Malaysia still mulling gambling law changes

Malaysia’s continuing fight against illegal gambling includes amendments to the Common Gaming Houses Act of 1953, or perhaps even completely fresh and dedicated legislation to deal with the main problem of online gambling, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said this week in a progress report on the project.

Pending a cabinet decision, work by the Home Ministry and the Royal Malaysia Police was continuing on possible drafts, he said.

“Special attention should be given to improve the online gambling law because online gambling activities, which can be done via smartphones, are fast becoming rampant right now,” Ahmad Zahid, who is also Home Minister, told reporters after attending the National Transformation 2050 (TN50) dialogue at Universiti Putra Malaysia.

The deputy PM revealed that liaison with Interpol and various telecommunication companies in Macau, Las Vegas and an unnamed Asean country, had been established with a view to preventing the spread of online gambling in Malaysia. He was not specific regarding what this collaboration might entail.

He said that police operations against illegal gambling had intensified since the appointment last September as chief of police of Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun, and that investigative successes had resulted in the deportation of 416 China nationals believed to be involved in a Macau scam syndicate, and efforts are being intensified to investigate 100 other suspects prior to deportation to their countries of origin.

The Selangor and Penang provinces had been the main targets in almost 6,000 police raids since the appointment of the new police chief, the minister said.

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