Sunday, March 18, 2007

Gambling is not an addiction that is usually associated with young people.
But it is a social problem, according to the National Council on Problem
Gambling, especially if left unchecked. That is why it has produced a short
film, hoping to address the issue before it is too late. The main character
in the 15-minute film "'RISK" develops an addiction to soccer betting. The
movie is produced by the National Council on Problem Gambling, in
collaboration with the South East Community Development Council. It examines
the psychology and attitudes of young gamblers. Ian Tan, Executive Producer,
Risk", said, "This film is actually a youth-to-youth production where we are
trying to convey a message of problem gambling among youths. We hope that
this film will actually entertain but yet educate youths on the issues of
problem gambling, especially in terms of soccer betting." Matthias Yao,
South East CDC, said, "I do think that it is a growing problem; gambling is
much more accessible now to the young people, especially gambling that is
now available on the internet, so young people can access gambling in the
privacy of their own rooms. Among the young people that we speak to, they
know that many of their friends and classmates are engaged in gambling. If
we don't do anything about it early enough, I think it may be a growing
problem." A survey conducted by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth
and Sports has shown that nearly half of gamblers in Singapore started when
they were between 18 and 24, an age group when they are more susceptible to
social influences. Debra Soon, Chairperson Youth Sub-Committee, National
Council on Problem Gambling, said, "From the focus groups, we know that
there are certain attitudes towards soccer gambling; they almost see it as
something they can predict, and that gambling is a problem for adults and
not for young people. And so some of these myths associated with gambling we
needed to correct, which is why the movie brought out some of those
messages."