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A report on a study commissioned by the Government on Hong Kong people's participation in gambling activities was released today (March 8). The results revealed that 62.3 per cent of the respondents took part in gambling activities in the past year, which showed a significant drop as compared with the results of similar studies conducted previously.
The Mark Six lottery was the most popular gambling activity in Hong Kong. Only 0.3 per cent of the respondents participated in illegal gambling activities in the past year.
At the press conference on the announcement of the results of the study, the Chairman of the Ping Wo Fund Advisory Committee, Dr Yau Wing-kwong, said, "We are happy to see that the prevalence rates of possible problem gamblers and possible pathological gamblers had slightly dropped, at 1.9 per cent and 1.4 per cent respectively. Respondents were in general quite aware of the gambling counselling hotline and the four counselling and treatment centres financed by the Ping Wo Fund.
"However, we are slightly concerned that among the younger generation, the prevalence rates of both possible problem gamblers and possible pathological gamblers had increased slightly as compared with those recorded in the previous study, at 1.4 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively. Less than half of the young respondents first took part in gambling before the age of 18, and social gambling such as mahjong and poker were the most popular gambling activities among them. Most of the young respondents first took part in gambling under the influence of family members, friends or classmates."
The study was financed by the Fund and conducted by the PolyU Technology & Consultancy Company Limited in 2011 through a telephone survey, a self-administered questionnaire survey, focus group discussions and individual interviews. Over 2,000 people aged from 15 to 64 participated in the telephone survey while about 4,000 self-administered questionnaires were received from students from secondary schools and vocational training colleges who were aged 18 or below.
Dr Yau said, "The findings confirmed the importance of publicity efforts in anti-gambling and the Government's enhanced public education targeting young people. We will continue to make use of the Fund to support suitable publicity and public education programmes, including publicising the services offered by the four centres to facilitate accessibility for gamblers and their family members who may be looking for guidance and assistance. We will also seek to enhance the awareness of the public, in particular young people and their parents, on the negative impact of gambling."
Attaching importance to public education, the Committee will launch a new TV drama series adapted from real-life stories this Sunday (March 11) and a new Announcement in the Public Interest to educate the general public on the negative impact of gambling. The Committee has also launched the Ping Wo Fund Sponsorship Scheme and the Ping Wo Fund School Project Grants since 2009 and 2010 respectively. The former provides sponsorship to non-government organisations to conduct public education programmes and activities, whereas the latter provides sponsorship to schools to organise education activities on prevention or alleviation of gambling-related problems among students.
A spokesman for the Home Affairs Bureau (HAB) said that the study's findings provided the Government with a useful set of updated statistics on Hong Kong people's participation in gambling activities.
In consultation with the Committee and taking into account the findings of the study, the Government would further devise appropriate strategies to address gambling-related problems in the community.
The report is now available on the HAB website
(www.hab.gov.hk/en/publications_and_press_releases/reports.htm).
In September 2003, the Government set up the Fund to finance preventive and remedial measures to address gambling-related problems, as well as the Committee to give advice on the use and application of the Fund. The study was carried out in 2011 to examine the gambling behaviour of Hong Kong people. On the advice of the Committee, the final report of the study has been accepted by the Government.
Ends/Thursday, March 8, 2012
Issued at HKT 16:20
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