Bookies welcome Singapore’s move to high technology

Press, 3 July 1985, Page 40

Bookies welcome Singapore’s move to high technology

By

LAI KWOK KIN

of Reuter (through NZPA) Singapore Singapore’s plans to climb the high-technology ladder have found an unwelcome supporter — underground gambling syndicates. Bookies in Singapore, where gambling is a favourite pastime among the 2.5 million predominantly-Chin-ese population, are turning more and more to computers and electronic gadgets to beat the law. The Singapore Turf Club and State-run lotteries are losing millions of dollars every year to the syndicates, which have complex networks across the island and close links with counterparts in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Authorities say illegal betting, based mostly on horse races and lottery draws in Singapore and Malaysia, is about sSing2 billion (SNZ2.I4 billion) a year. The police said they had recently discovered evidence that syndicates were using sophisticated equipment such as computers and facsimile machines. Gone are the days when bookies used the hbacus or recorded bets on slips of paper to avoid police detection. Some bigger syndicates are now believed to be using advanced computer systems, including speciallydesigned software programmes for recording bets and possible payouts. Bookies also have been known to make use of

closed-circuit television as an early-warning system against the police, said a police spokesman. Other gadgets include high-speed printers and display bleepers introduced recently by the Telecommunications Authority of Singapore only to be snapped up by bookies to relay bets. The police say at least one syndicate is transmitting live broadcasts of races in Malaysia through high-fre-quency wireless waves. The total number of syndicates is not known but authorities believe the bigger ones earn more than sSing3oo,ooo ($NZ298,000) a week-end. With such high profits they can well afford to invest in high technology to keep ahead of competitors and the law, they said. More than 2000 bookies were charged and fined a total of sSing3 million (SNZ3.OI million) in the last two years, according to police figures. In the first four months of this year the police made more than 2400 raids and arrested 500 people but only about 100 were charged because of lack of evidence. Under Singapore’s betting act, bookies face a maximum fine of sSing2o,ooo ($NZ20,022) and jail for up to two years but most offenders get away with fines of sSingloo ($NZ101). “The fines here are minute. The maximum I’ve seen here is sSing3soo (SNZ3S4I) and hardly anybody is ever jailed,” said Tim Thomson, general manager of the

Singapore Turf Club. He estimated that bookies rake in sSing2.s billion ($NZ2.57 billion), 10 times the club’s annual turnover. The club conducts 104 races a year here and allows betting on races held in Malaysia. “Bearing in mind the size of the population I don’t know of any other country where it is worse,” he said. Bookmaking syndicates are also known to employ strong-arm tactics. A top horse trainer was badly wounded and three people killed by gunmen in 1983 over what the police believed to be a gambling debt. An Australian and a New Zealand jockey were beaten up in Malaysia in 1984 and earlier this year three detectives were attacked by bookies and gamblers in separate incidents. Part of the problem, according to Mr Thomson, is the lack of legal betting facilities. The club only has one off-course betting outlet and 17 for lottery draws whereas bookies are spread all over the island. Bookies offer heavy discounts on bets and unlike the legal betting centres, have no pre-set limits on bets. In order to stop the racket, the Government is studying the possibility of setting up betting centres in various housing estates. Officials admit that the syndicates are here to stay for a long time.