In a golf club, a gamble fails as members revolt

ARCHIVES 2013

By admin-s On Jun 16, 2013

(TMI) – A controversial move by Kelab Golf Negara Subang (KGNS) to lease and relocate its gaming machines outside the clubhouse has offered a peek into the billion-ringgit slot machine industry controlled by a clutch of businessmen closely connected to Barisan Nasional (BN).

Tan Sri Megat Najmuddin Khas and other members of the management committee of the club for the year 2011-2012 were recently censured by club members for negligent and incompetent conduct and a breach of duty, according to documents sighted by The Malaysian Insider.

The Club Captain during that period was Dr Ronnie Yeo. He received a stronger rebuke for being a party to discussions on the relocation deal when he was employed by Waz Lian Recreation Sdn Bhd, the company owned by a tycoon who organised the massive show of support in Port Klang for Datuk Seri Najib Razak with 60,000 people turning up for the dinner.

A handful of Chinese tycoons own hundreds of licences issued by the Ministry of Finance to operate gaming machines. These machines are placed in private clubs around the city but are open to anyone who wants to try their luck. The tycoons with more licences are able to earn a profit of several million ringgit a month, some going as high as RM20 million a month, even after paying taxes to the government.

Because of the Finance Ministry’s tight control of licences under the Lottery Act, some of the tycoons have been turning their attention to gaming machines operated by golf clubs and sports clubs around the country, offering the clubs a contract to lease and relocate the machines outside the clubs.

In return, these gaming operators are prepared to pay the clubs a guaranteed amount monthly. And most of the time the guaranteed monthly compensation is more than what the club would have earned had the slot machines remained in its premises and been played only by club members.

But the problem with such sweet deals is that they appear to breach the conditions of the gaming licence set by the Finance Ministry. These include the need to place the slot machines on club premises and make sure that only club members can play.