He said he had received numerous complaints from members of the public especially parents that many of the video-arcade horse racing gambling activities had not been monitored closely by the authorities.

"Some parents have informed me that their school-going children had been playing truant and cut school to go to these joints to play horse racing gambling over the video machines. Some others complained that the children get so addicted to these video arcade gambling that they started stealing their Parents 'money," he said.

He said he was disappointed that some owners bad leased out their premises to operators of video gambling machines and had subsequently allowed the students to play those games.

"In the first place, it is illegal for them to own and operate those horse racing video machines but to open their premises to the school going children was too much and highly unscrupulous. Don't they have conscience at all?" he said, adding that the operators should realize that their action was tantamount to influencing innocent students to start gambling in their early life.

Tiong advised the operators of these video arcades to understand the effects of the horse racing gambling activities on the youths and teenagers.

"Gambling is like taking drugs - it is addictive.  If we have today's youths and teenagers indulge in gambling as their favourite past time, think about what will they be 10 years from now," he said, adding that video arcades that promoted gambing would hasten the catalyst that would wipe out the next generation of people.

Tiong urged the police and other relevant authorities to increase enforcement efforts and take drastic action to curb gambling activities at the video arcades and added that the police should step up the enforcement on juvenile delinquency.

"When children started stealing their parents' money to gamble, they actually started to gamble away their life. To put a stop on this, enforcement on juvenile delinquency is very much appropriate," he said.

He also said he had received complaints that certain quarters of the public claiming that the enforcement by the police had not been so effective because some owners of these video arcade were giving "protection money" to police personnel who in return provided them with protection from excessive enforcement.
 "This is just a claim and hear-say. I don't believe our police force have stooped that low.  Even if there is evidence of such activity, I believe it is only isolated cases where they involve only one or two personnel.

"I have all the confidence that our police force is clean, efficient and effective to enforce the law," he said, adding that the public must give their trust to the police to do their jobs effectively.
 

Tiong said the public must give their fullest cooperation to the police and relevant authorities, apart from carrying out their duties as responsible citizens to provide true and factual information to the police (and other relevant authorities) on the illegal electronic gambling activities in their residential areas.

He also advised students to be sympathetic with the struggle of their parents who had to work day and night to provide them with their basic needs.  There are parents who had to word even harder to make ends meet.

I am saddened that there are many students who do not know how to think for themselves and their parents. They don't seem to understand the struggle their parents have gone through," he said, adding that the students should take every opportunity to put their concentration on their studies and not on wasting `their parents' money on electronic games and gambling.