KUCHING – MP for Kuching, Chong Chieng Jen showed a RM1 ticket with an extra 10 cents for government tax on July 25th bought by a friend this morning.

Chong said to his understanding, Telelink was operating without licences in Sarawak and if the government were to allow it to be operated, it was posing an extra burden to the people.He said at the moment, Toto, Big Sweep and Magnum has been each operating 176 times a year including 20 special draws each.For a caring government, Chong said they should not allow another lottery company to operate in the state further burdening the people especially the poorer group.

If the company is operating illegally, why are the authority not doing anything, he asked.Chong said from an answer he obtained in Parliament in 2009, the government obtained revenue from three companies, Magnum, Toto and Telelink amounting to RM7.933 million per draw.In a special draw, the government got the revenue of RM1.996 million per draw from Big sweep.


For Sarawak, he said sales tax from the lottery was over RM80 million in a year. He hoped that the government would do something to prevent the people from gambling more.

Meanwhile, early this year, Minister of Environment and Public health, Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh said 28 outlets of Telelink were operating illegally in the state. He said he had already asked the authorities to close down such outlets.
Some 14 outlets had been closed down in 2008 and actions taken. However, some outlets continued to reopen after being closed down