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A territory-wide survey conducted by theHong Kong Federation of Youth Groups found that two-thirds of respondents believed thatlegalising football gambling would bring about more harm than good. This was seen mainlyas an encouragement for people to gamble. A small portion (17 %) of respondents thoughtotherwise, believing that the move could discourage illegal gambling on football matches.
Although a majority (90 %) ofrespondents had never tried gambling on football matches, slightly more than 20 per centof respondents said that they would try it if such gambling was legalized. One out of tenrespondents admitted that they had tired gambling on football matches. Sixty percent of respondents were of the view that they would accept any gambling-relatedactivities as long as they were legal. The findings suggested that the legality ofgambling activities affect young people's views on gambling. A significant portion (morethan 90 %) of respondents accepted disciplined gambling, saying that an occasionalpractice of gambling was acceptable as long as one is not addicted to it.
The survey found that 75 per cent ofrespondents' family had engaged in various kinds of gambling-related activities. Amongthose respondents, only 19 per cent showed no interests in gambling. In contrast, 44 percent of respondents whose family had never engaged in gambling showed no interest in it.More than 70 per cent of respondents revealed that their family had never tried to forbidthem from taking part in any activity related to gambling. One out of five respondentseven said that they had been asked by their family to buy Mark Six or play mahjong ontheir behalf. Another 10 per cent of respondents admitted that they had been requested toplace bets on horse race. The findings suggest that for some respondents, the motivationfor gambling was encouraged by their family.
The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groupsconducted this telephone survey from 15 to 21 December 1999. A total of 527 young people,aged 15 to 29, were successfully interviewed. The survey found that most respondents’families had also engaged in gambling. The three most popular forms of gambling wereplaying mahjong, buying Mark Six and betting on horses. Buying Mark Six, playing mahjongand playing poker, were the three most popular gambling activities among respondents.Males made up a larger proportion in all three activities.
When asked to evaluate their interest ingambling on a scale of 0 to 10, one out of four respondents said that they had no interestat all, while the remaining 75 per cent of respondents showed some interest, with anaverage of 3.6 points. Respondents were divided on the issue of gambling for money. Some45 per cent of respondents were of the view that gambling for money was wrong, whileanother 42 per cent thought otherwise.
When asked whether they would attend thecelebration activities for the New Millennium organized by the Jockey Club, 46 per cent ofrespondents showed interest, while 52 per cent said no.
Jacky Pang, the senior research officer of theFederation, said that the issue of legalizing gambling on football matches was acontroversial topic. To protect young people from becoming addicted to gambling, theGovernment should study the issue more cautiously, and take young peoples' views intoconsideration.
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Youth Opinion Polls No. 72
