:: Singapore Problem Gambling Conference 2009 ::

Jeffrey L. Derevensky, Ph.D., is a child psychologist, Professor and Director of Clinical Training in School/Applied Child Psychology, and Professor, Department of Psychiatry at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He is a clinical consultant to numerous hospitals, school boards, government agencies and corporations. Dr. Derevensky has published widely in the field of youth gambling and is on the editorial board of several journals. Dr. Derevensky is Co-Director of the McGill University’s Youth Gambling Research & Treatment Clinic and the International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviors. The International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviors was the recipient of the U.S. National Council on Problem Gambling Outstanding Program Award. Dr. Derevensky was the recipient of the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling Award for his “International leadership in addressing youth problem gambling through research, training and advocacy”. He is considered an international authority in the field of youth gambling.

Suresh Anantha has been working in the field of addictions counseling for over 15 years. He began his counseling career in 1994, when he provided individual and group counseling to DRC and prison inmates shortly before their release, with a one-year follow up thereafter. Currently he is the Manager of Training and Planning at the National Addictions Management Service. He develops training programs for various community agencies, health institutions, and government ministries. Suresh helped to set up the national problem gambling helpline in 2007, and currently manages its operations. Before his present appointment, Suresh was a senior addictions counselor with the Community Addictions Management Program (CAMP), and saw patients with both substance and behavioral addictions. He was part of the first batch of local counselors to receive international certification in 1998 through the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium (IC&RC). Suresh is currently certified in both substance abuse and gambling counseling.

Mr Kuo How Nam has over 30 years of banking experience in Singapore mainly with two major local banks. During his banking career, he has been involved in corporate and consumer banking as well as banking operations such as bills, treasury, credit administration and settlement activities. He has held various directorships in the stock broking, insurance, finance and other affiliates of the OUB Group. He took early retirement in 2000. He is currently the President of Credit Counselling Singapore (CCS) which is a registered Charity and a member of NCSS. CCS’s objectives are to promote responsible use of credit; and to assist debt distressed individuals through information providing about debt management, credit counselling and setting up of debt repayment plan for suitable individuals

Charles Lee graduated from the University of Wisconsin, USA, with a BSc in Psychology. He obtained post-graduate diploma in 1998, and is a Certified Substance Abuse Counsellor (CSAC) with the International Certification and Reciprocity Consortium (ICRC). He has worked at SCORE Counselling Centre, counselling heroin addicts and their families. Currently he is a Senior Counsellor at the Tanjong Pagar Family Service Centre (TPFSC). He is a Certified Gambling Addiction Counsellor (CGAC), ICRC. Charles has been counselling Problem Gamblers since Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society set up its Moral Gambling Counselling Centre in 2006. Charles also presents public education talks. He is often interviewed on TV, radio, newsprint, and also by students for their research work on the gambling scene in Singapore. In April 2009, TPFSC was designated by NCPG as the centre for Family Exclusion Orders and Charles is involved in putting up the social report for the Casino Exclusion Order Application.

Mr Lee How Sheng is the Head of Corporate Planning of Singapore Pools since Jun 2007. He was previously with the Singapore Civil Service, holding senior management positions in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Finance, the National Youth Council, Peoples' Association, Ministry of Community Development, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of the Environment and the Public Utilities Board. He holds a Masters of Public Administration from Kennedy School, Harvard University.

Ms Sandy Lee is the Group Account Director, Bates141 Singapore. Sandy's passion lies in building brands that will win hearts, minds and wallets of consumers. She has 14 years of integrated advertising experience working in Singapore and has worked on several successful brands. Her experience extends from working on international, regional and local brands such as Nokia, Sony, HSBC, AIG, Bayer, Caltex, Chevron, HKETO, Pacific Internet and National Heritage Board and many others. Her "can-do" entrepreneurial spirit has helped in winning the NCPG account recently and she is looking forward to the new campaign launch.

Dr. Thomas Lee is an Associate Consultant Psychiatrist and Addiction Specialist from the Addiction Medicine Department at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) in Singapore. He has wide clinical experience in the assessment and treatment of various psychiatric conditions. With a keen interest in addictive disorders, he is passionate about helping addicts and their families in their recovery. He treats people who suffer from both chemical and behavioural addictions. He was awarded a Health Manpower Development Plan scholarship in September 2007 for an attachment at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he enhanced his clinical expertise in gambling disorders. After his return from the US, he was instrumental in setting up a new gambling treatment program at IMH.

Dr. Gracemary Leung is currently an Hon. Assistant Professor of the Social Science Research Centre, Hon. Clinical Associate for the Centre of Behavioural Health, The University of Hong Kong; Hon. Consultant Even centre for rehabilitation of problem gamblers and Hon. Consultant of Focus Psychological Enrichment Centre. She is a Chartered Clinical psychologist, an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, and Associate Fellow of the HK Psychological Society. She has worked as a clinical psychologist in the UK over the past 30 years. Dr. Leung’s clinical experience includes working with children with challenging behaviours, schizophrenia patients, violent and sex offenders, aggressive and depressed patients. She has conducted many workshops on communication, change management, stress management, conflict management and workplace violence abroad and in HK Business organizations, Civil Servant and Government agencies. Main areas of her research include assessment /treatment of compulsive gamblers, suicide prevention and prevalence study on problem gamblers.

Dr. Lim Yun Chin is currently the Head of the Counselling Centre at Raffles Hospital and the Director of WE Care Community services, a charitable programme for addiction in the community. He is also a Visiting Consultant Psychiatrist at the Singapore General Hospital and a Psychiatrist at the Singapore Prisons and Drug Rehabilitation Centres. He was a member of the Inhalant Abuse Review Committee, Ministry of Home Affairs, the Advisory Committee Minister of Home Affairs on Drug Rehabilitation and the Committee on Psychiatry, School of Post Graduate Medical Studies, NUS. He has presented papers on gambling, alcoholism, and addiction at the National Conference on Gambling (2007) in Singapore, the Medico-legal seminar (1991) in Singapore and the ASEAN Conference for Psychiatry respectively. He lectures and conducts courses on Addiction and has authored a chapter on Addiction in the books entitled “Textbook on psychiatry for doctors and medical students” and “Drug Abuse in Singapore”.

Dr. Jeffrey Marotta has a doctoral degree from the University of Nevada, Reno in clinical psychology and certifications as a Gambling Addiction Counsellor and Board Approved Clinical Consultant. He developed and directed the State of Oregon’s highly acclaimed problem gambling treatment and prevention system and has produced over 100 professional presentations and publications on topics related to problem gambling. Currently he is running a consultation business, Problem Gambling Solutions, serving as Clinical Associate Professor at Oregon Health & Science University, and enjoying life in Portland Oregon with his wife, 5-year old son, and 2-year old daughter.

Mr Samuel Ng is the Chief Executive Officer, Marine Parade Family Service Centre Principal, Yah! Community College. Samuel’s strength is in pioneering innovative social service programmes to meet the changing needs of the Singapore society. He was instrumental in setting up four Family Service Centres in Toa Payoh, Queenstown, Woodlands and Marine Parade. He also piloted a cyber-counselling service for the youth in 1999, and a community-based wellness center for the seniors “Good Life @ South East” in 2000. In 2005, he developed a first-in-Singapore learning college for the seniors – Yah! Community College. Samuel has been appointed to the Panel of Assessors (Casino Exclusion Order) with the National Council on Problem Gambling. He is also member of the Advisory Panel for Social Work with the SIM University. He has been a regular guest speaker on TV talk shows and is currently hosting a weekly radio-talk show programme.

Dr. Lori Rugle is currently the Director of Problem Gambling Services with the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services for the State of Connecticut. She has worked in the field of problem gambling treatment and research since 1984. Her career has included the treatment of problem gamblers and their families in public and private inpatient, residential and outpatient programmes. She has developed privately funded inpatient and outpatient treatment programmes as Clinical and Research Director for Trimeridian, Inc., a company dedicated to the treatment and research of problem gambling. She has provided consultation for state funded programmes in Louisiana, Washington, Arizona, Illinois and Indiana and for the military in Germany and the Government of Singapore. Dr. Rugle has been involved in a variety of research projects including studies of treatment outcome, attention deficits among pathological gamblers, neuroimaging and pharmacotherapy with problem gamblers, coping skills among homeless problem gamblers and PTSD among pathological gamblers.

Mr Tan Khye Suan is the Executive Director of the MCYC Community Services Society (formerly the Methodist Children and Youth Centre). Mr Tan is an experienced social worker and counsellor working with children, youths and their parents. His work scope includes delinquent and at-risk behaviours of youths, marital and relationship problems and parenting issues. He is an experienced presenter, and gives talks and trainings to the community, schools and voluntary welfare agencies. He has managed MCYC for the last 7 years, seeing the organisation’s growth from 9 to 29 staff. The Centre had since developed strongly in 3 areas, intervention programme for children with learning problems; working in schools and the community with at-risk youth; and, working with parents and families on parenting and handling difficult children and youth issues. Under his leadership, in 2007, the organisation launched the Youth Gambling Prevention Roadshow involving 20 schools and 15,000 teenage students.

Mr. George Tanasijevich currently serves as General Manager / Vice President Singapore Development of Marina Bay Sands Pte Ltd; a subsidiary of leading global integrated resorts developer, Las Vegas Sands Corp. A senior management executive and accomplished attorney with extensive international experience, he is responsible for coordinating the development of the Marina Bay Sands which will combine state-of-the-art convention and exhibition facilities, a luxury hotel, world-class gaming, entertainment, shopping, dining outlets and a museum in one landmark structure.Mr. Tanasijevich has an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, a law degree from Loyola University of Chicago, where he was a member of the law review, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan. He is a member of the board of directors for the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce and was named by Global Gaming Business as one of its “25 People to Watch” for 2009.

Representatiove from Social Welfare Bureau, Government of Macau SAR. Elaine graduated from University of Queensland, BSW. She is a certified gambling counselor with Canadian Councial of Profession Certification (CCPC). She has been working in the Reslience Center of Macau, a government-run agency specialized in providing preventive and rehabilitative services for problem gamblers

Ms Mavis Tong is Manager, Client Solutions at Nielsen Singapore. Mavis Tong is an Economics graduate from Fudan University, Shanghai, China. After graduation, she worked first as a Media Planning Manager for an advertising agency in Shanghai and later joined Nielsen Shanghai as a Retail Consultant. Prior to joining Nielsen Singapore, she was heading Database Marketing at the NKF (National Kidney Foundation). Mavis is a dedicated researcher and has several years of experience in managing both local and international research projects, covering a spectrum of industries. She is also experienced in strategic planning and conducting training sessions and workshops. Mavis is fluent in English and Mandarin.

Dr. John Wing-ling Tse is an Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Social Studies, City University of Hong Kong. He received his university education in Canada and in the United Kingdom. Before joining City University, he was a teacher and an educational psychologist. Dr. Tse is an active researcher and his areas of research interest include intellectual disability, suicidal behaviour, adolescent psychiatric disorders and adolescent pathological gambling. Dr. Tse has published widely in numerous journals including Substance Use and Misuse, British Journal of Learning Disabilities, School Psychology International, Australian and New Zealand and many more His recent book publications include Adolescent pathological gambling: Prevention and treatment and Adolescent suicide: management, crisis intervention and prevention. In recognition of his outstanding academic and community achievement, Dr. Tse has been awarded Medal of Honour (HKSAR), Distinguished Achievement Award, Asian Federation on Mental Retardation (Singapore) and Roger Feitelson Award, Ravenwood International Awards (U.K).

Dr. Samson Tse is currently an Associate Professor in Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong with special responsibility as the Director of the Master of Social Sciences in Counselling programme. His research focuses on wellness recovery for individuals with psychiatric disability, problem gambling and cross-cultural health. He has been the Associate Professor, and Director of Mental Health in the School of Population Health, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, The University of Auckland, New Zealand. He is also one of the active researchers within the Centre for Gambling Studies at the Auckland University and has served as the acting Director at the Centre. Dr. Tse has been involved in the design and implementation of several gambling-related research projects in New Zealand- study on psychosocial determinants of gambling and problem gambling, venue-based host responsibility, a study on effectiveness of problem gambling interventions and lately on re-analyses of Asian people’s gambling participation data.

Dr. Rachel Volberg is widely regarded as the most experienced problem gambling epidemiologist in the world. She has directed/consulted on numerous surveys, including national prevalence surveys in the United States, New Zealand, Great Britain and Sweden. In 1988, Dr. Volberg was the first investigator to receive funding from the (U.S.) National Institutes of Health to study the prevalence of problem gambling in the general population. In addition to her own consulting business, she holds professorial or professional appointments at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, National Opinion Research Centre at University of Chicago and Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand. She is presently involved in several projects funded by government agencies in Australia, Canada and Sweden to improve methods for assessing problem gambling in clinical and community studies. She has published extensively and sits on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Gambling Studies, International Gambling Studies and the Journal of Gambling Issues.