There’s been a sea change in attitudes in Singapore, reports the New York Times. From a seedy and run-down but fading colonialism of the 1930s to the almost fascist efficiency of the 1970s and 1980s when Lee Kuan Yew ruled, the island-state is now trying to get the benefits of a small whiff of decadence.

The center pieces will be the two casinos, the first of which will be announced next month for the convention center site. The bidders must all include alternative amusements for the site and the casino is restricted to 5.5 percent of the site.

Still Sands, Harrah’s and MGM Mirage are all promising developments north of $3 billion to get one of the two licenses and a promise that there will not be another casino for 10 years.

The main debate is over the role of locals. UNR expert William Eadington decries the rule that lcoals will have to pay a hefty entry fee to gamble, saying it ignores the almost universal experience that locals are a major component of casinos. (The exception, of course, is Las Vegas.)

On the other hand, the big companies can’t afford to be without Singapore. “Would we prefer that some of those precautions weren’t there?” MGM CEO Terry Lanni rhetorically asks the paper? ”Yes. But we believe anyone who wins here will do well.”