Moral versus profit

Horse racing is not illegal in Malaysia. Casinos are not illegal in Malaysia. Fruit machines (slot machines or one-arm bandits) are not illegal in Malaysia. Lotteries are not illegal in Malaysia. Toto is not illegal in Malaysia. Why suddenly everyone is so opposed to sports betting?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The debate between the supporters and detractors of sports betting raise the issue of moral versus profit. Those who support it argue that it would earn the country extra revenue. Those who do not support it argue that gambling is morally wrong and will result in families breaking up.

Actually, the argument is not really about that at all. It is about legal and illegal gambling. Legal gambling is licenced gambling while illegal gambling is ‘underground’ gambling. Those who oppose sports betting oppose it because it is being licenced by the government. They do not oppose gambling per se. They oppose the licencing of gambling.

Even without licencing it sports betting has been going on for a long time. They even have a system of ‘how many goals’ and not just which team is going to win. In fact, you can even bet on the result of a by-election -- not only on which party is going to win but also by how many votes.

Are you aware that a very high percentage of police officers ‘buy numbers’? I should know. I have been arrested and detained enough times to overhear police officers phoning their bookies to place bets. This means illegal betting. And we are not talking about just one or two police officers or about just rank and file police officers.

So, when the trustees of the law -- those who are supposed to enforce the law and eradicate illegal betting -- are themselves heavily placing bets through bookies, how can you expect this problem to be solved?

Okay, let us agree that the government is losing billions of Ringgit every year because of illegal betting. And say that by legalising or licencing it the government will now earn more revenue. But do you really think that this will result in the underground bookies going out of business?

The government has just created competition for the underground bookies. This means all they need to do is to just offer better odds and the gamblers will continue coming to them instead of to the licenced bookies.

And they can do that easily enough.

The licenced bookies need to pay tax. They also have overheads to service and dividends to shareholders to pay out every year. The underground bookies have no such costs. So they can afford to offer better rates and still make a profit. The licenced bookies can’t match them or else they will be going below their operating cost.

This is where the underground bookies have the edge. I mean, even with Sport Toto, Genting, and what have you, the market for illegal gambling and illegal betting is still there and extremely large and lucrative at that. No amount of licencing can totally wipe out illegal gambling and illegal betting.

The licencing of gambling and betting is not the solution. Enforcement of the law is. But when the enforces of the law are themselves not only clients of illegal betting but also ‘have a share in the business’ -- in that they collect protection money from the underworld -- what hope in hell do we have that by licencing gambling and betting the underground market would die off?

Anyway, if this is just about revenue and earning more money for the government, why stop at just gambling and betting? The prostitution market is also very large. In some countries prostitutes are registered and they have to declare their income and pay tax. Since prostitution is legal you can also pay for their services with your credit card.

In other countries, prostitutes are not only registered but they also need to go for weekly medical checkups and are issued a certificate which they can hang over their bed to give their clients the comfort of knowing that these girls are free of any disease. This is mandatory and any prostitute who does not go for these weekly medical checkups, and prove that they have done so with their latest medical certificate, would suffer the long arm of the law.

Even more money can be earned this way and if money is the issue then what’s the difference between gambling and prostitution? Many countries regard prostitution the way they regard gambling, in that it is legal as long as it is willing-buyer-willing-seller.

Horse racing is not illegal in Malaysia. Casinos are not illegal in Malaysia. Fruit machines (slot machines or one-arm bandits) are not illegal in Malaysia. Lotteries are not illegal in Malaysia. Toto is not illegal in Malaysia. Why suddenly everyone is so opposed to sports betting? It is just one more form of many forms of gambling and betting. But no one is up in arms about all the others. They are just upset about this latest thing.

Sometimes it is mind-boggling that Malaysians have this selective opposition syndrome, SOS for short. They are not opposed to gambling. They are only opposed to a certain form of gambling. All other forms are alright. And they are opposed to prostitution but not to gambling.

How do you figure out Malaysians?