I wonder how many of you actually heard of, or remembered this movie in 2005, which came out of a series of comics, "Sin City"? It's a movie about this fictional dark town in America where crime is so rampant and prevalent, corruption runs so deep that even the police force was roped in to do the bidding of gangs.
I'm not sure why this is so, but that's what popped into my mind when I entered the Marina Bay Sands for the very first time 2 days ago. After having photographed the Marina Bay Sands (MBS henceforth) for so many times, together with the magnificent Helix bridge linking it to mainland Singapore, finally I get a chance to enter the building I'm been photographing from the outside.
The hotels of the MBS
Taxi Stand at the MBS
The MBS probably would not have caused quite the stir and debate if it simply had just been a complex of high class hotels, expensive shopping places and world class convention centres. Fact is, at the heart of it is Singapore's very first sanctioned casino, our uhmmm.... nation's pride because it will draw in foreign money and boost and diversify our economy.
Casino Entry
I love high class food - hey I love eating.
I love high end shopping.
I love convention centres, attending world class conferences, magnificent structures. The MBS is one of the most breathtaking buildings I've seen in Singapore.
Magnificent Interior of the MBS Hotel
Great (albeit expensive buffet food
I'm just not sure about the gambling part.
The government is taking measures to help Singaporeans avoid the pitfalls of gambling - imposing a $100 levy on entrance for locals to discourage them from going in, increasing public awareness of gambling and its ills, stepping up advertisements on TV warning of the risk of addiction to gambling, even having such ads in cinemas.
But is that the way to solve the problem that didn't have to exist in the first place? You created a chance to sin, then you put in place measures that discourage, but not prevent people from trying to. It's either sheer genius or I'm missing something here..
The Great Divide - Singaporeans vs Foreigners
Sure, I understand it creates jobs. So can opening a Disneyland in Singapore, something which the government gave up on. Now we'll just have to fly to Hong Kong Disneyland. No problem, it's just a few hours away!
Sure it diversifies the economy. And brings in foreign money. At the expense of breaking up families, possibly rising crime rates? Already we're hearing of gambling related crimes.
Perhaps I shall eat my words when our country's economy picks up, and the casinos put Singapore on the world map of entertainment and pleasure. But at what cost? That's something I think we need to think about!
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