A plea: Don't let gambling in

By Bernie Leo  |   2008-7-8  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

MY home country of Australia and China have ties that go way back.

The first big influx of Chinese to the land down under happened in the mid-1800s when major gold deposits were found in the states of New South Wales and Victoria where many of them stayed after the gold rush became a trickle.

In Australia, very early in proceedings, the Chinese and the locals found they had one major thing in common - a passionate love of gambling.

While it is foolish to make a sweeping generalization about an entire race, an extremely high percentage of Australians and Chinese are gambling addicts.

I have seen the despair, the shame, the breakdown of the family unit, the crime and the murders that result from this terrible addiction both in Australia and Hong Kong.

I worked in Hong Kong for several years in the early-1970s. A lot of young family men's bodies were found floating in the harbor.

Their crime? They had got in so deep with illegal bookmakers that they could never possibly pay. Many of these men who were so hopelessly addicted to gambling left behind widows and children grief-stricken.

Similar things are happening in Australia right now, although the gambling is both legal and encouraged.

To gauge the social devastation caused by gambling, here is a simple statistic: The area of Liverpool in Sydney has a large proportion of its population either on the minimum wage, or on welfare; it also has the highest per capita outlay on slot machines for the city.

There is no way it is going to stop because the country's governments have a tax on gambling. A sure winner.

Recently I have read with some alarm that legalized gambling may be on the cards in the Chinese mainland next year in the form of betting on horse racing.