EXEMPTED BUSINESS (Motion)

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EXEMPTED BUSINESS:

(Motion): Resolved,

That the proceedings on the Proposal to Develop Integrated Resorts be exempted at this day's sitting from the provisions of Standing Order No. 2. - [Mr Mah Bow Tan].

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PROPOSAL TO DEVELOP INTEGRATED RESORTS: Debate resumed.

Mr Low Thia Khiang (Hougang): ( In Mandarin ): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the pot of porridge that was being cooked by the MTI Minister one month ago is now ready and is being served on the dining table. The Government said that certain medicine with special efficacy has been added to the porridge, and it can better fill our stomachs.

Notwithstanding the fact that this special medicine may cause some of our people to suffer diarrhoea, dehydration and even lose their lives, PM Lee said that for the collective interest of our people, even if they have objections, they have to swallow it and he will do what is necessary for the after-care.

For the last few months, Singaporeans, including the Workers' Party, who opposed this idea have expressed their concerns. All that needs to be said has already been said. The Government sought the opinion of the people but it does not go along with the opinion of the people and it has now

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made a unilateral decision. Eventually, will it turn out to be a blessing or a curse to our people? We have to wait and see.

When the Government announced this decision, it tried to package it and had brought forward some specious arguments. First, the Government said that the casino is only a small portion of the integrated resort. We cannot reject the IR just because of this casino component, considering that the IR is the trump card in the development of tourism. This is just an attempt to divert the people's attention. If the IR is the most important part, then why do we not just have an integrated resort? If it is said that building an integrated resort without a casino is not feasible, then the key consideration is really on the casino. In other words, the investors' real interest is in the casino that can bring huge profits to them. So long as the Government allows them to build the casino, it will have an integrated resort to boost tourism without having to pay a single cent.

However, the PAP Government, which has never allowed its people to have free lunches, should know very clearly that nothing can come so cheap and easy to them. If you allow them to build a casino, you have to pay a social cost and the Government is prepared to pay the cost, allowing our people to suffer the damages that may be brought about by the casino. On the other hand, the Government will just sit back and reap the harvest without having to pay a single cent and yet have this integrated resort to boost its tourism.

Secondly, the Government said the problem that can be brought about by the casino is not a big one. We have not seen the problem, but the Government is already saying that the problem is not great. The Government bases its premise on a survey that shows only 2.1% of our people are problem gamblers. Furthermore, in any event, Singaporeans are already gambling. It is just that we do not

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have a casino here yet. The logic is that since they are gambling, whether they gamble at the casino or at the betting station or the Turf Club, there is no difference. If we use the same logic, then since our people are smoking, we should also allow the people to take drugs and legalise it. We all know that there is a great difference in the attraction, excitement and the thrill between buying lottery and gambling in the casino, just as smoking and taking drugs are two different matters altogether.

In 1999, a report by National Gambling Impact Study Commission, appointed by the United States Government, pointed out that within the radius of 50 miles, the number of pathological gamblers is double that of the national average. The Australian Productivity Commission also published a report in 1999 confirming that proximity of the casino to the residential areas has a direct effect on the rise of social problems relating to gambling.

Thirdly, the Government said that we will have adequate measures to mitigate the impact of gambling on our people. We all know that the PAP Government has all along been practising stern and serious governance, adopting the policy of having the family as a nucleus and advocating the Confucian traditional values in our society. Now they are allowing casinos. In future, if they are pressurised because of the changing environment, will the Government not relax the safeguards, citing pragmatic need and people's maturity as its rationale? Moreover, by that time, people are used to frequenting the casinos and accustomed to all the problems that are created by the casinos. They will accept the fact that this is a matter of course. This will indeed be lamentable!

A few days back, PM Lee's younger sister, Dr Lee Wei Ling wrote to the

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Straits Times' Forum page. She openly criticised the so-called "successful" surgery carried out in the Singapore General Hospital in 2001 to separate a pair of Nepalese Siamese twins and said that it was indeed a mistake. This could serve as a useful reference in the casino case. The sisters are now five years old. One became a vegetable and the other has yet to walk. The grandfather of the sisters said that their future is very bleak. Dr Lee felt that at that time, had we allowed the sisters to pass away naturally, the family would be better off. They could have gone along to have more healthy children and live a normal life without having to go into the predicament they suffer today.

No doubt this separation of the twins was a breakthrough in our medical sciences in Singapore and we have made a reputation in the world-wide medical fraternity. But the ultimate duty of a doctor is to safeguard the well-being of the patients. Judging from the suffering of the sisters and their family members, this surgery is really a mistake from the beginning. Analogically, a government has the responsibility to maintain good social character and value, and the people's well-being should be the ultimate consideration in deciding whether to go ahead with the casino project.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, who was then the CEO of the Singapore General Hospital, is now in the Cabinet which collectively made the decision to open the casinos. This casino decision is similar to that of separating the twins, the difference is that the sisters may leave this world soon if the procedure was not carried out, but are we saying that if we do not have a casino, our economy will collapse and that Singapore will have no future?

Just like the Singapore General Hospital has its own consideration at that

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time, but ultimately, the risk was undertaken by the patients. Would the economic benefit that is going to be brought about by the casino in the long term cover the social costs? We cannot tell. The Government would have no control over it. In order to attract more tourists, more budget surpluses, the Government is leading our people into taking this risky path. Do we have no other alternative but to open a casino, without which we would have to just sit still and wait for the end of our day?

The Government has always emphasised that family unit should be the fundamental core to our society, thus it has been harsh in implementing policies such as barring single mothers from applying for HDB flats and negating homosexuality, etc. Then, why is the Government now taking this risk to open casinos in Singapore which could destroy thousands of families here?

Not long ago, I asked the Government to review its social safety net and enhance the welfare for our people, The Government said that it would erode our people's work ethics and bluntly brushed it aside. Would not the opening of the casino undermine the diligence of our people too?

The Government also argued that by having a casino, it will encourage our people to be responsible individually and enhance our maturity as a society. Again, the Government has abdicated its responsibility to safeguard good social character and value.

From all this inconsistent logic, we can see that the basic trait of this Government is one which will weigh economic profit above everything else.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, we are now being pushed into the surgical theatre although there is no life-threatening crisis, and we are even not given the right to

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sign a consent form, forced to undergo a surgical operation which shows no definite long term benefit but high risks. We try hard to struggle but failed to escape. The only thing we could do now is to take care of the aftercare work and mitigate the adverse effect of gambling on our people. We should actually learn from other countries.

In 1997, Michael Belletire, the Chairman of the Illinois Gambling Effects Commission, concluded that the government should legislate to regulate the casino operators, and that such regulations should include the following:

(1) Establish an independent agency to over-see the gambling industry, such as issuing of licence, promulgation of regulations, etc;

(2) Control the expansion of the gambling industry, and strictly confine the casinos to certain localities;

(3) Investigate into the political and financial background of the casino operators to ensure that they are proper;

(4) Approve the list of casino management staff, and allow the regulator to investigate into their background;

(5) Issue permits for suitable people to work at the casino;

(6) Strictly ensure that the operators abide by the regulations laid down by the authority;

(7) Empower the regulator to conduct surprise raids on the premises;

(8) Punish and indict anyone who violates the regulations;

(9) Supervise to ensure fair-play in the gambling process to protect the interest of the customers;

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(10) Require the operators to disclose the source of their capital; and

(11) Carry out public education to prevent gamblers from being addicted. Counsel and help the addicts. This may include mandatory public education and counselling of the casino staff.

I think the Government should also look into the confession of Mr Chia Teck Leng, the former Financial Manager of Asia Pacific Breweries, who wrecked his future through compulsive gambling, and his suggestions based on his own painful experience.

Since the people are unable to stop the Government from opening the casino, what we can do now is to try our best to ensure that the Government will proceed with and complete the legislation to regulate the casino. Yesterday, the Minister for Home Affairs said that the Government would set up a supervisory agency to oversee the operation of the casino. Why not legislate in Parliament instead of administrative supervision? Is it because the Government wants to make it easier to amend the rules, whenever necessary, without having to come to Parliament to publicly justify any amendment in the future?

PM Lee said that in order to be an outstanding cosmopolitan city, we need to have the X-factor. Now that we have decided to open the casino, maybe allowing casinos is the X-factor we need to make ourselves a cosmopolitan city. Now I understand that gambling for everyone is the X-factor.

Over the past one year, our people have been very active and vocal in giving their views on the opening of the casino in a so-called consultative exercise initiated by the Government. Now a full-stop has been inserted to end all the discussions. We should pause to reflect

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on this consultative exercise. Under the current situation, where a party is dominant and the civil society is very weak, the people cannot sway the Government's decision on such a matter that concerns the fate of the people. If the Government's judgment is wrong, it would lead the nation and our people on to the "river of no return", where the cost would be very real and very heavy.

Mr Seng Han Thong (Ang Mo Kio): ( In Mandarin ): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, Mr Low Thia Khiang mentioned that Minister Lim Hng Kiang's porridge was ready to be served, but it may cause some people to have diarrhoea. I know Mr Low is a Teochew and he has been so for many decades. Minister Lim is also a Teochew. So am I. Teochew people love porridge, and we all know that porridge does not cause diarrhoea.

There are different types of porridge. There is one type which is more watery. After taking it, you may have to go to the toilet more often - to pass water, but you would not have diarrhoea. It is only when you take too much salted egg with the porridge that you may have diarrhoea. I think he must have forgotten. As a Teochew, he must have taken a lot of porridge. He should know better.

Mr Low alleged that when the Government was talking about the integrated resorts, it was trying to divert the people's attention. This morning I attended an interview at the TV station and they were asking me why the Government did not mention about the integrated resorts right from the beginning, and all the time the Government has talked about the casino without any reference to the integrated resorts. I told them that this was because the Government is very concerned with the people's feelings on the casino component while realising that in other

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parts of the world a casino is needed to support the integrated resort. The Government is looking squarely at the subject and is not trying to divert the attention of the people. Mr Low also said that the Government was playing down the problems arising from the opening of the casino by claiming that the problem would not be too great. His allegation is not true because the Government has openly told the people about all the anticipated problems, and has announced the results of the survey on the effect of gambling on the people's life. It is left to the people to decide whether they want to gamble or not.

Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I remember when I was young, there was a hawker selling duck rice in my neighbourhood. On one occasion, I saw a resident buying duck rice from him. He paid 30 cents for a drumstick and was offered a chance to play the dice against the seller. He won, and had the drumstick for free. The hawker was not happy and he urged the resident to play once more. The resident played on and won two drumsticks instead of one. Eager to recover his loss, he asked the resident to stake his two drumsticks for half a duck in another round of dice-throwing. Again, the resident won. Desperate to win back his day's earnings, the hawker challenged the resident to go for a final round, double or quits. The resident obliged and ended up winning the whole duck. A big crowd gathered, and was treated to a free meal of duck meat. The hawker lost his duck and did not know what to tell his wife when he went home. I felt sorry for the poor hawker. Should this happen every day, the hawker would not have the money to maintain his family and pay for his children's education.

Recently, I met the son of this duck rice seller, and he is none other than the Chairman of Koh Brothers. There was a function where a number of property developers gathered. This Chairman of

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Koh Brothers pointed at the map and said, "Look at this piece of land. They are going to develop a casino there. My father used to gamble so much that he lost almost everything. If you are a compulsive gambler, you may lose everything.�?

More than 20 years ago when I was an interpreter in the courts, every Monday was always the busiest day of the week, because over the weekend, the gamblers, illegal bookies, 4-D collectors, would be arrested and charged in court on Monday morning. Most of the accused persons were Chinese. That is why there is this saying that out of 10 Chinese, nine are gamblers. The one who is not gambling is a reserve. It may be a bit exaggerated but if you go to the casino in Macau you will see that this saying is not far from the truth.

I went to the Lisboa Casino in Macau and it was crowded. A man was asking why his friend did not come into the casino. His friend answered that he could not squeeze himself in. This was the situation.

We cannot prevent the people from gambling. When I was a reporter, I received a call one day that there were a lot of people gambling at the Lim Tua Tow market. I went to investigate and to my amazement they were gambling on whether the digits on the number plate of the next vehicle turning into the lane were an odd number or an even number. There was a huge following. Another group was betting on whether the next person to walk up the slope would be a male or a female. That is the Chinese community. That is their culture. I think we have to face the reality. We cannot avoid it. It happens everywhere. It happens in Singapore, it also happens in Hougang, in fact, everywhere. But we know how to tackle the problem.

Has Mr Low Thia Khiang forgotten that a lot of Singaporeans go to Genting,

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on cruise-to-nowhere or to the casino in Batam? Not long ago, PM Lee said that Mr Wong Kan Seng accidentally went to the Batam casino. Mr Wong Kan Seng is a famous person. I am not. But when I went in, I would hear some people saying, "Ah, the MP from Ang Mo Kio is here". So there are a lot of Singaporeans there.

When PM Lee announced that Singapore would build two integrated resorts, many heartlanders were concerned that the casinos may have adverse effects on our people. The fact remains that those who want to gamble would have gambled anyway. They may not rush to the casinos here because they have to pay $100 each to get in. They can go to Batam because the ferry ticket is cheaper. For those big timers, they would not want the Government to know that they are gamblers. They would have gone to other countries. We want to attract the foreigners. So if we want to do it, we have to do it well. We want to attract tourists from all over the world. We want to have a world-class casino and we want to attract the big gamblers from other countries to come here.

In fact, generally, the people have three types of views on PM's announcement to allow the opening of casinos in Singapore.

First, since it is such a big project, would it succeed? Would it be successful? A lot of people feel that they have not seen these projects. As Members of Parliament, we are very fortunate. We were invited by the Singapore Tourism Board to see the master plan of this project. Mr Low Thia Khiang was standing beside me. His eyes were wide-open. He was shocked to find that the project was so huge, and although he did not ask many questions then, I am sure he was very surprised that the project was so huge. Eventually, when we decide on the developer, we should announce this plan to all the people so that they will know what it is.

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Secondly, some people are sceptical about the 35,000 job opportunities. Would there be any chance of Singaporeans taking the jobs or would they go to foreigners? I think we have to give the assurance to our people and to convince them that serving in the service industry is also a good option. We should put more priority on it and let our Singaporeans know that the service industry can pay them better and offer them better working conditions.

Thirdly, there are concerns that the safeguard measures proposed by the Government may not be adequate. I think this is a matter of personal opinion. Of course, over time, these measures may need to be adjusted. The people can be rest assured that the opening of the casino will not result in many broken homes.

Whether you are a big-time gambler or a small-timer, you need to have chips to gamble. Just now, Minister Mentor said that our chips are that we have political stability, transparency and a relatively drug-free environment. Our crime rate is low, and we have no laundering here. When foreign investors come here, they also need to have the chips, and they come with $5 billion worth of investment. They know that Singapore is a good place to invest in. I believe that when the other cities announce such a plan, they would not attract so many proposals. In Singapore, we attracted 19 proposals.

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Also, in other countries, even if they have the proposals, they may not be of such a huge magnitude. But as Minister Mentor has said, they are investors, not gamblers. They have made very careful calculations and made informed decisions.

PM Lee said that some people had commented that our water was so clear that there was no fish in it. But these big-time investors do not come here to fish in muddy waters. They come well prepared and well informed. I think we should all work together to make the integrated resorts a great success.