PRC commits crimes to feed gambling habit

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PRC commits crimes to feed gambling habit


November 9th, 2013 | Author: Editorial




A PRC working as a kitchen assistant was jailed 4 years yesterday (8
Nov) for housebreaking.

Tian Shao Shuai, 24, admitted to 3 counts of housebreaking involving $15,702
between 22 May and 25 September this year. Another 8 charges of theft and
housebreaking by night were considered during his sentencing.

Tian was staying in one of the blocks at Cavenagh Gardens, a condominium at
Cavenagh Road. Typically, a number of foreign workers would cram into a single
room to split the rent.

The court heard that he was desperate for cash as he frequently gambled at
the Marina Bay Sands (MBS) casino. To get more money, he formulated a plan to
steal from neighbouring units while their occupants were at work.

He would break into his neighbours’ units to steal when the occupants were
not around.

On 10 October 2013, he was spotted by police patrol, loitering suspiciously
at the stairway of one of the affected condominium blocks. As he fit the
description provided by one of the affected households and was carrying a
screwdriver and a pair of gloves, he was arrested on the spot.

He was later incriminated through fingerprints he had left at previous crime
scenes.

Presently, foreigners, including foreign workers, can easily enter both
Singapore casinos without paying any levy. Singaporeans, however, have to pay a
$100 levy for each 24-hour entry or $2,000 for a year’s entry per casino.


Minister Chan Chun Sing


MPs have been asking Minister Chan Chun Sing to consider implementing a
similar casino levy for foreign workers.

During a parliamentary debate in November 2011, Minister Chan said, “At this
point in time, to help foreign workers avoid the perils of problem gambling, we
are focusing on a targeted approach of combining education and casino
exclusions.”

“For an individual, Self-Exclusion can be a much more effective upstream
safeguard against problem gambling than even a downstream monetary quantum.”

In other words, Mr Chan is counting on foreign workers to apply for
“self-exclusion” to stop themselves from entering casinos.

In another parliamentary debate in March last year, Minister Chan reiterated
that there are no plans to impose a $100 entry levy on foreign workers or ban
them from casinos.

He said that the entry levy is meant to protect Singaporeans and any changes
to the agreement would be in violation of existing agreements with the two
casinos here.

In other words, due to the agreements signed with MBS and Resorts World
Sentosa casino operators, the Singapore government is afraid to change any
related legislature in Parliament which is supposed to have supreme power over
the laws of the land.

Some MPs also told the minister that foreign workers who had signed
self-exclusion orders could still manage to enter the casinos to gamble.

In reply, Minister Chan said, “Under the Casino Control Act, the onus is on
the casino operators to keep excluded persons and minors out of the casino
premises, and their failure to do so would constitute a breach liable for
disciplinary action.”

He said that the Casino Regulatory Authority would take operators to task
when they fail to comply and added that the government takes a serious view of
impersonation and the use of false ID to enter a casino.

“It is an offence under the Penal Code which carries a fine, an imprisonment
of up to five years, or both,” he said.


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