1. Social problem: Is gambling becoming a serious problem in Singapore?
Priscilla (05)
Jacintha (08)
Nataline (10)
Li Xian (11)
Si Jia (19)
Zhao Cheng (3?)

2. YES!

3. What is a social problem?
A social problem is a condition that at least some people in a community view as being undesirable.

4. Why is gambling a social problem in Singapore?
In Singapore, the number of gamblers is on the rise and an increased number of people have shown addiction to gambling.
Many Singaporeans have shown
their unhappiness towards the
opening of the new casinos.

5. What causes gamblers to be addicted?
The satisfaction that they get after winning something
The habit that forms as they gamble after a prolonged amount of time.
The need for money, desperation for a quick source of money.
Love the thrill of gambling

6. Problems that gambling may cause
Unnecessary stress
Have impact on families
Continued harassment from loan sharks (If gamblers borrow from them)

8. Unnecessary stress
The gambler may be heavy in debt (because of borrowing money from loan sharks to gamble) and will need to work harder to earn the money to return the loan sharks. Also, their families have to work extra hard too.
(example : a father had to delay his retirement and would still have to work till 67 years old just to help clear his son’s debts of about $42,000. )

9. Impact of families (Monetarily)
The gambler may always quarrel with their partner because of financial issues i.e. not having enough money for daily needs as the gambler would have used up a lot of money.
When family members learn that savings, property or belongings have been lost, it can make them feel scared, angry and betrayed.

10. Impact of families (Emotional problems and isolation)
 Gambling problems cause strong feelings among family members, which make it harder to solve problems.
Many partners of those with gambling problems do not want to be emotionally or physically close with the person who has hurt them.
Family members may avoid other people, because they feel ashamed.
This makes it hard to get love and support.

11. Impact of families (Physical and mental health)
 The stress of gambling problems sometimes causes health problems, for both the person who gambles and the family. This can include anxiety, depression and stress-related problems such as poor sleep, ulcers, bowel problems, headaches and muscle pains.

12. Impact of families (burnout)
Many families under stress have trouble coping. One member may try to keep things in control by taking on more tasks. This can lead to burnout. Family members often forget to take care of themselves or to have fun.

13. Impact of families (Impact on children)
When a parent or caregiver has a gambling problem, children can feel forgotten, depressed and angry. They may believe they caused the problem and that if they are good, the problem will stop.
Children may believe they must take sides between their parents. They may stop trusting a parent who makes promises he or she doesn't keep.
Some children may try to draw attention away from the parent with the gambling problem by misbehaving.

14. Impact of families (Physical and emotional abuse)
 Family violence is more common when families are in crisis. Gambling problems can lead to physical or emotional abuse of a partner, elder parent or child.

15. Continued harassment from loan sharks
Loan sharks may come after the gambler and he will most likely not lead a peaceful life as he will be continuously harassed by loan sharks.
Might put himself and his family at risk of being hurt and threatened by loan sharks if they do not repay the debt soon enough

16. evidence On 14th December 2012,
Loan sharks had splashed red paint on a car at a carpark in Choa Chu Kang and left a 'O$P$' note on it. 
The note revealed the victim's name, Identity Card number and phone number.

17. What are some ways the government can/ already doing to alleviate the problem?
It is not really possible to resolve the problem fully
However, The government is putting in effort to carry out some measures to control the gambling issue, such as:
Implementing a levy fee to enter the casino
Casino Exclusions
Raise awareness on the harmful effects of gambling
Setting up a problem gambling hotline.

18. Implementing a levy fee

19. Implementing a levy fee (+ve)
For Singapore’s casino, there is an Entry Levy of S$100 for every consecutive period of 24 hours for entry by Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents.
To deter people from entering the casino to start gambling
Government should raise levy as a raised Levy will deter gamblers even further.

20. Implementing a levy fee(-ve)
However, the casino’s entry levy law has its flaws.
Since there is a levy, people who enter the casino are more likely to spend more time there in order to get his or her full worth out of the levy
This will therefore may not help in alleviating the gambling problem

21. Casino Exclusions

22. CASINO EXCLUSIONS (-VE)
However, the Singapore casino is not the only place where people gamble.
People can also go to other places like the betting booth where people bet on football, horse racing etc. and even illegal gambling dens.
In fact, people can gamble online or
go to a friend’s place to gamble.
So imposing levies and casino
exclusions may not solve this problem.

23. STATISTICS Total number of exclusions: 148,141
• Family exclusion orders issued: 1,399*
• Self exclusion: 103,223 active self-exclusions, - Singaporeans and PRs: 10,479 (10.2%) - Foreigners: 92,744 (89.8%)
• Third-party exclusions: 43,519

24. Raise awareness on negative effects of gambling

25. Raise awareness of harmful effects (For teenagers)
The government can also raise awareness by setting up campaigns and instill the right mindset and values to the teens.
The government can send volunteers, and even ex- gamblers to conduct talks in
secondary schools and tertiary
institutions such as junior
colleges, polytechnics and
institute of technical education.

26. Raise awareness
Evidence: “School outreach also continued in In collaboration with TPFSC and NAMS, the NCPG conducted talks and an exhibition at Ngee Ann Polytechnic over a period of three days from July. Titled “Don’t GAMBLE your Life Away”, the event was part of Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s Care and Wellness Education programme. The talks and exhibition aimed to educate students about youth problem gambling, as well as provide advice on where to seek help and what youth can do to help themselves and their peers.”

27. Problem Gambling Hotline

28. Problem gambling hotline (Examples)
NAMS (National Addiction Management Service) runs the National Problem Gambling Helpline and a General Addictions Helpline to provide support, offer information and advice to callers
Counsellors will listen attentively and provide advice, information and emotional support.

29. Evidence
Gambling Helpline was slightly down for the 2006 year - from 2,872 new clients in 2005 to 2,651 new clients in 2006.
(+ve) MAY be because less people are becoming addicted to gambling
(-ve) MAY be because gambling addicts are not using the hotline
During the 2006 year, Gambling Helpline had a total of 15,854 contacts (phone calls and s) with problem gamblers equating to 305 contacts on average per week. This compared with 18,336 contacts for the 2005 year.

30. EVIDENCE from samaritians of singapore (SOS)
Of the 27,596 crisis calls, 2,370 or 8.6% were related to difficulties in paying off debts.
This is of concern as there is a sharp increase in the number of calls specially featuring loan sharks issues and gambling problems.
352 calls were regarding difficulties involving loan sharks (up by 61.5% from 2009)
196 calls were about gambling problems (up by 48.5% from 2009)

31. REBUTTAL:
However, some may argue that gambling is not a social problem as long as they control the amount of money that they spend on gambling.
Others may argue and claim that they gamble only to relieve stress or as a source of entertainment once in a while, and will not gamble their money away.
A 2008 study conducted at Wayne State University examining the motivations among older adults for participating in casino gambling reveals that they gamble for both extrinsic and intrinsic reasons.
Extrinsic reasons include winning money and supplementing income
Intrinsic reasons include entertainment, being around other people, distraction from everyday problems such as loneliness and boredom, and escaping feelings of grief and loss associated with the death of a loved one or close friend.

32. rebuttal
Many people also claim that when gambling in a structured manner, it can be an extremely cheap way of staying entertained.
Those that gamble in a responsible fashion will get plenty of entertainment from it. In fact, gambling can be one of the cheapest forms of entertainment and can even earn players a profit if they are lucky.
They also claim that they do not bet more than what they are willing or can afford to lose, and they are aware of how much they are likely to lose in any given session.

33. REBUTTALS :
Levy fee not a good deterrence , since most gamblers are willing to pay for their addiction
- that’s why there is such a thing called ‘casino exclusion’ , plus all solutions has flaws
The rich may embezzle money from their companies , result in the workers and family members facing even more problems .
- That is why we think it is a social problem .
Gamblers do not have self control , and they might not seek help .
- Their family members may apply for casino exclusion for the gambling addict .

34. Our opinions:
However, the problem is the majority of people do not control the amount of money that they spend on gambling and they end up costing lots more money than they expected.
Gambling might not always go the way they planned, and they could lose more than they thought in the first place.
In order to earn back the extra money they have lost, gamblers put in more money and continue gambling in the hopes of winning some profit in the next few games, and they end up spending and wasting more and more money

35. Conclusion
Our stand is that yes, gambling is a social problem in Singapore as:
1. The number of gamblers is on the rise and an increased number of people have shown addiction to gambling.
2. Not all initiatives and actions that are carried out by the government can fully resolve the problem of gambling in Singapore and the problem will still be prevalent.
3. The negative impacts of gambling such as the social and emotional problems caused by gambling heavily outweigh the entertainment and pleasure that people face in that short period of time while gambling.
4. Most gamblers are unable to control the amount of money that they spend on gambling and they are unable to exercise self-discipline to prevent themselves from spending extra money after they have finished spending the amount that they have set aside.

36. THANK YOU!