Two operators sanctioned in Singapore
The government of Malaysia has no plans to legalize online gaming like neighboring Singapore.
According to Channel News Online, Malaysian Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said, “We have enough means for the people to gamble” via 4D lotteries like Magnum and Toto, which are also played in Singapore.
Khalid added that Singapore’s legalization of online gaming alters nothing about the law in Malaysia. “You can go to Singapore to gamble online; we will not interfere. But it is definitely an offense anywhere in Malaysia, even if using the facility from Singapore.”
The Malay Mail reported that Singaporeans will now be able to place bets online on portals run by Singapore Pools and the Singapore Turf Club. “Both operators will launch online gaming services in the next two months (but are banned from offering casino-style games or poker, so what form the online gaming will take isn’t quite clear).”
The development has sparked criticism from the opposition Workers Party and church groups who say online gaming should remain illegal. Some studies indicate that since the legalization of casinos, there has been an increase in problem gambling with up to 3 percent of the adult population classified as addicts, but the government could not turn its back on the revenues generated by Singapore’s two casinos, Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa. In 2013, they generated almost S$6 billion (US$4.3 billion) in revenue and made Singapore the third largest gaming jurisdiction in the world.
The National Council of Churches of Singapore appealed to the government to review its position, but seemed to concede that legal online gaming could serve as a way to protect citizens. In a letter to its members, an NCCS representative stated, “Given the data on the current remote gambling landscape, the government deems this to be the best approach to mitigate driving remote gambling activities underground and exacerbating law and order concerns.”
Morgan Lewis Stamford LLC Director Wai Ming Yap told Gambling Insider that Singapore has established a National Council on Problem Gambling to curb problem gambling. And Singapore lawyer Lau Kok Keng told GI the new provision merely sanctions activities that have gone on “for decades.”
The Singapore government is allowing gaming operators “to offer their existing services on a new channel online in a heavily regulated and tightly controlled environment,” Lau Kok Keng said.
