Tropical Bintan Island, the largest in the Riau province of Indonesia, is just a 45 minute high speed catamaran ride from Singapore’s Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal or 90 minutes from the World Trade Centre. Bintan Island was once completely covered by tropical rain forest, but sadly only one small area of forest remains, on the island’s highest mountain Bintan Besar. The island population of around 200,000 is a mix of Malay, Bugis, Chinese and the Orang Laut.

Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world and gambling is prohibited by Islam. The local government in Bintan wants to develop a casino on the island, for non-Muslims (only about 10% of the Indonesian population) and foreign tourists. Bintan is already extremely popular with tourists from Singapore and a 23,000 hectare entertainment project is being undertaken jointly by the Singaporean and Indonesian governments.

Bintan Resorts, in the north of the island, has 18 kilometres of pristine white beaches and golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and others. The leisure resort plan includes amusement park, cinemas, pubs and restaurants, health spa and amusement arcades. Now the island authorities want to add a casino, something that will cause controversy and may not succeed. It is estimated that a casino industry would increase island income tenfold. (E-11.19.07)

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