Singapore Discontinues Casino Shuttle Bus Services
When the Government decided to allow casinos as part of the Integrated Resorts, the key objective was to enhance Singapore’s attractiveness as a tourist destination.
We made it clear that the casinos were primarily to attract additional tourists from abroad.
However, we would not exclude locals entirely from the casinos, unlike some other countries. Instead, we imposed advertising restrictions and a comprehensive set of social safeguards.
Our aim was to minimise the impact of the casinos on locals, to protect vulnerable groups like young persons and dependants, and to prevent the casinos from targeting the locals as their principal market.
This was the explicit basis on which the operators bid for the two Integrated Resorts projects and our position remains unchanged.
In the seven months since the casinos opened, there have been more than one million visits by local residents to the two casinos.
These numbers fortunately appear to be stabilising as the novelty wears off, but we are monitoring the trends closely.
My Ministry investigated the bus shuttle services provided by both Marina Bay Sands (Sands) and Resorts World @ Sentosa (RWS).
Marina Bay Sands was offering a paid premium service at 12 pick-up points covering the CBD and Orchard areas. It charged premium fares but these were redeemable at food and beverage outlets, some of which were in the casino.
RWS provided free shuttle bus services at 19 pick-up points, most of which were in the heartlands and the Central Business District (CBD) areas.
They were clearly not part of the public transport network. These buses also operated very long hours, up to 10.30pm on weeknights and up to 2.30am on weekends and the eves of public holidays.
These late hours meant that most of the facilities at the RWS would be closed, except for the casino.
In addition, RWS promoted its Genting Rewards programme at heartland shopping malls and the 7th Month (Hungry Ghost) events. I am very sure that they were not trying to entice hungry ghosts with the free food or cheap food at the casinos. Among other features, this programme allowed patrons to earn points and accumulate benefits, but these points can only be earned in the casino.
RWS also released stories of casino winnings to the media. All these activities contravened the Advertising Regulations and CRA instructed them to stop.
This pattern of casino promotional activities and the expanding network of bus services to the heartlands and central business district led to the CRA’s decision to order an immediate stop to the bus services offered by both IRs.
Both IRs will now only be allowed to provide transport for passengers from specific tourist-linked destinations which are listed in the Casino Control (Advertising) Regulations and only with prior approval from the CRA.
Mr Speaker, our action conveys a clear signal to both IR operators to confine promotional efforts for the casinos to tourists only. We will not allow any promotions aimed at Singaporeans, especially in our heartlands.
The IR operators have been reminded that they must comply strictly to our rules against casino advertising to locals.
These rules will be tightened as necessary in the light of experience.
To ask the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports:
(a) whether the convenient daily free shuttle bus services running at hourly basis from various HDB towns to Resort World Sentosa have attracted more Singaporeans to gamble at the casino at a higher frequency; and
(b) whether it has resulted in an increase in problem gambling cases in the neighbourhoods.
Topics: 2010, Bayfront Avenue, economic development, economic growth, Economy, employment, gambling, Genting Rewards programme, Governance, government, HDB Towns, Holland-Bukit Timah, integrated resorts, jobs, Land Transit Authority, Land Transport Authority, Liang Eng Hwa, locals, LTA, Marina Bay, Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort, moniter, monitor, news, PM Lee Hsien Loong, public transport, Resort World Sentosa, Resorts World, RWS, Sentosa, shuttle bus services, Singapore, society, tourism, transportation, vehicles, waterfront
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