DPM WONG ON CASINO REGULATION AND THE TERRORIST

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SINGAPORE 000228

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/24/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER SOCI KCRM SN
SUBJECT: DPM WONG ON CASINO REGULATION AND THE TERRORIST
THREAT IN SINGAPORE

Classified By: A/DCM Laurent Charbonnet, Reasons 1.4(b)(d)


1. (C) Summary: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home
Affairs (MHA) Wong Kan Seng and the Ambassador discussed our
extensive intelligence and law enforcement cooperation and
ways to improve them during a January 24 courtesy call.
Turning to casino regulation, Minister Wong said Singapore
had taken the best ideas from other jurisdictions, such as
Las Vegas, to craft its casino regulation bill, which he will
be explaining to Parliament in February. Noting that
Singapore and the United States shared a common concern over
terrorism, Minister Wong said he was apprehensive that a
terrorist bombing could seriously harm race relations in
Singapore. End Summary.


2. (U) On January 24, the Ambassador called on Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (MHA) Wong Kan Seng.
ICE Attache and poloff (notetaker) also attended the meeting.

Bilateral Cooperation
--------------


3. (SBU) The Ambassador opened the meeting by thanking
Minister Wong for the extensive intelligence and law
enforcement cooperation between the United States and
Singapore and the efforts of the Ministry of Home Affairs to
protect the U.S. Embassy, its personnel, and other U.S.
citizens in Singapore. She noted that both sides benefited
from our wide-ranging work on counterterrorism and
counterproliferation. We sought to enhance this relationship
with a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) and more sharing
of financial information. Wong agreed on the importance of
concluding an MLAT and added that he did not want GOS law
enforcement agencies to use the absence of an MLAT to stall
cooperation.


4. (SBU) Wong said MHA was busy preparing for the World
Bank/IMF meetings Singapore would host in September. MHA had
been studying how the police forces in New York City and Hong
Kong handled security for major national and international
conferences. The GOS was adopting best practices on dealing
with protesters and terrorist threats.

Casino Regulation
--------------


5. (SBU) With Singapore's decision to license two casinos, it
would face a variety of issues on casino regulation that
would be MHA's responsibility, the Ambassador observed. Wong
said Singapore would be starting from scratch on casino
regulation. He had visited Australia and Las Vegas and MHA
officials had also been to Atlantic City to meet with casino
operators and regulators. They were taking the best ideas
from these jurisdictions to craft Singapore's Casino Control
Bill, which Wong will explain to Parliament on February 13
and take questions from MPs. Singapore hoped to replicate
some of Las Vegas' success in generating significant
non-gaming revenue at the casinos, but on a smaller scale.
He added that he visited Macao last June and "didn't want
Singapore to be like Macao."


6. (SBU) ICE Attache stressed the importance of currency
reporting requirements to be able to track money coming into
Singapore. Wong said they would need to be able to check
where money was coming and going.


7. (SBU) The Ambassador observed that casinos did lead to
social problems, such as addicted gamblers. Wong said the
GOS was also concerned about "pathological gamblers" and
would take steps to minimize the problem. He added that they
were also concerned about loan sharks. The GOS was stepping
up its efforts to prosecute loan sharks and clean up the
problem before the casinos commenced operations. He said the
powerful Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act, with its
provisions for arrest and detention without a warrant or
judicial review, was an important deterrent to foreign
criminal gangs attempting to operate in Singapore.

Terrorism and Race Relations
--------------


8. (C) Wong commented that, as multi-racial and
multi-cultural societies, Singapore and the United States
faced many common problems, such as how to deal with
immigration (legal and illegal) and the terrorist threat.
Wong was concerned that if there was a terrorist bombing in
Singapore, it could unravel much of the government's work
over the last 40 years to maintain racial relations on an
"even keel." Noting the 1964 race riots between ethnic
Chinese and Malays in Singapore, Wong said the GOS could not
allow race or religion to be "used for politicking." At the
same time, it was not possible to keep Singaporean society
closed off from outside influences, given the ease of travel
and internet communication. The GOS would continue to work
with Singapore's different racial communities to resolve
problems and avoid agitation.
HERBOLD