Gambling has been going on in Singapore for nearly 200 years. The first legislation against gaming houses in Singapore appeared in 1856, and was followed up by a further tightening of the prohibition several times through 1879, which endured well into the 20th century.
A widespread resurgence of gambling in the 1960s led to the creation of TOTO, the Singapore state-sponsored lottery, which was established in 1968 to control the illegal gambling.
Lee Kwan Yew, the first prime minister of Singapore (1959-1990), was dead set against gambling throughout his reign. He’s currently the "Minister Mentor," a job created when his son Lee Hsien Loong became Singapore’s third prime minister in 2004.
Eight months later in April 2005, Lee Hsien Loong announced the Singapore Cabinet’s decision to develop two casinos and associated hotels and attractions, reversing decades of government opposition to casino gambling.
Eager to duplicate the success of Macau, which went from a small gambling enclave to a huge global casino destination, Singapore awarded contracts to Las Vegas Sands (Venetian) and Genting (a Malaysian gambling company) to develop the two "integrated resorts." The required price tag of each, US$5 billion, indicated the size of the ambitions of the Singapore government to, as the New York Time’s reported, "transform the island's image from that of a staid buttoned-up society into a fun adventurous city."
Fast forward to 2010. In February, to coincide with the first day of the Chinese New Year, Genting opened the $4.93 billion Resorts World Sentosa, located on 121 acres of Sentosa Island, just off the southern coast of Singapore. It has six hotels, including a Hard Rock, with a total of 1,840 rooms, and seven restaurants, including two from Joel Robuchon. There are 23 shops in the Festive Walk mall.
Resorts World also boasts the first Universal Studios amusement park in Southeast Asia. It’s mostly open, but it will be completely operational by the end of the year. Resorts World’s Marine Life Park will be the world's largest oceanarium, holding more than 20 million gallons of salt-water habitats, home to more than 700,000 fish inside a 6.6-million-gallon lagoon. Finally, the Maritime Xperiential Museum will house a 360-degree multimedia theater that will present the history of the maritime Silk Route from the 9th to the 19th centuries. Both the Marine Park and Maritime Museum are expected to be completed and open by the end of this year.
Two months after the opening of Genting’s integrated resort, Las Vegas Sands soft-opened the Marina Bay Sands at a cost of US$5.7 billion; it’s billed as the world's most expensive standalone casino property. Its grand opening was in mid-June.
The Marina Bay has a 2,500-room hotel in three 55-story towers, a casino with 500 tables and 1,600 machines, six restaurants, a 360,000-square-foot convention center, a mall that will boast 350 stores when completed, and the spectacular SkyPark.
SkyPark tops the three towers 600 feet off the ground. At 1,020 feet long, it’s reportedly the world’s largest cantilevered platform and can accommodate 4,000 people at the same time; it overhangs the north tower by 200 feet. SkyPark’s 500-foot-long swimming pool, with a vanishing edge looking off the side of the roof, is reportedly the world’s longest elevated swimming pool; it holds 380,000 gallons of water (the water alone weighs more than three million pounds). The SkyPark has rooftop restaurants and clubs, gardens, and a public observatory with 360-degree views of the Singapore skyline. Here's a link to an annotated drawing of the attraction, listing some additional facts and figures (strangely, we were unable to find a single decent photograph of the SkyPark, although there are lots of artist's renditions online).
Marina Bay Sands will also feature an Art-Science Museum, two theaters, and two floating pavilions, scheduled to be completed by December. Disney’s The Lion King will debut in March 2011.
As for Singapore’s potential to become the world’s most profitable gaming market, the results of a few months of operation are leading analysts to speculate that this could eventually be true.
Gaming taxes are lower at 12%-22%, compared to 39% in Macau; this allows junket operators to receive higher high-roller commissions, providing incentive over Macau. In addition, visa restrictions don’t apply to mainland Chinese travelers, who are allowed to travel to Macau only six times a year. Chinese government officials aren’t permitted to gamble in Macau at all, but they can in Singapore.
In addition, Singapore has been designed as a family destination, with the amusement park, shopping malls, museums, theaters, SkyPark, and the like. Also, Resorts World Sentosa recently opened up a "Ladies Club," a small room with 12 tables where men aren’t welcome, to cater to women, who make up 40% of the casino’s patrons.
It’s possible Singapore will overtake Macau, though Macau isn’t sitting idly by, resigned to losing its hegemony; it continues to expand and increase revenues. Time will tell.
