wfn.org | Lotto Fever Plagues Taiwan

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Taiwan Church News 2609, March 3rd 2002
Reported by Tainan Staff, Written by David Alexander

    Since the new game opened on January 17th Taiwan has
been gripped in a mania of Lotto fever.  Various types of
social ills have emerged, including suicides of those who
failed to win, and groups of people traveling to sales agents
in distant places because they were seen to be "lucky".  The
paper imported for printing of tickets, a supply said to be
sufficient for use in the USA for six months, was gone in less
than two months.  Taiwan's Vice President Lu Sui-lian has
referred to what has happened as a "social rock slide".
Economics Minister Lee Yong-san has called loudly for the
public not to get overheated.  Clergy have, by and large,
condemned the game's "public welfare" marketing angle as a
lie, and equated it with the basest forms of gambling.
    The Taiwan Church News conducted an informal telephone
poll of forty Presbyterian clergy in and around the city of
Tainan, in Southern Taiwan.  Thirty eight of those responding
indicated disapproval of lotto. Many believed that playing lotto
is a form of gambling. Others said that the game creates the
impression that one can make great advances with little effort
and that it nourishes the greedy side of human nature.
    Respondents did not agree with the measures the government
has taken to institute and regulate the game.  They feel that
the government's role is to protect the welfare of the citizens,
and not to entice people into gambling.
    The Rev. Lin Wen-je of Ren-ho Presbyterian Church believes
that Taiwan's people have a strong cultural tendency towards
gambling, which is exacerbated by media attention given to
lotto.  Lan Ching-ho, who is the pastor of Tzo-chin church,
asserts that "the government promotes the lottery because
it wants money."
    Not all clergy oppose lotto, though.  A few said that this
society is already suffused with people playing the Hong
Kong "Mark Six" lotto illegally, and that sales of "scratch
and win" tickets are brisk.  "When the government runs a
game openly," they said, "it can more easily be regulated."
    The Rev. Lee Chong-yi of Trinity Church says, "We must
face lotto with good public education, damping false hope
and preventing people from harming themselves."
    May believers participate in lotto?  Most clergy opined
that they do not know who among their flocks is a player.
Twenty nine of those polled said that they have already
mentioned the game in sermons or other guidance offered in
church situations. Most common is the warning against
greed, and a reminder that ill gotten gain is not the same as
a blessing from God.

For more information: Ren Ho Church  FAX +886 6 268 7311
                                  Trinity Church FAX +886 6 237
5528
                                  Tzo-chin Church FAX +886 6 573
2017

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