Malaysian Blitz on Internet Gambling

July 25, 2008 (InfoPowa) — Life for Internet cafe operators dabbling in online gambling in the Perak northern state of Malaysia is about to get tough, warn local government authorities and the Perak Cyber Centre Association.
 
The reason is a planned blitz against online gambling. "We have given a one-month notice to the cyber cafe operators," explained Nga Kor Ming, Chairman for the state's Education, Local Government, Housing and Public Transport Committee to the media, commenting that there had been too many complaints regarding Internet gambling by minors at cyber cafes.
 
"We are not saying all cyber cafes are operating like gambling dens," said Nga. "But there are some black sheep that even give loans to students and charge them loan shark interest. We want to tell such cyber cafe operators that we are going to close them down immediately. No compromises and no appeals."
 
He said there were 241 licensed cyber cafes in the state while another 19 operated without a licence.