Kuala Lumpur: Opposition political parties plan a mass street protest next month against a proposal to legalise sports betting which they fear will create more social ills, a PAS official said Thursday.
Supporters of a new licence for sports betting argue that it will add billions of dollars to government coffers, but critics have warned it will lead to an array of problems in mainly Muslim Malaysia.
"We have too many social problems - drug addiction, free sex and baby dumping," said Kamarulzaman Mohamad, youth secretary of the conservative Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS).
"Sports betting will add to our problems as most youths watch football.
They will be influenced to borrow money," he told AFP.
He said the opposition political parties will organise a mass protest march to the palace on July 3 to deliver a memorandum to the King against the new gaming licence.
Malaysia bans its majority Muslims from gambling but allows betting at a casino operated by Genting Group, on the national lottery and on horse-racing.
"There are already too many lottery draws in the country," veteran opposition lawmaker Lim Kit Siang said. The debate over sports betting erupted after Ascot Sports, a company controlled by influential tycoon Vincent Tan, said in May it had been granted a licence that will allow it to offer odds in time for the hugely popular English Premier League season.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had said no licence had been issued to the company and Umno leaders are divided over the issue.
Former Premier Mahathir Mohamad said he supported the awarding of the licence since non-Muslims are not banned from betting.
"Why should we restrict people from doing other things that are not against their religion?" he said.
Berjaya, the property-to-gaming group which has a 70 per cent state in Ascot Sports, has said the illegal sports betting market in Malaysia was worth RM20 billion a year.
Source: http://www.dailyexpress.com.my
Supporters of a new licence for sports betting argue that it will add billions of dollars to government coffers, but critics have warned it will lead to an array of problems in mainly Muslim Malaysia.
"We have too many social problems - drug addiction, free sex and baby dumping," said Kamarulzaman Mohamad, youth secretary of the conservative Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS).
"Sports betting will add to our problems as most youths watch football.
They will be influenced to borrow money," he told AFP.
He said the opposition political parties will organise a mass protest march to the palace on July 3 to deliver a memorandum to the King against the new gaming licence.
Malaysia bans its majority Muslims from gambling but allows betting at a casino operated by Genting Group, on the national lottery and on horse-racing.
"There are already too many lottery draws in the country," veteran opposition lawmaker Lim Kit Siang said. The debate over sports betting erupted after Ascot Sports, a company controlled by influential tycoon Vincent Tan, said in May it had been granted a licence that will allow it to offer odds in time for the hugely popular English Premier League season.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had said no licence had been issued to the company and Umno leaders are divided over the issue.
Former Premier Mahathir Mohamad said he supported the awarding of the licence since non-Muslims are not banned from betting.
"Why should we restrict people from doing other things that are not against their religion?" he said.
Berjaya, the property-to-gaming group which has a 70 per cent state in Ascot Sports, has said the illegal sports betting market in Malaysia was worth RM20 billion a year.
Source: http://www.dailyexpress.com.my