Chi Hin, Lok
Professor Christine Modey
ENGLISH 225
19 March 2012
Gambling: An Ethical Industry?
Being born in Macau, I have learned about the gambling industry since I was small. Macau,
a very small city located at the South coast of China, is famous for her casinos. Early in the 18th
century, the gambling industry starts to develop in Macau. Due to this development, Macau is
renowned as “Monte Carlo of the Orient” or “Las
Vegas of the East”. When I was small, I have been
fascinated by the casinos because of their gorgeous
and splendid appearances. Hotel Lisboa, one of the
earliest casino hotels in Macau, is always a
well-known landmark of this gambling city.
After the handover ceremony in 1999, the Macau government ended the monopoly of the
industry. In 2002, “Macau increased the number of gambling licenses from one to six” (Bristow).
Since then, Macau has quickly developed into a city with lots of casinos and hotels. In recent
years, Macau has even surpassed the income of Las Vegas and “have overtaken the famous Las
Vegas Strip as the world’s top gambling destination” (BBC News). At the end of 2011, there are
in total six gambling corporations with thirty-four casinos (Gaming Inspection and Coordination
Bureau). Such incredible achievement makes me proud of my hometown. From an extremely
small fishing port, Macau is now on the international stage with her gambling industry.
However, behind this great success, the gambling industry also brings forth numbers of
negative impacts on the society. The outcome is the ethical problem that local citizens begin to
question whether gambling is an ethical industry or not. In order to understand this ethical issue,
we need to know about the ethical problems of the gambling industry which includes problem
gambling as well as the devaluation of traditional values.
Some people point out that the gambling industry is unethical because it acts as a catalyst
that many citizens starts to participate in all kinds of gambling activities. Recent news shows that
there is an increasing prevalence of problem gambling in Macao (Lages).The prevalence rate,
which is originally 1.7% in 2003, has risen to 2.6% in 2007. More importantly, problem
gamblers do not only include local citizens, but also “tourists from mainland China and Hong
Kong” (Lages). This shows that the ethical problem is spreading from Macau to the surrounding
areas. Furthermore, problem gambling is never a personal issue. According to Desmond Lam, a
professor of the University of Macau, “14 percent of the people around [the problem gambler]
will be affected” (Macau Daily Times). Predictably, this will lead to all kinds of social problems,
including divorces, family problems, and even suicides.
Besides, many people claim that the gambling industry is unethical because it is distorting
the nature of the traditional values of the society. With the dramatic development of the gambling
industry, there is a high demand of local labor force. Even though the industry does provide
thousands of working opportunities for the citizens, it brings about lots of negative impacts,
especially on the new generations. Being respectful to teachers is a conventional virtue of the
Chinese culture. Yet Jack Ng, a Macau high-school teacher, says that “the students do not respect
the teachers as before” (England). The main reason is that students believe that they can earn
more in the casinos than their teachers, and thus having higher positions in the society. By the
same token, the gambling industry also leads to a devaluation of the pursuit of knowledge. As
many high-school graduates are attracted to work in the casinos where the salary is high, many
youths give up the chance to study at universities and devote themselves to the gambling industry.
Many educators reveal that they are afraid that the casinos would become a great factor that stops
youths from entering university (Hong Kong Investigation and Research Centre). Since, it is hard
for graduate students to find a job with higher salaries than those of the gambling industries,
many youths disregard the traditional value of knowledge and even believe that a university
degree is useless for their future.
In spite of the above ethical problems, there is no doubt that the gambling industry does
make a great contribution to the local economy of Macau. For decades, the industry provides the
major source of income to the government and the society. From this point of view, one may
accept that the gambling industry is ethical and appropriate. This gambling industry also attracts
over 20,000,000 tourists each year. Such a huge number of visitors help to improve the economy
of other local industries, such as tourism, retailing, and catering industry.
Moreover, we should also understand that the gambling industry does fulfill its original
purpose and provides entertainment to the customers. People thus argue that the gambling
industry is ethical because it successfully provides fun and excitement to the gamblers when they
take part in the games. In addition, the gamblers are never forced to enter the casinos. They are
participating in gambling because of their own will. If we think that the gambling industry is
unethical because it brings about the addictive issue or problem gamblers, we may somehow, at
the time, blaming the invention of medicine. Medicine is invented for curing all kinds of
illnesses. Only when it is misused, it becomes drugs that people are addicted to. As a result, it is
not unethical for the development of the gambling industry. Rather, problem gamblers are a
social problem which is originated from the gamblers themselves.
All in all, it is really hard to tell whether the gambling industry is ethical or not. It is true
that the gambling industry leads to numbers of ethical problems, such as problem gambling and
distorting the nature of traditional values. However, it does provide huge profits to the society
and help to improve the local economy. While a little gambling can be quite a good
entertainment for most people, it will be an ethical problem if people indulge in gambling.
Perhaps time is the best answer to this ethical issue, as we will see, in the future, whether the
industry will continue to bring forth new ethical problems or if they are just some short-time
problems of the industry.
Work Cited
BBC News. "Tiny Macau overtakes Vegas Strip." 10/25/2006.Web. 3/18/2012
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6083624.stm>.
Bristow, Michael. "Winners and losers of Macau's gambling boom " 8/30/2011.Web. BBC News.
3/20/2012 <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14720858>.
England, Vaudine. "Casinos and greed spark Macau fears " 2/5/2008.Web. BBC News.
3/20/2012 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7226149.stm>.
Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. "Macao Gaming History
."Web. Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. 3/20/2012
<http://www.dicj.gov.mo/web/en/history/index.html>.
Hong Kong Investigation & Research Centre. "Realizing sustainable development via regulating
gambling." 5/2/2008.Web. Hong Kong Investigation & Research Centre. 3/20/2012
<http://hongkongirc.org/articles_page.php?aid=91>.
Lages, Alexandra. "Problem gambling getting serious " 8/23/2010.Web. Macau Daily Times.
3/20/2012
<http://www.macaudailytimes.com.mo/macau/16027-Problem-gambling-getting-serious.htm
l>.
Macau Daily Times. "Desmond Lam on TDM Talk Show: Problem gambling ‘affects
sustainability’ " 10/31/2010.Web. Macau Daily Times. 3/20/2012
<http://www.macaudailytimes.com.mo/macau/18595-Desmond-Lam-TDM-Talk-Show-Prob
lem-gambling-affects-sustainability.html>.