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INTRODUCTION
Under Portuguese rule, gaming has been legalised in Macau since 1847 and this small former Asian overseas province of Portugal has become known worldwide as the 'Monte Carlo of the Orient'. The first casino monopoly franchise was granted to Tai Xing Company in 1937, but it was too conservative to exploit the full potential of the industry and only Chinese games were played in the casinos. In 1962, the government granted the Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (STDM)2 the monopoly rights to all forms of gambling. The exclusive gambling franchise of the STDM was extended in 1986 to 2001. Today, there arc three gaming licensees, namely Sociedade do Jogos de Macau (a subsidiary of STDM), Wynn Resorts and Galaxy Casino. The Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) government aims to turn Macau into an attractive tourist spot with Las Vegas-style mega-casino resorts. The number of visitors rose from 500,000 in 1961 to more than 10 million in 2001. In 2002, there were on average 30,000 visitors per day. With the huge revenue from gambling, Macau is able to maintain a free port status, invest in infrastructure' and adopt a low taxation policy. Thus Macau, like Nevada, has 'built government around the gaming industry' and could be called a 'Casino state'."
The STDM observed the rules of the game and ran as the sole operator under the exclusive franchise during the 1960s and 1970s. This centralisation of ownership seems to be a good way of running a gambling business in a small place like Macau. Owing to increasing competition from newly opened casinos in nearby areas like Thailand, Myanmar and Korea, and floating casinos in adjacent seas, however, there was a need for the STDM to reduce the administrative and marketing costs while attracting more customers. Thus, the STDM began to change their way of doing business through informal arrangement of gambling rooms' in which the 'dead' chips system and the 'bate-ficha business' became established in 1984.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
According to Chin's study on Chinese Subculture and Criminality,9 most Chinese agreed that there were gang members or triads10 in their societies controlling different illegal business. 'Few Chinese deny that gang members are active in their communities. The gangs arc involved in extortion, robbery, and...