TV ad kicks off largest awareness drive on problem gambling

The National Council On Problem Gambling (NCPG) has launched a S$2.5 million initiative to educate the public on the ills of problem gambling.

The "Know the Line" campaign, the largest-ever drive on problem gambling, aims to reach out to heartlanders, youths, senior citizens and workers.

As part of the initiative, a television commercial directed by Eric Khoo kicked off on Thursday. It shows how problem gambling affects not only the gamblers themselves but also those closest to them.

The TV ad will run till the end of the year, but will return during the Lunar New Year in February as gambling activities tend to increase during this period, said the NCPG. It will also use new media such as social networking sites and blogs to spread the awareness of problem gambling.

Besides the TV ad, the NCPG will also reach out to the wider community at the grassroots level.

Mrs Mildred Tan, chair of NCPG's public communications subcommittee, said: "We are working with the YAH! group, which is the Young at Heart group, at the local level. We're also working with business organisations as well as religious organisations."

Close to 90 senior Problem Gambling Prevention Ambassadors are also being trained to reach out to senior citizens in community centres, clans associations and hawker centres, via roadshows.

Religious groups had expressed concerns with the upcoming casinos, citing potential social and moral impact on society. The NCPG said it will have a comprehensive outreach programme for religious organisations next year.

The council has heard 23 cases and issued seven family exclusion orders so far this year. The exclusion order is a protective measure which bans those with potential gambling problems from entering the upcoming casinos in Singapore.

Two more measures - the self-exclusion and third-party exclusion orders - will be implemented next month.

By Satish Cheney, Channel NewsAsia