Friday, July 29, 2011

Concerns over social effects of S'pore's casino

A senior official has voiced concerns over the effects of casinos in Singapore shortly after Marina Bay Sands reported its strongest quarterly results, Xinhua news agency said citing a report in local newspaper Today on Friday.
Writing on her Facebook page, Senior Minister of State for Information, Communications and the Arts Grace Fu said she was concerned about the social effects of the casino resorts, known as integrated resorts (IR) in Singapore.
"While I acknowledge the contribution of IRs to our economy, I am concern(ed) about the social effects," she said.
Fu said she was also worried about the rising number of advertisements by moneylenders offering 'quick loan/fast cash', in several local Chinese dailies.
On Tuesday, the Samaritans of Singapore (SOS), a not-for-profit organisation, expressed worries over the spike in calls it has received about loan sharks and gambling problems.
Marina Bay Sands, one of the two casino resorts inaugurated last year, reported its strongest ever quarterly performance on Wednesday.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/7/29/nation/20110729123750&sec=nation
Does it amount to a regrettable project that the Singapore government has undertaken? Usually thorough indept study would have been carried out before Singapore actually goes into major projects of national interest. However, the long-term effect of the society could have been neglected when deciding on a no-no project of a resort centralled with a casino. What had actually gone wrong!

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