Friday, Nov 16, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR - The lure of lucky draws, free food, ready loans and syndicates with deep pockets are hampering efforts by the police in curbing this menace, which is pulling in more victims.
A quick look at statistics provided by Federal police in Bukit Aman showed an increase in the number of raids in Penang, Selangor, Johor and Kuala Lumpur for the first six months of this year compared with the corresponding period last year.
"It is like tackling a hydra (mythical monster). Cut off one head and another appears -- close one outlet and another opens," said Federal CID principal assistant director (secret societies, gaming and anti-vice) Datuk Abdul Jalil Hassan.
Local councils were also taken to task for closing one eye to the mushrooming of cyber cafes which become fronts for gaming outlets.
"The operators are competitive. They are also coming out with various methods to pull in punters.
"And, if they get raided, it isn't a problem. The syndicates have computers stored away so that they can resume business immediately, but change operators."
He disclosed that it only takes about RM50,000 (S$20,000) to start an illegal gaming outlet, taking into account the rental, purchase of computers and wiring. The computers are unlike normal ones as the CPU does not have a hard drive.
Police intelligence revealed that the average profit by an outlet, depending on its size and the number of customers, was between RM30,000 and RM70,000 a month.
"To fight this menace, the public needs to be educated, especially the youth," Jalil said.
"Horror stories have been reported about how gambling addiction tears families apart.
It is the same story with these illegal gaming outlets which operate behind the facade of cyber cafes.
"There was a case in Malacca where a civil servant was arrested while gambling in a cyber cafe.
"He earned about RM3,000 a month and it was gone within a few days.
"The civil servant then took a loan from the cooperative for RM15,000 (S$6,000) and used the money to fund his addiction. The loan did not last long and he lost everything."
Most patrons nabbed in these outlets were found to be between the ages of 20 and 50.
"Education is the key to curbing the gambling menace. Police can conduct raids, but as long as people patronise these outlets, the syndicates will continue to spread their operations far and wide."
