Christian's view on Casino in Singapore?
In the leadership class that I was in today, the lecturer mentioned about Casino in Singapore.
Casino, he said, as a Christian, is a bad, bad thing.
but what if we are politician? are we able to simply put it as a bad thing?
he then continued to state that Casino maybe is the way to feed the people.
I could not help but disagree with such a statement. In the first place, Singapore as a country is not lacking in terms of income or food. Yes, Singapore is not growing food, but it definitely have enough money to buy food and other resources from other countries who needed the money from Singapore.
To me, the underlying issue is not to meet the needs of Singaporean, but rather, the government wants to remain competitive. It is not merely about survival, it is about the ambition to become the top or the best.
As I were to become a politician, and a good Christian at the same time, facing the two options laid ahead of me: a good and advanced country with no casino, or a top country with casino, but with many society issue arises from Casino, my decision will be simple and straight forward: no casino.
One thought that tickles me: If Singapore needs Casino to remain competitive, why it does not follow the example of, say: South Korea, whereby the Casino is only for foreigners, tourists and not for the citizen?
The answer is simple, many Singaporeans like to gamble. They have gambled in the cruise, in Batam, at Genting, and who knows where. If they are not allowed to gamble here, the Singapore dollars will flow out. And so, in order to retain the outflowing SGD, the Casino is thus opened for locals.
Well, one may argues, that if they want to gamble, they will gamble anyway. True. But it is one thing to travel out to gamble to Genting/Batam, but it is another thing to have the convenience to gamble near your door step. Who knows how many new gambling addicts will come out every year because of this convenience. Yes, on one hand, the government may be able to help retain more SGD in the country. But at what cost?
Casino, he said, as a Christian, is a bad, bad thing.
but what if we are politician? are we able to simply put it as a bad thing?
he then continued to state that Casino maybe is the way to feed the people.
I could not help but disagree with such a statement. In the first place, Singapore as a country is not lacking in terms of income or food. Yes, Singapore is not growing food, but it definitely have enough money to buy food and other resources from other countries who needed the money from Singapore.
To me, the underlying issue is not to meet the needs of Singaporean, but rather, the government wants to remain competitive. It is not merely about survival, it is about the ambition to become the top or the best.
As I were to become a politician, and a good Christian at the same time, facing the two options laid ahead of me: a good and advanced country with no casino, or a top country with casino, but with many society issue arises from Casino, my decision will be simple and straight forward: no casino.
One thought that tickles me: If Singapore needs Casino to remain competitive, why it does not follow the example of, say: South Korea, whereby the Casino is only for foreigners, tourists and not for the citizen?
The answer is simple, many Singaporeans like to gamble. They have gambled in the cruise, in Batam, at Genting, and who knows where. If they are not allowed to gamble here, the Singapore dollars will flow out. And so, in order to retain the outflowing SGD, the Casino is thus opened for locals.
Well, one may argues, that if they want to gamble, they will gamble anyway. True. But it is one thing to travel out to gamble to Genting/Batam, but it is another thing to have the convenience to gamble near your door step. Who knows how many new gambling addicts will come out every year because of this convenience. Yes, on one hand, the government may be able to help retain more SGD in the country. But at what cost?
posted by Suhandy Yao Wei Xuan @ 1:10 am
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