XN000022-1981-11-11 — Page 15

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1981

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GAMBLING POLICY EXPLAINED

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CHANGES WERE INTRODUCED IN THE GOVERNMENT'S GAMBLING POLICY BECAUSE ILLEGAL GAMBLING WAS SO WIDESPREAD AND SUPPORTED BY CORRUPTION, EXTORTION AND VIOLENCE ON SUCH A SCALE AS TO BE TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE, THE SECRETARY FOR HOME AFFAIRS, THE HON DENIS BRAY TOLD THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TODAY (WEDNESDAY).

REPLYING TO COMMENTS MADE BY DR THE HON RAYSON HUANG EARLIER, MR BRAY SAID WE DID NOT CHANGE POLICY TO RAISE REVENUE. TAXATION IS A MUCH SIMPLER WAY OF RAISING MONEY FOR GOOD CAUSES.

+THE CHANGES IN GAMBLING POLICY WERE MUCH MORE LIMITED THAN SOME WOULD HAVE WISHED, HE SAID, POINTING OUT THAT CASINOS, GAMBLING ON DOG RACES, AND FOOTBALL POOLS HAD ALL BEEN RESISTED, BECAUSE, THOUGH SOME MAY EXIST ILLEGALLY THEY HAVE NOT CREATED A SOCIALLY UNACCEPTABLE SITUATION AND THE LIMITED MEASURES OF CONTROL INTRODUCED HAVE BEEN REMARKABLY SUCCESSFUL.

TSE FA, WHICH HAD PERMEATED THE HOUSING ESTATES, HAD GONE AND ILLEGAL BOOKMAKERS WERE REDUCED TO A HANDFUL OPERATING UNDERGROUND AND UNAVAILABLE TO THE ORDINARY PUNTER, HE SAID.

MR BRAY SAID THERE ARE NOW 124 LICENSED OFF-COURSE BETTING CENTRES, WHICH IS TEN LESS THAN THERE WERE FIVE YEARS AGO. OF THESE SOME WERE INADEQUATE AND EXCESSIVELY CROWDED, WITH PEOPLE SPILLING OUT ONTO THE SURROUNDING PAVEMENTS.

WHEN THIS OCCURRED, THERE WAS CLEARLY NEED FOR A BIGGER CENTRE OR ANOTHER ONE NEARBY AND THIS WAS THE SORT OF CRITERION USED WHEN LICENSING ADDITIONAL CENTRES.

THE BETTING CENTRES WERE LICENSED AS PART OF A POLICY WHICH IS COHERENT AND DEFENSIBLE, MR BRAY SAID.

MR BRAY AGREED ENTIRELY WITH DR HUANG'S IDEALS AND AIMS ON THE MORAL AND PHYSICAL WELL BEING OF YOUNG PEOPLE AND ASSURED COUNCILLORS OF GOVERNMENT'S COMMITMENT TO THE PROMOTION OF HEALTHY LE ISURE PURSUITS.

THE MOST RECENT EXAMPLE OF THIS WAS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE RECREATION AND CULTURE DEPARTMENT. OTHERS INCLUDED THE OPENING OF THE MACLEHOSE TRAIL, MORE COUNTRY PARKS, RECREATION AND SPORTS SERVICES, MUSIC PERFORMANCES, CULTURAL PRESENTATIONS ON ADDITIONAL VENUES, AND COMMUNITY, YOUTH AND CHILDREN'S CENTRES.

THIS WAS THE TRUE MEASURE OF THE GOVERNMENT'S CONCERN FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF LEISURE ACTIVITIES IN A FREE SOCIETY, HE SAID.

DISCUSSING QUESTIONS BY THE HON MARIA TAM AND THE HON MRS SELINA CHOW ABOUT DIFFICULTIES FACED BY RECENT IMMIGRANTS FROM CHINA, MR BRAY SAID THE GOVERNMENT WOULD CONDUCT A SURVEY TO FIND OUT THEIR REAL PROBLEMS IN SETTLING IN HONG KONG.

WHILE HE WAS SURE THAT THERE WERE SOME DIFFICULTIES, HE NOTED THAT THEY HAD ADAPTED RAPIDLY TO OUR WAY OF LIFE.

HE SAID