Singapore - With two casino resorts set to open in Singapore, more people are seeing gambling as a way to get rich quick, two surveys revealed on Tuesday. Fewer people regard gambling as leading to family breakups.
The findings published in The Straits Times emerged from the surveys conducted a year apart by the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG).
"These shifts suggest a decrease in rational beliefs in recognizing that gambling is essentially a game of chance," the council said.
Of the 2,013 people aged 15 to 75 who were queried, 28 per cent said they would gamble if one of their friends struck it rich, up from 20 per cent.
Those who believe it is possible to strike it big more than doubled from 14 to 32 per cent. The number who maintain it makes sense to continue gambling to recover losses jumped from 11 to 19 per cent, the surveys found.
Only 65 per cent said gambling can lead to unhappy family life, down from 81 per cent.
Buying lottery tickets was not regarded as gambling by 60 per cent, up from 50 per cent.
The NCPG saw a bright spot in that 44 per cent had not gambled at all in the past year, up from 41 per cent.
Singapore's decision to opt for casinos may have led people to feel that "their perceptions are validated by the establishment," Halimah Yacob, head of the government parliamentary committee for health, was quoted as saying.
The government dropped its longstanding ban and approved the massive resorts as part of its drive to attract more tourists to the city-state.
