KUCHING: Illegal online gambling has been an ongoing issue and has affected people differently either financially or in terms of welfare.
There have been disputes over whether online gambling should be banned and questions about whether the authorities have done enough to curb the never-ending problem.
Online gambling is a daily challenge for everyone, across all levels of authority, whether it is the government, police, local authorities and telecommunication companies.
Owen Tan, 37 who works as an engineer thinks that illegal online gambling has robbed a lot of freedom for families and that the addiction has caused lives to suffer.
“I don’t have any experience in the past, there are friends who do it but at a very minimal rate due to curiosity, people enjoy it for the sake of convenience that you don’t need to physically be there.
“It’s like gambling at the casino, however, I have seen people who have gathered in kopitiams (local coffee shops) and a bunch of them continue to play them,” he said.
Tan adds that due to the repercussions of online gambling, he thinks that there are other and more legal ways to do it.
“If it is about quick money, how much is enough? You don’t necessarily have to go and make money and forget the responsibility of learning to keep the money,” Tan opines.
Another engineer, Gabriel Philip, 33 has no experience in illegal online gambling but knows people do it.
“Most of them are in debt to the point that they borrow money from loan sharks and due to their addiction, they are always on their phone, it’s like being on social media.
“It is the same thing with online gambling casinos, people would be there for days and it is common because people (in the casino) would provide drinks because they are just addicted and there would be places people would go and sell these points.
“They gather around these places and the reason why they are there is because they can reload their points. You don’t need computers anymore, it’s crazy and it’s very bad,” he shared expressively.
However, Philip opines that if the authorities want to stop it, they have to tackle it in cyberspace and they (the authorities) need to find people or programmers who specialise in this area.
Another member of the public, Peniel Jeshurun, 31 is a chief Technical Officer at a production company who thinks that if online gambling is to be banned then it must be banned in all the states in the country.
“I think it is stated in the name, it’s illegal, yes it’s fast money but I wouldn’t want to invest my time in it.
“It would be tough to eradicate the issue of illegal online gambling but perhaps with its slow process and if proper measures are taken, perhaps it could be done,” he added.
New Sarawak Tribune had an opportunity to interview a former lawyer, Joseph Seo, 32 who currently works as a Crypto Analyst, who thinks that gambling in general can be a scourge on families.
“I do trade on crypto markets, and I do understand what it feels when gamblers think that they have made it, it’s like cocaine on the brain, however, I didn’t get addicted to it.
“As a person who trades on crypto, illegal online gambling, if it’s not regulated then it should be illegal, it is an addiction which could cause their (gamblers) life savings,” he said.
As a former lawyer, Seo used to do a certain amount of hours a week pro bono and helped a client mitigate his sentence after being caught by the police.
“That’s what happens to a person who has suffered the consequences of online gambling,” he said.
Seo describes the process to launch illegal online gambling as easy where it uses the same website, and a new address and it spreads to new forums everywhere and people (gamblers) would come back to it again.
“The process is easy and the authorities are hellbent on trying to get rid of it.
“There’s only so much you can do, bring enforcement, you take down one and ten more will up with it, it’s a fool’s gambit,” he opines.
Speaking of efforts to curb the relentless problem, Seo thinks that better education, job opportunities, and stronger family values are a much stronger approach to go with in order to tackle the issue.
“The sort of people I used to see in court, they strike me as the sort of person who could have social ills or troubles in life and those are the people I usually end up seeing in pro bono cases,” he said.
On a separate view, Russell Hee, 31 thinks that illegal online gambling is just like any other human activity where people are just trying to earn cash.
“If you say it’s illegal, that’s because the government says it’s illegal, to me they are just trying to market it (gambling) online.
“There’s no physical harm involved and so for me, those involved in online gambling is a legit job,” he adds.
Hee, who is a business owner, reasoned that illegal online gambling has been flourishing because there is a demand for it to exist.
“In my opinion, illegal online gambling is a career investment, they start small and they build it up, it’s a job, however, there’s a stigma to it,” he said.
When asked about the negative narrative of online gambling, he points out that for those afflicted by online gambling, it boils down to personal choice.
“If you see a demand in the market wouldn’t you go for it? Because there’s a demand, and you (gamblers) can monopolise, wouldn’t you go for it?
“If you want to control, how can you control if the people want it?” Hee questioned.
Hee adds that with regards to the authorities trying to curb the problem, “How can they? It’s human nature, that’s why gambling has been going on since ages ago,” he said.
