What's going on in Malaysia (Berita Sensasi)

Sephiroth

Gaming or Gambling? ONLY Two letters has a huge difference.
The different between Gaming and Gambling is just two letters - namely "B" and "L" missing from the middle of the words but these two words have a significant difference in term of meaning. Gaming means various games which one plays outdoor and indoor (which included video games). Gambling on the other hand is a CRIMINAL ACTIVITY where one makes bets and tries his luck winning a jackpot.

However, lately I have notice that in Malaysia, these term seems to be fuzzied out lately. I wonder if the Government or those Muslims so busybody about Palestine and Rohinyans, had time to actually look at what was happening in their own backyard instead of being "jaga tepi kain orang" (or being busybody elsewhere).

If you were to run a Google search on TOTO and Magnum 4D, you will notice that most of the articles stated that these two falls under the category of GAMBLING. Oh, in case you people are not educated enough to know what is Gambling, maybe this article will refresh your mind :

Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lottery

A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Though lotteries were common in the United States and some other countries during the 19th century, by the beginning of the 20th century, most forms of gambling, including lotteries and sweepstakes, were illegal in the U.S. and most of Europe as well as many other countries. This remained so until well after World War II. In the 1960s casinos and lotteries began to re-appear throughout the world as a means for governments to raise revenue without raising taxes.


But lately, especially in The STARS newspaper, they started to label TOTO and Magnum 4D lottery as "gaming" instead of gambling. Just yesterday, I came across this article from The STARS (dated 18th June 2020) titled "Gaming Tax boost for Government" :

Source : https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/letters/2020/06/18/gaming-tax-boost-for-government

In this article, the writer (a person with no name from Petaling Jaya) claimed that this "gaming business" (referring to the gambling activity) generates RM100 million in tax revenue every week (which enters the government's coffer).

Then I came across this old article (dated 10th August 2018) which draw a clearer picture.

Source : https://cilisos.my/how-the-malaysian-government-used-gambling-to-deal-with-the-nipah-virus-aftermath/

The disease was eventually put under control, but the resultant culling practically ruined a lot of people. The government had to spend an estimated USD97 million dollars (about RM395 million today) to compensate the farmers for the pigs they had killed, and another USD136 million (RM553 million) on the control program.

However, we know that at that time, the government established two funds. One of them was the Humanitarian Fund, to relieve the hardship caused by the loss of family members to the Nipah virus, and the Nipah Trust Fund, to provide financial assistance due to the loss of pigs.

Berjaya Group’s 1999 Annual Report (when the incident happened) mentioned contributing RM4.94 million obtained from four special Toto Draws to what they called the JE Humanitarian Fund, so we’re guessing that’s where it all started. And it hasn’t stopped since.

When the special draws first started in 1999, the government earned RM80.4 million in sin tax (literally, tax for sins like smoking, drinking, gambling, etc). Over the years, special draws continued, and last year it brought in RM238 million, which is close to the yearly average of RM200 million. While initially the money was used to help victims of the Nipah virus, now it is claimed to be used for a number of programs involving sports, health, culture and other stuff that benefits the society and country in general.


I think Liew Chin Tong, former Kluang MP summarized perfectly why Gambling is a bad thing :

“Gambling is a practice that will deplete the disposable income of lower-income families. Hence, the practice is a burden on ordinary Malaysians. It affects the disposable income of the lower-income group disproportionately, and it is bad for the overall economy.” – Liew Chin Tong, then Kluang MP, as reported by FMT.


However, I disagree with the following statement  : Totally banning gambling won’t solve the problem (again, illegal gambling), but the best the government can do is to control it, and promote responsible gambling.


There is no such thing as "responsible gambling". Gambling IS Gambling. Sin is Sin. It is just like alcholol consumption. You can claim that you can hold your liquor but at the end of the day, you can still kill someone due to your drunk driving and you will be alright and walk away freely. It is others who have to pay for your indulgeness.


Same here. Malaysian government (or whatever crap they call it today) have been so lazy and laxed in everything, to the point that people could change gambling to gaming as if gambling had become another social activity like indoor and outdoor activities. This promote the wrong message into the minds of youngsters and general people into pooling their resources and make a certain group of people (namely companies like Da Ma Chai) happy and wealthy.