The moral economy of gambling and the negotiation of minority ethno class social positions a socio cultural study of lower income malay muslim gamblers in singapore

Chapter 1
Approaching Gambling as a Cultural-Economic and Socially-Embedded Process
1.1 “Where‟d all the money come from?”: An Anecdotal Preface to the Research Topic
Since the age of 8, my mother‟s extended family would hold the occasional but much
cherished dinner party at restaurants; where we could take up to 5 tables or even a small
private room with our rowdy 20-odd party size. On average, these dinners were held at
least once a month, and they were of special significance to everyone, not only because
we enjoyed each other‟s company, but also mainly due to their rarity and relative
„extravagance‟, which provided a welcome break from the day-to-day consumption
experiences of a lower-income family. In addition, there were those familial and religious
celebratory events, or kenduris, held at least once a month for the purposes of giving
thanks for achievements or the resolution of a particular problem1. These were larger
scale events that usually required food for a minimum of 30 people and thus involved a
significant amount of resources. Until recently however, (probably coinciding with my
postgraduate foray into the sociological fields of race and social class) I never questioned
how such rather lavish outings were actually being financed. Also particularly puzzling,
was the fact that none of my family members had post-secondary school education at that
time and thus the highest paid amongst my uncles and aunties were employed in lowwage low-skilled occupations such as security guards, factory workers and office
assistants.

1

Achievements include the birth of a child, birthdays of senior family members, a child‟s passing of school
examinations. Celebrations for the resolution of problems mainly include recoveries from illnesses; there
were instances where my family gave thanks upon the release of one of my uncles from prison and the
reconciliation between another uncle and his wife who were nearly divorced.

1


Upon questioning my mother, I found out that although all the working members in

the family each contributed a small share, it has actually always been two of my uncles
who had taken turns to shoulder the bulk of the expenses. This revelation raised even
more questions for me considering that these where the very two uncles who have been
frequently complaining of financial problems, and who also regularly borrowed sums of
money from other friends and family members including my own parents; whom they
have always struggled to repay in full. After being subjected to persistent interrogation,
my mother relented and, having sworn me to secrecy, revealed the clandestine,
controversial and somewhat ephemeral source of my uncles‟ wealth.
“Gambling?! But, I thought they were staunch Muslims?” I exclaimed reactively and
somewhat naively in retrospect. An awkward and uncomfortable silence, which was
tinged with shame, seemed to fall between my mother and me. She declined to elaborate
and told me to consult them directly, but discreetly, should I require a more detailed
explanation. At this point, my mind had become rife with questions stemming from the
apparent contradictions pervading the entire issue: Why gamble when you are short of
money in the first place? Is gambling the cause or the attempted solution to their financial
problems, or both? Why be generous with such money if finances were scarce to begin
with? How did they reconcile gambling with their identity as Muslims?
These puzzles led me to approach my uncles who, after gentle coaxing on my part,
gradually introduced me to their world of informal resources, which mainly revolved
around gambling, money-lending, debt management, „paid favours‟ and the process of
„rolling‟ one‟s money2.

2

„Rolling‟ is a form of informal investment in which a sum of money, ranging from a few hundreds to a
few thousands, is given to a „trusted person‟ who would use that money as capital to finance typically illicit

2

More interestingly, however, was a particular piece of advice offered by one of my
uncles who emphasized its importance for succeeding in such circles:
Malays cannot do well… Hard lah… Because this is a Chinese world! You must know
when to be Malay or when to be more like a Chinese (sic).”

I was taken aback initially but it dawned upon me that in Singapore, the dynamics of
ethno-racial relations pervade almost every facet of social life; from the education
system, labour markets and governmental policy-making to everyday informal social
interactions. Even social activities such as gambling, whether in their legal or illicit
forms, are not exempted from being influenced by existing widely held racial hierarchies.
These findings sparked the nascence of my sociological inquiry into the phenomenon
of gambling, particularly concerning how it interplays with ethnic identity, the processes
of racialization as well as social class realities. The latter constitutes a significant
intertwining factor considering that Malay-Muslims are overrepresented amongst the
lowest 20 percentile of Singapore‟s income strata (Singapore Statistics, 2005).
Additionally, the minority-in-majority settings that frame the experiences of MalayMuslim gamblers in Chinese-dominated Singapore make it even more pertinent to
investigate the dynamics of race relations and how they manifest, especially within the
domain of informal gambling and resource networks. Upon discovering that the
sociological literature on gambling scarcely take ethnic and class dimensions into
consideration3, I began my empirical investigation of gambling among lower income
Malay-Muslims in the hope of contributing towards filling these gaps in knowledge.

activities and ventures, such as money lending. The returns tend to be high in the short term and could even
double within a month (casual correspondence with respondent).
3
Most studies examining gambling and race/ethnicity tend to be overly quantitative, essentialistic and
culturally deterministic in their approaches.

3

1.2

Introducing The Research Problem
One of the fundamental research questions driving this study concerns the

experiences of minority groups gambling and interacting through gambling related
activities within a majority-dominated setting. However, it will be argued that
Singapore‟s general tendency to synonymously associate gambling with the ethnic
Chinese majority has subliminally rendered the aspect of ethnicity as an irrelevant and
taken for granted „constant‟; thereby occluding any systematic and purposeful inquiry
into the experiences of gamblers belonging to ethnic minority groups. This particularly
holds true for Malay-Muslims4, whose involvement have been more significant and
historical than currently perceived by the public media and official agencies, such as the
National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG). Interestingly however, despite Islam‟s
explicit prohibition of participation in all forms of gambling (Rozenthal, 1975),
preliminary research reveals the active engagement of Malay-Muslims in both formal as
well as informal gambling and its related activities; particularly the latter, which tends to
involve more extensive social networks for their operation. This consequently leads to the
second analytical impetus of this study, which attempts an in-depth exploration of the
interpersonal networks of social relations that support and are in turn, sustained by the
processes of gambling.
This study qualitatively examines the gambling experiences of a particular group of
Malay-Muslims who inhabit the lower echelons of Singapore society in terms of their
average monthly income and education attainments (Singapore Statistics, 2008). By
adopting a moral economic approach, it will be illustrated that gambling among lower

4

Malay-Muslims constitute approximately 99% of those categorized as Malays in Singapore, who

themselves make up 14% of the total population.

4


income Malay-Muslims (henceforth LIMMs) constitutes a multitude of subjectively
configurable socio-cultural elements such as meanings, motivations, preferences, social
networks and resources. It is argued that the contextualized and empathetic analysis of
these socio-cultural aspects will reveal significant insights into the lived realities and
social positions of LIMMs, particularly pertaining to their experiences in confronting
various ethno-racial, class and ideological constraints at the socio-structural level, as well
as in the course of dynamic everyday interaction. It will be contended that such
constraints stem from, and also reinforce, a prevailing ethno-class social hierarchy in
which LIMMs occupy its lowest positions.
Thus by examining the moral economy of informal and formal gambling practices
as our empirical premise, the analytical objectives for this thesis are threefold. Firstly, to
illuminate the various forms of ethno-racial mechanisms that operate to minoritize
LIMMs within a socio-cultural context dominated by the Chinese majority. Secondly, to
explicate the processes in which LIMM gamblers and their families negotiate with such
minoritization (Pereira, 2008), and the tensions arising from consumption demands and
the resource-strapped realities of lower-income life. Finally, this study seeks to
understand and empirically contextualize the discursive relationship between the
responsibilization of gambling and the individualization of risk, in terms of how they
legitimize particular ethnic- and class-based social barriers; thereby ideologically
perpetuating the existing ethno-class hierarchy while simultaneously contributing towards
widening the cleavages between its strata.

5

1.3

More Than Just a Game: The Moral Economy of Gambling
This section serves to expound upon the thesis‟s foundational conceptualization of

gambling, which primarily adopts McMillen‟s (1996) contextual approach towards
understanding gambling in relation to specific socio-historical, political, economic and
cultural configurations. In her book Gambling Cultures, McMillen calls for the
development of more culturally sensitive conceptual tools to analyze gambling in a
manner that significantly departs from conventionally universalistic definitions of
gambling, which generally fail to appreciate it as anything more than either a financiallymotivated act of risk-taking, social vice, pathological addiction, or a combination of
these. Thus, in order to gain a more holistic and detailed understanding of the dynamic
nuances of gambling in praxis and how it impacts both lived realities and social
structures, it is imperative to conceive of gambling as a phenomenon whose myriad forms
of organization and participation are highly contingent upon two integral factors: the
social positions of the actors involved, and the socio-political as well as economic
environment framing it. For instance, the former is highly influential in affecting the
gambler‟s motivations, choice of games to enter and the capacity to mobilize and utilize
the various combinations of cultural, social and economic capital in the gambling
process. As for the latter factor, it significantly determines the structural functions of
gambling and its broader cultural meaning within society‟s ideological landscape, which
directly frames the normative structures that pervade both formal and informal gambling
practices. In other words, gambling may empirically be considered as comprising a moral
economy where beneath the surface motivation of pursuing financial rewards are
complex layers of norms, meaning systems and social networks that ultimately dictate
economic decisions and the flow of resources.
6


Adopting Binde‟s (2005) social anthropological perspective of gambling as a

reciprocal system of exchange, I intend to understand the dynamics of gambling networks
in a similar manner; as a socioeconomic system whose guiding principles of organization
are based on a system of values that is strongly influenced by broader socio-cultural
meanings. The importance of socio-cultural meanings in structuring and driving
gambling is evident in Rogers‟ (1991) work on gambling activities among the underclass
in mid-nineteenth century colonial Sri Lanka, which demonstrated how their persistence
in gambling, despite the risk of facing criminal punishment and also having relatively
little to gain from it economically, was actually a commitment towards rejecting what
was perceived to be the elite‟s definition of the values of “thrift and work”. Such ideas
were central to the elite‟s worldview but were interpreted by the underclass as part of a
broader ideological project of instilling a new “moral social order” for Sri Lanka. The
fulfillment of this goal however, required “disciplining” the general underclass
population who were deemed to be morally and culturally deficient. This was therefore
openly rejected by the underclass through the adoption of several „norms‟ of gambling
practices that served as a form of “counter-culture” against the elite. These included
“meetings in isolated sheds in the middle of the night” as well as “bribery of policemen
and headmen.” When police raids occurred, it was expected behaviour to make life
difficult for the pursuing officers by meeting them with violence and even upon arrest, it
was not uncommon to employ “the rules and language of the judicial system in ways that
turned the criminal courts themselves into sites of resistance” (Ibid: 202).
Such a culture of gambling and its inherent socio-cultural meaning in Sri Lanka
were therefore interpreted by Rogers as performing a galvanizing role for the members of

7


its underclass. Although he failed to mention the ethnic make-up of the underclass, he did
observe that gamblers in Sri Lanka had come from all the three major ethnic groups and
were of varying caste and religious affiliations. This interestingly leads to another
important but rather unexplored dimension of Rogers‟ research, which concerns how the

dynamics of such ethnic and social differences play out within the realm of gambling.
Since gambling essentially involves wagering over the outcome of specified forms of
games, the highly cultural nature of the latter (Huizinga, 1949; Caillois, 1962; Goffman,
1967) in terms of the meanings, language, rules and even styles of play involved, denotes
that games tend to also be associated with specific ethnic groups, particularly those who
share the cultural contexts in which such games originated from. Thus, it would have
been pertinent to trace the ethno-cultural roots of the games popularly wagered upon by
the Sri Lankan underclass in order to explain how they came to be widely accepted
amongst the heterogeneous ethnic and cultural milieu. Rogers did however address this
issue briefly by mentioning that one of the most popular card games being gambled on,
called bebi kapanava, was introduced by the Dutch but between the various ethnic
groups, the Moors were “more involved than their overall numbers warranted, especially
as organizers” (Ibid: 178, emphasis mine).
This thesis will be an attempt at building upon Roger‟s analysis to posit that the
values and norms present in gambling cultures may themselves be heterogeneous and
conflicting, especially when various ethnic and class groups partake in the activity with
one group being more dominant than the rest. In such a case, it will be salient to explore
the dynamics of power relations involved when a particular ethnic group assumes
precedence over others in the organization of gambling. This is because an organizer

8


tends to determine the odds, decide on which game is wagered upon and is usually the
one with the most capital. Therefore as a corollary, it would be worth investigating how
ethno-cultural and even religious factors may have affected the organization of gambling
by the Sri Lankan Moors, who as Muslims, ironically believe in a religion that explicitly
proscribes gambling.
In the Singapore context, gambling happens to be a “cultural” activity of the
ethnic Chinese majority and in both the formal and informal gambling spheres, they tend

to assume positions of relative power and control over betting operations. Additionally, I
will illustrate that those values and norms of gambling which are widely-regarded across
ethnic lines as being “superior” and “effective”, are closely associated with the Chinese.
These include, for example, the approach towards choosing bets, the superstitions
believed to increase the chances of winning, the select betting locations and even the
„type‟ of individuals who excel in gambling. Ultimately, I argue that the mechanisms and
structures that perpetuate the dominance of the majority social group‟s values and norms
within gambling is intrinsically linked to those that maintain the group‟s superior position
within the wider social hierarchy. This is because gambling and the modern capitalist
economy share certain fundamental requirements for those seeking to achieve upward
mobility in their respective structures; chief among them is the access to social, cultural
and economic capital (Bourdieu, 1986). Nevertheless, the capacity to mobilize these
forms of capital and resources are unevenly distributed across society and for those in
minority ethno-class positions, there exists major racial and class-based social barriers
that work to reproduce and accentuate their inferior locations within the social strata.

9


McMillen, (1996: 33) in reflecting on the sociological value of using gambling as
an empirical premise, aptly sums up the analytical intentions of this thesis when she
writes, “gambling not only reflects the nature of social relations in any society, but also
powerfully determines new social and political outcomes.” Thus, in addition to
examining how the structures, norms and values of gambling in Singapore constitute a
microcosm as well as an extension of the interethnic dynamics and class realities of
Singapore society in general, this study will also reveal how gambling itself may serve as
a nexus of capital and resources that facilitates the process of negotiating ethno-class
social positions within a minority-in-majority setting. As this section has argued, the
normative structures present in gambling, coupled with its intrinsic system of resource
and capital exchange, makes gambling socially and culturally malleable; therefore highly

susceptible to domination by groups in superior ethno-class social positions.
Nevertheless, that very quality of malleability also allows for resistance and negotiation
on the part of minority groups who face latent and manifest social mechanisms that
function to maintain the status quo of their subordination.
The locus of analysis for this study will thus examine gambling‟s cultural
dimensions; particularly those involving the social factors of ethnicity and class, whose
intersections featured frequently and prominently throughout the course of my fieldwork.
Through ethnographic data, I will therefore illustrate how gambling experiences and
„cultures‟ tend to be influenced primarily by ethno-racial and social class contingencies,
especially within a socio-cultural context that pervasively embraces the ideologies of
multiracialism and meritocracy.

10


In order to further clarify and theoretically situate the conceptual contribution of
this study, the following section will highlight those seminal works which have sought to
dissect the social dimensions of gambling experiences in an attempt to explicate its
broader social significance through an understanding of the nature of its relationship with
social structures and institutions.

1.4

Understanding Gambling and Social Inequalities: Identifying the Capacity for
Conceptual Synthesis
One of the most fundamental objectives driving the majority of earlier

sociological literature on gambling was dedicated towards structural explanations for the
existence and persistence of gambling in modern societies (Aasved, 2003: 55). Thus far,
the most dominant schools of thought have been the structural-functionalist and „safetyvalve‟ paradigms, which include theories of anomie, alienation and the “leisured upper

classes” (Veblen, 1925: 276) within their analytical framework. From the structuralfunctionalist perspective, illuminating gambling‟s social role is integral towards shedding
light on the cleavages and contradictions found in society‟s core values and how it has
impacted society as a whole as well as its various segments.
Renowned scholarship in this vein include Devereux‟s (1949) theory of how
gambling served multiple purposes for members of the various strata of modern industrial
society in the United States, which was also characterized by the values of capitalism and
Protestant Christianity. Devereux explains, in a rather Mertonian manner, that such value
systems espouse several highly contradictory moral-ethical tenets that ultimately
encourage strain and feelings of status frustration for those unable to ascend society‟s
rungs through the more socially established routes. Thus, while gambling‟s „quick and

11


easy‟ route to success may be antithetical to the Puritan ethic of hard work and
rationality, its social functionality lies in providing disadvantaged groups with an easily
accessible avenue to partake in potentially profitable processes of risk-taking and
decision making. Devereux argues that these endeavors, while ideologically advocated in
modern capitalist societies, are scarcely experienced by the lower-middle and working
classes in their daily course of life due to their general employment in occupations that
tend to lack official autonomy and clear chances for upward mobility. On the other hand,
gambling as a form of “conspicuous leisure” allows the upper classes to symbolically
enhance their social statuses by indulging in games of chance that display their abilities to
risk large sums of money with “apparent indifference” (Aasved, 2003: 24).
Hence, although gambling‟s almost universal appeal is assumed to cut across the
boundaries of social class, numerous scholars have observed marked differences in the
way gambling tends to qualitatively differ for gamblers from the various income strata;
namely in terms of betting patterns and practices as well as the meanings derived from
the experiences. The most apparent differences are in terms of the amounts spent on bets,
the choice of games betted on, and even the most frequented locations for gambling. In

Newman‟s (1972: 85) comprehensive work on gambling patterns in Britain, he reported a
higher proportion of middle and upper class gamblers betting in the casinos and gaming
clubs than those from the working classes. Such a proportion is however, reversed when
it comes to horseracing (both on- and off-track) and the football pools, which remain the
choice locations and games for less affluent punters. More interestingly, Newman also
discovered that the frequency and average proportion of income spent on bets tended to
get higher as he descended the income hierarchy.

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However, as mentioned above, gambling among lower-income groups has
generally been regarded by scholars as either functioning as a form of “safety-valve” that
legitimates the system, its values and its inherent inequalities, or an expression of
symbolic resistance to them. Examples of comprehensive ethnographic accounts adopting
the former perspective include a study by Maclure et al. (2006) on how playing bingo
allows her female respondents to cope with the everyday stresses of being responsible for
domestic affairs while simultaneously facing social realities characterized by “the lack of
economic and job-related power” (Ibid: 182). This analysis was echoed and elaborated on
by Casey (2008) who empirically developed the themes on gender, class and
consumption. Earlier studies by Zola (1963) and Herman (1967) also examined the social
utility of off- and on-track horseracing for working-class men who require an outlet to
vent their frustrations on the mainstream middle-class „system‟ while also seeking
alternative arenas to obtain achievement and recognition through the exercise of skill and
knowledge during the process of bet selection.
Also relevant is Light‟s (1977) research on impoverished black ghettos in the
United States where numbers gambling served as an alternative financial institution for
the economically marginalized. Allen (2005: 203) though, was more critical of such
“functionalist” explanations and her observations at a similar research site argued that the
“habitus” of the horse-track betting represents a blatant rejection of capitalism‟s

“normative institutionalized structures of investment, wage labour and reward”.
In sum, the analyses in all these works argued that important thematic links could
be established between gambling experiences, the ethnic, gender and class identities of
the gamblers, as well as the larger social context. However, there also exists a general

13


tendency to approach gambling as a mitigating device for the negative effects stemming
from dysfunctionalities of wider social structures. This becomes theoretically problematic
because such conceptions of gambling treat it merely as a reactionary coping mechanism;
thereby failing to appreciate the element of initiative present in gambling participation
and how it actually involves the active management of resources as well as social and
cultural forms of capital by minority groups in their attempts to negotiate upward
mobility for both their gambling „careers‟ and their social positions.
In other words, the conceptual dichotomy of treating gambling for the lower
classes as either a “safety-valve” or form of “resistance” tends to gloss over the
hierarchical dynamics found within the sophisticated norms of gambling and its
interpersonal networks. Furthermore, most scholars of gambling have limited their field
research to only the sites where gambling occurs and therefore fail to explore the
“background” processes that take place in the lead up to, as well as after the act of
gambling. These include the knowledge gathering, planning, networking and even their
evaluation of their gambling experiences in relation to their lived realities.
Thus far, only Casey and Light have extended their empirical focus to incorporate
data from the other facets of their respondents‟ lives apart from gambling. For them, the
study of gambling illuminates important thematic dimensions about the lived experiences
of social minorities; dimensions that are distinct from, yet inextricably intertwined with
the more established spheres of the family, work and the community. Thus, while
gambling is usually experienced and framed as „leisure activity‟, or as „action‟-filled
events that are (Goffman, 1967) distinctly bracketed from other more „ordinary‟ spheres

of life, such as work and family, scholars like Casey and Light demonstrate that a more

14


contextually nuanced understanding of gambling is required to holistically explore the
meanings, resource flows and social interactions that constitute yet transcend the
immediate and bounded experience of gambling.
Therefore, due to its capacity for producing meanings and transferring financial
resources, gambling experiences establish a dynamic and „symbiotic‟ relationship to
other aspects of an individual‟s lived reality; on the one hand, gambling activities are
influenced and interpreted through immanent socio-biographical processes such as ethnic
identities and social class; on the other, individuals may also draw on gambling networks‟
potential to generate financial capital as a means of coping with, or even transcending the
contingencies resulting from their social positions.
Gambling networks embody a unique social character due to the relatively
informal nature of their connections, which are simultaneously substantial and concrete
enough for the interchange of financial resources to take place with the minimum levels
of trust required. The question to be raised and answered here pertains to the how the
dynamics of such networks play out within a diverse and hierarchical ethnic social milieu
that also sees significant gaps between income groups. Thus, taking the lead from such
an approach to gambling, this thesis intends to document and analyze the ethno-racial and
class processes inherent in the social spheres of gambling in Singapore. In order to do so,
the empirical scope of analysis could therefore be extended to include both the immediate
networks associated with gambling and the wider circle of social relations where
resources are constantly circulated between.
In addition, it was discovered that the resource-based exchanges occurring within
such networks tended to be structured by ethno-racially associated forms of „rationality‟,

15

which my respondents generally perceive as constituting a cultural marker that is not
only used to distinguish between the majority and minority ethnic groups, but also justify
their respective positions within the existing socio-ethnic hierarchy. Simply put, along
with physical and cultural forms of delineations between the Chinese and Malays, such as
skin colour, dress, religion and language, there are also strong stereotypical perceptions
about how these respective ethnic groups have different „ways of thinking‟ or decisionmaking processes; especially with regards to managing financial and economic resources.
Through selected verbatim excerpts of empirical data, I will demonstrate how such
perceptions are held by both majority and minority ethnic group members alike and
actively exert an influence on structuring the patterns of social action and interaction
amongst my pool of informants. However, while there exists an almost self-fulfilling
cyclical process of internalizing and reifying these ethno-racial stereotypes, it was noted
that there is also significant leeway for their rejection, and even capitalization on the part
of minorities in terms of obtaining resources.
Thus, the analyses in this thesis will argue that gambling participation in a
majority dominated setting not only serves as an important opportunity for working class
minority gamblers to access a nexus of informal capital and resources, but also allows
them the capacity to resist, negotiate, but in most cases, also indirectly reinforce the
prevalent racial hierarchy as well as ideas of racio-class associated rationalities.

1.5

Studying Gambling in Singapore: The Importance of Ethno-Class Dimensions
A previously barren field of study, the stock of academic literature on gambling in

Singapore only began to really flourish from 2005 onwards; coinciding with the
government‟s official decision to construct the country‟s first casinos (ST 2005 April 13).
16

Since then, the ensuing “casino debate” led to the subsequent medicalization of gambling
and the introduction of the “problem gambler” as a category. Through a thorough and
critical analysis of the state‟s discourse on gambling, Zhu (2008: 45) succinctly argued
that the framing of gambling as a potentially addictive and pathological behaviour
facilitates the dissociation of the Singapore state from being responsible for any adverse
social consequences that the public may attribute to it due to its decision to build two
casinos. This is done mainly by constructing a paradigm that locates the source of
socially deviant behaviour (in this case pathological gambling) within the individual.
Therefore, the role that the state has delineated for itself lies only to the treatment and
minimization of the effects of a clearly individualized problem.
Thus, in order to shore up the legitimacy of such an ideological discourse of
medicalizing gambling, it was imperative for the government to consult with and obtain
the support of a whole slew of “experts” in the field of gambling behaviour. This led to
the founding of the state sponsored National Council on Problem Gambling, which was
set up in 2005 with the explicit objective of providing “counseling, legal and
rehabilitative services” as well as “advice and feedback” to the government (National
Council on Problem Gambling, 2005; emphasis mine).
Unfortunately however, the majority of approaches in local gambling literature
have been from the perspectives of economics, governance, medicine and the psysciences. Works from the former two disciplines generally address the issue of regulating
illegal forms of gambling as well as assessing the economic and social impacts of
Singapore‟s decision to build a casino as means of increasing tourism-generated revenue
(Henderson, 2006; Ng, 2006; Swafford, 2006; Hoong, 2008). As their analytical

17


objectives tend to be macroeconomic in nature, there is barely any theoretical space to
explore the more “grounded” and subjective manifestations of gambling. As for the latter
two academic fields, their preoccupation with diagnosing and remedying the effects of

“problem gambling” has resulted in an excessive focus on highly de-contextualized and
individualized factors affecting gambling behaviour (Zangeneh, Grunfeld and Koenig,
2008; Dickerson and O‟Connor, 2006; Ladouceur, Sylvain and Boutin, 2002; Whelan,
Meyers and Steenbergh, 2007).
In other words, influences from the social environment are either neglected or
treated as analytically separate and discrete. For instance, data is often gathered on the
age, ethnicity and income level of gamblers, but not on how these biographical
characteristics actually impact upon the processes of gambling as experienced by
individuals. This is largely due to an overly reductionistic conception of gambling as a
simple act of betting over the outcomes of events which have an element of uncertainty.
Such an understanding overlooks the fact that gambling in praxis is intrinsically a social
process that inherently possesses and requires a multitude of subjective meanings,
knowledge, resources and interpersonal relations that extend beyond the domain of
gambling and into other areas of a gambler‟s life, especially with respect to consumption.
Thus, amidst the dearth of gambling studies in Singapore, there seems to be a further
poverty in the scholarly knowledge on how gambling processes are related to social
structures as well as the dynamics of their operation at the “everyday” and interactional
level.
This latter aspect of interactivity in gambling is seldom appreciated because
gamblers are often perceived to be competing solely against the “house”, which has also

18


been interpreted as an abstract representation of the “system” (Zola, 1963) or even the
larger “risk society” (Tay, 2006). However, an important but largely ignored social
dimension of the gambling experience involves the indirect competition with other
gamblers. While the various ethnographic observations of gambler interactions within
social settings have reported that a general sense of camaraderie and bonding exists
between punters, there is also the knowledge that the payouts for winning bets are

largely, if not entirely financed by lost bets. This element of competition was alluded to
by Casey, Zola, Tan and Soo when they demonstrated that although luck is believed to be
an essential determinant of success in gambling, gamblers still channel extensive amounts
of resources and effort towards obtaining knowledge, “honing” their betting skills as well
as augmenting their chances of winning. However, it is apparent in my data that for
gamblers coming from relatively similar socioeconomic backgrounds, such resources,
knowledge and skills also assume an ethno-racial complexion.
With regards to the relationship between ethnicity and gambling, it is a widely
accepted fact in Singapore (and most parts of the world) that the Chinese are virtually
“culturally” inclined to gamble. It is not uncommon for academic articles to begin their
analyses with a point similar to that made by Arthur, Tong, Chen et al. (2008) in the
introductory section of their study on gambling behaviour among Singaporean university
students:
Gambling has been an integral part of Chinese culture for centuries. Luck and fate play
important parts of in the daily lives of the Chinese. […] Games of luck such as
mahjong…promote social interaction… and enable the younger Chinese generation to be
much early on exposed to gambling behaviour. […] There is thus a possibility that
perceptions of gambling as part of the cultural lifestyle, history and tradition have
enabled them to incorporate values and beliefs that approve gambling behaviour. […]
Singapore is made up of a predominantly Chinese population. As such there is a notion
that the incidence of gambling behaviour…is fairly accepted even at a younger age.

19


Even

government-sanctioned

reports

on

gambling

continually emphasize

the

overwhelmingly higher participation rates of the Chinese in comparison to the other
ethnic groups (Ministry of Community Development Youth and Sport, 2005; 2008;
National Council on Problem Gambling, 2007). However, while there seems little
evidence to disprove the validity of the assertion that the Chinese are culturally
predisposed to gamble, I would like to point out the tendency for most researchers to
implicitly assume that the Chinese constitute the only significant ethnic group amongst
the total population of gamblers. This is evident in the majority of studies which, despite
admitting to the appeal of gambling across ethnic groups, fail to address the impact of
ethnic differences in gambling experiences; possibly due to the perception that either
gamblers in “predominantly Chinese” Singapore are more or less ethnically homogenous,
or that ethnicity had little or no influence on the gambling behaviour of their sample
population.
Such perceptions have nevertheless been falsified by two in-depth academic
exercises from the field of sociology. Tan‟s (1995) dissertation, which adopted the socialpsychological approach to examine the normative contingencies employed by gamblers
to rationalize their actions, was the first study to highlight and explore the importance of
ethnic identity in colouring the meaning-making “schemes” that gamblers interpret their
experiences with. Her sole interview with a Malay-Muslim female respondent revealed
how having a religious identity that explicitly opposes gambling does not necessarily
prevent an individual from gambling altogether, rather it compels one to reinterpret
gambling as a trivial activity with a minor influence on one‟s life. Although this seems to

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reinforce the insignificance of gambling participation among Malay-Muslims, data from
an earlier and more ethnographic work by Soo (1991) suggests otherwise.
In one of the most detailed comparative accounts of the beliefs and practices
between Chinese, Malay-Muslim and Hindu gamblers to date, Soo reported three
extremely enlightening points which are of central relevance to the analytical themes of
this thesis; firstly, her revelation that Malays in Sumatra had gambling as one of their
chief forms of recreation despite the majority of them being Muslims. Secondly, in her
conclusion, she stated that:
Perhaps Islam‟s emphasis on „otherworldliness‟ for the Muslim punters is
counterbalanced by societal pressures (ie. a highly competitive society which values
financial affluence and personal success). In the words of a Muslim punter, “Others
(Chinese punters) seem to win easy money from this. It‟s natural that we want to try our
luck too. […] money is hard to come by these days. (Soo, 1991: 108)

This underscores that the negotiation of one‟s religious identity is framed, filtered and to
an extent, even shaped by the contingencies of class realities. Thus, the belief in religion,
in this case Islam, does not simply function as an obstacle to the actions of MalayMuslim gamblers, but instead works as an interpretive frame of reference that gives
meaning to and structures their actions in ways that are qualitatively different from other
ethnic groups.
Additionally, the quote from her Muslim informant illuminates a process of
“othering” where the Chinese are not only seen as different, but also better gamblers.
This leads to the third important point raised by Soo when she briefly commented that the
sharing of similar gambling “philosophies” between the various ethnic groups, as well as
the “possible diffusion of some Chinese ideas across ethnic boundaries in Singapore”,
could be due to the influence of the Chinese majority (Ibid: 109). I argue that while her

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observation here is astute, she clearly overlooks the integral relationship between power
and culture and the political process in which the norms and ideas of the majority become
institutionalized as “mainstream”; thereby exerting hegemonic influence over minority
groups. In a subsequent chapter, I will demonstrate how the socioeconomic and political
dominance of the Chinese has facilitated the preeminence of some of its cultural values,
which have been perpetuated as self-evident “truths” across ethnic groups and therefore
serve to culturally underpin the prevailing ethno-racial hierarchy in Singapore society.

1.6

Summary
In conclusion, this chapter sought to highlight gambling‟s socio-cultural

dimensions and networked character, in order to understand the phenomenon as a
cultural-economic process that has social variations. Such an approach will be necessary
to establish the dynamic relationship between the empirical premise of gambling
activities and the social institutions of ethnicity and class. In the context of Singapore, the
racialization of gambling as a preoccupation of the Chinese majority has overshadowed
attempts to explore the interethnic dynamics present in the gambling participation of
members of minority social groups, especially in the informal spheres. Historical
evidence5, popular films and anecdotal data would support the notion that Malays have
been gambling in larger numbers than publicly perceived, just that they do so in less
conspicuous working class social settings. Additionally, it is in such settings where
ethnicity is utilized as a resource-gaining strategy involving a dynamic process of capital
conversion and activation. Ultimately, this thesis will contend that while racial

5

A report compiled in 1887 entitled, „The Commission Appointed to Enquire into the Question of Public
Gambling in The Straits Settlements‟ revealed that Malays were involved, albeit in lower ranks of the
hierarchy, in the operation of gambling dens in Singapore and Malaysia.

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hierarchies are reproduced within the context of informal gambling networks, the access
to the nexus of ethnic-based social, cultural and economic capital that gambling affords to
minorities constitutes an outlet in which they may negotiate more favourable social
positions. Paradoxically however, the pathways to such social transcendence usually
require the implicit acceptance of the cultural and rationality structures of the majority
ethnic and class group.

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Chapter 2
Methodological Reflections

The purpose of this chapter is fourfold; firstly, to provide a detailed description of
the research methods employed during the course of data generation; secondly, as an
exercise in reflexivity to discuss how specific aspects of my biography and my
relationship to the informants may have affected the quality of their responses; thirdly, to
draw some analytical insights from certain contingencies arising during the of conduct of
fieldwork and finally, to discuss the limitations resulting from such exigencies as well as
the steps that were taken to circumvent or mitigate any negative influences they may have
been exerted on the research process as a whole.

2.1

Locating the Sample Population: Issues with Establishing Trust and Rapport
This section will discuss the issues involved in gaining access to the various

sample groups interviewed for this study. The importance of establishing rapport with
each informant cannot be overstated due to the highly sensitive nature of the questions
being asked, especially for those that dealt with perceptions of racial groups, degree of
involvement in illicit gambling activities and expenditure. In most occasions where the
informants only agreed to a single meeting, there was a tendency for them to openly
question the relevance of such questions to the research topic as well as express
reluctance in answering them, specifically those pertaining to race and their management
of finances. These instances were usually defused by my insistence that my questions
were simply a genuine attempt at conducting a thorough study and the reiteration that
their identities would be completely protected. Admittedly, this line of reasoning did not

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always alleviate all the apprehensions my informants had, but interestingly,
approximately half of them proceeded to share their answers, albeit very cautiously but
also more freely, after enquiring if I had asked the question to other informants. I also
saw this as an opportunity display some “cultural knowledge” by quoting some of my
previous informants‟ use of informal and “legally questionable” strategies in an attempt
to prompt and encourage the sharing of more culturally nuanced descriptions of
experiences. Below is an example of such interchanges.
Interviewer: Just now you said you sometimes you will lose a lot of money and then
sometimes win a lot… When you lose so much, what do you do to… apa Abang buat
untuk cari duit?[What did you do to obtain money?]
Zain: Ah…. Ada la, pinjam skit, gadai pun Abang pernah buat…Eh Ni soalan ada tanya
Dino tak? [I borrowed small amounts from people, pawned some valuables… did you ask

such questions to Dino too?]
Interviewer: Ada…soalan soalan ni semua sama. Dino kata dia ajak Zain buat “project”
dengan dia eh? Ni project macham “rolling” ah? [Yes, all the questions are the same.
Dino said he asked you to join him in some „project‟, was it similar to “rolling”]
Zain: Ah ah ye, Dino kan banyak project, dia cakap ada satu project… eh ni jangan
bilang orang lain tau?... ada project ni boleh dapat banyak duit… tapi kena keluar sikit
duit… [Yes, that Dino has a lot of “projects”. There is this one project, but don‟t tell
anyone else alright? This project can make a lot of money, but first you have to have
some capital to start with].

Thus although I lacked the opportunity to establish rapport with some informants, I tried
to gain their trust through the endorsement by a known previous informant. The
substantial amount of trust already present within the relationships between LIMM
gamblers, which probably had been generated from their mutual membership in informal
and illegal networks, was essential in creating a form of “grafted” rapport that facilitated
fostering feelings of familiarity and ease while sharing their experiences.

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