my very extensive old newspaper clippings into stacks upon stacks of files and more files.As I was going through a very minute portion of the material on hand, this print together with that well-known cartoonist "Lat" caught my attention.
I realised the subject matter of both were related...to betting!
This is an activity that is very big business in our society whether we like it or not.
The report announcing that the Singapore Turf Club has been given the greenlight to operate off-course betting centres from November that year was made in a bid to curb illegal betting. It appeared in the Sunday Times 30 April 1995. 14 years have since passed by...so the question today is, "has illegal betting been curbed or at least very much reduced?" Anyone has the answers? Since then, we have had more Singapore Pools betting outlets offering more varied betting alternatives and games.
Have the illegal bookies disappeared from our heartlands and elsewhere?
Lat's cartoon has always been very popular with Singaporeans and Malaysians. This clipping was from the S Times 25 June 1991. He is really a genius not so much that he draws excellent cartoons but in the way he can capture succintly the essence of a situation...with the best punchline.
When Maree, a close friend of mine first came to visit from New Zealand, she had no idea what Singapore Pools was. She was taking a walk past a SSC swimming pool which had a 4 D outlet. There was a long queue of people behind the counters.
Noticing this, she innocently remarked, " Singaporeans really love to swim! Just look at them all so disciplined queueing up
for their entry tickets!" Haha!
She was greatly amused when she learnt the truth.
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