Clubs pledge vigilance against problem gambling
Singapore Pools, Turf Club and 12 jackpot operators to abide by code for responsible gaming
By Yap Su-Yin
EVERY year, the NTUC Club gets two or three members asking to be banned from playing the jackpot machines.
The club, which runs 200 such machines in its five clubhouses, duly turns them away when they come for a 'fix'.
Soon, such 'self-exclusion' services will be offered at 11 other clubs which operate jackpot machines, as well as by the Singapore Turf Club and Singapore Pools.
This move is part of the National Council on Problem Gambling's (NCPG) Responsible Gaming Code of Practice, which these gaming places have pledged to stick to.
The code is aimed at setting some ground rules for responsible gambling.
Being party to it is voluntary and gaming operators who agree to observe it have to prominently display gambling-addiction helpline numbers and ensure that their advertisements do not give the impression that gambling is an easy way to get rich.
Many operators say that they already practise what the code promotes.
The Singapore Turf Club, recently started stamping a Play Responsibly logo on every betting slip; its 400 television monitors flash a similar message, said its spokesman.
The Turf Club pulls in about 12,000 punters on an average race day. Another 10,000 place bets at its other centres.
A key area covered by the code asks that gaming operators commit to training frontline staff to spot and refer problem gamblers to people who can help them.
The code will also require gaming places to produce an annual report card listing the staff who have attended approved training courses in responsible gaming.
In another apparent bid to ensure that the code goes beyond being a nicety, gaming places will also need to state how many apply for self-exclusion and the number referred to help services.
The NCPG was set up in August 2005 to tackle social problems linked to gambling ahead of the 2010 opening of the two integrated resorts here.
Yesterday, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan officiated at Singapore's first gambling conference organised by the NCPG.
He said he hoped that operators who had not pledged their commitment to the code would be spurred to do so.
He disclosed that studies would be done on the prevalence of problem gambling and a panel of international experts on the subject set up.
'We have to remain eternally vigilant, because we cannot stamp gambling out. Otherwise, it goes underground,' he added.
He also expressed concern over the vulnerability of youth gamblers.
The two-day conference addresses problem gambling and also explores treatment methods for gambling addiction; counsellors will share their stories about helping gamblers and their families.
For some counsellors, the voluntary nature of the code emerged as a sticking point during discussions.
But the co-founder and executive director for Family Life Centre David Kan, who was not at the conference, said it was as crucial to find out what pushed someone to gamble in the first place.
'If a person sees gambling as a relief from his emotional problems, he will still find a loophole somewhere.'
A self-confessed problem gambler, who wanted to be known as Mr Teo, wants boundaries drawn.
Being physically kept out of a gambling place on the order of his own relatives might be 'more effective', he said.
The 45-year-old, who once blew $18,000 a month on Toto and the 4-D draw, said the 'gamble responsibly' message would be lost on most problem gamblers - until their debts get too big.
Until then, 'we don't think about reading stuff like that because we don't believe we have a problem'.
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