the integrated resorts (IRs).
According to a Utusan Malaysia report, Datuk Tee Siew Kiong, who is a central committee member of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), a key party in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, asked the federal government to take measures to control the flow of these Malaysians to the IRs.
Mr Tee, who is the assemblyman for Pulai Sebatang Pontian, said, “They spend a minimum of S$1,000, which is equivalent to S$2.9 million a day, or S$83 million a month, for the purpose of gambling.”
Malaysian politicians are also concerned by the number of locals travelling to Singapore to gamble.
The same paper added that Mr Tee was the first to state the number of Malaysian visitors daily and how much they spent, but did not say how he arrived at those figures.
MCA Youth chief Datuk Wee Ka Siong recently expressed concern over the hike in the number of ‘free tours’ taking Malaysians to the casinos. He said he initially thought that such tours were organised only from Johor, but revealed that they are also available from Penang.
Mr Tee added that from the information he received, 30 buses make the daily round trip, with seven of those being buses from Singapore, the report said.
“This can raise social problems and destroy the family institution as there are local tourists who gamble until they have to borrow from ah long (loan sharks),” he said.
Utusan reported Mr Tee claiming that there were Malaysians working in Singapore who spend their entire salaries at the IRs, and that there had been instances where life savings were drawn out and properties sold to feed the gaming habit.
He suggested to the federal government to stop tourism agencies and buses from taking Malaysians to the casinos. “We do not want this thing to continue because it has more negative effects than positive ones,” Mr Tee told the paper.
Some people Yahoo! Singapore spoke to were not surprised by the number of Malaysians visiting the IRs.
“I guess for those staying further south and close to Singapore would want to come here to gamble as it’s more convenient,” said salesman Jay Chan, 32.
Store supervisor Zack Goh, 29, said it’s not expensive to travel down to Singapore. “My relatives from Malaysia are visiting the casinos quite often because its affordable and they are drawn by the new IRs.”
Thank you for the incredible, amazing response to Yahoo!’s Fit-To-Post blog so far. We continue to welcome your views and comments but please don’t abuse this opportunity. Be nice. Be courteous. Be sensible. Respect the feelings of others and refrain from using any kind of offensive language. And in the spirit of great conversations, please don’t stray from the topic at hand.
