The Best Bet

Casino. For the coming days that will be the dominant word that hums around, ubiquitous. Casino Casino Casino. Or perhaps not. The government has elected to use a less direct term- the Integrated Resort, or IR for short. (Singaporeans love acronyms and the unabashed, excessive usage stems clearly from the top.) So it will be IR, IR, IR...

Even before the roulette wheel has even begun to spin, the biggest bets have been laid. Will the IR be a success? When the government was holding its discussion sessions, little did we know that the issue they were pondering over was not whether there should be an IR, but how many. The answer, is 2. There will be one at Marina Bayfront (that large piece of reclaimed land you see from Benjamin Sheares Bridge everytime) which is presumably bigger, and catering to the visiting businessman from abroad with plenty to cash to burn; and another at Sentosa, slightly smaller in scale and catering more to the family. Small, however, is but relative. The investments going into the Sentosa IR are estimated at S$3 billion and the Bayfront development at S$5b.

Now the more pertinent details for the more kaypoh heartlander. The specific land area devoting to gaming will be small- capped at 3%. This means the IRs will mainly consist of the normal platter of shops, restaurants, theme parks, galleries, hotels- gaming is simply a component of the IR and not exactly a significant one. The casino segments will be isolated from the rest of the IR and no garish signage will be permitted, in order to give the casinos a more austere air. In fact, the IRs will resemble more 'a larger version of the SAFRA clubhouse or NTUC Downtown East rather than the sleazy bright lights, big city feel of Las Vegas and the lawless triad-ruled atmosphere of Macau'. To discourage casual local gamblers, the entrance fee per day will be priced at a supposedly forbidding $100. A year long entrance fee is set at $2000. Is this enough? A further safeguard is that people who are already reliant on financial assistance schemes will not be allowed to enter the casinos.

I was very encouraged by the way the PM described the IR developments. It seems like the IRs will indeed be very interesting places to visit. Their magnitude alone is admirable. We are talking about unprecedented scales here. Shops larger than Ngee Ann City. More exhibition space than Suntec. More hotels than in the Marina Square Area. My other concern, beside the evident anticipated spurt in gambling, is whether we can find a market for the new hotels, malls, theme parks and restaurants, beside the casino of course. If we get it right, Singapore would really be remade- tourism increases, the IRs complement well with the redeveloped Orchard Road, the upcoming Kallang Sports Hub and the Esplanade to turn Singapore into a world-class vibrant city (at least, infrastructure-wise), more more jobs are made, etc. It would be tragic, though, if tourists and locals tired of the IRs after a short while and the two IRs turned into white elephants. Expect a huge number of curious Singaporeans and tourists to visit for the novelty when the IRs open after 4 to 5 years. Expect a windfall as the takings flow in. But once initial curiosities are satisfied, what next? Now that the decision has been made, Singaporeans must realise the issue has turned to first, how we minimise the side-effects of gaming; and second, how we make sure the IRs are as economically viable as possible and have the staying power to continously attract visitors over the long term.