So the decision has been made. The casinos are coming to town. Oh wait maybe i should use the term IR which stands for Integrated Resort since the casino is just gonna occupy 3-5% of the total land set aside, or so they say. To soften the blow (or pull the wool over your eyes) there's gonna be a theme park too. Something akin to the Florida Universal Studios.
In case you still can't feel my vibes. I am against the idea. I can see the point of it bringing in the tourists and increasing the revenue for the state. But is casino the only way to go??? Ok so their great idea of making Singapore an Arts Hub didn't work out and the Esplanade's thorns are gonna collect dust. (But in any case can u imagine the likes of Phua Chu Kang watching Les Miserables? With one leg up on the seat and a finger up his nose?? YUCKS!) But surely there are other ideas to explore.
Why not go the way of Paris (or Malaysia) and build a huge monument so people will want to come to see? Or the way of Hong Kong and Bangkok and turn Singapore into a shopper's paradise. Or build the damn theme park anyway. That's sure to bring in the crowd in droves.
But alas the decision has been made and there is nothing really you can do about it once the powers-that-be has decided for it. But truly, there are innumerable negative aspects to having a casino so close to our shore. (what more two??) Even with the so-called "preventive" measures, such as high (SGD $100 high?) entry fees and no extension of credit to locals, there are numerous loopholes and alternatives to combat it. If anything, it will cause the loanshark industry to thrive even more. Splashes of red paint on doors and incidents of glue-filled locks will be more common. So will the signature symbol of OWE$PAY$ in lifts and corridors of HDB housing estates. And when the debts go amounting, there will be more and more cases of the Simon Lee tragedy and rash acts such as the Maybank robbery
Think of casino and what do you see in your mind's eye? A scene from CSI perhaps with the bright lights, jackpot machines and roulette wheel. Or even a scene of the not-so-recent local Chinese drama. With the "high life" and "glamour" notion perpetrated by the movie industry of casinos, there is a high probability youths here will make the casino the coming-of-age thing to do. Much like how they scamper to buy a ticket to a R(A) movie on the very day they turn 21 and show up in front of Zouk when they turn 18. Unfortunately, while the decision for a movie or disco is something you can control, a casino like most other gambling activities is addictive. Very soon a once-in-a-lifetime experience will turn into a once-a-week habit.
And the 39,000 jobs or so that will be created by the IR a.k.a Casino.. did I hear a wow??? well perhaps it will help keep the retrenched people employed but have you ever taught what kind of jobs??? Before long you will see some of our Muslim female teenagers who failed to meet the cut as a model/actress/air stewardess prancing around on stage ala Moulin Rouge.
and Muslim male youths in bow and black-tie handing out chips and turning the roulette wheel. Is that the way we want our next generation to earn their living ? And with one vice come others and there is a possibility of a rise in prostitution and drug-related cases. After all cocaine has already reached our pristine n clinically clean shores. You think I am making a far fetched conclusion?? Well I hope so too.
And if you are one of the believers that the recent spate of earthquakes and tsunamis are Allah's sign of the end of time, then do you wonder what will happen should such catastrophes unleash itself on this puny island with such maksiat going on? Truly I shudder to think how life will be like for my family and for my future generation in this land of Kafirun. Maybe you should too......
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