Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Checks on Youths Entering Arcades and Regulations on Chance-based Arcade Games

Question:

Mr Yip Hon Weng: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether the Ministry will consider (i) implementing age verification checks in arcades to ensure compliance with the entry restrictions of those under 16 years old and (ii) collaborating with Ministry of Education to educate students on the underlying rationale of such restrictions; (b) whether data on the number of school-going youths who frequent arcades and their average expenditure is available; and (c) whether the Ministry will consider mandating the disclosure of data on the probability of winning top-tier prizes in chance-based arcade games.

Answer:

Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law:

1. To reduce the risk of truancy during school hours, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) requires amusement centre operators to conduct verification checks to ensure that persons below 16 years old are not admitted on a school day, except between 6.30pm and 11.59pm. The operators are also required to display signs at prominent locations within their premises to notify customers of the entry restrictions.

2. These requirements are imposed as licensing conditions under their Public Entertainment Licence. Operators who fail to comply may be subject to regulatory action under the Public Entertainments Act.

3. MHA does not track the number of students who patronise amusement centres, or the amount spent at the centres

4. We have observed that increasingly, games being offered in amusement centres have elements of chance, and high-value prizes are being offered. This may increase the risk of gambling inducement, in particular with vulnerable persons such as youths.

5. To reduce this risk, from 1 March 2024, MHA will restrict the value of prizes for amusement centre games to less than $100. We will also prohibit operators of amusement centres from offering cash, cash equivalents, credit, or merchant vouchers as prizes, as well as the sell-back of prizes to the operators.

6. We do not intend to require operators to display the odds of winning the games. Doing so may impose undue regulatory burden on the operators, which may not be proportionate to the gambling risks of such games. In addition, many of the games, such as "coin pushers", do not have clearly defined odds.

7. MHA will continue to monitor and review the safeguards against gambling inducement risks in such games.

8. As suggested by the Member, we will work with the Ministry of Education to remind students about the entry restrictions into amusement centres.