SYDNEY // Australia has become a "gambler's paradise" and doctors are warning that more people are suffering from addiction than some types of chronic heart disease and high blood pressure.
A total of 80 per cent of Australia's adult population gambles, and billions of dollars are spent every year on horse and greyhound racing, in casinos, online or buying lottery tickets and scratch cards.
When it comes to addiction, counsellors said the real menace is the poker - or slot - machine. New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, is home to 10 per cent of the world's supply of these electronic gaming devices. In the minds of problem gamblers, their flashing lights and chirpy, upbeat sounds are mesmeric.
"Once I got in front of the machine, nothing else mattered. I just zoned out," said Nick, 50, a recovering addict from the city of Newcastle, north of Sydney. "There was nothing that could get to me and that in itself was a release. I suppose I could describe having a love affair with the poker machines. They were my mistress."
It is estimated there are 350,000 gambling addicts in Australia - the equivalent to the population of the national capital, Canberra. Their habit often leaves a trail of debt, broken marriages, substance abuse and even suicide.
Nick, a former builder, fought his demons for 20 years. It was a "terrible battle" that cost him his job, his marriage and almost his life.
"Poker machines were the ones that brought me to my knees - countless thousands of dollars, and I'd hate to put a figure on it but the money is irrelevant today. It was the social impact that destroyed me - the relationship breakdowns and suicide attempts.
"I just didn't want to live with the person that I'd become through my gambling, you know, lying, cheating, manipulating people just to try and get money to feed the habit."
Nick eventually sought salvation at a residential retreat in Sydney that helps gamblers conquer their obsession, which is often triggered by financial worries, stress, boredom and psychiatric illness.
Life on the straight and narrow can be a precarious existence for those in recovery and the line between abstinence and self-destruction is thin.
"I can't guarantee that I won't gamble again," Nick said, "but I have to try and treat this thing on a daily basis. It's definitely an addiction, similar to alcohol and drugs.
"If I go back and have another bet, I'm going to want to kill myself again. I have to be ever vigilant."
General practitioners are being urged to pay more attention to the signs of gambling addiction in their patients during check-ups.
John Gullotta, from the Australian Medical Association, said the country's gambling epidemic exacts a terrible toll on the nation's health.
"Definitely gambling is up there with the main public health diseases that we look at. It is a disease. Everyone talks about high cholesterol, high blood pressure and strokes but gambling has devastating effects both psychologically and physically. It affects their family and eventually they become lonely and destitute and poor," he said.
"It's important for doctors to be vigilant and to seek out people that are afflicted by gambling." Dr Gullotta added that the problem can manifest itself with alcoholism, depression, anxiety, insomnia, and marital and work problems.
The gaming industry tries to promote a sensible approach to laying a wager. It helps to fund recovery programmes for addicts and is obliged by law to provide leaflets and statutory warnings on poker machines that urge players to know their limits and bet responsibly. Staff at pubs and clubs must also attend training courses that help them spot the signs of addiction.
This crisis affects men and women, both young and old, although research has shown that those in poorer areas gamble more than their wealthier counterparts.
Charities that offer frontline support to those enmeshed in compulsive gambling said it is a "cancer" that continues to spread.
"We're seeing in Salvation Army services more people putting their hand up for a problem with gambling," said Gerard Byrne, who runs a counselling service in Sydney.
"Gambling is often called the hidden addiction because you can't smell gambling on someone's breath. It's very corrosive because it does eat people's lives away."
Australians gamble more than US$12.5 billion (Dh30bn) each year. The continent's state and territory governments are the biggest addicts of them all and it is estimated that 12 per cent of their income is from gaming taxes.
Keith Garner, the head of the Wesley Mission, one of Australia's biggest charities, believes the reliance on this type of revenue is a major obstacle to recalibrating attitudes towards gambling.
"There's an enormous amount of money every year spent on gambling. There is a dependency, really, on the income from gambling," Mr Garner said.
"That in itself is a rather worrying feature of it. You could say the same thing about alcohol and tobacco but the thing about gambling is it draws people in and they get hooked on it in such a way that it destroys families."
pmercer@thenational.ae
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
VERSTAPPEN'S FIRSTS
Youngest F1 driver (17 years 3 days Japan 2014)
Youngest driver to start an F1 race (17 years 166 days – Australia 2015)
Youngest F1 driver to score points (17 years 180 days - Malaysia 2015)
Youngest driver to lead an F1 race (18 years 228 days – Spain 2016)
Youngest driver to set an F1 fastest lap (19 years 44 days – Brazil 2016)
Youngest on F1 podium finish (18 years 228 days – Spain 2016)
Youngest F1 winner (18 years 228 days – Spain 2016)
Youngest multiple F1 race winner (Mexico 2017/18)
Youngest F1 driver to win the same race (Mexico 2017/18)
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlmouneer%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dr%20Noha%20Khater%20and%20Rania%20Kadry%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEgypt%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E120%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBootstrapped%2C%20with%20support%20from%20Insead%20and%20Egyptian%20government%2C%20seed%20round%20of%20%3Cbr%3E%243.6%20million%20led%20by%20Global%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How they line up for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix
1 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2 Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari
3 Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari
4 Max Verstappen, Red Bull
5 Kevin Magnussen, Haas
6 Romain Grosjean, Haas
7 Nico Hulkenberg, Renault
*8 Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull
9 Carlos Sainz, Renault
10 Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
11 Fernando Alonso, McLaren
12 Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren
13 Sergio Perez, Force India
14 Lance Stroll, Williams
15 Esteban Ocon, Force India
16 Brendon Hartley, Toro Rosso
17 Marcus Ericsson, Sauber
18 Charles Leclerc, Sauber
19 Sergey Sirotkin, Williams
20 Pierre Gasly, Toro Rosso
* Daniel Ricciardo qualified fifth but had a three-place grid penalty for speeding in red flag conditions during practice
The bio
Job: Coder, website designer and chief executive, Trinet solutions
School: Year 8 pupil at Elite English School in Abu Hail, Deira
Role Models: Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk
Dream City: San Francisco
Hometown: Dubai
City of birth: Thiruvilla, Kerala
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 480hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 570Nm from 2,300-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 10.4L/100km
Price: from Dh547,600
On sale: now
Why are you, you?
Why are you, you?
From this question, a new beginning.
From this question, a new destiny.
For you are a world, and a meeting of worlds.
Our dream is to unite that which has been
separated by history.
To return the many to the one.
A great story unites us all,
beyond colour and creed and gender.
The lightning flash of art
And the music of the heart.
We reflect all cultures, all ways.
We are a twenty first century wonder.
Universal ideals, visions of art and truth.
Now is the turning point of cultures and hopes.
Come with questions, leave with visions.
We are the link between the past and the future.
Here, through art, new possibilities are born. And
new answers are given wings.
Why are you, you?
Because we are mirrors of each other.
Because together we create new worlds.
Together we are more powerful than we know.
We connect, we inspire, we multiply illuminations
with the unique light of art.
Ben Okri,
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Abandon
Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay
Translated by Arunava Sinha
Tilted Axis Press
Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
Meet the people
On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
Key findings
- Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
- Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase.
- People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
- Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
- But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5