'Nothing else to do' but gamble

Chinese students become gamblers in New Zealand because there is "nothing else to do".

That's one of the findings in a study of Chinese international students presented at an international gambling conference in Auckland yesterday.

Wellington gambling counsellor Kitty Chan and Waikato University researcher Wendy Li interviewed 12 students from China, aged from 18 to their early 20s, who have become gamblers in Auckland and Hamilton.

Miss Chan said that in China they were used to studying long hours, from 7am into the evening, and gambling was illegal except for lotto.

"Here it's different", she said. "The workload is not that much in comparison, and there is nothing else to do - everything else is closed. The casino is the only thing that's open late at night.

"International students come here with a lot of money to cover their accommodation, tuition and spending money. Usually they have a lump sum for the whole year or half a year. That is vulnerable for them to have that amount of money."

Another study by Auckland University found that half the problem gamblers in New Zealand are either Asian, Maori or Pacific Islanders.

Miss Chan said Chinese students who sought help from the Problem Gambling Foundation had typically lost amounts up to $10,000 through gambling in the previous month, against average figures of only a few hundred dollars for other clients.

"They don't seek help from counselling. By the time they come in it's quite a late stage," she said.

"Some students have lost the amount of money they are supposed to pay for accommodation and tuition so they have to go back to their home countries.

"In some other cases they can't afford to buy the ticket and the Immigration Service needs to help them out. They have lost the money at the casino but the casino is not responsible for their ticket."

The study found that Chinese students gambled because they were bored, had low workloads, were dissatisfied with their language schools, out of curiosity, to socialise, to relieve stress, to make money and for fun.

They were also lured by free parking and accommodation vouchers at casinos.

But apart from financial and immigration problems, they also cited adverse effects on their health such as losing weight, developing stress-related problems, losing self-esteem, depression and higher rates of smoking and drinking.

Miss Chan and Miss Li suggested that the Ministry of Education should educate Chinese students and their families about gambling in New Zealand before they left China and encourage language schools and other institutions to include gambling education in their programmes here.

They also recommend better social support venues for Chinese students and promotion of alternative activities such as outdoor pursuits.

"In comparison with migrants and refugees, there is quite a large gap," Miss Chan said.

"From my point of view, we have the settlement support scheme and there should be something similar in this area [for students]. They really do need that."