Genting International won the bid to build and run the Sentosa Integrated Resort on 8 December last year. Star Cruise was initially part of the consortium as well, but announced on Saturday that it was pulling out of the IR and Genting would now have full ownership of it. Even so, it can still make money by implementing additional cruises to Singapore.

In January, Macau gambling tycoon Stanley Ho bought a 6.99% stake in Star Cruises. In return, Star Cruises would have received a 75% stake in a new hotel and casino project by Stanley Ho's group.

That was when the Ministry of Home Affairs announced suitability checks on Stanley Ho, under the Casino Control Act of Singapore.

In a media statement dated February 27, it said:

“MHA has informed GIL and SCL that MHA will be conducting suitability checks on the relevant parties to ensure that the consortium meets the suitability requirements before the Casino Licence is issued. We have requested that the necessary corporate and personal history disclosure forms be completed and submitted by the parties concerned. GIL, SCL and their associates are also required to remain suitable after the Casino Licence has been issued.”

The Act says:

Matters to be considered in determining applications
45. —(1) The Authority shall not grant an application for a casino licence unless the Authority is satisfied that the applicant, and each associate of the applicant, is a suitable person to be concerned in or associated with the management and operation of a casino.

(2) In particular, the Authority shall consider whether —

(a) each such person is of good repute, having regard to character, honesty and integrity;

(b) each such person is of sound and stable financial background;

(c) in the case of an applicant that is not a natural person, the applicant has, or has arranged, a satisfactory ownership, trust or corporate structure;

(d) the applicant has or is able to obtain financial resources that are adequate to ensure the financial viability of the proposed casino and the services of persons who have sufficient experience in the management and operation of a casino;

(e) the applicant has sufficient business ability to establish and maintain a successful casino;

(f) any of those persons has any business association with any person, body or association who or which, in the opinion of the Authority, is not of good repute having regard to character, honesty and integrity or has undesirable or unsatisfactory financial resources;

(g) each director, partner, trustee, executive officer and secretary and any other officer or person determined by the Authority to be associated or connected with the ownership, administration or management of the operations or business of the applicant is a suitable person to act in that capacity;

(h) any person proposed to be engaged or appointed to manage or operate the casino is a suitable person to act in that capacity; and

(i) any other matter that may be prescribed.

Which of these paragraphs, precisely, does Mr Ho contravene?

Could it be that he is just too powerful to be in line with Singapore's interests?

During the investigation, the volumes traded for Genting shot up, even now as we speak.

For the Lim family in Malaysia, which controls both Genting International and Star Cruises through its Bursa-listed Genting Berhad, it makes no difference whether the Singapore casino project is controlled by one or both.

The IR may not be partially owned by Star Cruises, but that shouldn't stop Star Cruises from launching additional cruises through Singapore on a commercial basis.

By Serene Lim, Mark Laudi and Nurwidya Abdul