This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SINGAPORE 000228 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/24/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER SOCI KCRM SN
SUBJECT: DPM WONG ON CASINO REGULATION AND THE TERRORIST 
THREAT IN SINGAPORE 
 
Classified By: A/DCM Laurent Charbonnet, Reasons 1.4(b)(d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home 
Affairs (MHA) Wong Kan Seng and the Ambassador discussed our 
extensive intelligence and law enforcement cooperation and 
ways to improve them during a January 24 courtesy call. 
Turning to casino regulation, Minister Wong said Singapore 
had taken the best ideas from other jurisdictions, such as 
Las Vegas, to craft its casino regulation bill, which he will 
be explaining to Parliament in February.  Noting that 
Singapore and the United States shared a common concern over 
terrorism, Minister Wong said he was apprehensive that a 
terrorist bombing could seriously harm race relations in 
Singapore.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) On January 24, the Ambassador called on Deputy Prime 
Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (MHA) Wong Kan Seng. 
ICE Attache and poloff (notetaker) also attended the meeting. 
 
Bilateral Cooperation 
--------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Ambassador opened the meeting by thanking 
Minister Wong for the extensive intelligence and law 
enforcement cooperation between the United States and 
Singapore and the efforts of the Ministry of Home Affairs to 
protect the U.S. Embassy, its personnel, and other U.S. 
citizens in Singapore.  She noted that both sides benefited 
from our wide-ranging work on counterterrorism and 
counterproliferation.  We sought to enhance this relationship 
with a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) and more sharing 
of financial information.  Wong agreed on the importance of 
concluding an MLAT and added that he did not want GOS law 
enforcement agencies to use the absence of an MLAT to stall 
cooperation. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Wong said MHA was busy preparing for the World 
Bank/IMF meetings Singapore would host in September.  MHA had 
been studying how the police forces in New York City and Hong 
Kong handled security for major national and international 
conferences.  The GOS was adopting best practices on dealing 
with protesters and terrorist threats. 
 
Casino Regulation 
----------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) With Singapore's decision to license two casinos, it 
would face a variety of issues on casino regulation that 
would be MHA's responsibility, the Ambassador observed.  Wong 
said Singapore would be starting from scratch on casino 
regulation.  He had visited Australia and Las Vegas and MHA 
officials had also been to Atlantic City to meet with casino 
operators and regulators.  They were taking the best ideas 
from these jurisdictions to craft Singapore's Casino Control 
Bill, which Wong will explain to Parliament on February 13 
and take questions from MPs.  Singapore hoped to replicate 
some of Las Vegas' success in generating significant 
non-gaming revenue at the casinos, but on a smaller scale. 
He added that he visited Macao last June and "didn't want 
Singapore to be like Macao." 
 
¶6. (SBU) ICE Attache stressed the importance of currency 
reporting requirements to be able to track money coming into 
Singapore.  Wong said they would need to be able to check 
where money was coming and going. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The Ambassador observed that casinos did lead to 
social problems, such as addicted gamblers.  Wong said the 
GOS was also concerned about "pathological gamblers" and 
would take steps to minimize the problem.  He added that they 
were also concerned about loan sharks.  The GOS was stepping 
up its efforts to prosecute loan sharks and clean up the 
problem before the casinos commenced operations.  He said the 
powerful Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act, with its 
provisions for arrest and detention without a warrant or 
judicial review, was an important deterrent to foreign 
criminal gangs attempting to operate in Singapore. 
 
Terrorism and Race Relations 
---------------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) Wong commented that, as multi-racial and 
multi-cultural societies, Singapore and the United States 
faced many common problems, such as how to deal with 
immigration (legal and illegal) and the terrorist threat. 
Wong was concerned that if there was a terrorist bombing in 
Singapore, it could unravel much of the government's work 
over the last 40 years to maintain racial relations on an 
"even keel."  Noting the 1964 race riots between ethnic 
Chinese and Malays in Singapore, Wong said the GOS could not 
allow race or religion to be "used for politicking."  At the 
same time, it was not possible to keep Singaporean society 
closed off from outside influences, given the ease of travel 
and internet communication.  The GOS would continue to work 
with Singapore's different racial communities to resolve 
problems and avoid agitation. 
HERBOLD