By Chia Chu Hang

Gambling, despite being highly restricted in Malaysia – where it is prohibited under Syariah law that governs the Muslim population – continues to pose a significant challenge to Malaysians.

Admittedly, there has been a lack of research on gambling addiction as a whole, with the most recent data available dating back to a decade ago. According to Loo and Ang (as cited in Rathakrishnan & George, 2021), 4.4 per cent of Selangor’s population were problem gamblers in their study conducted in 2013, while 10.2 per cent were moderate-risk gamblers.

In addition, a more recent study from 2015 in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, revealed that 3.6 per cent of adolescents were problem gamblers (Sheela et al., 2015).

While 3.6 to 4.4 per cent may not appear substantial, it is worth noting that, when compared to other Asian populations that report problem gambling rates ranging from 1.4 to 2.5 per cent, ours are noticeably higher (Mun & Ching, 2022).

Due to the absence of recent data, it is difficult to determine how many Malaysians are currently addicted to gambling. However, one can reasonably assume that the number of problem gamblers has risen considerably, given that smartphones have made gambling far more accessible.

A qualitative study from 2015 identified several mobile and online gambling accessibility factors that appeal to gamblers, revealing that continuous and immediate access to gambling applications on smartphones is one of the key drivers (Drakeford & Smith, 2015; Hing et al., 2022). Another study noted that gamblers who prefer online gambling are likely to do so on mobile and supplementary devices (Gainsbury et al., 2016). In addition, Gainsbury et al. (2016) found that individuals who gamble on supplementary devices are twice as likely to be problem gamblers.

Legal and illegal gambling

While these studies were conducted in countries where gambling is legal and regulated, it is important to recognise that the distinction between legal and illegal gambling only holds if effective enforcement is in place.

In Malaysia, there is only one legal land-based casino and six legal lottery operators nationwide, along with the betting of horse racing. Any other form of “game of chance involving money” is considered illegal, and even legally operated gambling is illegal for the Muslim population, as mentioned earlier.

Yet, it was reported that in 2019, the revenue of illegal lottery operations surpassed that of the six legal lottery companies in Malaysia by over 60 per cent (The Sun, 2019). Further, it was reported that the government loses RM5 billion annually to illegal gambling (The Sun, 2023).

On top of that, Malaysia appears not to have any specific laws to regulate online gambling.

According to Dhillon et al. (2021), there are five legislations regulating gambling activity in Malaysia, namely: the Betting Act, the Common Gaming Houses Act, the Lotteries Act, the Pool Betting Act, and the Racing Club (Public Sweepstakes) Act.

However, experts have pointed out that while these laws do regulate different forms of gambling activities, they do not include provisions or wording that grant them power to regulate online gambling (Dhillon et al., 2021). Furthermore, the law firm Christopher & Lee Ong released an analysis in 2022, claiming that these laws are outdated and ill-equipped to be used against online gambling operators.

Thus, it is technically not illegal to engage in online gambling.

Despite this, the Court of Appeal in 2023 ruled that online gambling constitutes an offence under the Common Gaming Houses Act (Free Malaysia Today, 2023).

Undoubtedly, this will be used as a precedent to convict any parties involved in online gambling, whether operators or gamblers. However, this does not mean we should be complacent. Instead, we should consider amending or even enacting new laws to close any legal loopholes.

Online gambling

With regards to online gambling, gambling advertisements also appear to be running rampant on social media until the government started taking action to remove such content, with 53 per cent of the relevant online content removed for online gambling as of June 2024 (The Straits Times, 2024). Furthermore, more than 90 per cent of gambling-related posts removed originated from Facebook (The Star, 2025).

It comes as no surprise that online gambling operators use social media as their main platform to advertise their services. According to DataReportal (2025), individuals aged between 16 and 34 primarily discover new products and services via social media advertisements.

While some content has been removed, it is unclear how much more remains, and how many more people are falling prey to online gambling or have become problem gamblers.

Advertising gambling activities in any form remains illegal in Malaysia. The police have arrested 27 influencers who allegedly promoted online gambling sites (The Straits Times, 2024a). However, influencers are often not the only source where one can obtain information about online gambling.

Sports events, or even the sports teams sponsored by gambling operators, are among the ways in which people discover available gambling sites, and the situation is particularly concerning in esports, whose target audience is the younger generation.

Studies have found that sports-related gambling advertisements can lead to increased perceived, intended, and actual gambling expenditure, as well as unplanned gambling and the likelihood to starting to gamble (McGrane et al., 2025). A Spanish study estimated that for every €1 spent by gambling operators on bonuses and sponsorships, gamblers deposit between €1.6 and €4 into their accounts with those services (García-Pérez et al., 2024).

Sponsorship by gambling companies is largely illegal in Malaysia, with exceptions that only allow the charitable arm of these companies to be mentioned in the Content Code 2022. However, this regulation falls short, given that many sports events are organised overseas, and numerous overseas sports teams see no issue in accepting sponsorship deals from gambling companies.

For example, in European football, 296 out of 442 teams in the top divisions have at least one betting partner in the latest season, with 145 of these teams featuring gambling sponsorship on the front of their shirts (The Guardian, 2025). Even in Italy and Belgium – where displaying gambling-company logos is banned – teams circumvent the ban by showing the logo of charitable foundations established by those companies instead.

Given how entrenched this gambling ecosystem is, even a complete ban would likely benefit illegal gambling operators who are already well-established in our society. If they can generate 60 per cent more revenue than all six of our legal lottery operators combined, we can anticipate exponential growth for them should all forms of gambling be banned without exception. Such a move would also lead to lost tax revenue, which could otherwise be used to fund efforts to help gambling addicts quit.

Regulating online gambling

Nevertheless, not banning gambling outright does not imply liberalising it. The immediate need is to introduce new laws to heavily regulate online gambling, thereby making it more difficult for younger people to access.

Beyond strict regulation, community programmes aimed at helping problem gamblers quit are essential for reducing the number of gambling addicts. Accomplishing this requires more research on gambling within the Malaysian context.

As we cannot rely on outdated laws to govern and regulate the gambling industries, neither can we depend on decade-old data to design effective interventions for a newer generation who has instant access to gambling at their fingertips.

Gambling addiction, like any other addiction, is a serious mental health issue that cannot be resolved solely through retributive measures. While stringent regulations against operators are absolutely necessary, problem gamblers are victims in need of comprehensive support, and the government cannot proceed to treat them as it has thus far.

-- BERNAMA

Chia Chu Hang is a Research Assistant at EMIR Research, an independent think tank focused on strategic policy recommendations based on rigorous research.