hardboiled

house of broken tiles

by alice tse

It’s called “attack” gambling—wagering everything in a rash attempt to attain the “American Dream”—the most detrimental stage of gambling addiction. Social workers have laid claims that the proliferation of gambling addiction can only lead to other problems including, but not limited to, “domestic violence, identity theft, and bankruptcy,” and it affects families and communities, not just individuals. Gambling addiction has become alarmingly endemic in the Asian American community. Because seeking professional help, psychological disorders, and addiction are generally taboo in the Asian American community, only the symptoms of gambling addiction are treated—not the actual disease. Rather than coercing gambling addicts to seek professional help and lose face, families are inclined to give money to cover-up debts and in many ways, supporting and enabling the gambling addiction. Though the Asian American community has been given the honorable insignia of the “Model Minority”, it painfully overlooks the fact that today one in eight Asian Americans live in poverty with one in five Asian immigrants having earned less than a high school diploma (AALEAD). Poverty and low levels of education do not lead to gambling addiction but casinos offer an escape and an opportunity to gain great wealth. In a recent survey commissioned by a social service agency in San Francisco’s Chinatown, 70% of the residents interviewed ranked gambling as their community’s number one problem. The survey also found that at any given moment, Asian American and Asian immigrant patrons can comprise anywhere between 30% to 80% of the gamblers in casinos all across the nation, despite the fact that Asian Americans are only 5% of the population in America. About 21% of the individuals interviewed by the social service agency in Chinatown described themselves as pathological gamblers and 16% described themselves as problem gamblers. According to Asian Nation, an online information resource about the Asian American community, only 1.6% of Americans are recognized as pathological gamblers and 3% as problem gamblers. Why does this disparity exist?

While gambling addiction is becoming increasingly viewed as problematic, gambling has been prevalent in many Asian cultures and communities through games such as mah-jongg and pai gow. Assunta Ng, a longtime publisher of Northwest Asian Weekly and the Seattle Chinese, offers an explanation, “American guys, they go to bars after work. A lot of guys in Hong Kong, Taiwan, or Vietnam, they gamble. It’s an acceptable thing.” Furthermore, Connie Cheng, a clinical manager of adult mental health, attributes a “socialization factor” to gambling. Traditionally, mah-jongg tables were commonplaces for marriages to be arranged (between the parents of the bride and groom), networks to be connected, and friendships to be made. Even today, it is customary to see mah-jongg tables set up at weddings, family get-togethers, and even funerals. Beyond the “socialization factor” in Asian American gambling is the fascination with the properties of luck in many Asian cultures, particularly in the Chinese culture. The New Year, according to the Asian Nation, is a time of “heightened wagering” as the “bad luck” of the old year is replaced by the “good luck” of the New Year. Yet, the very existence of gambling within the cultures does not account for the staggering figures.

Casinos have even begun to target the Asian American community, by “catering” to Asian American needs and luring them with Holiday-themed events for Chinese New Year and the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, first-rate popular Asian musical acts, Asian foods—they even go so far as to send free buses to International Districts to bring regulars to their doors where they are greeted by personnel in their native language. They are doing quite a lot to attract these Asian American guests, but what kind of help are they offering to aid gambling addicts? Some radical reformers have called for a curtailing of casino hours to deter addicts and more moderate critics have insisted that signs in multiple languages with hot-line numbers be posted in clear view in the casinos.

Currently, the California’s Office of Problem Gambling is under-funded and under-organized; in 2003, the agency’s $3 million dollar budget, which consists of contributions from 26 Native-American run casinos (without the support 30 other casinos, card rooms, race tracks, or the state lottery), was left unspent entirely. Diane Ujiiye, the head of the problem gambling task force, laments that the inadequate budget is “unacceptable…what can you do with $3 million? Publish a couple of brochures and run a hotline?” In addition to the lack of agencies that are actually well-equipped to help addicts, there is a pressing need to establish more institutions that are specifically tailored for Asian American individuals that hire staff that are bilingual and are sensitive to the Asian mentality as Angela Lee, a recovering gambling addict, describes, “it’s shameful [in the Asian culture] to be emotionally weak, so you certainly don’t get up and bare your soul before a room full of strangers.”

However, the Asian American community is recognizing gambling addiction as a prominent issue and it is mobilizing to help treat addicts. NICOS Chinese Health Coalition, a coalition of healthcare organizations in Chinatown, focuses on researching issues, community mobilization and program implementation in the community, has done an extensive investigation on gambling. In January 2000, NICOS began to work on a campaign to recognize the issue of gambling and developed the Chinatown Community Problem Gambling Project to provide counselors, conduct research, and outreach to the community. As reported in AsianWeek, NICOS has launched an “aggressive media campaign targeting Bay Area Chinese Language newspapers, television, and radio” and has implemented a hot-line that tailors to Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), Korean, Vietnamese, and Russian speakers.

The critical need for institutions and resources that cater to Asian Americans is pressing and though NICOS is making strides in the Bay Area, there are many other cities and Asian Americans throughout the US that are without organizations that accommodate to Asian Americans. As the Asian American population and number of casino grows, it is crucial for the community to unanimously recognize gambling addiction as a problem and move to treat it.

For more information about gambling addictions, visit the Office of Problem Gambling and NICOS Chinese Health Coalition.