Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming July 2014 30 fewer people to manage. It’s a very good option. But if you are here to win—the primary motivation we see on Macau’s casino floors—then you won’t play slots or electronic machines. The interactivity and the illusion of control are important. Chinese enjoy it, and they [have a] higher illusion of control than Westerners. What do you mean when you say ‘illusion of control’? You mean Chinese love to feel that they are in control at the games? I wouldn’t say exactly in control. Chinese enjoy the interactivity and, for example, in baccarat they can feel the cards. Even though they know the result is set they feel that they can still somehow do something about it, transferring their luck, chi , or whatever, to the cards. Have you observed any differences between gamblers from rural areas versus urban areas, or mass players from high rollers? There is not a lot of research done on VIP and mass players. That’s why I say there are still gaps in our understanding. There’s still a lot to be examined. We’ve been seeing more research in the last five years, mainly focusing on casinos. What are you expectations for “Chopsticks and Gambling”? It is intended to help people better understand the gambling phenomenon and also to link it to our history. And the book targets Westerners because many didn’t have access to Macau as the phenomenon happened. This book is also more scholarly [than my first book], and everything I wrote is based on my own research or other research, not loosely based on observations. We have talked a lot about Macau regarding Chinese gambling, and the book has a chapter about it. There are [Chinese] gamblers in Las Vegas, in Australia and in Europe, but most people know about Chinese gambling through Macau. The chapter is more about how to balance the economic benefits with the social ills of gambling. Around the region countries also look into that, as they all want to be like Macau to a certain extent, the money is really attractive, yet they are very worried about the social ills. Communities are often against [gambling] while governments feel that it is good for growth. That’s why when Singapore liberalized its market one of the most important things was to come up with measures to take good control of the social aspects. Any jurisdictions which want to open up or liberalize will have to seriously consider the social aspects. In the past people didn’t really care, and now you see it’s happening. The social ills or impacts of gambling on Chinese society are one of the main themes of the book. Is it getting worse as the Chinese grow richer and there is more access to gambling in different nations? The consensus of the research put into this book is that the social impacts of gambling in the Chinese world are high compared to the rest of the world. They’re much higher. And it’s very difficult to treat, partly because Chinese do not share their gambling problems because of the “face” issue. In the historical view of gambling in China we’ve seen a lot of control over gambling dating back to the first dynasties. But gambling still occurred, prolifically, and officials were among those who gambled the most. Do you think Macau tackles the social aspects well enough for other jurisdictions to follow? I used to complain a lot in 2006 and 2007 when the industry was growing so quickly Insights and there was this sudden explosion of people coming in. The Macau government has improved a lot, and it has placed a lot of emphasis on responsible gambling. It has tackled some of the ills that gambling leads to, the negative external factors that are not only limited to the gambling. Given Macau is so small, there are effects on transportation, effects on small businesses and effects on labor. The difference between the Macau government and the Singapore government is Singapore had something to look at. When Sands Macao opened in 2004 no one expected it would do so well. To be fair, the government and the society as a whole didn’t expect the speed of it. They thought they still had time to improve. Macau will see the next wave of major casino projects opening from next year. Do you think the territory is ready this time for the social consequences? This is a very hard thing to talk about. The labor issue is the big issue. How can you open those casinos without workers to fill them, and you can’t always fill them with Macau people? The government now wants to upgrade the locals, letting foreigners come in to fill the lower levels as casino dealers. To a certain extent that would be ideal. Looked at in another way, from a Macau public perspective, does [the gambling industry] always need to grow? Talking about sustainable growth, how big do you want it to be? Do you want it to be as big as it can be, and if so, can we embrace it, or is it too big for us to handle? We have reached a stage where Macau is too small. We should ask ourselves if growth is always good. But right now, we have no choice. Manpower will be the issue. And whether the society can accept 30 million, 40 million or 50 million [visitors]. One of the solutions Macau is now seeking is Hengqin, whether it will be possible for tourists to stay in Hengqin and go to Macau for gambling. What’s your next focus after “Chopsticks and Gambling”? I’m actually writing an updated version of [“The World of Chinese Gambling”], and what I am interested in looking at are Chinese gambling rituals. This book is going to increase in thickness over the years when more knowledge is added to it. At this stage we’re looking too much into Macau. Hopefully, in the future we will be looking into the Chinese beyond Macau. “From a Macau public perspective, does [the gambling industry] always need to grow? Talking about sustainable growth, how big do you want it to be? Do you want it to be as big as it can be, and if so, can we embrace it, or is it too big for us to handle?”