The Malacca government plans to station a religious officer at every licensed gaming outlet in the state in what Chief Minister Idris Haron described as a last-ditch effort to prevent Muslims from gambling.  

Idris said the religious officers would be on duty round-the-clock at a checkpoint at the gaming outlets.

“However, compulsive gamblers are bound to use middlemen... in the end, it comes down to one's own self,” he said when replying to a supplementary question from Md Rawi Mahmud (BN-Tanjung Bidara) in the state legislative assembly.

Md Rawi had sought a clarification on the licensed gaming outlets opened in Muslim-majority areas in the state.

Idris said the state government would advise the operators of the gaming outlets to help set up these checkpoints.

Earlier, replying to a question from Goh Leong San (DAP-Duyong) on the slot machines in Malacca, Idris said that this year the authorities conducted 86 raids on premises suspected to run the illegal activity.

“This resulted in the seizure of 382 machines and the arrests of 53 Malays, 27 Chinese, six Indians and two Kadazans,” he said.

The chief minister also said that the state government did not rule out the possibility of giving more powers to the local authorities to curb gambling activities.

He said this encompassed the administrative system governing approvals for use of business premises so as to prevent their misuse by the owners for immoral activities.

- Bernama