Illegal Gambling Singapore Law

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As of 1 January 2020, attempting suicide is not illegal in Singapore. A person who attempts suicide will not be punished for trying.

  1. Illegal Gambling Singapore Laws
  2. Illegal Gambling Act Singapore

However, if a police officer has reasons to suspect that a person is about to attempt suicide, or has attempted suicide, the officer will have certain powers to try and stop the attempt, and to prevent the person from getting hurt.

Singapore: Gambling Laws and Regulations 2021. ICLG - Gambling Laws and Regulations - covers common issues in gambling laws and regulations – including relevant authorities and legislation, application for a licence, licence restrictions, digital media, enforcement and liability – in 37 jurisdictions.

These powers include:

  1. Penalty: Singapore Statutes Online, singing, reciting or uttering any ballad or obscene song in public is illegal.If you’re caught breaking this Singapore law, you’ll be punished with 3 months’ imprisonment, a fine or both.
  2. The self-exclusion program aimed at combating problem gambling is valid everywhere. In general, any attempts to violate the gambling-related laws of Singapore are punished by imposing fines, prison sentences, and other methods. Is Card Counting Allowed?
  3. Gambling is regulated tightly through strict laws with the objectives of maintaining law and order as well as to minimise potential harm to the society. Gambling activities are prohibited unless they are exempted or licensed.
  • Searching places (and forcibly gaining entry into these places if necessary)
  • Searching people and removing all items found on them, except their clothes
  • Searching for documents related to the suicide attempt
  • Seizing and preventing the disposal of items related to the suicide attempt

Will a Person Who Succeeds in Committing Suicide Still Get Punished?

A person who succeeds and dies as a result of suicide in Singapore will also not be punished, for obvious reasons. The urban legend that a deceased person who dies via suicide will have his corpse handcuffed and arrested, and/or whipped as punishment, is merely a myth.

Instead, when a person dies by suicide, police procedure is to first check for vital signs. (If the person had hanged himself, the police will cut the person down first before checking for vital signs.)

The police will then secure the scene for further investigations. At the same time, the body is put into a body bag and transported via a police hearse to the Health Sciences Authority mortuary. There, a pathologist will examine the body to determine the cause of death.

Will a Person Who Encourages Another to Commit Suicide be Punished?

A person found guilty of abetting suicide (i.e. aiding another in attempting suicide) will be punished with a fine and also a jail term of up to 10 years, pursuant to section 306 of the Penal Code. This is especially so if such an abettor is motivated by malicious intentions.

Also, under section 305 of the Penal Code, if the person who attempted suicide was a minor, or lacked the capacity to understand the consequences of attempting or committing suicide:

  • The abettor is liable for either the death penalty or life imprisonment, or up to 20 years’ jail and a fine, if the suicide attempt succeeded
  • The abettor is liable for life imprisonment, or up to 20 years’ jail and a fine, if the suicide attempt failed and the attempter suffered hurt in the process
  • The abettor is liable for up to 15 years’ jail and a fine if the suicide attempt failed and the attempter was not hurt

A minor refers to someone under 18 years old. On the other hand, a person lacking of capacity refers to someone unable to understand the consequences of suicide, whether due to situations such as having a mental condition, or being under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Does a Doctor Commit an Offence by Turning Off a Person’s Life Support?

In contrast, as long as a person is above 21 years of age, he can sign a legal document known as an Advance Medical Directive. This document allows him to inform his doctor that he does not wish to be given life-sustaining treatment in the event that he is unconscious with a terminal illness such that he is unable to make his wishes known at that point in time.

In such cases, given the patient’s express consent, the doctor will not be held as an abettor of suicide if he switches off life support and allows the patient to die.

Life Can be a Struggle, But Know That You’re Not Alone

If you or someone you know in Singapore needs help, you can call the following helplines:

  • Samaritans of Singapore: 1800-221-4444
  • Singapore Association for Mental Health: 1800-283-7019
  • Institute of Mental Health’s Mental Health Helpline: 6389 2222
  • Silver Ribbon: 6386 1928
  • Tinkle Friend (for primary school students): 1800-274-4788
  • Care Corner Counselling Centre (Mandarin): 1800-353-5800

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Sports betting in Singapore is very popular and what is quite important, it is completely legal, which is the case in most Asian countries. Singaporeans love sports, and even more, they love gambling, so it was reasonable to mix these two and make it fun for everyone.

Illegal Gambling Singapore Laws

There are a couple of domestic operators whereSingaporeans can lay the odds online. However, it is a common thing for thebettors in Singapore to place wagers by using foreign online bookies.

Sports Betting and Gambling Laws inSingapore

There are a few gambling laws and acts that regulate sports betting in Singapore including the Common Gaming Act and the Betting Act. Since 2014, when the Remote Gambling Act was brought in, Singaporeans can lay the odds online with two domestic operators – Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club.

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Howsoever, betting online with foreign operatorsis still in the grey zone. Hereof, many Singaporeans use the foreign bookmakersto wager online whereas they are allowed to pay the deposit and get payouts.

Popular Sports to Bet on in Singapore

Singaporeans are crazy about football which isquite understandable when you know their passion for wagering. Simple as that,football is the most popular sports in the world, so you have plenty of matchesto bet on every single day even when it’s a slow betting period with the otherpopular sports.

In the summer, when it is an offseason in all major football league across Europe and in the major Sports in the USA, Singaporeans bet on the football leagues across Asia including the Japanese J-League and the Chinese Super League. Likewise, they wager on the MLS, K League 1, and all international competitions.

Besides football, tennis is the most popularsports to wager on in Singapore. The main reason is frequency once again. Fromthe first day of the new year until the mid-November, you can lay the odds ontennis matches day after day.

Behind football and tennis on the popularity listcomes motor racing whereas Singaporeans obviously have a need for speed. Thatis why their domestic operators provide markets for every major motor racingevent in the world.

Back in the day, horse racing was a big thingamong the sports bettors in Singapore, but nowadays, it’s not so popular as itwas. Along with foreign online bookmakers, Singaporeans learn more aboutbetting on sports like basketball, baseball, cricket, and snooker.

Betting on sports is the easiest way for everybettor in Singapore to get in on the action. Therefore, it’s no strange thatsports betting in Singapore attracted foreign operators.

Why Singaporeans Prefer Foreign BookiesOver Domestic Operators

As we have already mentioned above, there are twodomestic operators for betting on sports online, and both are pretty restrictedwhen it comes to the number of sports and markets that are available on theirplatforms.

For example, Singapore Pools provides bettingodds only for football, motor racing, and horse racing. Also, if you likebetting on sports and you are a football fan, you won’t be pleased with themarkets at all.

You can take the side bet (home, away, draw),total goals, halftime score, halftime-fulltime score, Asian handicap, and 1stgoal scorer. And, that’s all folks. So, if you know what’s on the market amongforeign sportsbooks, this domestic offer will look ridiculous.

Likewise, we have mentioned how easy is to paydeposits and get payouts. Singaporeans can use internet banking and transfertheir money from a bank account to the account on the betting site once theyset it up.

Other important factors are bonuses and promotionsavailable with foreign sportsbooks. For those operators, it is a common thingto give new players sign-up bonus, while some even refund wagers on football ifthe clash ends in a nil-nil draw.

Furthermore, the foreign operators offer betterodds than domestic ones which is a very important thing if you bet with highstakes or prefer to take accumulators. Betting on sports includes live bettingthat is very popular, and domestic operators have a thin offer withunattractive odds.

Illegal Gambling Act Singapore

Considering all these facts, you can see whySingaporeans prefer online foreign bookmakers when they are betting on sports.Interestingly, betting through your local bookie was another popular thing inSingapore even though it was always illegal. It is not so common nowadays with domesticoperators on the market.

Betting Odds in Singapore & OnlineBetting

Singapore

Singaporeans use the European odd format, sotheir domestic operators Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club both providethe odds with this decimal system. Hereof, the foreign online operators thatare mostly British bookmakers had to adapt their websites.

Ladbrokes and Betfair are the two most popularonline sportsbooks when it comes to sports betting in Singapore. They provide aton of different markets on football, but also on all other sports that are notavailable with Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club.

Singaporeans who love betting on footballcertainly enjoy the offer whereas they are not limited on seven or eightdifferent markets and can choose from plenty of picks.

The similar thing is with tennis as the secondmost-popular sports to wager on. The bettors can take usual markets as thewinner, total games sets handicap, or games handicap, but they can also wageron a tiebreak in the match, set 1 and set 2 winner, total games per set (overand under) and much more if the match is on the ATP Tour.

Singaporeans domestic operators also have their websites and offer betting on sports online. It is the same general as with the foreign online bookmakers, so the bettors from Singapore need to make the account on the website and lay the deposit from their bank account.

In the same way, the bettors can cash out usingtheir bank account or take another payout method offered by Singapore Pools andSingapore Turf Club.

Singapore is a country where people love to watchand bet on sports. Also, it is a highly developed economy which is anotherimportant thing when it comes to sports betting and the amount of money thatgoes on online wagering. That is why Singapore is a great place for betting onsports.

June 28, 2019