Singapore is fast becoming known as IRONY 'R' US.
Following article from ST depicts just such ironies, and I personally feel that our government's concern about health related diseases brought about by smoking, can be snubbed out by simply BANNING imports and sales of tobacco.
If what they say is SINCERE and not money-centered, actions they take should match their words.
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Gambling in heartland cause for concern
Nov 5, 2005
The Straits Times
THE report, 'Hooked on gambling? Help coming to the heartland' (ST, Oct 2
, is turning out to be a very big irony.
The Government seems very concerned that the coming integrated resorts (IRs) will pose a serious threat to citizens' ability to resist gambling, but are we not already gambling up to our eyeballs, and right in the heartland?
Let's face it: Singapore Pools, with its hundred over outlets, has successfully brought gambling to our doorsteps. It's almost impossible to find a Singapore Pools outlet without a long queue on any day.
If gambling is bad for our financial health, why did the Government allow Singapore Pools to open so many outlets in the heartland?
And did we ever hear an MP raise objection to this infestation of gambling in the heartland?
The easy accessibility to placing bets is not only eroding our work ethic and churning out thousands of addicts, but it is also a very bad influence on the thousands of teenagers who live so close to these betting outlets.
Some may argue that wagering a little money on 4D every draw is quite harmless, but are they aware several billions of dollars are lost to Singapore Pools, plus another billion or two to illegal operators?
Could this be one of the causes of the emergence of the New Poor in Singapore, and also the average 350 personal bankruptcies every month?
In fact, when you compare the 'house advantage' of a typical casino game like roulette (2.7 per cent) to that of 4D (40 per cent), you will realise why we are so broke playing 4D.
If you take a good look at the people patronising the Singapore Pools outlets you cannot help but conclude that most of them are low-income earners and poor housewives.
Why talk about helping the poor and the gambling addicts when, on the other hand, the Singapore Pools outlets make it so easy for them to lose their last dollar?
Another very bad sign I have observed among young people is that more and more of them have taken to soccer betting, thanks in no small part to the creativity of Singapore Pools in offering a wide variety of bets, and right at our doorstep.
Have we forgotten the saying that it is easy to pick up a bad habit in three days, but impossible to give it up forever?
If our future generation is more interested in making a quick buck than an honest living, what hope do we have to preserve the prosperity of the nation?
I am not totally against gambling, because all of us have a little bit of risk-taking in our genes, which experts say will help us to progress.
In fact, the coming IRs are good for our economy, although a few lives may be ruined. But then again, we are old enough to know what we are walking into, and IRs are not free to get in, and not so accessible too.
The way I see it, the only Exclusion Order we need to take out is to ban Singapore Pools from the heartland.
tie them to a chair so that they cant leave the house? 