SINGAPORE: Mr Chan Tai Pang, 66, is not your regular punter, but he hit the jackpot when the two Integrated Resorts (IRs) rolled into town.
Mr Chan's company, Laundry Network, has been providing services to Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) and Marina Bay Sands (MBS) over the last two years or so after clinching the contracts in 2009, months before the IRs opened their doors the following year.
Within the first
year, his company's revenue from providing laundry services for RWS hit
S$1 million. That figure has grown to S$6 million a year currently,
forming almost a third of its S$16 million total revenue.
The
company also made a combined S$9 million when it implemented a uniform
management system - which sends and collects uniforms for staff - for
both the IRs. Maintenance contracts with both, for this system, are
worth a total of S$500,000.
Correspondingly, Mr Chan grew his
staff by over 50 per cent, to more than 300 currently - with
Singaporeans making up six in 10 of his workers. About 80 employees are
dedicated to service RWS - its biggest client by far.
"It was a
big turning point for this company as we really grew... It is only
because of this demand that we could afford to implement the
technology," said Mr Chan. For instance, the company uses RFID (radio
frequency identification) to track the laundry.
It is estimated
that the IRs currently contribute about 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent of
Singapore's gross domestic product, a Ministry of Trade and Industry
(MTI) spokesperson said. The presence of the IRs also supports more than
40,000 jobs throughout the economy, she added.
Experts TODAY
spoke to said that the IRs' economic performances have met all
expectations in terms of tourism growth and job creation for
Singaporeans.
But for all the economic benefits - tourist
arrivals, new jobs, bumper contracts for Singapore companies, spin-off
businesses - that the IRs have generated, the social costs their casino
operations have brought remains a minefield for policy-makers.
And
after a blistering performance in the initial years - helping their
parent companies Genting Singapore (RWS) and Las Vegas Sands (MBS) to
record profits - the IRs' quarterly profits have shrunk in the past
months.
With or without the current economic uncertainties, the
IRs appear to have hit their peak in terms of generating economic
benefits to Singapore, experts said.
Las Vegas-based economist
Jonathan Galaviz of Galaviz & Co - which provides economic analysis
and feasibility studies for clients in casino gaming - said: "We feel
that the IRs in Singapore are near their maximum economic output
capability - there is very little orange juice left to squeeze out of
these oranges."
He added: "Whether you look at GDP contribution,
employment, or tourism inducement, all these measures point to the IRs
as having already provided their maximum upward value to the economic
dynamic of the country."
An MTI spokesperson suggested as much
when she noted that while the IRs have opened more attractions since
their opening, "we also need to take into account the possibility of the
IRs' novelty effect wearing off".
Businesses rejoice
Since MBS and RWS came to town, Singapore companies have clinched the bulk of the contracts awarded by the IRs.
To
date, RWS said it has awarded some 750 contracts worth a total of S$800
million to local firms, while MBS last year engaged Singapore-based
companies for nine out of 10 of its contracts with a combined value of
over S$350 million.
For just a single event at MBS, the orders
for Sing See Soon Florist & Landscape can be as many as 456 table
flowers, said its Vice-President of Sales and Marketing Gracelyn Lin.
The
90-year-old family-run business has dedicated one-eighth of its 55,000
sq ft office grounds in Punggol to store inventory for the IR. It has
also hired eight more workers (five are Singaporeans) and adopted a
computerised processing system after the company grew some 20 per cent
in its first year servicing MBS' contracts.
Transport company Sun
Gee Travel runs MBS' airport shuttle service for guests and also sends
the IR's overnight shift workers home.
Its director, Mr Ethan
Neo, said the company has had to hire more than 20 new drivers after it
was engaged by MBS. The company also bought 10 customised luxury buses
specially for MBS' airport shuttle service. The image of his workers has
also improved, said Mr Neo, adding that MBS required his drivers to don
smart uniforms and look after the needs of its guests.
Jobs for Singaporeans
Close
to three-quarters of RWS' 13,000 employees are Singaporeans and they
take up eight in 10 of its PME positions. For MBS, Singaporeans make up
more than three-fifths of the 9,400 full-time staff on its payroll.
Mr
James Tan, 69, landed a job at the Pantages Theatre in RWS' Universal
Studios Singapore - after the former engineer was turned away by all 10
engineering firms he approached. He had retired for less than three
months when he got bored and decided to return to the workforce.
Mr
Tan said: "Normally if you are over 50 years old, people say don't
bother going for interviews... I was quite surprised that RWS hired me."
For
five days a week, nine-and-a-half hours each day, he makes sure the
premises are clean and orderly and equipment is working. He also does a
spot of ushering. Although his pay is not as high as he used to get at
his previous job, Mr Tan said the increments he got from RWS have been
"quite reasonable" and the bonus has also been "quite substantial".
The
unique experience some jobs in the IRs offer was what made Ms Angeline
Foo, 33, leave the teaching profession after 13 years.
The
education manager at MBS' ArtScience Museum creates information material
about exhibitions and customises tours and workshops to different
groups of visitors, such as schoolchildren.
For instance, she had
to design a workshop for students that ties the Titanic exhibition the
IR had with the school's "English Language Week" - Ms Foo centred it
around the ship's postal services.
She said: "It's difficult to
find the same combination of work I do here elsewhere. It's really
exciting and challenging because there's more exposure - it's not just
physics and mathematics, there's Andy Warhol and Titanic - and you also
have to customise the experience for different visitors."
Economic benefits vs social costs
A
gaming analyst, who declined to be named due to company policy, said
there is more room for the IRs to grow - if the government is inclined
to let the IRs expand.
Pointing out that the MBS is at
99.8-per-cent hotel occupancy, he said: "If Singapore's largest hotel is
at the highest occupancy, then it means that if we want to grow the
business and create more jobs, more hotel rooms and facilities built
around the IRs can do it."
The analyst added that opening up the junket market "a lot more" is another possible way to grow the pie.
Any
discussion on the economic benefits generated by the IRs has to involve
the social costs of the presence of the casinos. There is no doubt that
Singapore has experienced "higher levels of social costs" because of
the IRs, said Mr Galaviz.
"The question remains whether the
economic benefits of the IRs outweigh these social costs - it is a
question that probably can never be answered," he added.
Member
of Parliament Seah Kian Peng, who chairs the Government Parliamentary
Committee for Social and Family Development, stressed that economic
benefits are "just one part" of the equation. Adding that the social
costs need to be continually monitored, he nevertheless said: "The
non-casino business has been quite good and has created a lot of value.
If it can create jobs, without the ills, then they should bring in more
of that."
As the IRs become a mainstay of the Singapore economy -
reaping the rewards as they provide another leg for the slowing economy
- Mr Galaviz said: "It will be important for the citizens of Singapore
to put direct pressure on the executive management of the IRs to take
social responsibility to the Singaporean community more seriously,
rather than just pressuring the Government to do so on their behalf."
- TODAY