新加坡居民赌博受罚

　　多年来，新加坡对她的公民来说就像是一个保姆，所以在新加坡，赌博也令人难以接受的。但新加坡政府此前计划建立两个世界最大的赌场。赌场的建设为新加坡政府增加了数百万美元的财政收入。

　　新加坡已经成为罪恶之城，并在世界排名第二的赌博目的地（澳门）之后，明年将超过拉斯维加斯。不过，新加坡政府仍试图淡化赌博对本地公民的吸引力。

　　该消息是这样的：“我们需要引进赌博，以确保在经济竞争保持中领先地位，允许在我们的边界内的赌场经营建设能保持国民经济良好的增长。但是不鼓励甚至不允许新加坡公民参与这个行业的娱乐。”

　　新加坡拥有两个一流的赌场，但如果新加坡公民和永久居民想在24小时内访问这两个赌场之一，将被处以80美元的罚款。此外，如果家庭成员认为有人出现赌博问题的迹象，他们可向赌场要求将他们列入黑名单。新加坡当局不允许赌场在本地宣传其服务，赌场也被责令停止从市中心到赌场地点提供免费班车服务。

　　译文：

　　For many years, Singapore was a nanny-state to her citizens, advancing far in terms of finance and economics only by keeping Singaporeans so in line that even gum chewing was a crime.  Gambling was also frowned upon, and so the government had quite a hard time justifying things when it planned to build two of the biggest casinos in the world right in this formerly straight laced country.  However, the government managed to sell gambling to the Singaporeans by telling them that if they didn’t get in on the race, other Far East powers would, and the country – which isn’t particularly blessed with natural resources – would lose out in the millions of dollars of gambling revenues that could be generated by the building of these casinos.

　　However, although Singapore has now become the Sin City, and will overtake Las Vegas as the number two gambling destination in the world （after Macau） next year, the government of Singapore is still trying to downplay the vibe and attraction of gambling to its own citizens.  The message goes something like this: “We needed to introduce gambling in order to remain ahead of the competition. Allowing casinos within our borders is good for the national economy. But, you, citizens of Singapore aren’t really supposed to be part of the entertainment factor of this industry, so we’re going to make it as unattractive for you as possible to join in the fun.”

　　And so, the authorities make it as difficult as possible for its own citizens to play in the two superb casinos, one owned by the Resorts World Rentosa and the other by the Vegas Sands Corp.  For one, Singapore citizens and permanent residents are slapped with an $80 charge if they want to visit one of the two casino resorts within a 24 hour period.  In addition, if family members believe that someone is showing signs of problem gambling, they can approach the casinos and ask to have them blacklisted.   Casinos are not allowed to advertise their services locally, and they have also been ordered to halt the running of free shuttle services from the city center to the casino locations in order to avoid temptation.