SINGAPORE When Lee Chin Koon was a member in the 1930s, the Chinese Swimming Club here offered more than just laps in the pool. There was mah- jongg and blackjack, too.
"We Chinese are gamblers," he told club historians before his death in 1997. "If two lizards scale up a wall, someone would bet on them!"
Lee's son, Kuan Yew, later recalled how after a losing night, his father would come home in a violent rage demanding his wife give him jewelry to pawn. So when Lee Kuan Yew became the first prime minister of independent Singapore in 1959, he hammered on the vice, transforming this once-squalid seaport into a tidy industrial park.
Cigarettes and alcohol are heavily taxed. Drugs traffickers are hanged. Casinos, naturally, were banned.
But Lee Kuan Yew's son, Lee Hsien Loong, is now prime minister. He is striving to shake Singapore's reputation as Asia's nanny state for one that is more tolerant and fun-loving. And one of his signature projects harks back more to his grandfather's Chinese Swimming Club than his father's profit-perfect industrial landscape: the world's most expensive casino complex.
Last year, the government lifted its ban against casinos. Next month it is due to choose from a list that includes some of the biggest names in Las Vegas - Harrah's, Las Vegas Sands and MGM Mirage - to build the first of two planned gambling resorts, a $3 billion extravaganza that will include a casino, entertainment, convention center and hotels.
"What we're really after is to create a compelling, critical mass of attractions and services," said Vivian Balakrishnan, a former eye surgeon who as minister for community development, youth and sports oversees the effort to enliven Singapore.
Singapore's bet is that in return for letting casino operators in, it can lure a world-class tourist attraction that will not only anchor an ambitious new property development but help give Singapore what Prime Minister Lee refers to as the "X-factor" that makes London, Paris and New York such urban magnets.
In many ways, the casino project is a test of Singapore's ability to transform itself once again. It is also a chance for the casino executives to prove their mettle in a new dimension. The question among many casino executives and analysts, however, is whether Singapore has attached so many strings that the projects won't be profitable.
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2 comments:
Singapore's bet is that in return for letting casino operators in, it can lure a world-class tourist attraction that will not only anchor an ambitious new property development but help give Singapore what Prime Minister Lee refers to as the "X-factor" that makes London, Paris and New York such urban magnets."
It would be naive to think a casino would turn them into an "urban magnet" overnight. London, Paris and New York all have a certain air of cultural vibrancy, history and unique identity. When one thinks of icons such as the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower or Big Ben, they are not only asscoiated by name, but encompass history, values, and a sense of national identity. They are unique. I believe this to be the "X-factor" if anything.
On the other hand, what's really unattractive from a citizen's point of view is a country willing to essentially 'whore' herself to foreigners. I have no doubt the casino is simply a facade for being more "tolerant and fun-loving". Simply because it is not meant for Singaporeans at all. Of course, it's way more comfortable to think about it once you accept that you live in Singapore Inc. and not Singapura. Then you can take some comfort in knowing it is simply another profitable marketing scheme and your place as an employee is... to shut up.
bread and circus, the very old formula
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