Casino: Govt to seek middle ground
AUG 23, 2004Casino: Govt to seek middle ground
WHETHER to set up a casino here is one issue on which the Government can try to find a middle ground.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong raised the subject last night in his National Day Rally speech and asked: 'Can we have the casino and still contain the social problems?'
The idea to have a casino, first raised in Parliament earlier this year, had drawn criticism from some, especially religious groups.
PM Lee acknowledged their 'strong concerns' about the social implications of having a casino.
In fact, the Government also had said 'no' to having a casino quite recently, when the idea was put forth to the Economic Review Committee, chaired by Mr Lee himself.
'But the subject didn't die. And we have to reconsider because the argument comes up, the situation changes,' he said.
For instance, Singaporeans are already going to Batam casinos.
Also, tourist groups often want to visit casinos, and Singapore had to consider opening up this option if it can help increase the tourism traffic.
Thus, the Trade and Industry Ministry has submitted a new proposal for a casino to be built as part of an integrated resort with an entertainment centre.
Urging Singaporeans not to reject the idea outright, he said restrictions could be set in place to prevent lower-income Singaporeans from patronising casinos.
'We will not make it easy for people to go broke and ruin their families in Singapore.'
But if the assessment was that a casino was not worth the downside risks, 'we will call it off', he promised.
Even so, Singapore would have benefited from 'a valuable debate in our society', and 'sent a strong signal that we are prepared to discuss all sorts of things and reopen long-settled issues', he noted.
Copyright @ 2004 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.
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