i'm home today with a bad throat infection and aching bones and feeling tired and groggy... i think it is flu virus meets throat bateria (yucky!)... come to think of it, i haven't beeen ill for a while.. maybe my body just needs a break..anyway, this is giving mum an oppportunity to tell me all her day-to-day "auntie" stories... she's now telling me about how people kill themselves or get into trouble over gambling...

- about how stacks of passports are left uncollected from the cruise reception desk at the end of all these "cruises to nowhere" (i.e. gambling cruises). apparently, many people just toss themselves off the deck after losing their money... or when they are unable to pay the loan sharks that prowl these places..

- in genting highlands, "friends of my mum's friend" (haha..a FOAF story) discovered a dead body behind one of the beds as they were adjusting the furniture in the room.. apparently, this dead person had committed suicide in the room, probably as a result of over gambling... they were given monetary compensation for the shock and told to "seal their lips".. haha...

- about people who borrow tens and thousands of dollars from their family, friends, associates and even loan sharks and then escape to foreign countries such as Australia..

i can't understand how people can squander away either their own or other people's hard-earned money on gambling.. if you ever have a chance, stand at one of these poker tables or roulette tables in a casino.. it's amazing how these people just keep whipping out thousands and giving them away...

these are 10 questions you should ask yourself if you suspect you or someone you know may be a compulsive gambler...