Daily Lessons from Life 13 August 2013 - All public officers must soon declare visits to casinos here

"All public officers must soon declare visits to casinos here - The Straits Times Aug 13, 2013 SINGAPORE - All public officers who visit Singapore's two casinos frequently or who buy annual entry passes will soon be required to declare their actions, in a move by the civil service to maintain its integrity and public confidence. The impending change was disclosed by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean in Parliament on Monday, as he sought to assure MPs that standards of integrity in the public sector have not been allowed to fall. "This is why we are prosecuting the cases vigorously," he said, referring to several recent high- profile criminal cases involving public servants. Four MPs had raised the issue, with two PAP MPs asking how the Government intended to address public concerns, particularly in the light of the latest case involving a senior anti-graft officer. An assistant director with the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), Edwin Yeo, was charged last month with misappropriating $1.7 million from 2008 to last year, apparently to fund his gambling habit at the Marina Bay Sands casino. But in the move to tighten the rules, the Public Service Division will "strike a balance between strengthening safeguards and imposing too many checks and rules on the system and public officers", said DPM Teo, who is the minister-in-charge of the civil service. He did not say when the new rules will take effect. Currently, officers whose work involves the casinos are barred from visiting them other than on official duties. They include officers of the Casino Regulatory Authority and police officers working on casino-related matters. In addition, officers who do general law enforcement work have to declare their casino visits within seven days. Those who must do this include officers with the police, the Central Narcotics Bureau and CPIB. Mr Teo stressed that the Government continued to emphasis integrity very strongly. There are systems in place to ensure integrity is maintained - from the security vetting of law enforcement officers to the multiple avenues for whistle-blowing - and these systems are reviewed regularly, he said. But he added: "There will still be people who try to circumvent (the tight processes and systems). They may succeed for some time, but sooner or later, they will be caught. This is because Singaporeans, including our own public officers, reject corruption."" This is the appropriate action to take given that non-gambler CAN get sucked in and become an addictive gambler in no time. Lessons for me are: 1. given that the Assistant Director of CPIB was charged for fraud in part due to his gambling stints at MBS, I am not sure HOW declaring the number of times he has, assuming he HAD reported, visited MBS will help flag his fraudulent action out; 2. it is interesting to note that casinos in the integrated resorts meant to generate GDP and jobs for Singaporeans ended up in the front page causing the falls of the CPIB officer,and maybe some other public servants of note. This is truly unintended collateral damages given that these public servants would be more educated, disciplined and scrutinized within the services and don't expect them to fall victims to 'bad' gambling!; 3. will Singaporeans be BANNED totally from the casinos like in some other countries that banned the locals from patronizing the casinos? I DOUBT so. Much as the government said that the IRs with the small casinos are meant to promote tourism and attract tourists to visit Singapore to spend and consume and enjoy, the local crowds MUST be quite a big part of the patrons of the IRs, and in particular, the casinos. The entrance levy of S$100/24hrs visit or the annual fee collected from visiting Singaporeans are into the multi-million. I guess it is tolerable HAD it not been such HIGH PROFILE public servants getting involved!! 4. will this DETER people from joining the public services? I doubt so. After all, it is a very solid employer and the pays are not too mean too! The tighter scrutiny and checks will be taken as the temptation of gambling can be more difficult to conquer that one imagines. As for did the IRs and the casinos REALLY generate the expected jobs for Singaporeans, I will leave it to the MOM to talk about it. It should. Otherwise, it has failed one of its stated objectives!