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The
Straits Times, 3 Dec 04
Casino bet not mine to make, says
MM Lee
by Laurel Teo
Bangkok - MR LEE Kuan Yew believes the issue of whether Singapore
should have a casino hinges on how much of the spillover effects can
be contained and how mature Singaporeans can be. But as he spoke his
mind on the project the Singapore Government is mulling over, Minister
Mentor Lee made it clear this particular bet was not his to make.
It was up to the younger leaders to decide, he said at a dialogue
yesterday with 300 international business leaders gathered here at
the close of a two-day forum.
One man, a Singaporean, had asked Mr Lee what he thought of the Singapore
Government's idea of setting up an offshore casino.
Mr Lee, who was taking questions after giving a talk at the annual
BusinessWeek CEO dialogue, began his reply by declaring he had always
been 'dead set against any form of gaming'. 'I believe the Chinese
are congenital gamblers,' he said. In the 1970s, Hong Kong casino
magnate Stanley Ho had suggested the idea to him, he disclosed. 'I
said no. Over my dead body.'
'The basis on which Singapore built itself is, if you study well,
you work hard in the job, you can do well, you will be rewarded and
you will prosper,' Mr Lee said. But as casinos kept sprouting up in
the region, Singaporeans were gaming - or giving away - at least $1
billion every year, he noted. So the idea came up to have a casino
- at least the money would be spent in the country. But along with
it would come social side-effects.
However, as he had said in an earlier interview, it was up to the
new generation of leaders to weigh the pros and cons and make up their
own minds about the matter. 'This is a decision which my son's generation
has to decide...It is for them to decide what they make of their generation,'
he said, even as he warned against corroding the work ethic. 'At the
end of the day, it's a bet on whether you think you can control the
spillover evil effects and how much confidence you have in the maturity
of the population. And they know this is a game of chance in which
you cannot win.' |
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