City should look to Las Vegas, Malaysia: Observer
City should look to Las Vegas, Malaysia: Observer
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The following is the fifth and final in a series of articles on
gambling in the capital, which continues to thrive despite being
illegal.
The administration should study the experiences of Las Vegas and
Malaysia's Genting Highlands if it planned to legalize gambling
in the city, a social observer says.
Any introduction of casinos had to be managed carefully to
maximize public revenue, while minimizing the adverse impact on
the community, Rashid Lubis said.
"Both the city and the nation can receive high profits from
legalizing gambling. However, both need to enforce consistent
rules. If Jakarta can tightly control the (casino) zoning then it
will gain huge benefits while minimizing the negative impacts,"
he told The Jakarta Post.
Rashid was responding to Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso's earlier
comments that his administration was considering introducing
limited legal gambling in the city.
When Las Vegas was first established as a city in the middle
of a desert by its then 800 residents in 1911, it had not yet
became the "Entertainment Capital of the World" or been dubbed
the more raunchy "Sin City", Rashid said.
One of the key events in the history of the city, which now
has a population of two million, was the legalization of gambling
in 1931. State legislators in Nevada, where Las Vegas is located,
agreed to legalize gambling, partly because they realized that
outlawing it was unenforceable due to the existence of corrupt
police and judges protecting illegal gambling activities, he
said.
Even the United States National Gambling Impact Study
Commission, which is critical of the detrimental social impact of
gambling, acknowledged in its 1999 report that "gambling has made
Las Vegas the fastest growing city (in the United States)",
Rashid said.
Data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Association,
shows that more than 37 million visitors, including almost 5
million foreign tourists, visited the city in 2004, bringing in
US$8.7 billion in revenue from gaming.
The Nevada Commission on Tourism says that taxes from gambling
contribute annually to about one-third of the state's general
revenue. The gambling industry, and the sectors supporting it,
such as restaurants, travel and entertainment, were responsible
for employing about 60 percent of Nevada's workers, Rashid said.
Malaysia, meanwhile, started applying zoning for gambling in
Genting Highlands in 1971, giving a permit to businessman Lim Goh
Tong to operate a casino in the area, he said.
The majority Muslim nation tightly monitors casino's visitors,
who have to show their passports and identity cards at the front
gate of the complex. All Muslims are refused entry.
According to The Far Eastern Economic Review, Lim Goh Tong's
business become one of the most profitable in Malaysia with
billions of U.S. dollars in revenue.
Macao, another international gambling hotspot, has reportedly
absorbed around 60 percent of its money from high-rolling
Indonesians, who, according to one big-time gambler, could splash
out hundreds of billions of rupiah a night.
"(There are) around 150 Indonesian citizens, each of whom
brings at least US$100,000, who visit Genting Highland each day.
Imagine how much we lose in foreign reserves every day. By
establishing legal casinos here, we can keep the money as well as
attract foreign gamblers to the country," Rashid said.
However, Rashid acknowledged it would be hard to legalize
casinos in the capital as many residents would oppose it.
On Thursday, the Students Alliance Against Gambling (AMAP)
staged a rally at the City Council to publicize efforts to
eradicate the crime.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, public order officers closed down four
gambling centers; on Jl. Bandengan Utara in Penjaringan, Jl.
Boulevard Barat in Kelapa Gading, Laguna Apartments in Pluit and
a shop-house on Jl. Pluit Sakti.
The officers only managed to nab one gambling boss, identified
as "Toni K", while the other organizers remain at large.