Casinos a huge sucess despite

[ha ha ha ha]

.. what some clowns here were predicting.

Kubes will come in soon to say that the accounts are being cooked up.

[How could we forget]

Could you ever forget these Kubic bloopers:

"I just don't get the whole IR concept, and why it makes any sense for SG.  They missed the boat by 15 years to get this setup and there is just nothing distictive that would make the whales want to come here."

"It will take many years, for these IRs to be a success, if they ever are."


Dope!!

[Agent007]

He is an Aussie remember!

[and what]

He is an Aussie remember!

is your excuse ?

[Please!!!]

He is an Aussie remember!

You sure Kubes is an Aussie? Aussies normally don't winge so much.

[fareastjunebug]

Calling all casino supporters...

I would define a business as a big success if it could sustain a >15% return on investment over 5 years.

So what is the annual rate of return on these investments? Those resorts were expensive to build. And are you willing to take a position that it will continue after the initial bling has worn off.

[scarbowl]

Why the skepticism?  These are smart businessmen/women and they know how to make money.  They wouldn't invest if they didn't think there was a strong return.  There are casinos all over the world and they make money for  the investors.  Why not here in Singapore as well?  What factors are operative here that would prevent the same positive return that is seen elsewhere?

[Ozymandiasss]

Why the skepticism?  These are smart businessmen/women and they know how to make money.  They wouldn't invest if they didn't think there was a strong return.  There are casinos all over the world and they make money for  the investors.  Why not here in Singapore as well?  What factors are operative here that would prevent the same positive return that is seen elsewhere?

Nothing positive is ever associated with a
casino business. No elaboration required.
Time will tell.

[Kubes.SG]

I thought I had missed some new announcement about the success of the IRs, but some substantial google work turned up nothing.  You have been listening too much to the domestic propaganda.

The fact is that it is far too early to tell.  The track record so far is not good.  They have opened 6 months late, with many facilities still not open, or closed because they are dangerous or built wrong.  The total cost was at least 30% higher than budgeted.  There have been dozens maybe hundreds of arrests for crimes linked to the casinos.  The first conference resulted in multiple law suits.  Seriously, "farcical" would be the right word to describe all this, but of course the SG euphemistic term is "soft launch".  And if I were a SG citizen/PR who has to pay $100 for each visit I would be well pissed off.


Here is the UK Financial Times thinks of the IRs last month:

A park and pool 200m above Singapore

By Kevin Brown

Published: July 3 2010 00:12 | Last updated: July 3 2010 00:12

When a man spends £3.7bn on a construction project, he is liable to expect it to open on time. So it was no surprise that Sheldon Adelson, chairman of Las Vegas Sands, one of the world’s biggest casino operators, sounded slightly vexed on June 23 when he formally opened the Marina Bay Sands hotel and casino complex in Singapore.

The opening party was lavish – with 2,500 guests and a performance by Diana Ross – but it was six months late: the complex had been scheduled to open last December at a cost of £2.4bn. To make things worse, the company is already locked into an embarrassing legal dispute with a group of lawyers who held the resort’s first convention. They claim the air-conditioning didn’t work and the lavatories wouldn’t flush.

After a night in the hotel, I can see why Adelson might be cross. The hotel boasts no fewer than five celebrity-chef restaurants, two of them – Santi and Guy Savoy – run by chefs whose original establishments each have three Michelin stars. But when I visited, the day after the opening, two were still being fitted out, as were two of the five bars, and four of the nine non-celebrity restaurants. The convention centre – a cool 1m sq ft – opened a couple of months ago, but neither of the two theatres is open, nor is the museum and art gallery. And while the shopping mall is taking money, with more than 300 shops promised – think Tiffany, Jimmy Choo and La Perla – many premises are yet to be occupied.

Clearly, then, this is a work in progress. And yet all the signs are that Adelson has backed a big winner at Marina Bay, one of two so-called integrated resorts that are opening this year as part of a Singapore government plan to help the island shed its international image as a nanny state that jails people for chewing gum.

According to Las Vegas Sands, visitor numbers have hit 25,000 a day, and a rise to 70,000 is forecast for next year when the resort is fully open. That translates to annual pre-tax profits of around £660m and a payback time of just five years or so. Singapore’s other new casino, opened in January on the offshore island of Sentosa by Genting, a Malaysian gaming and hotels group, is also doing well.

The two resorts represent an astonishing policy change by Singapore’s government. Lee Kuan Yew, founding prime minster of the city state, was initially opposed to casinos because of the link he perceived between gambling and crime. His views were endorsed as recently as 2002 by Lee Hsien Loong, the present prime minister and Kuan Yew’s eldest son.

But since then views have softened (though chewing gum is still hard to come by, nicotine or “therapeutic” chewing gum is permitted). Upmarket tourism has come to be seen as essential to Singapore’s continued economic growth as manufacturing, financial and port activities.

Economic success or not, the cultural strains imposed by the new policy are clearly visible in the casino. Make sure you have your passport with you if you’re visiting: to avoid an S$100 (£48) entry charge levied on Singaporean citizens and permanent residents, you have to prove you’re a foreign visitor. The charge, supposedly to deter gambling addiction, was introduced as a gesture to local protesters.

The high point of my stay – literally and emotionally – was the Skypark. I had been rather dismissive before I went up, jocularly likening the structure to a stranded boat, perched uncomfortably atop the three hotel towers by a freak incoming tide (it’s a comparison said to annoy Moshe Safdie, its architect).

I take it all back though. The view from the top is more than worth the ascent: you see Singapore laid out below you like a board game, the bay framed by the towers of the business district, the nicely preserved colonial quarter and the extraordinary East Coast park, a green strip running for more 20km up to Changi airport.

The Skypark platform is bigger than I expected – longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall, and greener than it looks in photographs, especially in the central section open only to hotel guests. Even from the public observation deck – it’s S$20 (£9.50) for an express lift to the top if you’re not a guest – you can see three countries: Singapore, of course, with the towers of Johor Bahru, capital of Malaysia’s Johor state, clearly visible across the narrow strip of water that divides the two countries, and Sumatra, the northern island of Indonesia, beckoning visitors from beyond the Strait of Malacca. And even if you don’t swim, you will find the Skypark’s infinity pool, which appears to overflow directly into the bay, 200m below, irresistible.

The Marina Bay Sands has views that match just about any city-centre hotel in the world, and that is as true of the bedrooms as the Skypark. My room’s floor-to-ceiling window looked out across the bay to the business district. The room was nicely proportioned, with a sofa, coffee table and an enormous bathroom. It had the usual light wood and beige furnishings of the 21st-century hotel, but with the lights from the high rises flashing and sparkling through the window, who cares what colour the sofa is?

I do have one complaint. Back in the room after visiting the casino, well-fed and mercifully free of casino losses, I decided to test the loo. It didn’t work. I thought briefly of a lawsuit, but decided to fix the flush instead. It’s not hard; you just reconnect the little hook on the plunger to the bottom of the lever on the lid. I may send Adelson a plumber’s bill, though.

Doubles from S$359 (£171), www.marinabaysands.com

Kevin Brown is the FT’s Asia regional correspondent

[Kubes.SG]

.. what some clowns here were predicting.

Kubes will come in soon to say that the accounts are being cooked up.

ha ha ha ha:

You call this success?  Letter to the ST today shows it is a failure.  I repeat the word that describes this to date: farcical.  Like so many things here, very high cost but very low quality. 

The SG Govt might be able to fool the naive and foolish SG tax-payers that it is all a huge success, but the word is out around the world that its a farce.  I will take them quite a while to get the quality up to 3-star standards.


ST Forum
Home > ST Forum > Story
Aug 14, 2010
Not the place to celebrate National Day

I CHECKED into the Marina Bay Sands integrated resort hotel on National Day to enjoy a panoramic view of the fireworks display over the waterfront.

But it was far from a world-class resort: Customers frustrated by their non-delightful experience transformed a well-appointed lobby into a market place.

We had to queue for hours to check into our rooms. I eventually got my keys and checked into my room at 7pm, four hours after the agreed time.

The water heater did not work, and when I reported the fault, the resort promised to resolve the situation within 45 minutes.

But I had to settle for a cold shower, six hours later.

At noon the next day, a hotel employee promptly knocked on my door informing us to check out, making us feel unwelcome.

When I left my room and tried to re-enter moments later to retrieve an item, my key was already disabled. In other words, I was locked out before my departure.

Reaching my room from the ground floor was an odyssey as the lift lobbies were crowded. Most of us had to wait a good 20 minutes before we could make our way into a vacant elevator.

My unpleasant experience suggests that the first-class hardware of Sands is poorly served by its third class 'software', or service.

I am puzzled why rooms were let to maximum capacity when Sands obviously had neither the manpower nor operational readiness to cope.

My unpleasant and disappointing National Day stay also raises the question of whether the hotel had the resources to meet the required safety guidelines for events like National Day.

Did the hotel also breach service guidelines by failing to check in guests at the agreed time?

Gerald Koh 

[ir fan]

The IR has been huge boost for singapore.  Its famous all over the world now and has transformed singapore into a luxury destination and even pushed the property prices high.  Overall yes I would say it as been a pretty big success. Not bad in a time where the rest of the world is struggling.  Just imagine how good it will be here when the west gets on its feet again.  Singapore has proved itself this time.

[Ozymandiassss]

The IR has been huge boost for singapore.  Its famous all over the world now and has transformed singapore into a luxury destination and even pushed the property prices high.  Overall yes I would say it as been a pretty big success. Not bad in a time where the rest of the world is struggling.  Just imagine how good it will be here when the west gets on its feet again.  Singapore has proved itself this time.

How do you measure success? The revenue from the casinos.
What kind of a crowd are drawn to casinos. Is this what you are
proud of and is this achievement? Singapore could have
been less money-driven and stayed the course and
continue to strive to be a centre of excellence in so many fields.
It could have made her one top city in the world.
Now it has been tainted.
 
 

[Question for Vulcanl]

V based upon your previous threads it would seem that you have a high regard for ethics and morality and doing the "right" thing regardless of law. If the casinos met yur investment criteria as stated above, or exceeded them, would you invest in the business or let your funds be invested in the business?

[phoenixrises]

Time will tell whether the IR's are successful projects or otherwise.  Large projects like these tend to have "teething troubles". Witness the chaos in T5 @ Heathrow where luggage had to be sent by road to Italy for sorting and shipping to the owners - T5 is operating well and smoothly now.

Often, there is pressure to launch or declare a project "live" and then the rest is a case of history repeating itself regardless of the country or the owners of the infrastructure...

[ir fan]

I have been to it many times already and I have to say, its impressive. It will pull the crowds from all over.  This is a luxury destination for the wealthy now.  It aimed to be a millionaires playground and the monaco of asia.  It certainly looks like its heading that way fast. Things are just booming here and dont show any sign of slowdown either. Got to take my hat of to Singapore, they have really shown the rest of the world up.