Daily Lessons from Life 16 September 2010 - Son orders casino restriction order against father

"Son orders casino restriction order against father - Thu, Sep 16, 2010 AsiaOne

67-year-old taxi driver, Mr Zhang gambled so much that on Sep 2, 2010, his son got authorities to issue a casino restriction order against him.

Over the course of 20 years, Mr Zhang bought 4D regularly and won about $500,000 during that period.

One of his largest one-time winnings was in 1998 when he won $300,000 betting on the number 1757, which his son had dreamed would be the first prize."

Another story about a casual gambler becoming addicted and lost a lot of money. His wife supposedly left him to live with their son as she could not faced him anymore! The wife and son also had quarrel with him on numerous times over the last few months. He wanted to commit suicide then!

Lessons for me are:

1. it started as casual visits with him paying S$100 to enter the casinos. After 8 visits, he decided to pay the one-time annual fee of S$2k! It showed that gambling is easily addictive!;

2. the last infamous case was the fishery tycoon who lost S$26m in 3 days when his girlfriend pleaded with the casino not to give him any more credit while his wife is probably unaware or given up on him with his girlfriend! Now this not-so-rich taxi driver's case. It shows that gambling is not only addictive but it is also blind to how poor or how rich you are! If you want to gamble, you are always welcome!;

3. the gambling addicts will insist that he is in control and that it is just a pastime. Just like a person who is drunk that insisted that he is not drunk. When it comes to such a situation, TOUGH LOVE is good love!! Let there be no mistaking. Since the laws allowed the family to apply a restriction order on fellow family members, DO IT. It is the right thing to do!! Unless, the family is prepared to NOT get involved with paying his or her gambling debts!! And also to let the person suffers whatever consequence. That will be more difficult to do than stopping the person from getting the chance to start gambling!!

May the taxi driver recovers from this ordeal and that with the help of his wife and son and the professional gambling counsellors. Amen!