The religious, who earlier opposed Singapore’s newest online betting policy, is finally close in attaining nirvana after a dialogue with the government.
While they still have some reservations, members of the National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS) has finally acknowledged that the government’s decision to allow online betting is the best approach to protect its citizens that are drawn to numerous gambling websites.
The NCCS, which represents more than 250 churches, even described the government’s group as a “judgment call.”
“Given the data on the current remote gambling landscape, the Government deems this to be the best approach to mitigate driving remote gambling activities underground and exacerbating law and order concerns,” the group said, according to The Strait Times.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and The Ministry of Social and Family Development had a a “candid and important face-to-face discussion” with the members of NCCS after the latter voiced their concern that illegal online betting will not be eradicated just by making online betting legal.
According to the group, the government took note of their deep concern over the negative social consequences of legalizing the two remote gambling platforms and will be regularly monitoring the overall impact.
The government assured them “is willing to proactively strengthen the family and social environment” to prevent and mitigate the harmful consequences of online gambling.
For the Singaporean government, allowing exempt operators to provide online gambling services under stringent controls is the best approach to limit and contain any adverse social consequences. It cited studies and its assessment of possible scenarios as basis for approving the online betting policy, according to NCCS.
The NCCS, for their part, vowed to explore ways to strengthen the family and Singapore‘s social fabric to mitigate gambling’s harmful effects; to care for problem gamblers within and outside of their congregations; as well as to work with the Roman Catholic Church, other faith communities and the Government on this area.
They will be helping the government to closely monitor the online gambling situation, the group said.
The NCCS said that it will always endeavor to “play its part as a responsible intermediate organization to seek the welfare of our city-state and to work together with the government and other religious and grassroots organizations to promote the common good.”
