Berjaya boss donates entire RM525m to own foundation

By FMT Staff

KUALA LUMPUR: The people against gambling, Gerakkan Membantah Judi (GMJ), campaign, launched this afternoon, was overshadowed by tycoon Vincent Tan who announced he would donate all of the proceeds from the sale of his stake in Ascot Sports Sdn Bhd to charity.

Tan who holds 70% equity in Ascot Sports said he will donate the entire RM525 million from the sale of his stake to Berjaya Corporation Group (BCG) to his Better Malaysian Foundation.

He said the “buyout” by BCG, which he controls, was completed last month. BCG also owns and operates Sports Toto.

Tan, BCG and the federal government have come under tremendous pressure after betting in Malaysia was legalised in conjunction with the upcoming World Cup, which begins next week.

BCG had last week rolled out its game plan, which includes betting via telephone, for the gaming industry in conjunction with the World Cup.

'Be sensible and fair'

Meanwhile, Tan dismissed claims that the licence was awarded to him in “gratitude” for his support of Barisan Nasional over the years.

Tan was alluding to a Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad’s statement at the GMJ launch this afternoon.

Khalid had said that the awarding of the gambling licence to Tan was an act of gratitude by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

“This licence was awarded as payback for Berjaya’s loyal support of BN,” he had told the crowd which gathered at Sogo.

At a press conference in Berjaya Times Square today, Tan appealed to Pakatan-led states Penang and Selangor to revoke their ban on sports betting, urging them to be “sensible and fair”.

Last month, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guang Eng had directed the local councils in the state to ban all betting operations.

Prior to this, Selangor had also banned betting in the state, saying that while the federal government could approve gambling licences, premise permits were a state matter.

Meanwhile, today’s launch of GMJ anti-gambling campaign sets the ball rolling for a nationwide series of protests which will culminate in a gathering of 100,000 people in Kuala Lumpur on July 3 when a memorandum will be handed over to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Prior to that, GMJ will submit a memorandum to Parliament on June 7 and another one to Najib on June 23.