POLICE WAR ON GAMBLING

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27072, 22 June 1953, Page 11

POLICE WAR ON GAMBLING

5 ASTUTE SINGAPORE PROMOTERS , i ’ CHINESE GAMES OF CHANCE ’ (From a Reuter Correspondent.) ' SINGAPORE. | ! Police in Singapore are waging a> ceaseless battle against illicit, , gambling, officially blamed here for, suicides,' prostitution, robbery and theft. Daily they are pitting their brains against astute promoters who will go to extremes to escape detection, and to ensure that rich profits continue to flow into their hands. With most of the population participating in the gambling rackets the odds against authority are heavy. Traditionally the Chinese are the great gamblers of Singapore. Of the Colony’s 1,100,000 people about 900,000 are Chinese, 70 per cent of whom are believed officially to gamble in the innumerable illegal rackets. They have always gambled, eyer since 1819 when the founder of Singapore, Sir Stamford Raffles, declared it a vice and ordered its strict prohibition. They continued to gamble even when Sir Stamford Raffles borrowed from the penal laws of China and brought out a regulation which read in part: “Whoever games for money or goods shall receive 80 blows with a cudgel, and all money or property staked shall be forfeited to the Government, and, whoever gambles, whether soldiers or people, shall wear the heavy broad collar one month.” Singapore’s greatest gambling racket is a lottery named Chap Ji Kee, or 12 numbers. Like the other illegal games of chance and lotteries, it attracts mainly the poorer Chinese, ever eager to make a few extra dollars. Chap Ji Keen has a special attraction for women. It is, operated by a hierarchy of runners, collectors and promoters and is based on the selection of one or two numbers between one and 12 by each staker. A total of 144 combinations is possible and the racket enters when the chief promoter selects the two combinations least backed and pays out accordingly. The lucky few get fixed dividends, the

rest of the money staked, and that is . most of it, slides into the pockets of the promoters and their satellites. Although the swindle is obvious, daily investments total many thous mds of dollars. Handsome Profits In the Federation of Malaya, another numbers racket, Chee Fah, is favoured. Recent reports said that one promoter in Kuala Lumpur was clearing 1,000,000 straits dollars (£142,850) profit every month. There are plenty of legal opportunities in Singapore and Malaya for those who wish to court luck. Many lot-; teries are authorised to raise money for health, social and general welfare purposes. Most notable is probably that conducted by the Malayan Chinese Association, the profits from which have been partly devoted to the resettlement of Chinese villages moved from the jungles away from Communist influence. First prizes range up to 400,000 Straits dollars (£57,140) a..d have brought undreamed of wealth and i luxury to, among others, a garbage j collector, a motor mechanic and a group of rubber tappers. j