23-10-2010, 06:45 AM
This is the sad reality of families breaking apart and people losing everything - all because of their compulson to gamble....
Oct 23, 2010
the EXCLUDED
Losing families and fortunes
WHEN Mr L. Huang started frequenting the Marina Bay Sands casino a few months back, he got to know a group of 11 regular gamblers like himself.
They built up an easy camaraderie playing with one another at the tables but, soon, members of their informal gathering started disappearing one by one.
Mr Huang, 34, the owner of a trading company, says: 'Of the 12, I am the last man standing. The others put themselves on self-exclusion orders.
'They had either lost millions of dollars or their families were breaking up.'
The National Council on Problem Gambling had received 1,546 self-exclusion applications as of June, an increase of 1,300 since the first casino opened in Singapore in February. More than 50 per cent of applicants were aged between 31 and 50, and had at least an N-level certificate.
Another 123 family exclusion orders - exclusion orders filed by family members to keep loved ones away from the casinos - have been issued since last April.
The divorcee is considering signing up for an exclusion order too.
He says: 'Of the 44 times that I have come, I lost money more than 30 times. Overall, I think I have lost a few hundred thousand.'
But he rationalises that he wants to 'make the most' of the annual levy he has already paid.
Plus, gambling has become his recreational outlet. 'I run my own business and I need only to sign cheques. I have too much time on my hands.
'If I do not come to the casino to gamble, I will still play mahjong with friends.'
The perks that come with his loyalty privilege card at the casino also tempt him to return. 'I have enough loyalty points to eat abalone porridge for free every day at the casino,' he lets on.
He still goes to the casino about five times a week, spending about two hours there each time, but he is taking baby steps to control his gambling habit.
He says: 'I go with just a few hundred dollars instead of a few thousand dollars in my pocket and I play the jackpot instead of table games because I am the sort who will, in the heat of the moment, put all my money on the table.'
Meanwhile, Mr Khoo (not his real name), an air-conditioner salesman, is one of those who applied for the self-exclusion order. He did so in June after he lost more than $80,000 over three months of gambling at the Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) casino.
He did not want to rake up the painful past but his wife, a factory supervisor, tells The Straits Times of how gambling almost tore apart their family. The couple declined to be named, to protect their three children, aged 12 to 16.
She says her husband started to visit RWS while he was in between jobs. 'He wanted to kill time and try his luck at winning some money to help with the family finances.'
But he kept losing at the baccarat table, which only spurred him to try harder to recoup his losses. When his savings ran out, he financed his addiction using supplementary credit cards from his wife.
She says: 'I was very angry with him. I cut up his casino membership card to stop him from going, but he just applied for a new one.'
Between sobs, she adds: 'My heart ached and I often cried at night, but always quietly, because I did not want my children to know their father was in debt.'
The last straw came when he gambled away the last bit of money meant to settle the family's utility bill. She says: 'I told him he was beyond saving. That was when he knew he needed to stop and he begged me to help him.'
The next day, she accompanied him to the Tanjong Pagar Family Service Centre to apply for a self-exclusion order.
She wishes the casinos never came to Singapore's shores.
Mr Huang, who also rues the opening of the casinos, says: 'I have the means to play, but it saddens me to see retirees throwing away their retirement funds by playing at the casino every day.'
HUANG LIJIE
Oct 23, 2010
the EXCLUDED
Losing families and fortunes
WHEN Mr L. Huang started frequenting the Marina Bay Sands casino a few months back, he got to know a group of 11 regular gamblers like himself.
They built up an easy camaraderie playing with one another at the tables but, soon, members of their informal gathering started disappearing one by one.
Mr Huang, 34, the owner of a trading company, says: 'Of the 12, I am the last man standing. The others put themselves on self-exclusion orders.
'They had either lost millions of dollars or their families were breaking up.'
The National Council on Problem Gambling had received 1,546 self-exclusion applications as of June, an increase of 1,300 since the first casino opened in Singapore in February. More than 50 per cent of applicants were aged between 31 and 50, and had at least an N-level certificate.
Another 123 family exclusion orders - exclusion orders filed by family members to keep loved ones away from the casinos - have been issued since last April.
The divorcee is considering signing up for an exclusion order too.
He says: 'Of the 44 times that I have come, I lost money more than 30 times. Overall, I think I have lost a few hundred thousand.'
But he rationalises that he wants to 'make the most' of the annual levy he has already paid.
Plus, gambling has become his recreational outlet. 'I run my own business and I need only to sign cheques. I have too much time on my hands.
'If I do not come to the casino to gamble, I will still play mahjong with friends.'
The perks that come with his loyalty privilege card at the casino also tempt him to return. 'I have enough loyalty points to eat abalone porridge for free every day at the casino,' he lets on.
He still goes to the casino about five times a week, spending about two hours there each time, but he is taking baby steps to control his gambling habit.
He says: 'I go with just a few hundred dollars instead of a few thousand dollars in my pocket and I play the jackpot instead of table games because I am the sort who will, in the heat of the moment, put all my money on the table.'
Meanwhile, Mr Khoo (not his real name), an air-conditioner salesman, is one of those who applied for the self-exclusion order. He did so in June after he lost more than $80,000 over three months of gambling at the Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) casino.
He did not want to rake up the painful past but his wife, a factory supervisor, tells The Straits Times of how gambling almost tore apart their family. The couple declined to be named, to protect their three children, aged 12 to 16.
She says her husband started to visit RWS while he was in between jobs. 'He wanted to kill time and try his luck at winning some money to help with the family finances.'
But he kept losing at the baccarat table, which only spurred him to try harder to recoup his losses. When his savings ran out, he financed his addiction using supplementary credit cards from his wife.
She says: 'I was very angry with him. I cut up his casino membership card to stop him from going, but he just applied for a new one.'
Between sobs, she adds: 'My heart ached and I often cried at night, but always quietly, because I did not want my children to know their father was in debt.'
The last straw came when he gambled away the last bit of money meant to settle the family's utility bill. She says: 'I told him he was beyond saving. That was when he knew he needed to stop and he begged me to help him.'
The next day, she accompanied him to the Tanjong Pagar Family Service Centre to apply for a self-exclusion order.
She wishes the casinos never came to Singapore's shores.
Mr Huang, who also rues the opening of the casinos, says: 'I have the means to play, but it saddens me to see retirees throwing away their retirement funds by playing at the casino every day.'
HUANG LIJIE