4-D GAMBLING IN SINGAPORE : A LOCAL PHENOMENON

Abstract

This study is an attempt to understand the popularity of 4-D gambling in Singapore. 4-D is examined in relation to the nature of Singapore's capitalist society and the socio-cultural context in which the gamblers live. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses are used. Firstly, to locate the gamblers in terms of their social-economic variables and to discover who gambles, and why, and secondly, to gain an understanding of the cultural context which makes gambling meaningful and which shapes the way that punters choose their numbers. Information was also sought from related others (such as 4-D organisations, Gambling Suppression Branch, Chinese temple mediums). Although the study focuses on Chinese ideas about gambling and luck, it also attempts some brief comparisons with the ideas of other groups (Indian and Malay gamblers, and a group of nongamblers). The aim of this is to see how world views lend meaning to the gambling scenario. Since most studies of gambling have been done in Western countries, but very little sociological investigation has ever been done in Singapore, the results would offer a fresh insight into local gambling 'culture'. They also indicate how important socio-cultural factors, (as opposed to individual psychology or pathology) may be in shaping peoples' involvement in games of chance.