Singapore ready for Casinos

reyes SG

this is no need threat but today Mr. balakrishnan mention singaporean are mature enough to decide how to spent their disposal income and acting responsibly.

I think he is really an idiot which should be ousted from govt ASAP.
it basically contridicate what govt has been promoting for the past year.
1. CFP withdrawal limit is setting higher. this is to ensure older people have enough to spent when they are old. but as far as i know, normally older ppl tends to spent the most time inside casino but they cant spent more time inside turf club betting station wondering what to bet.

2. promoting family oriented working environment.
if the parents go to casino how to spent more time with the family. children wont be allow to enter and parent addicted. causing more problem family.

3. those who voted in for it are the inmature one. such as drugs. if self control is the key i beg govt to also loosen control on pornograhic and drugs control. afterall after they shake their off eating ecasty they only kill themselves. isnt that self control too? if govt really need revenue, tax those drug dealer and legalise them. anyway singapore is few govt in asia that legalise prostitution isnt it??

frankly all those good points such as create jobs, promote tourism, increase revenue for govtwhich he say is true. but whether we need a casino to achieve all the mention few pts deserve us to question ourselves.

chunyong SG

they can't siphon $ from porn.....dats y. get it ? $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

gasband SG

What I feel is that, even if the society is really matured and acting responsibly, there is no reason why we need to tempt them to be otherwise right? Its just like this story once about this town who trust everyone in the town because they believe everyone will not steal from one another and so leaves their door open even if they go out. True enough, no one steals from one another for a long time, but one day someone finally strikes. So my point is that, just because we are responsible, the government do not have to be responsible to help us keep our sense of responsibility?

And thats ASSUMING we are really a responsible and matured society.

chunyong SG

Long long ago, a small town managed to be on their own. the village head think 'its better to get the town going ASAP, i should also prevent them from gambling so as to prevent them from losing $ and cause instability'. time goes by, the small town florished and many of the better-well-offs went to neighbouring town to invest their extra $....then the village head thought 'hmmmm, this isn't good, i should tax them abit for everything, dis way it will enable the council to recoup the loss'.

a few yrs later he realised dat things doesn't work out cos there are still many people who went to neighbouring town to buy things dat are tax-free. again he raised the tax again and again but it doesn't seem to be enough ($ is never enough). then he thought of a casino which is a 100% sure-win business but were afraid of repercussions such that the poor will be poorer. so he only wanted the rich to go in so tat the poor will not get poorer and the rich will of cos bet mroe and the payoff (to the council, not the player) will be higher. this way amount of $ going out of the country will be reduced. he thought of excuses like 'tourist attraction' and other pull-the-wool-over-their-eyes reason. nonetheless, the town's tabloids were all actually under the council's direct control although its indirect as seen from the outside. therefore prior to the casino being built, there will be discussions going on but the end result has been fixed, just waiting for the time to publish them irregardless of wat the poll end up since the real result will only be known to the council.

as expected, there will be persons who will win alot from the casino on the 1st few days and the tabloids will publish them on the frontpage to encourage the richer ones to try their luck. there will also be people posting in forums saying how easy it is to win $ from the casino.

* story is fictitious. any resemblence is pure coincidental.

miong SG

What's there to debate about this casino idea?

The father, the son and the holy goh have already made a decision.

All the hoo-haa is just chor he, chor he.

iveco SG

If crime rate goes up as a result of the casino, you know what to do. Twisted Evil

Time the PAPpies got snared by their own traps.

pikamaster SG

nah, nobody will do anything, 'cos govt will find another scapegoat like perhaps IMH, and say that they are not doing their job properly, that's why everything go wrong.

the pikamaster

BillyBong SG

While it is true that the people have the freedom to make up their own mind about having a casino and how they wish to spend their hard-earned cash, this is classic of the gahmen:

When it suits them or their coffers, they rationalise. When it doesn't suit them but they have no counter-argument, they legislate.

'nuff said.

Poopie-Head SG

x 2 Mr. Green

who cares if u r ready or not? does it even matter? Shocked Confused

KumSioJui SG

I think personally casino is good for us.

For years we concentrated on tourism, our neighbours had natural resources and they concentrated on those. Later when our tourism paid off in the 70's and 80's everyone discovered that tourism is a big money spinner, so our neighbours also concentrated on those areas also.

Today you talk about tourism, the tourists are no longer the hard spender that came here in the 70's and 80's to enjoy and shopping. They are very smart and want bargains, as a result they are going everywhere but here because currency cheap is an advantage, so our shopping centers and restaurants all empty tourism is down even though numbers show 8million visit every year.

You talk about shopping experience other country have bigger and better. I went to china and saw a shopping center with 10 Floors it's a giant, can orchard absorb another 10 Floor shopping center? Thailand has chatuchak can you compete?

You talk about scenic they go to china, vietnam, cambodia and see temples natural safari, anybody tell me what sights does singapore have that cannot cover in half a day.

I think a casino may attract the hard spending tourist back again. But I say a casino must benefit singaporeans. Majority of employees must not be foreigners. Restrictions must be in place make it a rule that any singaporean want to enter casino must change at least $2000 in casino chips, so this way only attract the hardcore gambler.

<sk> SG

I dun quite understand why many Singaporeans are so against having a Casino. Look around you, you have 4D, Singapore pools for soccer, toto, big sweep and Turf club for horse racing bets. We have legal jackpot machines all over Singapore in sports and social clubs. Its so common to see it in Singapore. Then, we have our traditional mahjong among friends who also bet(otherwise no kick/fun to play).

There already are venues to gamble in Casinos outside of Singapore. If you're a hardcore gambler, you will find a way to gamble anyways. Just like a smoker who wants to smoke, raise it to $20, people will still smoke.

The benefits of having a Casino in Singapore is really Singapore's last trump card to use. You must remember Singapore has NO resources, only people and good geographical location for shipping. With a casino, they want to attract tourist and foreigners to come gamble and maybe live in Singapore for a few weeks. Increase attractions like a BIG TIME theme park. What does this mean? This mean jobs... not just 1000 or 2000, this is prolly 10,000 and almost every sector of the economy does well, the services sector, hotel, restaurants, airport, our poor taxis with no passengers... countless.

My last point, complain all you want about having the casino. WE ARE GOING TO HAVE IT! Wink

Parka SG

Oh come on!

Everyone can be a responsible gambler*.

Twisted Evil

iveco SG

IMH not keeping a close watch on criminally insane? Surprised

ROFL

But better stop laughing before it gets way off topic. Exclamation

BillyBong SG

One thing is for certain: A casino opening in singapore will result in an increase in money-related crime.

The police better be well-equip to manage. And oh of course, unlike any other casino in the world, the Singapore Casino will have regulations the length of a toilet roll.

robertteh SG

Gambling is life. Pure diligence and hardwork are outdated by escalating technological advances in every field.

Starting a business is a gamble. Many failed and got into debts and some became disillusioned, bankrupted or committed suicides.

Big businesses that the government got into like disk drives, petrol chemicals, biotech are like big casinos.

In recent years, government might have lost sight of gambling instinct to succeed in gambling. Many countries are overtaking us. It is important to bring back the instinct to assess risks and take calculated risks. It is important therefore to understand what a big casino can do for Singapore.

Failing to understand casino and ride the casino unruly horse, Singapore will get dislodged from it suffering from concussions or brain death.

Laughing

Gazelle SG

Personally I dont think Singaporeans need to get so paranoid about having a Casino in Singapore. First and foremost, gambling is not something new in this country. For example 4D, TOTO, Horse Racing, Football betting etc have been around for years, and every weekend it is common to an individual placing thousand of dollars at each race or bet. Do we classified this as "SAFER" form of gambling?

The purpose of having a casino here should not be seen as trying to promote gambling or making Singapore a gambling hub. Because what our gov is trying to do here is to help Singapore maintain its airhub status. As we all know that in order for us to maintain our existing position, we will need to constantly come out with new attraction to attract air travellers into Singapore and make singapore their preferred transit or stop over point. So far Singapore has been very successful because our government have been pouring billions of dollars into upgrading its airport, transport facilities, shopping and entertainment district etc. But if you have been reading the news, you will realise that countries like Malaysia and Thailand have also invested billions of dollars trying to duplicate what Singapore is doing. It is only a matters of a few years before Bangkok will have it brand new International Airport to rival Singapore. And in term of shopping and entertainment, I am sure it is more exciting and cheaper there.

I believe the only way for Singapore to stay ahead is to create something BIG and exciting in Singapore. And having a huge amusement, resort cum casino park at sentosa is definitely going to bring excitiment into this tiny island.

If you have travelled to genting or Las Vegas, you will agree with me that not everybody there is there because of the gambling, and majority are there mainly to enjoy the atmosphere, food and entertainment.

Some might say that we can still attract visitors without a casino, but have they ask themselves how are they going to get foreign companies to invest billions of dollars in Sentosa if there is no money to be made.

Will the same people be happy if Singapore government decide to use our tax payer money to build another BIG white elephant in Sentosa. I am sure many will complain like what they did when we build the 600 million dollars Esplanade by marina bay.

Like it or not, I am quite sure the casino will go ahead. Just wait for the "good" news!! Laughing

SnowFlag SG

Starting a business isn't a gamble. It is a calculated risk. I guess u didn't start a business before.

I guess u are ill-informed about what casino can bring in. It can bring in money for our million dollar MPs, but will brings vices to the ordinary singaporean.

KumSioJui SG

You must aware not everybody in singapore is in manufacturing or computing or biotech or high growth industries. There are many in tourism related industries and they have for a number of years not been doing well.

if are against having a casino like so many who are, mebbe you shud offer some constructive ideas how we can make tourist to spend more and stay here longer instead of critising all the time.

In fact until today I have yet to hear of anybody giving a viable alternative to having a casino to improve tourism here.

robertteh SG

Hi, Snowflag

Micropolis lost $600 million in the disk drive gamble.

The Singapore Durian's $600 million was a big wag of a gamble on arty crafty culturalism.

The billions of CPF placed by Singaporeans after relaxation of CPF investment policy in unit trusts to some were business but to me and many others were true gambling.

Yes, many businesses may be risk-calculated but since their probability of making monies were remote or unknown, to me they are as good as gambling.

In the case of micropolis, investments in tech funds and even the big Asset enhancement policy promoted by the government was a big gamble. Many people have lost their entire savings or retirement funds. Laughing

Parka SG

When you gamble, you don't have to use any brains.

That's what makes doing business different from gambling.

For those flops in business, well, just look at their thought process.