KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 3 — After neighbouring Kedah banned gambling and lottery ticket outlets from January 1 onwards, the Perlis state government has said it will be examining the legal standpoint before following suit.

Perlis Mentri Besar Mohd Shukri Ramli was quoted as saying that so far, the northern state has not yet discussed any step towards banning 4D gaming outlets.

"However, God willing, we will examine the legislation first, including the licence period of gambling outlets before any action is taken.

"Anyway, in Perlis, we don’t even have many gambling outlets, because I understand that there are only about three such outlets in the Kangar and Kuala Perlis area,” he was quoted as saying by New Straits Times.

Both Perlis and Kedah are currently administered by the Perikatan Nasional coalition.

Separately, Mohd Shukri said the state government has imposed restrictions on outlets selling alcoholic beverages, noting they will not be allowed to operate in the state.

"If we look, so far, no liquor shops are operating in this state except traditional medicine shops which are found to be selling alcohol for medicine (purposes) and that is fine.

"Twenty-four-hour convenience stores in this state are also not allowed to sell alcoholic beverages.

"In addition, we do monitor the operation of food shops that sell alcohol publicly because we do not want those who drink alcohol (beverages) to disturb the peace and the safety of others, especially when they are driving,” he said.

Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor previously said the state government had decided that it would no longer renew gambling licences in the state from January 1 onwards.

On November 14, 2021, Muhammad Sanusi announced that the Kedah government would no longer approve new gambling licences nor renew existing licences to ensure the state would be free from such activities in the future.

He also said that the Kedah government would limit the sales of alcoholic beverages in the state, especially in areas where there is no demand such as in rural areas.