From: Thoai Nguyen <nguyent@seamaac.

org>
Date: 07/01/2015 3:23 PM (GMT-05:00)
To: Amy Jones <ajones@seamaac.org>, Mike Donnelly <mdonnelly@seamaac.org>
Cc: Thoai Nguyen <nguyent@seamaac.org>
Subject: Mural Comments for Social Media
Comments by Thoai Nguyen July 1, 2015
Fables of Fortune Mural Unveiling
While SEAMAAC is proud to be associated with Fables of Fortune, a beautiful and provocative work of public
art, one that celebrates Asian and Asian American cultures and depicts the recovery and resiliency sides of
pathological gambling, make no mistake about where SEAMAAC stands on the issue of the casino industry
and their practice of convenient and predatory gambling in Philadelphia preying on new immigrant and
working-class communities.
Although politicians and city officials often claim that there is no evidence that Asian Americans face greater
challenges to pathological gambling than the general population, in SEAMAACs own research we have found
there is a wealth of academic and community-based research out there that proves otherwise.
For instance:
A 2014 UCLA study showed that the rate of gambling addiction for Asians ranges from 6 percent to
nearly 60 percent, depending on the specific Asian ethnicity (Southeast Asian refugees scoring
highest). This is in contrast to the general population where the pathological gambling rate is 1 to 2
percent.
Statistics of Casinos surrounding the areas of Los Angeles and San Francisco estimate that Asians
often account for 80% of their customers. And that these same casinos openly admit to their
aggressive campaigns of marketing and catering to Asian Americans, by hiring people from within
these communities, offering websites in specific Asian languages, and foods and entertainment acts
that cater to Asian clienteles.
A community survey conducted by the San Francisco Chinese Health Coalition and UC
Berkeley found that 14.7 percent of Chinese subjects identified themselves as problem gamblers,
and 21 percent met the criteria for pathological gambling.
A University of Connecticut Health Center study showed that of Southeast Asian refugees surveyed
in Connecticut, 59 percent of Laotians, Cambodians, and Vietnamese met the criteria for
pathological gambling.
With reports such as these, it is crucial that our city officials begin to recognize pathological gambling as an
urgent public health issue, not only for Asian Americans, but for all residents of Philadelphia.
Casinos are not the answer to the citys budget problems, they are not the answer to funding our public
education and services for the elderly.
The casino industry is a profit-making entity and seeks nothing other than to bleed our community. Lets not
pretend otherwise.
We hope that Fables of Fortune will ignite conversations and resistance to further developm ents of predatory
gambling in our neighborhoods.
Thank you