I agree with the author’s views on “when we get impatient with slow but steady yield from honest labour and decide to take a short cut to instant wealth, we slay 'Thrift' and 'Industry' with the 'Knife of Pragmatism'.”
The debate on whether Singapore should open a casino has been a current hot topic among Singaporeans. It is infused with issues such as moral values and social repercussions, on the one hand, and economic values on the other, to whether Singaporeans can be trusted to act responsibly. In my opinion, I personally feel that Singapore should not open a casino in her impatience of gaining economic benefits.
Firstly, I think that by opening a casino, no doubt there may be economic merits, but the social impact is not negligible. By making gaming more accessible and even glamorous, it could encourage more gambling and increase the risk of gaming addiction. A casino could also lead to undesirable activities like money laundering, illegal money lending and organized crime. Although one can try to mitigate these effects, the long term impact on social mores and attitudes is more insidious and harder to prevent.
The government claims to address the non-economic issues, but how effective are they? Does this mean that middle- and high-income earners can afford to gamble away their hard-earned money? Truly, it may be argued that the 'mature and discerning' will only be casual gamblers, not addicted ones. But let us not forget, as with drugs and cigarettes, it all begins with the first curious, 'innocuous' puff. More people will gamble if the IR is built, more people will get into trouble, and more families will suffer. This is the paramount and absolute issue for many who oppose the casino. There is no reason to exclude locals to gamble in the first place. Although they again claimed that they set restrictions to the locals and stuff, how far can these deter them from gambling? Having a high entrance fee of $100 a day or implementing the system of exclusions will only help the problem temporarily. For example those financially difficult people could pay others to help them gamble at the casino. Next, so what if they can ensure that some social good comes out of the gambling at the casino? Saying that the money is used for charitable and worthy causes, they would be usually be donated to the needies, the disabled or charity organizations, but who will help those who have lost all their money at the casinos? Looking from this point of view, are we advocates for the liberty of others who want to gamble or are we choosing to sacrifice those who would fall prey to the vice and destroy their lives for some economic gains we would receive? This is a very vital point that has to be taken note of.
Moreover, with all these restrictions and systems to minimize the social impacts, in my opinion, many debates about them will be raised after a period of time the casino is opened. By then, the government might remove these restrictions due to maybe the policy of democracy or liberty and the interests of the majority that the public would be arguing for. However, this is an assumption but it is a possibility. It is an issue that we cannot overlook.
Furthermore, it could tarnish our brand name which is probably the one of our most previous assets. Organized crimes, loan sharks and money laundering could hinder our current reputation of a safe and well-managed city. Besides, our values could be undermined, such as thrift and hard work. There could be rising number of Singaporeans thinking and submitting to that the easiest way to success is to be lucky at the gaming tables. The government is also neglecting the religious objections. Although it cannot enforce the choices of one group on others, or make these choices the basis of national policy, it clearly shows the tyranny of the majority where minority are silenced.
All in all, I feel that we should not be in such a rush to open the casino unless we are really prepared to be willing to solve the public's concerns and potential problems. Those in favour of a casino may argue that the gambling addicts, etc, are in the minority and it is their choice if they want to muck up their lives. I think that we should adopt a more "communist" view here and not leave anyone astray.
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