When Singapore decided several years ago to boost its economy by becoming a tourist destination, the government of the conservative little city-state took the controversial step of legalizing gambling. Controlled by billionaire Sheldon Adelson ,Las Vegas Sands was tapped to build an anchor casino and resort complex on Marina Bay.
Price tag set for Marina Bay site is set for S$1.2 million so developer does not have to worry about bidding. Daily work goes on as usual at the site for Las Vegas Sands' $4 billion resort and casino project which girdles the central business district and offers a sweeping view over the emerald waters of the Malacca Straits.
Las Vegas Sands is yet another high-flying company that has been caught out by the global credit crunch and crashing economy; in a Nov. 5 filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Las Vegas Sands revealed its cash was drying up; according to the filing, the company's earnings were "insufficient to cover fixed charges" by $80.1 million. That, in turn, could jeopardize Las Vegas Sands' ability to continue "as a going concern,".
The filing is not necessarily a bad new for Singaporeans,it is better-off for majority of Singaporeans if the casino project is shelved since they can always head to their neighbor at the north for game and gambling in Genting Highland, at the same time, not having big number of gamblers invading their "tiny" resort paradise with after effect social ills from losing all their saving to a billionaire from America !
Judging from the cost and benefit side, Singaporeans will face lesser social problems arising from gambling losses (most of the time) like increase in suicide rate, loan shark transactions , crime rate & etc , at the expense of enriching just a few selected individual in the government elite.
2 comments:
If the Sands project is shelved Singaporeans will loose 10's of thousands of good paying jobs and the diversification of the Singaporean economy will be severely threatened. With a global slowdown the export of electronics, one of only two major sources of revenue for Singapore,will also be threatened. Tourism and the casio offer protection from economic slowdowns by providing much neded diversity.
In fact, Singapore does not depend on casino as revenue generator in the past, sand is the first such industry in the island. Talking ten of thousand job losses due to the shelving of sand is a bit of exaggeration, global slowdown affect every developing and export dependent economy including Singapore.
No doubt some construction and unskilled service jobs will be gone if the shelving is materialized,but see from the bright side, the benefit of lesser social impact to the quality of Singaporeans' living,and the image of a clean resort paradise (family and children friendly) is maintained, instead of a gambling haven in SEA. It 's true that the big winner of any casino industry is always those high flying billionaire who owned the company and selected few in society, not average Singaporeans.
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