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Former police commissioner Hoong Wee Teck will take over as chairman of the Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) from Wednesday (April 1), the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced in a press release on the same day.<\/p>\n
Hoong, who is presently deputy chairman of GRA, served in the Singapore Police Force for 38 years and led it for 11 years as its commissioner.<\/p>\n
He handed over command<\/a> to new top cop How Kwang Hwee earlier in January.<\/p>\n The ministry paid tribute to outgoing chairman Tan Tee How, who served in the role for about eight years.<\/p>\n “His leadership has helped GRA to effectively fulfil its responsibilities of keeping gambling in Singapore free from criminal influence, and minimising its harms to Singapore society,” MHA said.<\/p>\n The former Casino Regulatory Authority was reconstituted as GRA in 2022, following the enactment of the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Singapore Act and the Gambling Control Act.<\/p>\n In a press release then, MHA said that establishing GRA as the “single regulator” for all forms of gambling in Singapore will allow the Government to stay ahead of technological and gambling trends.\u00a0<\/p>\n GRA can also respond more adequately to emerging gambling products, including a “more holistic and coherent approach” to gambling policies.<\/p>\n GRA and MHA are currently drafting regulations to stipulate conditions under which blind boxes<\/a> may be offered here.<\/p>\n In a written reply to a parliamentary question on Feb 12, Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said that this would allow the Government to better manage gambling inducement risks.\u00a0<\/p>\n Trading card packs<\/a> sold here will also be encompassed by the proposed regulations.<\/p>\n [[nid:721205]]<\/p>\n