Casino's in Hong Kong?

A bit of a divergence however this topic is relevant to Living in and Working in HK because this will impact our economic well being in the long run.


Some time ago a proposal was put forward that HK should designate one of the many nearly deserted nearby islands to be used for casinos to compete with Macau.


The usual arguments were trotted out that it would lead to prostitution, organized crime, social problems etc.... etc..... etc.....


Correct me if I am wrong but what are all those signs on every street in Mongkok advertising? And isn't it common knowledge that most of the massage joints in HK offer illegal services?


Organized crime? Uh hum... I refer you to the famous quotation to the effect "Hong Kong is like a peaceful river .... with hundreds crocodiles lurking under the surface."


When virtually every business pays protection to the local triad official I think its safe to say that organized crime has already arrived...


At the end of the day what's the difference between Macau and 'gamblers island' say 30 minutes ferry from HK? They will both have the same impact on the community of HK because they are both easily accessible.


In any event, its now too late because there's no catching Macau... so HK misses out forever on all the tourism dollars, conferences, exhibitions, jobs, etc...

I don't agree with the statement that every business pays protection. I run 4 businesses and have never had any problems and neither do many others I know. It is of course there in certain places and with certain businesses. It's always been a problem and will remain so because it's seen as the norm, even within the police.


But I do agree with your general sentiment. Macau has slaughtered HK when it come to conservation and now with the casino's, although that could end up being it's downfall. Our planners here seem to think that erecting yet another shopping mall will bump up tourist numbers without thinking why tourists are coming to HK in the first place. We know Donald and his business run government would like nothing more that to concrete all the way from the south of the island to the border with nothing but high rises and shopping malls. They've shelled out our hard earned cash on failures such as Disneyland and the Ngong Ping 360. How many more failures will they create? Oh, West Kowloon Cultural District.............


I'm certainly not against a Casino, especially if it is away from the Central district. Hotels, and as you mentioned, conferences would benefit hugely if included in the plans. There'd be more jobs, not just in the Casino, hotels, conference centres itself but also in transport, supplies, etc.


BUT, the problem is that a Casino would more than likely be built and run by a foreign entity - our hard up developers (sic) would not be earning from the use of such a facility so they will make every excuse they can in the book to prevent such a thing happening, of course a shopping mall is a different prospect altogether....


And as far as our puppets such as Donald have one of their strings pulled from Beijing the others are pulled by business including developers.....there's no chance.

i certainly wouldn't say one of the busiest! But we do get a lot of tourists - but that is relying more heavily on the mainland now, not foreign - they are drying up.


Yes you may have worked in a casino before, and yes Macau casino's were attractive to the scum of the earth, but with the big players moving in now it's killing a lot of that off. The scum have to spend a lot more time in their friend "Stanley's" places.


We are "quite" successful with trade fairs and conferences. But any trade fair or exhibition in our conference centre is a nightmare because of lack of space. The Macau Venetian boasts a conference centre nearly twice the size of ours, with adjoining hotels and entertainments facilities, etc. Yes we have a hotel near ours but then they are faced with the streets of Wan Chai, and that's not a place that run by the worst of people now is it?


So why would a casino be so bad? Foreign run, so done properly (not like an S.Ho threadbare carpet fleapit), it would boost trade, give HK a platform with which to compete with Macau and provide jobs. Why this is opposed is beyond me.

Clarification : a good friend of mine is a partner in a law firm... she (overseas Chinese) indicated to me that most street shops in HK and most businesses are paying protection cash... however if you are an expat generally they leave you alone... and as an an expat you would probably be oblivious to this (I certainly was until I was told this).


In any event, organized crime is very entrenched in Hong Kong so I don't see how putting another casino offshore will make any difference.


And if anything Macau, like Vegas, is being cleaned up by letting corporates run the gambling.


As for HK's 'booming tourism' yes, there are a lot of China tourists coming in but the big spending oveseas tourist numbers are way down since 97. And guess where all the regional conferences will be held once Macau really gets going - I doubt many will be choosing HK over Macau...


Trade Fairs are already on the way out as huge facilities are being built in south china and now Macau. So say goodbye to that business as well.


Again HK already has a casino destination - Macau. However none of the taxation and direct economic benefits are being realized by HK ... so why didnt the HK govt designate one of the many barren islands as 'Fantasy Island' and develop gaming here? Heck even Singapore will have casinos soon!


I guess they were too busy with the white elephant known as Cyberport to think of this... or perhaps the Jockey Club wan't too keen on seeing its role usurped by the lads from Vegas?