We were at this "Kopi Thiam" at the 3rd mile in Old Klang Road, a predominantly Chinese populated district in Kuala Lumpur where one would guess you'd find the type of people who would gamble on anything including football, and of course the World Cup.
At the next table there was this group of Chinese, 3 ladies and 4 men and they were in a serious conversation, there was a lot of anger and excitement in the tone, then they would look around, see us and tone down. My friend Kevin Lai, was eavesdropping and he would smile every now and then till at last he burst into laughter.
That made all those in the next table stop their conversation and look at him for a while and then one of them a lady, noticing that the rest of us weren't Chinese, said "oh! kita cakap itu main judi punya hal, football!!" judi then they all laughed.
I turned to that lady and asked how does one bet on football matches, and she replied, "jangan!!~ jangan!! ini judi, ini ada hantu, you akan mati kalau you main judi ini macam. Ya betul habis "World Cup" you bankrupt!!!" betul dulu saya punya abang pun jadi bankrupt sekarang dia tada wang suda lari, Ah long cari dia"
I smiled, and nodded.
Kevin later told us the whole conversation dealt with the football gambling license the government is to issue to a gambling company in Malaysia and that all of them at the table were against it, I was surprised, these were 7 Chinese Malaysians, all Chinese speaking, and in Old Klang Road of all places, things are changing, I mean attitudes and values most of all, I thought.
Gambling is a social illness, and if Vincent Tan thinks that Malays do not gamble, I'll take him to one of his very own Toto outlets and show him the countless Malays who join the queue there to bet on Wednesdays, weekends and during his special draws, my motor car mechanic has a shop just next door to it, so its not only that Malays and Muslims do not gamble, and that Chinese are the only gamblers in town. The outlet does nothing to stop them from buying, its only a notice in one corner of he shop that says that Muslims are forbidden to place bets there.
Many a Chinese realizes that gambling is a disease, it robs them of their hard earned wealth, and it enriches the corrupt. This very Government collects the dues from the so called, "Special draws." Many especially from the poorer strata of the society have had experiences within the family.
If the problem is illegal gambling, then the government must take measures to stamp this out. As it stands currently there are too many licensed gambling outlets in Malaysia, with too many days of gambling. People tend to gamble more then they can afford and get into all kinds of problems.
In the last two years I had to sack a few employees who began staling company money to repay gambling debts, and in all cases it was tied to a certain licensed gambling companies in the season when the jackpot gets attractively high, or to the other that offers some kind of membership to visit the place and gamble.
Now the Jackpots gets higher there is more then just one game that purportedly pays in the millions, and these poor souls who get hooked go from one outlet to the other to place their bets.
In Magnum there is the Jackpot which can go as high as even 30 million, to win the jackpot you have to predict two of the first three prizes correctly, the odds are huge and in simple mathematical terms impossible, but there a systems to be played and that will pinch the extra ringgit off you.
In Toto, the original 6 of 49 has been replaced, with three games offering bigger returns, and the lottery from Pan Malaysian pools has a jackpot that runs into double digits as well in the millions.
All these outlets are within walking distance from each other, take time off on a Saturday and stand by these outlets and you'll get to see the punters move from one outlet to the other for their 4digit bets,their big jackpot bets and what have you? Genting and all the slot machines in clubs which is now fast becoming the monopoly of just one individual.
The Government should stop giving us the lame excuse that it is to stem out illegal gambling, the government should be determined to stamp out gambling and it should begin with stamping out illegal gambling, there is already enough legal gambling for the government to now look at an excuse to give Vincent Tan or for that matter anyone else another gambling license. It seems so easy for this government to walk away from a responsibility and choosing another evil to replace an existing one, the two wrongs make one right principal, the kind of BN solutions.
These licenses are wretched fronts to fulfill other items on a greater agenda to enslave the people, it has to stop, and it is not only from the Muslim that this call comes from it comes from all sectors of our Malaysian society with the exception of UMNO and its lackeys.
The surprising factor is that UMNO that claims to champion Islamic causes seems to be silent about this issue altogether with their partners in the Barisan. Aren't UMNO members all Muslims, and how come a greater virtue of others calling God Allah, became an issue to threaten and confuse Muslims whilst this gambling issue is left to continue?
So is there a BN agenda behind this license??? And is the illegal gambling only an excuse to pull wool over the eyes of the rakyat?
That lady at the "Kopi Thiam" in 3rd mile and her 6 friends are one of the many responsible Malaysians who can see through the evil of gambling, they may not be able to see the scheme behind this if indeed there is one, but i think it will anger them sufficiently to keep the DAP there.
Toffeesturn
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