Share stats of all gambling help centres

I refer to the report “Close to 60% rise in problem gambling cases seen at designated help centres: Chuan-Jin” (July 14, online).

It stated that the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s two designated help centres handled about 1,000 more cases from 2012 to 2014 than from 2009 to 2011.

The basis of comparison is puzzling, however: Only one year, 2009, in that first three-year period was before the casinos opened.

One Hope Centre handled 134 gambling cases in 2010, a far smaller number than that in 2009, and about 1,000 cases in the past three years.

Now, we counsel more than 500 cases a year. Post-2010, our gambling cases have risen by more than 250 per cent.

Would the ministry share the number of cases each of its designated centres handled in 2009 and in each subsequent year, so we know the casinos’ contribution to gambling cases?

We would be even better informed if we know the number of cases, and the percentage increase, handled by all the other centres.