Singapore wins big at the casino

Singapore is winning big, thanks to the new casinos in the city-state. But the high-rollers are also losing large amounts of money, causing consternation among the public. The gambling habit, it seems, has become deeply entrenched, writes SEAH CHIANG NEE

SIX months ago, Singapore’s history took a crucial turn when it opened the first of its two casino resorts that cost US$10 billion to build.
Today, both of them seem to be packing the crowd in, including high rollers who believe that they have to bet big to win big.
So far, the winners are Marina Bay Sands (MBS) and Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) and, of course, the Singapore economy.
Like their peers elsewhere, the new industry in the small island republic is beginning to accumulate something resembling its own Hall of Misfortunes.
On top of the list is local businessman Henry Quek, who lost S$26.3 million after a few day’s work at the baccarat table in the Malaysian-owned Sentosa casino.
According to Today newspaper, his misadventure began in March only a few weeks after its launch when he was granted a credit line of S$500,000.
It was eventually raised higher and higher to S$2 million, and his losses mounted.
At one stage, his girl companion cried for the casino to stop providing him any more credit.
In a single day, the managing director of a seafood processing and trading company had lost S$18 million, playing at S$400,000 a hand.
Quek, in his 50s, initially lost a larger amount, but managed to reduce it to S$16.3 million, a close friend told a reporter.
He has since paid part of it, but still owes the operators S$11 million.
The moustachioed Quek is also the president of the Seafood Industries Association Singapore. Normally loud-talking, he is now rather quiet, according to his high-roller friend.
There have been others.
Two days later, Chinese newspapers reported that Taiwan pop star Jay Chou lost S$2 million playing at Marina Bay.
An online source said 12 gamblers had chalked up unpaid losses of between S$5 million and S$11 million, and about 200 Malaysians and Chinese still had unpaid losses ranging from S$500,000 to S$2 million.
Blogger Merl Haggard reported he knew of another wealthy Singaporean, who was worth “at least S$300 million”, also lost S$26 million at Sentosa, but there has been no confirmation.
Despite disincentives, Singaporeans are believed to make up one third of the total casino gamblers. The rest are foreigners who come from Malaysia, China and the region.
There have been winners, too, but unlike losers – the big ones are often publicised. The most common are winnings of S$100,000 to S$200,000 each.
Early last month, an ethnic Chinese from Indonesia won the biggest jackpot payout of S$2.2 million.
In April, a French tourist struck a S$1.66 million jackpot.
Today, the sentiment has changed dramatically compared to the gloomy projections just before the launch, when most analysts were predicting failure.
Some even labelled the investment a potential disaster.
Today, the opposite is happening.
The two casinos are earning more than S$16 million a day – or a prospective S$6 billion a year.
Resort World Sentosa alone could hit a S$1 billion profit jackpot this year.
Revenue-wise, the overall big winner is Singapore which has attracted some four million new tourists.
It has become the second biggest casino market in Asia after Macau, and looks set to replace Las Vegas as the second biggest revenue earner after Macau in three years’ time.

*Seah Chiang Nee is a former newspaper editor in Singapore. He now writes a weekly column for The Star in Malaysia.