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Vietnamese Weigh The Pros and Cons of Legalizing GamblingVietnamese officials and citizens are currently engaged in weighing the effect that gambling has had on their country in the past several years, and considering whether, and how, to legalize some types of gambling.Gambling and corruption have been increasingly associated in the Vietnamese news. Just last December, two national team soccer players were arrested on charges on charges of fixing matches at the South East Asian Games. Also, just a few days later, several players were arrested for taking bribes for match- fixing from gambling operators. These gambling- accused players followed on the heels of over 20 other players, referees, coaches, and other officials awaiting trial on charges of match- fixing. However, the most inflammatory incident of gambling activity and corruption occurred in January, when a senior government official was caught gambling millions of dollars on soccer matches. The large amount of money he gambled was several hundred times larger than his yearly salary as the senior director at the Ministry of Transport, making the case clearly an incident of corruption and graft. Many Vietnamese people say that legalizing at least some forms of gambling would help prevent this kind of illicit activity from occurring, at least to a certain extent, by giving the Vietnamese people a legal outlet in which to pursue a centuries- old tradition. At the present time, almost all forms of gambling are illegal in Vietnam. The only exceptions are a small number of license gambling venues. Gambling, say those who are proponents of the legalization of at least some forms of gambling, is a time- honored popular Vietnamese activity. They point to the fact that, on an average evening in a Vietnamese town, people gather to play card games and engage in other gambling activities for money. Especially around the Lunar New Year, when Vietnamese traditionally give large gifts of money to family members, large numbers of people engage in gambling activities. Sports betting, especially on soccer games, is one of the most popular gambling activities in the country. As it currently stands, many Vietnamese people use offshore gambling firms, such as those located in Great Britain, to place bets. If the government legalized certain forms of gambling, many people here say, it could the tax the revenue. Instead, as the system operates today, foreign companies are the only ones that benefit financially from the popularity of gambling activities among the Vietnamese people. "The Vietnamese have been gambling for generations. What we really need to worry about is the scale of gambling, as well as the sources of finance that people use," Tran Viet Trung, deputy head of the Vietnamese Anti-social Vices Department, told reporters.
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