I refer to Mr Tang Fook Meng’s letter calling for Singapore Pools to restrict the number of large jackpot draws (“Restrict the number of large jackpot draws”, July 25) so as to discourage problem gambling.

Companies and organisations will hold promotions from time to time. While boosting profit remains the prime motivation for holding such promotions, we have to ascertain who the ultimate beneficiaries are.

Singapore Pools has been a big sponsor of charities and community events. Proceeds of bets, minus operating costs, are channelled to many such causes.

A S$5 million draw is not too large, considering that in other countries, jackpots run into the hundreds of millions. In fact, to address the issue of large jackpots, Singapore Pools has restricted the cascading of TOTO jackpots to no more than four draws.

Surveys have also indicated that total bets in 4D and horseracing are much higher than those in TOTO, even without any promotions.