© Provided by Sinar Daily Various tactics are used by gambling syndicates to encourage gamblers to continue betting. Thumbnail: Zainal Adnan – FILE PIX

SHAH ALAM – Pertubuhan IKRAM Malaysia (Ikram) has urged the government to intensify intelligence on ‘political patronage’ protecting online gambling because the problem can affect public interest.

Kuala Lumpur Ikram chief Zainal Adnan Abdul Halim said consistent efforts need to be made to identify the individuals involved.

“If the government especially the Home Affairs Ministry realises that the problem is taking place, they should collect evidence and punish individuals involved whether politicians, corporations or anyone else.

“When talking about providing protection for gambling, it shows that elements of corruption, abuse of power and malpractice also comes into play which makes the situation worse,” he said on Friday.

Zainal said that individuals with political influence use power to gain personal interests.

At the same time, he explained that the politicians’ action of providing protection had affected the society adversely.

“The implication which we can see is a society that is addicted to gambling. Those people don’t care if they run out of money, they are even willing to borrow money and pawn things,” he said.

In the meantime, Zainal hopes that the government will realise that the existing act related to gambling needs to be re-enacted according to the current situation.

He explained that it is difficult to eradicate the problem because of the way that gambling has evolved and is not in accordance with the current act.