What are the pros and cons of legalising online betting? What measures should be in place to guard against the negative impact?
Hardcore gamblers would already be accessing online gambling sites illegally to satisfy their gambling passion.
Have control mechanisms built into the online gambling platform to deter excessive gambling. For example, online gamblers must be pre-registered and linked to a bank account so that they can be tracked... It would be good to have an exclusion option by the operator or the punters to manage excessive gambling.
Roland Seow
Perhaps have one more operator, and the licensee can use its online system for betting instead of brick and mortar sales outlets. But "no" to unregulated legalising of all online betting websites.
William Chen
What's the argument for online gambling to be legalised? So that we can curtail illegal betting? The negative impact is greater, as online gambling now makes gambling easily accessible from the comfort of one's home or even while on the road.
Kum-Fai Chew
Pros: Singapore Pools can get more income and can donate more to charities. Cons: More loan-sharking problems for the police, more bankrupts, more broken families.
The choice is left to the licensing authority.
Ah Soh