Additional Measures to Curb Gambling Addiction Given Spike in Amounts Spent on Lotteries and Sports Betting

3 Mr Seah Kian Peng asked the Minister for Social and Family Development given the significant increase in the amount of bets placed on lotteries and sports betting in the financial year ending March 2022 (a) whether, and if so, what concerns does the Ministry have; and (b) whether the Ministry assesses there to be a need for additional measures to be introduced, such as to curb gambling addiction or to highlight responsible gambling.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social and Family Development (Mr Eric Chua) (for the Minister for Social and Family Development): Mr Speaker, the increase in Singapore Pools lotteries and sports betting turnover between Financial Year 2020/2021 and Financial Year 2021/2022 can be attributed to a few factors. Financial Year 2020/2021 saw lower turnover due to COVID-19 safe management measures and there was likely to be pent-up demand that surfaced in Financial Year 2021/2022 after COVID-19 restrictions were relaxed. Football tournaments globally also resumed in 2021, which led to increased sports betting.

MSF focuses on tackling problem gambling, as the negative impact goes beyond the individual gamblers and also affects the gamblers' families and loved ones. MSF, together with the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) and MHA, regularly review and strengthen our social safeguards, and mandate gambling operators to implement responsible gambling measures.

For example, the Gambling Control Act enacted in March 2022 extended the exclusion regime administered by the National Council on Problem Gambling beyond the casinos, to gaming machine rooms and Singapore Pools’ online gambling platform. Should an individual bet online excessively with Singapore Pools, family members can apply for a Family Exclusion Order to suspend the individual’s online betting account.

In addition, financially vulnerable individuals such as those on Government social assistance and subsidy schemes, legal aid and tenants and occupiers of the HDB Public Rental Scheme, are automatically excluded by law from betting online with Singapore Pools, as well as from the casinos and gaming machine rooms.

From November 2022, private clubs operating gaming machine rooms are also required to educate patrons about responsible gambling, problem gambling and help services and assist patrons who display signs of problem gambling.

MSF will continue to work closely with GRA and MHA to monitor the situation, and review the need to introduce further measures to minimise the risks of problem gambling.

At the end of the day, individuals should exercise personal responsibility and avoid betting beyond their means. Help is available via the NCPG Helpline or Webchat. We also encourage family and friends to look out for their loved ones and advise them not to bet excessively.

Mr Speaker: Mr Seah.

Mr Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade): I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the answer. I just have a few supplementary questions. First, for the avoidance of doubt, I certainly support all the measures that we have introduced over the years.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary mentioned that the attribution for the increase this year is due to pent-up demand because the previous year, we had COVID-19. Therefore, by that, do we expect that in the coming year, this will normalise and it must necessarily see a reduction. My first supplementary question will be, what are the indicators we will look for before we feel that this is something that we need to introduce more measures for or find other measures?

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary also mentioned that we will look at Singapore Pools' online betting to see what the trends are. But that is just one avenue. We know that there is a lot of betting which takes place not through Singapore Pools. So, my second question is, how do we monitor such trends? It is certainly not easy.

Finally, I have said this before, in measures such as these, I would prefer that we err on the side of caution and therefore, it is better to impose more than less measures.

Mr Eric Chua: Mr Speaker, I thank the Member for his supplementary questions. On the first question about what indicators do we look at, we must first understand that the numbers we are looking at in terms of what has been reported for FY2021/2022, is contrasted against a very low base in the previous FY. That previous FY, as I have explained, we have implemented quite number of measures, not just in Singapore. But in Singapore alone, we have had our circuit breaker from April to June 2020 and also a whole slew of other postponements in terms of sporting activities. For instance, the Tokyo Olympics, for which is one of the favourites for sports betting, Copa America as well as the UEFA European Football Championship. These are some of the examples that really accounted for the low base in FY2020/2021.

Having established this, what are the indicators that we look at? We can safely and quite surely rely on a few factors. For instance, we look at gambling participation rates over the years. Over the past 10 years, gambling participation has remained quite stable at about 50%. I think it has been stable throughout the past 10 years. The key, as I mentioned in my main reply earlier, is whether there is a problem of a rise in the incidence of pathological and problem gambling. I am happy to share over the Member that over the past few years, there has not been any marked increase in the overall probable pathological and problem gambling rates. That has constantly remained at 1%.

I do agree with the Member that on social issues such as these, we do want to err on the side of caution – which is why we have implemented quite a number of exclusions. I will not repeat what I have already mentioned in my main reply. I think it is also a matter of perspective – to some, it will be very onerous to be able to place a bet today. But I think for us as policy-makers, we want to strike a good balance, and I think we have done just that with our existing regime.