So I was talking to Alice, a good friend of mine who recently moved to Singapore with her husband, about the lack of online consumer services available in the country compared to what she had in Manhattan. One thing led to another and I found this little gem of an article through Google Trends.
Apparently Singapore can’t handle it’s gambling problem that well, so it’s cracking down on students. The all male 17-37 year olds must have been some hardcore gamblers:
Singapore Gambling Bust
When police entered the location on Wednesday evening, the suspects were playing a variant of the poker game. Paraphernalia such as gaming chips, cards, poker tables and cash amounting to $1,850 were seized as well.
Under the Common Gaming Houses Act, anyone convicted of gaming in a common gambling house could be fined up to $5,000 or imprisoned for up to six month, or both.
Oh the horror. I bet these hardcore gamblers were playing Texas Hold ‘Em. Scandalous. Shame on you for destroying the social fabric of Singapore. These guys are professionals as I’m sure the only way to get such specialized paraphernalia is to airlift in something like a poker table or to have homemade gaming chips. After they are fined and jailed, it will be noted that they were playing with Monopoly money.
This sophisticated professional gaming house was operated by two 20-year-old brothers who’d leave their cell phone numbers on an online forum. So basically, Singaporean police learned how to use Craigslist. Improving consumer service technology has to start somewhere.
Also, as Alice pointed out, loan sharks are also a big problem in Singapore (gotta borrow the money from somewhere to gamble). If you can’t repay, they’ll paint your house red. At least Singapore is trying to make some reforms there, too.
Loan shark splatters paint on doorway
