Hastening the Conversion to a Gamblers' State
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Drawing crowds and disquiet
By Loh Chee Kong, TODAY | Posted: 06 July 2007 1246 hrs
A LITTLE room in AMK Hub is fast becoming a favourite haunt for middle-aged folks with cash and time to spare.
But the jackpot facility run by NTUC Club is also attracting flak from conservative heartland residents and shoppers, who are concerned about the impact on students from nearby schools who hang out at the popular mall.
The jackpot facility, which houses 40 fruit machines, is located on level four and stands beside the cineplex and arcade centre. Access is restricted to members and sign-in guests, who must be above 18.
When Today checked out the facility at lunchtime on Wednesday, it was enjoying brisk business from middle-aged men and women as well as young working professionals.
It also turned the heads of teens — some in school uniform — who were making their way to the cinema and game machines. Some of them opened the facility's doors for a peek.
Salesman Neo Tze Siang, 27, felt there was no place for a gambling outlet in the "family oriented" AMK Hub.
He said: "The jackpot room is next to establishments where youths go. It will certainly arouse curiosity in passersby."
Others disagreed. Said engineer Steven Loo, 48: "There are restrictions to make sure it's accessible only to members."
The jackpot facility was meant to be part of the NTUC Club's new clubhouse at AMK Hub. Contractual issues had delayed the clubhouse's construction, originally due to be completed in March. But NTUC Club decided to open the jackpot facility first.
Next month, when the clubhouse is completed, said spokesman Stanley Wong, the facility will blend into the overall design. A red banner with the word "Jackpot" was removed from above the facility's entrance yesterday morning.
This is the fourth jackpot facility in residential areas set up over 12 years by NTUC Club, after Pasir Ris, Choa Chu Kang and Bishan. It also operates a jackpot room at Amara Shopping Centre in Tanjong Pagar.
Said Mr Wong: "This is not the first jackpot facility in the heartlands. We have always been very mindful of putting in place safeguards, especially in the admissions criteria. In a month's time, the public can be assured the jackpot facility will appear less prominent."
Other social clubs such as Safra and the Automobile Association of Singapore also operate jackpot rooms. But these are in less prominent locations, and the membership reach may not be as wide as NTUC Club, which caters to at least 500,000 union members.
Mr Seng Han Thong, the Member of Parliament for Yio Chu Kang — in which the AMK Hub is located — told Today his grassroots leaders would "monitor the situation closely".
The concerns of residents concerns were "natural and valid", he said, adding that the NTUC Club had given assurances of "very strict checks" on patrons' age, and that staff had been trained to identify gambling addicts for counselling.
While the AMK Hub location was "not ideal", gambling is already prevalent and accessible here, noted Ms Debra Soon, chairman of the National Council on Problem Gambling's youth sub-committee.
The objective, she said, is to ensure "responsible gambling practices" and that the Responsible Gambling Code of Practice is adhered to. TODAY/rose -
The objective, she said, is to ensure "responsible gambling practices" and that the Responsible Gambling Code of Practice is adhered to. TODAY/rose
dam funny lol hahah responsible gambling practices sia....once u lose money u gonna go crazy , CONFIRM! -
isn't it funny. you intro gambling into Singapore only to intro some gambling codes and gambling adicts preventive measure? to eridicate the problems is to go to it's root cause.
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CONFIRMED 100% (not 99.9%) what you said is spot on.Originally posted by kopikid:The objective, she said, is to ensure "responsible gambling practices" and that the Responsible Gambling Code of Practice is adhered to. TODAY/rose
dam funny lol hahah responsible gambling practices sia....once u lose money u gonna go crazy , CONFIRM!
The JACKPOT MACHINES are the real killers because they are programmed to win no matter how u play & what u play & once you are psychologically addicted, you will never stop gambling even though you know you cannot win. -
New 24-hour phone betting service
By Carolyn Quek
PUNTERS here now have one more option for placing bets as well as bigger prizes to play for.
Singapore Pools said yesterday that it has introduced a 24-hour telephone betting ser- vice for soccer matches.
In addition, it has also raised the top prize in the popular Singapore Sweep lottery by $200,000 to $2.2 million and increased the number of prizes.
The Sweep will now pay out 48,134 prizes, ranging from $30 to the top prize. This is up from 27,808 previously.
This means the odds of winning some money have improved from one in 108 to one in 67.
improved the odds of winning is an encouragement for people to bet. this is totally a reverse of what singapore pools is preaching and the adoption of the so call "Responsible Gambling Code of Practice"
Singapore Pools' move comes just days after the betting operator agreed to adopt the Responsible Gambling Code of Practice introduced by the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG).
[The whole idea of having the new phone betting initiative is not to attract new gamblers, but punters who are currently betting with private or illegal operators to bet legally,' a Singapore Pools spokesman said.
by introducing the new phone betting initiative is to provide new convenience to betting giving the punters who would give it a miss because of queue a way to bet without queuing. it also provide a chance for those underage to bet without even having to show his face
In response to a query from The Straits Times on the new phone betting service, the NCPG advised punters to exercise caution and not chase losses.
Research has shown that greater accessibility to gambling opportunities could lead to an increase in problem gambling.
We expect that Singapore Pools will take a measured approach in rolling out new initiatives to combat illegal gambling,' the council said.
prevention is better than cure?
Soccer punters who want to take advantage of the 24-hour service must first sign up for an account.
Called the Goal! Account, it is open to anyone above 21 years old and will remain active until August next year, at which time the phone betting system will be reviewed.
More than 500 accounts have been opened since the launch.
Those who want to open an account can do so at any of the Singapore Pools branches.
The starting amount for registration is $250. Top-ups can be made at these outlets as well, for a minimum of $100 in multiples of $10. The maximum top-up value is $1,000.
One other change announced by Singapore Pools yesterday - the Sweep will revert to the old system of monthly draws from the current weekly ones.
The total amount to be won every month now stands at $5 million, up from the previous $4.8 million.
The price of the tickets remains at $3, but ticket printing will increase from 3 milion to 3.2 million.
The new Sweep tickets can be bought from July 19.
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