Tickets for the new public lottery went on sale yesterday, causing a rush on ticket outlets across the nation and revitalizing the "liu ho tsai" (
The lottery comes as the Cabinet plans for a new lottery for gambling on professional baseball and billiards. In addition, the Electronic Game Regulation Act, promoted by the electronic gaming industry, has incited a wave of bribe-taking among legislators. And then there is the recent attempt at passing the gambling clauses related to the establishment of casinos in the Offshore Islands Development Act.
With the lifting of the ban on gambling, Taiwan is becoming the Republic of Casino.
Even though gambling controlled by the government will likely win the public's trust, the revenue can be used for the public good and the changes will greatly limit underground gambling, the Taipei Times still believes that government-sponsored gambling is immoral. This new kind of tax, while bringing the dream of wealth to the poor, exploits the weakest in society and erodes social values. This is inappropriate.
Apart from the introduction of computerized gambling and preparations for the sports lottery, the pressure for legalized gambling and the increasing financial difficulties of the central and local governments will certainly lead to even more legalized gambling. Since lifting the ban on gambling seems unavoidable, all gambling should comply with the following principles:
1: Gambling activities must be 100 percent impartial and fair, without any external intervention. In sports gambling, for example, be it baseball or basketball, there will be more competition the more people gamble, which will be beneficial to the development of professional sports. However, the most fundamental premise for this kind of gambling is that the game on the field is not influenced by gamblers. If criminals infiltrate the competition, gamblers will lose all interest and the sport will be severely and adversely affected. Professional baseball in Taiwan is an excellent example of this.
2: The government should establish a special body responsible for maintaining high levels of public trust, strictly monitoring gambling behavior. No single government agency will be capable of encompassing the entire gambling process. Computerized gambling, for example, will, apart from the Ministry of Finance, also need the assistance of local governments to monitor gambling locations.
Police authorities will need to prevent the violation of gambling regulations and criminal influence on computer programming. With athletic competition as an example, the National Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and other sports associations must assist in creating a system for healthy competition and monitoring organizations to guard against illegal manipulation of the competitive process.
3: The gambling surplus comes from society and must be returned to society. The surplus created by legal gambling must not become profits of any one individual or group. Each link in the gambling process involves a cost and any participant must receive a legal and reasonable reward. Apart from this, the surplus remaining after the payment of lottery prizes and other expenses has been deducted must be used for specific purposes related to the public good, or placed in the government treasury, or to develop sports. A strict auditing system must be put in place to audit the surplus and its use in order to avoid any irregularities.
Once the pandora's box of gambling has been opened, it will become a pie from which everyone will want a slice and it will tempt politicians from both ruling and opposition parties to become accomplices in a super-scandal. A comprehensive set of controls and regulations must therefore be laid down to avoid corruption on a scale large enough to create international headlines.
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