Big Casino in Malaysia Keeps Drawing Them In : High Rollers Not Folding In Asia Crisis 
International Herald Tribune
July 1, 1998
Thomas Fuller

In Kuala Lumpur, down the steep and winding road, there is talk of a regional economic crisis, but someone better tell that to the thousands of cash-carrying, camera-toting visitors to this misty mountain.

At one of Southeast Asia's largest casino resorts, 6,000 feet (1,820 meters) above the scorching sea-level heat of peninsular Malaysia, the casino floor hums with gamblers from the region.

Mainland Chinese tour groups led by men holding red flags plow through crowds of Southeast Asians playing the slot machines or sliding chips across velvet-covered tables.

"Most of our high rollers are from Thailand and Indonesia," said Mona Kho, a public relations manager at the hotel and casino.

Indonesian high rollers? Big-spending Thais?

Even with their economies flattened and currencies at historic lows, Thais and Indonesians continue to flock to the Genting Highlands Resort. They make up the third and fourth largest groups of foreign visitors, after Singaporeans and mainland Chinese.

Tourist destinations across Southeast Asia have been badly hit by the region's 11 months of economic turmoil. Beaches in Bali are as empty as many of Bangkok's five-star hotels. But visitors to the Genting Highlands, the only casino hotel within thousands of kilometers, grew by 14 percent last year. Clearly when recession is in the cards, gamblers put their money on the table.

Not so at casinos elsewhere in the region. On the fringes of the economic crisis, in Australia and Macau, gaming operations have done poorly.

Analysts say Genting's strength is Malaysia's weakness: A devalued ringgit not only keeps Malaysians at home for their vacations but also lures visitors from places like mainland China who find the country relatively cheap. Ninety percent of Genting' s 3,800 rooms were full last month, higher than average occupancy for the resort.

Ultimately, however, the company's future hinges on one precious document: its gaming license, issued by the government in the late 1960s.

It is a potentially charged issue in a country that has undergone an Islamic revival and where 60 percent of the population is Muslim.

Throughout the years, the company has been secure in the knowledge that its chairman, Lim Goh Tong, was in good stead with Malaysia's leaders.

Mr. Lim, 80, who presides over a corporate empire that ranges from resorts to palm oil plantations, power plants and cruise ships, has cultivated close relationships with the powers-that-be. It was his friendship with the country's first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, that helped clinch the gambling license for the casino. He is also known to be close to the current prime minister, Mahathir bin Mohamad.

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