Bosses send foreign workers to gamble

[touzi]

Collecting tax revenues from casino is another set of perverse incentives for our civil servants. The government becomes richer as more Singaporeans visit the casinos and risk becoming problem gamblers. The government should avoid putting themselves in a position that benefit by putting citizens' in harm's way. It is a conflict of interest.

Come'on, gahmen is not promoting gambling or encouraging Singaporeans to gamble! How does the gahmen benefit from casino revenue? Even under the current pay scheme, ministers' pay does not depend on casino tax. It is pegged to the top income earners. It is Singaporean workers and Singapore-based businesses ( and obviously many foreigner workers as well ) that benefit from the casino. No doubt the benefit comes at the expense of those who cannot control their desire to gamble, but why should the nation be held back because of these people?

If anybody or any religion is against gambling, then they should persuade their friends, families and fellow believers not to visit the casino. Just like the Muslims ( in Singapore ) when it comes to alcohol. Singapore Muslims don't attack gahmen for "benefiting" from alcohol tax !

[Qiaofeng]

He and his fellow sub-contractors avoid suspicion by getting their workers covered with medical certificates for the days spent at the casino.

'If the manpower officials question me, I will just say my worker is ill and sneaked off to gamble - what can they say?'

Puzzle
Don't really get it. If they took so much trouble, getting M/Cs etc to cover themselves, why blare all this to the ST reporter to splash all over the newspaper?

Mind U , not just the foreign workers, but the local employers confessing all over ST. Aren't they afraid the "lobang" will be discovered?

Aren't they aware that the same Manpower Officials they mention in the ST report, may be reading the ST?

[hyom]

Come'on, gahmen is not promoting gambling or encouraging Singaporeans to gamble! How does the gahmen benefit from casino revenue? Even under the current pay scheme, ministers' pay does not depend on casino tax. It is pegged to the top income earners. It is Singaporean workers and Singapore-based businesses ( and obviously many foreigner workers as well ) that benefit from the casino. No doubt the benefit comes at the expense of those who cannot control their desire to gamble, but why should the nation be held back because of these people?

If anybody or any religion is against gambling, then they should persuade their friends, families and fellow believers not to visit the casino. Just like the Muslims ( in Singapore ) when it comes to alcohol. Singapore Muslims don't attack gahmen for "benefiting" from alcohol tax !

Of course the government is not promoting gambling or encouraging Singaporeans to gamble! We all know that.

Ok lah, one should avoid sounding like a religious fundamentalist on moralistic topics like gambling. The government collects more tax revenue as more Singaporeans visit the casinos. This is an area in which interests are not aligned, right? All governments, including our own, should avoid putting themselves into positions where interests with the citizens are not aligned. As a citizen, this is a reasonable demand to ask of.

[pianist]

seeing such stories..i can bet there is a lot of syndication/kick-backs happening in the employment front..let me pose a simple scenario example:
a foreigner pays a lump sum to employment agency upfront for a 'work-permit job' with the aim of getting a PR..with that 'so-called job' with an 'employer', agency places a portion of that amount with the employer on a kickback arrangement
there is an undisclosed unwritten agreement that this foreign worker is required to gamble at the casino - winnings shared proportionately between his employer and himself, losses will be deducted from that placement amount. over time, this arrangement allows foreigner with ample cash to come obtain a PR, and employers share his earnings from gambliing with an 'imaginary job' no adding real value to our economy.