Malaysia: Vincent Tan stirs the anti-gambling hornets’ nest

Late last month Malaysian billionaire Vincent Tan was told that the sports betting license he thought the government had issued to him, hadn’t in fact been issued.  He contended that his company Ascot Sports had been given conditional approval to open betting shops throughout Malaysia.

But in the face of considerable opposition from political elements representing Malaysia’s 2/3 majority Muslim population the government hastily withdrew the license.  In fact, they denied it was ever issued in the first place – but that’s another story altogether (that you can read here if interested).

The anti-gambling lobby wakes up..and they’re angry

But a developing sub-plot to the above fiasco is that Tan’s push to introduce sports betting in Malaysia has stirred up an anti-gambling hornets’ nest that is now pushing for more widespread gambling bans.

According to an AFP report, Malay Muslims, perhaps emboldened by Ascot’s failure to secure the license, last Saturday marched in demonstration at the capital’s national mosque chanting slogans like, “we hate gambling” and “gambling is for the weak.”  They now want all other forms of gambling in Malaysia banned.

“We want to eliminate gambling on ships at sea, from the kampungs and all the way to the peak of Genting Highlands,” said a PAS youth chief.

Funny thing is, for all intent and purposes, they are (banned, that is).

But hang on, isn’t there an existing prohibition for Malaysian Muslims?

Legal gambling in Malaysia consists of the national lottery, limited horse wagering, and the country’s single casino in the remote Genting Highlands…none of which are available to Malay Muslims. Law decrees that only non-Muslims are allowed to have a bet on the limited gambling options that exist.

I’m confused..again

I may have missed something here, but it seems to me that the Malay anti-gambling lobby are pushing for a ban on services that they are already banned from.  Where is the sense in this?

Of course the libertarians out there would question why they feel the need to legally prohibit themselves in the first place.  Couldn’t they simply act in the manner that their religion dictates and choose not to gamble?

As for a ban that includes non-Muslims, why should they concern themselves with what people subscribing to a different religion and a different set of cultural values want to do in their spare time?

All questions far too difficult for this little black duck to wrap his noodle around I’m afraid so I’ll just end the post right there!

LD