AUSTRALIA: Chinese students learn vice of the dice

18 December 2011

Chinese student Sai Meng arrived in Australia as a promising young scholar: captain of the best high school in Nanjing, two-time winner of the municipal essay competition and dux of his graduating class, writes Peter Cai for The Age. But Sai Meng (not his real name) did not finish his learning journey on the podium of a sandstone graduation hall. Instead, he spent his last days in Australia in a hospital ward under suicide watch.

It started innocently enough with a casual visit to Adelaide's Skycity Casino with his best friend from Hong Kong. They had $100 each and vowed to leave as soon as they lost their money. His friend kept his promise and never returned but Sai Meng became a regular. His story is just one example of a disturbing trend affecting international students, many from Asian countries, who come to Australia to study and end up problem gamblers. A Gambling Research Australia report published in June said the rate of problem gambling among international students is 6.7%, almost seven times higher than the 1% in the Australian population reported by the Productivity Commission.
Full report on The Age site

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