The 'Unholy Trinity'

The so called 'unholy trinity' on the front page of one of our local newspapers refers to the pact between loan sharks, illegal bookies and the VCD pirates. The main purpose of this union is to cash in on the World Cup fever among gamblers. Granted, there is a lot of money to be made but this group is doing it illegally. Whoever borrows from the loan sharks will have to pay a high interest rate. So, even if they win they won't be getting a lot. The eventual winners will still be the 'unholy threesome'.

You could say they are enterprising and in some cases ingenious. The authorities are having a hard time tackling this problem because most of the 'brains' are in the payroll of people like these enterprising groups. If you were working for the government, why would you want to crack your brains and risk your life when the promotions are not based on merit. The lazy, good-for-nothing collegue who sucks up to the boss and is probably of the same lineage always gets the promotions and other benefits.

I don't think the 'unholy trinity' are worried about the authorities. They are concentrating on getting as many punters as possible in order to make a killing before the world cup fever is over. But whatever it is, this is an ILLEGAL venture. They don't pay any money for a licence to do business, they don't pay taxes and I am sure their workers don't have EPF contributions. They do not contribute to the country at all. They only take for themselves. A legitimate businessman on the other hand does contribute to the nation even if he has an eye on making money for himself.

As to the part of those punters being 'willing victims', the government has been given a mandate to run this country which includes protecting the citizens from unscrupulous opportunist and sometimes from themselves also. Most of us won't last long if we lived in a free for all society. With so many scams going around, the individual is usually not that well equipped or knowledgeable to discern the true from the false. We need all the help we can get to see through these scams. As for the 'Ah Longs', one shouldn't even consider them as 'enterprising businessmen'. They are gangsters with ill-gotten gains who are trying to make more by hook or by crook.