just have to wait two weeks from the day of application to bar their relatives with gambling problems from the casinos following changes to the application process by the National Council of Problem Gambling (NCPG).

Acting on feedback that the six-week application is too long a wait, NCPG has more than halved the time it took to process an application by ensuring that a hearing date is set for each case once someone contacts the council for a family exclusion order.

Previously, to fixed a hearing date, families and subjects of the exclusion order would have to go through counselling and have a detailed 25-page report on their circumstances submitted.

This part of the process is often the most time consuming, said Tanjong Pagar Family Service Centre's senior counsellor Charles Lee, as problem gamblers can be uncooperative and delay the hearing by skipping appointments.

With the new process, a hearing date is set even before counselling is done and regardless of whether the gambler turns up, a decision can be made based on the family's input.

If the application is approved, an exclusion order is issued immediately after the hearing.

Read the full story in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.

Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFFD4vZzBjo8H_jsSRqyd9oxEYOnQ&url=http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_620135.html

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