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- Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye
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- Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah
SIBU: The move to amend the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953 is long overdue as there is a need to add more bite to the Act with gambling becoming very sophisticated these days, said Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.
The Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) senior vice-chairman also pointed out that there is a need to update the Act to cope with the technological advances as it is difficult to check and trace online gambling.
“In the past, the gambling was not so high tech. But now, gambling has gone very high tech and can be done online.
“Hence, there is a need to amend the Act, which dated back to 1953 during the colonial era,” he told The Borneo Post yesterday.
Lee was commenting on Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s recent statement that the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953 would be amended to combat online gambling.
Meanwhile, Assistant Minister for Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah also welcomed the news on the proposed amendment of the Act to curb online gambling.
“However, I have yet to study this proposed amendment and do hope it could curtail online gambling,” Abdul Karim, who is Asajaya assemblyman said.
Ahmad Zahid reportedly said a draft of the amendment had been submitted to the Attorney-General’s Chambers and would be tabled at the Parliament sitting in March.
He also said online gambling was a problem which was serious and efforts to combat this activity which involved the use of online equipment was making it difficult for the authorities to take action.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also Home Minister, was further quoted as saying that online gambling operators were cunning and used various tactics to avoid action by the authorities.
Ahmad Zahid was speaking to reporters at the Utusan Melayu Veterans Club (KVUM) Charity Tea and tribute to the late Ahmad Idris at Dewan Utusan Melayu in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.