Singapore is widely expected to announce today it will go ahead with the city-state's first casino project as it prepares for fiercer competition in the booming travel industry.
Analysts said all signals point to the government giving the green light as Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) addresses parliament to announce the cabinet's decision after months of emotional debate.
"It's pretty clear that they're going to go ahead. I think the green light is almost a certainty," said Seah Chiang Nee, the editor of the political website www.littlespeck.com, told reporters.
The casino issue has sparked a rare and highly-charged public debate in Singapore, where citizens traditionally toe the government line, with opponents waging a robust campaign.
Nearly 30,000 signatures have been gathered in an online petition against the casino in addition to thousands of online postings. Hundreds of letters supporting or opposing the casino have appeared in newspaper forum pages.
Opponents have mostly warned about the social costs, such as families being ruined as well as criminality.
The government had highlighted the casino's economic benefits, while assuring citizens that enough safeguards would be put in place to contain any social fallout.
Chia Teck Leng, a former casino addict now serving a 42-year jail term for defrauding banks of S$117 million (US$73 million) to cover gambling debts, wrote a commentary from prison supporting curbs against excessive punting.
To protect ordinary Singaporeans, he said a casino should be run like a private club, with a high entrance fee and VIP halls open only to foreigners. It should also be located in Sentosa, a resort island linked by a causeway to the city.
"The current group of Singaporean gamblers who could afford to regularly gamble overseas would not find this fee unreasonable or prohibitive," he said, suggesting a fee of S$10,000.
Casino operating hours should be limited in sections open to locals and they must be subject to gambling limits per table to stem their losses, he added in the commentary which was published in local newspapers Saturday.
Analysts have said the project -- which is envisioned to be part of a sprawling integrated resort and entertainment complex -- could contribute up to US$1.5 billion in revenues annually to the economy.
The entire complex will be one of the country's biggest projects in years. The government said it will play a key role in boosting tourism by enhancing the island's attractiveness as a travel destination.
The government has received at least 19 bids from some of the world's biggest gaming companies, including Las Vegas-based Wynn Resorts, US gaming giant Harrah's Entertainment and Tabcorp of Australia to build the casino.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
RSS