Jockey Club's Triple Trio promotion 'disgusts' pressure group

A promotional tape broadcast at Jockey Club betting centres urging punters to bet on the Triple Trio has been attacked for promoting gambling.

The tape, being played at all centres, asks: 'Do you want a nice flat or a round-the-world trip? Betting on the Triple Trio will give you a good chance.' It ends with: 'The Triple Trio jackpot is the first step to make your dream come true.' Tonight's Triple Trio jackpot at the Sha Tin race meeting is expected to be $250 million. The Triple Trio requires selection of the first three horses in any order in three races.

The Society for Truth and Light pressure group criticised the tape as a gimmick to promote gambling. 'It is disgusting,' society general-secretary Choi Chi-sum said. 'What it is doing is to lure people to gamble. It is dangerous. Gambling has been causing many family and youth problems and there is no supervision on that kind of advertising.' Mr Choi said the Government should apply controls on the Jockey Club's promotions as strict as those imposed on tobacco advertising.

Wallace Shiu Ka-chun, executive committee member of the Hong Kong Social Workers' General Union, said: 'It is legal but it is absolutely unethical.' He said the Jockey Club was doing everything it could to make gambling a business instead of entertainment. The tape would not help young people, who would seek immediate success through gambling.

The Jockey Club denied the tape was an advertisement, saying its main task was to inform the public using its centres about the closing time for bets and the size of the jackpot.

'It is a service to the public. If we don't broadcast this information, they will ask our staff instead,' club spokesman Boyd Fung Yuk-fai said. He said the talk of a nice flat and a round-the-world trip was intended to deliver information in a more lively manner. He said the club would not withdraw the tape from centres.