Online Betting in Singapore

Question: Discuss about the Online Betting in Singapore. Answer: Gambling is one of the entertainment activities that has existed for decades. With the advancement in technology especially the internet, online betting has become the new normal. At present, there are numerous sites which offer betting services. Online betting can be defined as gambling by use of the internet. Singapore is a country which recently allowed its two government-linked casino operators, Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club, to conduct online betting services (Kotwani, Chia, 2016). This move by the Singaporean government is unprecedented and has been a shock to almost everyone. This is because Singapore was known for its staunch laws against betting and it was unlikely to allow the new form of betting which is online betting. The fact that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in Singapore exempted Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club from the Remote Gambling Act of 2015, issues such as ethical issues and online betting effect in an economy should be critically analyz ed. Ethical Issues Regarding Online Betting Every individual has an opinion about gambling. It is one of the inevitable facts of life. One of the ethical issues of online betting is addiction (McCown and Howatt, 2007). The fact that Singapore has a population which consists of mostly young people, the profound affinity for betting will increase because one can bet at the comfort of where one is. The addiction brought forth by allowing online betting, means that a lot of people personal and professional lives are going to be affected greatly. Also, those people who are addicted to online betting have shown heinous signs such as stealing so as to be able to fund their betting activities. By allowing Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club to offer online betting, most families in Singapore will crumble due to moral issues (Cheong, 2017). Case in point, a parent who has a high affinity of betting, might end up placing a losing bet with the familys money hence end up jeopardizing the normal operation for such a family. Consequentl y, such a parent would be setting up a bad precedent to the children who might end up being perennial gamblers in future. By the Ministry of Home Affairs in Singapore giving a chance for Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club to conduct online betting services, there is fear of Singapore raising a young generation with lazy characteristics which have no regard to normal forms of income generation such as engineering, teaching, banking among others. Online betting has opened an avenue of a shortcut to getting money which does not auger well will the expectation of the society (Banks, 2012). Merits of Allowing Online Betting in Singapore Gambling is inevitable, that fact that gambling was illegal in Singapore, the advent of technology regarding online betting has seen many people bet online illegally in Singapore. Having an online betting platform that is closely monitored by the government, will create a safe environment for betting (Horridge, 2017). The normal casinos were characterized with a lot of fights thus was not safe for many gamblers in Singapore. Online betting creates an opportunity for people to place bets and play with tranquility where a transaction is prompt upon the ones who win. Despite members of parliament who belong to The Workers Party opposed the bid to allow the two lotteries to operate online betting activities, they fail to understand the economic benefits that it would bring. A controlled and closely supervised online betting means that the government can reap bid from the taxes (Williams, Wood, Parke, 2012). Betting sites make a lot annually. Online betting firms can contribute presumably about five percent of the total revenue that any government can collect ("Economic benefits of casinos likely to outweigh costs", 2017). This means that Singapore is likely to cushion a lot of its debt and the economy is likely to be fair due to the increase in revenues by way of taxing the betting companies. Creation of jobs is inevitable now that online betting is a reality in Singapore. A lot of people will get direct employment by the two betting companies, Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club as system administrators, customer service operators, economists among other job opportunities. On the other hand, everyone above twenty-one years will get indirect employment by placing their bets and playing. The fact that every individual who has attained the age of bet ting, which is twenty-one years will have an income generating activity. The economy of Singapore will increase spectacularly. Reason Why Allowing Online Betting in Singapore is not a Wise Idea Singapore government is treading a dangerous path by allowing Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club to conduct online betting because of fraud. One of the reasons that online betting is not best for Singaporeans is the illegal activities that happen during the betting operations. The fact that online betting has an aspect of virtual betting, the betting sites are likely to reap a lot from the gamblers by controlling games. Besides, the internet gamblers are not certain that the games they are playing are legitimate thus can assist the online betting forms to steal from the poor gamblers (Turban, King, Lee, Liang, Turban, 2015). Criminal activities become eminent through online betting. Money that has been acquired through orthodox means can be legalized through the use of betting. Case in point, money that has been generated through the selling of drugs can be cleaned after it has been placed as a stake in the online betting activities. When one wins, it is hard to tell the origin of the money as it will seem it is through proper and legal gambling. Hacking can become the order of the day in a response of online betting. Hackers will realize there is an avenue to get easy money by changing transactions and stealing from not only betting firms but also they can extend their illegal activities to the Singapore government. In closing, online betting will continue growing. Despite all the attempts to get rid of gambling, the advancements in technology have enabled betting to become easy and abundant due to customer demand. For Singapore, its form of online betting with close supervision of the betting firms will be entertaining, safe and most importantly, beneficial to the government regarding monetary gains. In a country where online betting is illegal, gambling addicts suffer in the hands of fraudsters in illegal online casinos. Allowing online betting in Singapore will realize protected citizens, and a safe environment for all to play in. References Banks, S. (2012).Ethical Issues in Youth Work(1st ed., p. 66). Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. Cheong, D. (2017).Online betting to be introduced in next 2 months.The Straits Times. Retrieved 10 April 2017, from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/online-betting-to- be-introduced-in-next-2-months Economic benefits of casinos likely to outweigh costs. (2017).The Conversation. Retrieved 10 April 2017, from https://theconversation.com/economic-benefits-of-casinos-likely-to- outweigh-costs-33443 Horridge, K. (2017).Benefits of Legalized Gambling; The Economic To The Social.Casino.org Blog. Retrieved 10 April 2017, from https://www.casino.org/blog/gambling-and-the-law- the-good-the-bad-and-the-ridiculous/ Kotwani, M., Chia, L. (2016).Government exempts Singapore Pools, Turf Club from online gambling ban.Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 10 April 2017, from https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/government-exempts-singapore-pools- turf-club-from-online/3162930.html McCown, W., Howatt, W. (2007).Treating gambling problems(1st ed., p. 190). Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley Sons. Turban, E., King, D., Lee, J., Liang, T., Turban, D. (2015).Electronic commerce: A Managerial and Social Networks Perspective(1st ed., p. 133). Springer. Williams, R., Wood, R., Parke, J. (2012).Routledge International Handbook of Internet Gambling(1st ed., p. 357). Routledge.