It was revealed in May that the two “integrated resorts” – come on, let’s call a casino a casino, who we trying to kid? – have collected S$70/- million in casino entry levies since they opened. Entry levies are imposed on Singaporeans – they pay 100 bucks each to get in.
I’m sure by now it’s well over S$70/- million.
And in late July the Marina Bay Sands reported that it made S$128/- million in its first 65 days!
The Straits Times online site screamed on August 10, “Gaming spurs recovery.”
I wouldn’t be so quick to claim that the economy recovery here is due to gambling – again, come on, let’s call gambling gambling, who we trying to kid calling it gaming?
And if indeed gambling has spurred recovery – at what cost?
As I write this reports just in say that Genting Singapore’s Resorts World Sentosa generated S$860.8 million in revenue in the second quarter of this year. The papers say that works out to S$9.6/- million in daily sales.
By the way, how many legs does a dog have if you call the tail of a dog a leg?
Answer: Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.
So let’s call a spade a spade, we are deluding ourselves downplaying shit by using words like “integrated resorts” and “gaming.”
Fact: We have two casinos now and Singaporeans are gambling away.
At what cost?