Singapore said yesterday it will allow construction of two casinos, gambling that the decision can boost its economy and juice up its staid image. Critics fear residents of one of Asia's safest cities will succumb to vice with casinos on their shores for the first time.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) revealed the government's decision in parliament after months of mulling the economic pros and social cons. Singapore has received nearly 20 proposals from international gaming giants angling to build a casino in Southeast Asia's most prosperous country.
Lee cited efforts by some of the world's great cities to reinvent themselves with transportation, cultural and other development projects, and warned that Singapore could become an Asian "backwater" unless it competes with its neighbors.
"In Asia, Shanghai is full of drive and energy. Hong Kong is opening its Disneyland, Hong Kong is also talking about opening a casino to compete with Macau," Lee said.
"Will Singapore be part of this new world, or will we will bypassed and left behind?" said Lee, whose father, former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew (李光耀), was instrumental in shaping Singapore's development since independence in 1965. "We want Singapore to have the X-factor, that buzz that you get in London, Paris or New York."
Singapore's Cabinet had encouraged citizens to speak up on the casino plan, triggering lively exchanges in the media, on Internet chat sites, in offices and homes. For a while Singaporeans appeared to be split evenly in the debate -- unusual in that Singaporeans so rarely challenge their government's plans.
"The ministers themselves were evenly split," Lee said. "They also shared the qualms of the public about the social impact."
Lee said one casino will be built as part of a resort with other attractions on the island of Sentosa, and the other will be at Marina Bay on Singapore's main island. Both projects, worth a total of S$5 billion (US$3 billion), will be five minutes by car from the central business district.
Many Singaporeans lay down bets on race horses and fork out cash at parlors with slot machines and sports wagers. But the prospect of a large, Las Vegas-style casino alarmed many who think Singapore's strict social controls are its main asset.
One group, Families Against the Casino Threat, organized an online petition that more than 30,000 Singaporeans opposed to more gambling signed.
Singapore hopes that billions spent on casinos with theme parks and hotels will boost its S$184 billion (US$112 billion) domestic economy, attract high-spending tourists and create thousands of jobs.
"Tourism in Asia is growing phenomenally, especially with the traffic from India and China. Our market share is declining, they are spending a shorter time in Singapore," said Lee, who predicted that the project will create 35,000 jobs.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the