Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | March 2010 Macau Policy T he year 2010 will be an exciting year for many Singaporeans. With the impending opening of The Resort World at Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands in the first quarter of 2010, Singapore is one of the ‘must-watch’ casino gaming centres in the world. The opening of both properties, each costing multi-billion dollars to build, is bound to create a mega-buzz within the global gaming industry and local community. Gaming regulators in Macau and Taiwan will be following closely the development of these integrated resorts and evaluate their successes (and/or failures). A lot is at stake for Singapore and its government. These integrated resorts form the backbone of other recent dev elopments (e.g. Formula 1 race) designed to boost tourist numbers and help stimulate demand in other areas of the economy. The announcement of the gaming legalization was followed by a considerable amount of debate among numerous social groups in Singapore. Many were afraid of the negative social impact that casino gaming would have on Singaporeans. To protect its residents from ‘gambling harms’, the Singapore government has implemented a series of measures. One measure is to charge each Singaporean visiting either casino, either a fee of S$100 (~USD70) per entry, or an annual fee of S$2,000 (~ USD 1,400). This measure has stirred much controversial discussion among casino executives worldwide. Some doubt the logic of this measure, while others think it is too extreme and will not work. An executive whom I met thinks it may backfire as a harm protection measure and encourage more gambling. His reasoning is that each ordinary Singaporean who enters one of the casinos will now crave to gamble to win back his/her ‘S$100’ loss and may end up gambling more than intended. He may have a point. There is much talk about compulsive gambling behavior initiated by the psychology of chasing wins and/or recouping losses in problem gambling literature. I do not want to argue for or against the logic of this measure. I was in Singapore in November to visit family and talked to a few people. Most Singaporeans that I spoke to said S$100 per entry is expensive but they are willing to pay it once just to see the casinos. But, of course, they could be lying. After all, some Singaporeans spent much more each week buying lottery tickets (i.e. Toto and 4D) at Singapore Pools outlets. When I mentioned casinos in Singapore, people whom I talked to speak first of Marina Bay Sands. When I asked about Resort World at Sentosa, they spoke of Universal Studios. So, how much is S$100? What can one get with S$100 in Singapore? For S$100, a Singapore casino player has numerous gaming, leisure, and entertainment alternatives. For S$100, a Singaporean can: Casino Gaming Alternatives: • Go to Genting Malaysia. Casino de Genting, located at Resorts World Genting in the Genting Highlands, is just four to five hours drive from Singapore. Opened in 1971, it is the only casino gaming venue in Malaysia. Many Singapore tour operators offer promotional coach packages to Genting. For less than S$80 per person, some of these operators offer two-way luxury coach transfer (it takes up to 8 hours one way) to Genting and two- night accommodation (twin-shared deluxe room) at its First World hotel, one of the largest hotels in the world by rooms (greater than 6,000 rooms). Not to forget that S$100 is now worth more than 240 Malaysia ringgit. Each Singapore dollar more than doubled Entry Fee Opportunity Cost Desmond Lam ponders what S$100 is worth to a local Singaporean Resorts World Genting 14