THE YOUTH AND THE FUTURE OF MACAU
Speech at the Youth Committee of Macau Commercial Association December 17,1993
GROWING YOUTH PARTICIPATION IN AN ERA OF DRASTIC POLITICAL CHANGES
Macau is a Chinese territory under Portuguese administration. In strict legal terms, Macau has never been a colony. Viewed politically and administratively, Macau has undergone three historical periods.
During the first period, which lasted until 1846 when João Ferreira do Amaral was the Governor of Macau, Macau was governed through the Senate, and the Chinese and the Portuguese coexisted under separate administrations. The second (1848-1974) was a period of Portuguese colonial administration, with the Chinese and the Portuguese running their own affairs separately and remaining basically independent of each other. The third period began in 1974,when dictatorship was overthrown and colonialism abandoned in Portugal, and since then Macau ushered in an era of autonomous administration.
Actually, before "The Organic Statutes of Macau" was published in 1976, there were hardly any ethnic Chinese participating in the political activities of Macau. Indeed, the first election of Legislative Assembly was held in 1976 and quite a few Chinese personages were elected Assembly deputies joining either of the two administrative organs proper of Macau: the Governor of Macau and the Legislative Assembly, thus setting precedent for the Chinese to participate in the democratic politics of Macau.
In 1979, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Portugal established diplomatic relationship and reached agreement on the special political and legal status of Macau. In 1985, the two countries decided that they would "shortly hold negotiations on the question of Macau through diplomatic channels". So in June the following year, the governments of the two countries went ahead with the negotiations and initialed "The Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau" on 13th April 1987.In accordance with the "Joint Declaration", China will assume the exercise of sovereignty over Macau on 20th December 1999; Macau will become a Special Administrative Region of the PRC, with high degrees of autonomy in administration, legislation and jurisdiction; and the principles of "one country, two systems" and "Macau run by Macau people" will be implemented. The Basic Law of the Special Administrative Region of Macau issued in March this year reconfirms and substantiates these principles,mapping out a clear blueprint for the future of Macau.
The establishment of diplomatic relationship between China and Portugal, especially the satisfactory solution to the question on the future of Macau, has encouraged more and more local residents to take a more active part in political and social matters of Macau. Between 1980 and 1984, local Chinese elite and the new rising middle class formed themselves into professional societies and associations and participated in public affairs. The number of interest groups canvassing in the Legislative Assembly election jumped from84 to 141. Moreover, during the 3rd Legislative Assembly Election, 1984, the number of registered voters rose dramatically to 51,400, which was further boosted to 67,600 in 1988. The past three Legislatures have also witnessed civilian groups campaigning vigorously, and the number of ethnic Chinese deputies who made their way into the Legislative Assembly through direct and indirect voting has greatly increased, completely changing the scenario of the first and the second Legislatures which were almost monopolized by the Portuguese and the Macanese (Macauborn Portuguese). This is a first step towards the localization of the Legislative Assembly, which will better represent the interests of various walks of life of the community.Particularly worth noting is the fact that there are more young deputies and councillors sitting on the 5th Legislative Assembly and the 2nd Municipal Senate (Leal Senado) than ever before. Meanwhile, we have noticed gradual professionalizaton and rejuvenation of some important traditional associations in Macau.
Apart from participating in running public affairs through organizational representation at the Legislative Assembly, the Municipal Council and the Consultative Council, a younger generation of professionals have joined the public administrative force, directly participating in public administration and management since the mid-1980's.In the remaining years of the transitional period, the Government has been adopting a two-pronged policy: first,accelerating the training of local professionals by purchasingthe University of East Asia and providing more scholarships,and second, sending students to Portugal and Beijing to study, encouraging them to learn the Portuguese language,Portuguese Public Administration, the Chinese language, and Chinese Public Administration, cultivating bilingual speakers, and then attracting them into the civil service to realize the localization scheme step by step. Though the localization of civil service has been a slow process, with the year 1999 coming nearer and nearer, more and more welleducated, open-minded young technocrats, especially ethnic Chinese professionals and technicians will find their way to the top of the public administrative hierarchy, and will bring about substantial qualitative changes in the government and political culture of Macau. Then it can be expected that the attitude and outlook of the predominantly Chinese community of Macau will change, and so will their mentality and political orientations. At the same time, in their efforts to prepare themselves for the take-over as the future masters of Macau, the local residents will feel less frustrated and helpless about politics and government policies.
RAPID ECONOMIC GROWTH & PROSPECTS
Although Macau was once the largest entrepôt in the Far East, her modem economic development began slowly in the 1960's, speeded up in the 1970's, with an average of annual GDP increase of 16.7%, and over 20% annual increase in foreign trade and export of manufactured goods.In early and mid-80's, owing to the general decline of world economy, Macau economy slowed down a little bit, but still maintained a 10% annual growth-rate. And in the 1990's,thanks to the robust, steady growth of the last two decades,Macau economy has grown out of its past setup based on gambling, tourism and other entertainment industries, and has become a small but flexible economic system built on its four pillars: export of manufactured goods, tourism and entertainment, finance and banking, and real estate and building industry.
According to the latest statistics released by "Asiaweek", the GDP per capita of Macau was US$ 13,527 in 1993, next only to Japan, Brunei, Hong Kong and Singapore,but much higher than Taiwan (per capita GNP: US$ 10,215)and South Korea (per capita GNP: US$ 6,740), already ranking as one of the high-income regions of the world.
There is no denying the fact that Macau lacks land,manpower and technological resources. Some traditional industries are having a lot of difficulty in diversification. And with shrinking export, growing trade deficit, and the snailpaced process of diversifying industries, there is widespread pessimism among manufacturers. The Government blamed the manufacturers for lack of initiative and drive while the manufacturers criticized the Government for the absence of coherence and continuity in its economic policies. Actually,success in making this industrial and economic breakthrough depends on the courage, enterprise and resourcefulness ofmanufacturers as well as strong, effective government support. At the same time, they should also attract young talents to participate in management. The dwindling industries surviving mainly on intensive labour and export quotas will sooner or later be replaced by new industries.Therefore, the Government and manufacturers should actively introduce new technologies and equipment while continuing their efforts to open more markets for the products of our existing industries, revolutionize existing industries and produce upmarket goods. This is the only way out for Macau's industrial economy. More and more people have come to accept this view. The establishment of Concordia Development Co. is a good example of the joint efforts made by the Government of Macau and entrepreneurs in tapping and developing new technologies and industries.And according to media reports, many other enterprises are planning to take part. Furthermore, on the reclaimed land of Taipa and Coloane, sites will be earmarked for developing new industries to pave way for industrial diversification of Macau. And here, young entrepreneurs, with their unique open mind, drive and creativity, can bring their talent into full play and make great contributions, just as it was rightly pointed out by the Youth Committee Director of Macau Manufacturers' Association in his speech at the evening party themed on "the New Face of Macau Industries".
We cannot feel optimistic, either, if we try to find our way out through importing labour, moving out production processes and exporting quotas. In recent years, theprocessing industries of export goods have been on the decline, accounting for a diminishing portion of Macau's major industries. Does this really mean that Macau industries have reached the saturation point and that there is nothing we can do? Perhaps the best person to answer this question is Wang Dingchang, Chief-economist of Guangdong Government Planning Committee. Mr. Wang has been working on the front-line of Guangdong-Macau economic cooperations,and has first-hand knowledge and profound understanding of Macau and Portugal. He clearly pointed out that Guangdong has always hoped to use Macau as a bridge and spring-board to European markets, taking advantage of Macau's special status as a free port, an independent trade and tariff region and Most Favoured Nation status.
For the first time a high official of Guangdong has materialized the concept of Guangdong-Macau economic cooperations, turning the mutually complementary cooperations of the past into a whole process of economic circulation, with clearly-defined targets: Macau being the "window" providing information and facilities and Guangdong providing manpower and technology, coordinating the booming economy in the two regions. "Good fortune has come our way and is smiling on us". It is possible that soon we shall see that some of the working procedures of Guangdong's enterprises majoring in new technologies will move to Macau.....
KEEPING UP WITH THE CHANGES AND GRASPING THE OPPORTUNITY The political localization and economic diversification of Macau are irreversible trends. The official status of the Chinese language, the localization of the civil service, and the localization of the legislature are, in essence,part of political localization and civilianization of political culture. The target of Sino-Portuguese cooperations and of the Macau government during the later half of the transitional period is gradually handing over the administrative power to the residents of Macau, maintaining social and political stability, perpetuating economic prosperity and preparing for the smooth change-over.
The Sino-Portuguese relationship is as good as ever and the government of Macau is committed to this effort. The Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration and the Basic Law stipulate that the existing political, economic and social system of Macau will remain unchanged for fifty years.However, genuine implementation of the principle of "One country, two systems" not only depends on the good-will and sincere co-operation of the two governments, but also on the active participation of Macau residents. We must admit that owing to the past apathy of local Chinese community towards political and administrative system, our understanding of the existing administrative system is limited. It can be said that this is the weakest and yet the most crucial link among all important issues during thetransitional period. In other words, our knowledge of the existing administration and our abilities to operate will have a direct bearing on smooth transition. Therefore, the most urgent task in front of us is to speed up the "threelocalization processes", and to launch various campaigns in which local residents will be informed of the political and legal systems which have almost remained totally unknown to them. And in all these endeavours, the younger generation of professionals, especially those who have joined the government administration, should play a leading role.
The Chinese language has formally become an official language since early last year. However its use is still very limited in public administrations. Although some local technicians have made their way to the middle and uppermiddle ranks of the Administration, there are still hundreds of high-ranking government posts and posts of judges,magistrates, notaries, etc., that are falling vacant and need to be filled. Moreover, the localization of legislation is still in its infancy and the gigantic task of translation is just beginning, and there is a pressing need for more bilingual legal experts to accomplish it. Among this year's law graduates from the University of Macau, only two have the bilingual competence of Chinese and Portuguese. If everything goes well, we shall have four in 1994, nine in 1995, seven in 1996 and eleven in 1997. If we add them up,we shall have 33 in total, still far short of the 120 that we need in 1999!↑(1) All these are problems waiting for us tosolve. And at the same time, they provide opportunities for the youth of Macau.
On the economic front, the Pearl River Delta Economic System has taken shape. The completion of the International Airport, the new Wharf, and the new Bridge will mean qualitatively better environment for investors,boosting the industries of export, tourism and entertainment,banking and finance, and property and building to a higher stage of development. It is also believed that with the strong backing of the Chinese government in the form of priority policies, manpower and technology, new big and medium enterprises will spring up, giving rise to the need to absorb a large number of engineers, economists, accountants and other professionals, enterprise management personnel and skilled technicians.
All in all, drastic political changes and rapid economic developments have brought us precious opportunities. It is not exaggerating to say that the young people of Macau now have more opportunities than ever before to make use of their talents and abilities. But how can we grasp these opportunities?
ACCEPTING THE CHALLENGES AND BUILDING UP THE FUTURE
According to Census 1991, 51.5% of the 355,500 people of Macau were below the age of 30, and those aged between 25 and 50 accounted for 53.1% of the total,revealing that the population of Macau, though a little older that 10 years ago, is still quite young and full of vitality.According to statistics by "Asiaweek", the literacy rate of the population in Macau is only 61.3%, even lower than many developing countries, such as Mainland China (73.3%),Malaysia (78.5%) and Vietnam (88%). There might be language problems, but this figure is starkly incompatible with the vital economic and livelihood indicators such as the GNP, the ratio between the numbers of people and telephones, infant mortalities, etc., where Macau fares far better than the above-mentioned countries. In fact the same census also shows that 16.95% of the residents aged above 3 have a zero education (they cannot read or write), 64.4%have a primary or below-primary education and only 2.88%have a tertiary education. We have to admit that our education level is rather low. The case with the civil service is similar: by the end of 1992, 44.5% of the 15,111 civil servants of Macau had only a primary or below-primary education, whereas only 11.4% of them had a tertiary education. These figures alone will explain the cause of inefficiency in various government departments.
In recent years the government have invested heavily in education. However, owing to the special historical background of Macau, where private schools and institutions have been playing the major role, and because of the coexistence of different types of school systems, the Government's intervention has been minimal. In the late 1970's, the Government began subsidizing private schools and embarked on the programme of educational reform in 1989, culminating in the formulation of "The Educational System of Macau" in 1991. In spite of these efforts, free,compulsory basic education still remains the talk of the media, and unified syllabuses and teaching materials and textbooks have not been produced, not to mention unified examinations.↑(2) Nevertheless, a lot of efforts have been made in training teachers for primary and secondary schools, and there has been obvious improvement in teaching quality, thus laying a solid foundation for further enhancing the general quality of basic education in Macau.
Higher education took off in Macau only recently. It began as a private institution of higher learning, recruiting students mainly from Hong Kong. A few years later, the Government purchased the university and took it over through the trusteeship of the Macau Foundation, added a series of courses urgently needed during the period of transition and thus turned the University into a public institution dedicated to the training of personnel for Macau.The past few years have witnessed the University of Macau growing faster and stronger, training thousands ofprofessionals for the Government and the business and industrial world of Macau. This year alone, there are 315 graduates being awarded degrees and diplomas at the University. In addition, the Polytechnic Institute of Macau,the Superior School of the Security Forces, the Superior School of Tourism and the Macau Management Association and other private institutions also provide training programmes.
The Government and private institutions have offered more scholarships and increased subsidies to enable more students to study overseas. According to the statistics of Education and Youth Department, there are, at present, 1,759 students staying on this department's grants in postsecondary institutions both in Macau and abroad. And the number of students who have completed their studies on Government grants is even larger. The number of high-level personnel will be more impressive if we add up self-paid students and those financially supported by private institutions. Though these people cannot effect fundamental changes to the education level of Macau, they will, after all,bring forth a new driving force and give a glimmer of hope to the development of Macau. And it is this well-educated elite that will take the lead and accept the challenges of the transitional period. It is this driving force that will be pioneering for the political and administrative switch-over and socio-economic progress of Macau.
In this radically changing world, every day we are faced with a host of problems, some being very unpleasant.For example, we have the problems of juvenile delinquency,young gangsters, drugs, truancy..., indeed, so many that we are led to believe that all youngsters are good-for-nothings !It is true that these problems are getting worse and worse and deserve our attention. But we should not forget that there are also many good, highly motivated young people. For instance, last year the Macau Foundation signed an agreement with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which provided Macau candidates with master's and doctoral programmes. At the drafting stage, we expected that few would apply. However, as soon as the announcement was made, thirteen came to apply. Finally nine applicants turned up for the examinations and four of them were admitted.When the State Education Commission of the PRC entrusted the Macau Foundation to recruit students for postgraduate programmes offered by universities in China, the response was also an encouraging surprise. Within ten days, all the hundred-odd application forms were snatched up. Some of the "hot" courses offered by the University of Macau are also "oversubscribed". What has motivated them to sacrifice so much in order to further their studies? We cannot find better answer than their confidence in the future, their pursuit of a better world, and their commitment to the society.
MACAU BELONGERS WITH AN INTERNATIONAL OUTLOOK
Professor Albert Yee of University of Macau, in his "The Political Culture of Macau Chinese", points out"..... In general, Macau people have a sense of inferiority towards Hong Kong people. They think that Hong Kong is superior to Macau in all respects, such as population, economic strength, living standard, government efficiency, culture, etc..This inferiority complex is getting worse among the youths of Macau". According to his questionnaire findings of 1991,only 28% of the university students investigated feel proud of being Macau people. The emotional tendency of secondary school students is very similar. These findings do make one feel depressed and concerned about the youth of Macau.
Of the many causes for this depressing picture is the lack of civic education in Macau. Over half of Macau residents are immigrants, mainly from Mainland China, and nearly half of the Macau people have lived in Macau for less than fifteen years. Moreover, there are no subjects of study like the History of Macau, the Geography of Macau in the curriculum of Macau's primary and secondary schools.↑(3) As a result, Macau people do not understand Macau, and naturally they do not have the sense of belonging. And if they do not feel that they belong to Macau, how can you expect them to feel proud of Macau ?
Is it true that there is nothing good in Macau? Of course not. Hong Kong is superior to Macau in population,economic strength, living standard and government efficiency. But if we look at the vital economic indicators such as per capita GDP, growth-rate, infant mortality, ratio of residents to doctors, ratio of residents to telephones, etc., we shall find that Macau is far ahead of many countries and regions. Besides, in actual terms, there is not much difference in the quality of life between Hong Kong and Macau. If there is a freedom of choice, I am sure that many people will probably choose Macau, which offers both urban amenities and conveniences and rural leisures, as their place of residence. Macau is small, but, then, you needn't spend hours travelling on crowed buses and the MTR. The efficiency of the government and of the civil service is not high, but there is a competent juridical system which maintains justice and fair operations, and the residents can enjoy freedom of speech and press. In addition, Macau is relatively peaceful,with comfortable pace of life and work, and low crime-rate in comparison with many other cities. Housing and social warfare services are also improving. Though tuition fees are high in Macau, there are a lot of measures in the form of deductions, exemptions, subsidies and other financial aid to guarantee that no one is deprived of education opportunities because of financial difficulties. At least, young people should be proud of being university students, shouldn't they?
Macau also has a lot of potential values for us to discover and use. A few days ago, I had a talk with several Chinese legal experts. They all agreed that there are some features in Macau's legal system, especially in administrative law, that the Mainland should learn from. They also agreed to the view that only by playing an active role in China's modernization programmes can Macau prove its worth,demonstrate its superiority, enhance its image and status.
And, of course, the more important roles Macau plays, the more its worth and the higher its status.
It is gratifying to find that there are still young people who hold different views. One of the university students interviewed has this to say, "..... I'm proud of being a citizen of Macau, not because it has achieved any remarkable feat,but because I was born here and grew up here. I have my roots in this piece of land. I must respect my birthplace. If I don't even respect my own birthplace, how can I expect others to respect me?" Admittedly, personal identification with Macau is something we have to face up to. To begin with, how do we define "Macau Identity"? Next, how can we cultivate "Macau consciousness"? It is rather difficult to find answers to these two questions and it is worthwhile for the youth of Macau to give some thought to them.
When there appears the crisis of identification, when the young fail to understand the society of Macau, when they misunderstand the government, and when they misinterpretthe good intentions of their parents and teachers, the best remedy is to find more channels of dialogue and communication, by guiding them to involve themselves in public affairs and community activities, by helping them to acquire a deeper and wider understanding of the society, so that they will rid themselves of the "Wang Jing Wen complex" of frustration and helplessness and enhance their sense of belonging to Macau. And this is the responsibility of youth organizations.
In fact the young people of Macau have always been very active in forming themselves into various clubs and associations. They like exploring on their own; they are eager to make their own decisions; they dare to innovate. It is also very natural and normal for them, in a reasonable way, to challenge the existing order and establishment. When people with the same interests and goals organize, they become more powerful and more capable of participating in public affairs. For example, during the Chinese New Year holidays of recent years, the "Celebrating the Spring Festival Hand in Hand", jointly organized by various youth groups, has demonstrated the strength of mutual support and greatly intensified communications among them. Starting from here, we can also set up a federation to promote external exchanges with other cities or regions. We can also learn from our neighbours such as Hong Kong and Guangzhou, where campaigns are launched regularly for the "Outstanding Young People Awards", to encourage more young people to emulate. We are aware of the difficultyaccomplishing these two tasks. However, if we do succeed in accomplishing them, we can well look forward to a new stage of development in youth work.
The past few years have also seen widening and more frequent international contacts of Macau with the outside world. The young people of Macau are becoming more openminded and more far-sighted. Small as it is, Macau has been playing a unique role in East-West exchanges for centuries,and at the same time, has been benefiting from these exchanges. The youth of Macau should carry on this tradition. Statesman Lee Kwang Yew of Singapore made an enlightening speech at the 2nd Chinese Chamber of Commerce Assembly on the increased value of the world brought about by the network system. He started from "the religious networks of different nations becoming the catalyst for the spreading of financial, technological and professional knowledge" and touched on the "arbitrage of knowledge". He said "... in spite of computer and facsimile, not all learning can be compiled into codes. Many branches of learning are related to culture, for example, the relationship Guanxi culture among Chinese, Japanese and Indonesian communities. Those capable of cashing in on the gaps of knowledge existing among different societies will all benefit".Mr Lee also praised Lin Shao-liang of Indonesia, Robert Kwok of Malaysia and Lee Ka Shing of Hong Kong, all being successful Chinese entrepreneurs, as shiny examples in bridging different cultures, because, he said, "they have the superiority of a plural culture, and their enterprises makemore profits when they integrate a developing economy with the industrialized West, bringing more returns for their investment". Therefore, he concluded, "Singapore has decided to change its immigration policy and establish a multiracial community based in Singapore. By taking advantage of their network spreading all over the world, we can expand our economic scope and create more opportunities for our development. ... And because different regions have different experiences, through exchanges of these experiences, we can all benefit at the end".
Macau is a pluralistic society, and having been in the vanguard of "arbitrage of knowledge", has taken on unique features. Indeed, these unique, pluralistic characteristics,stemming from different ethnic and cultural communities living together, interacting with each other and assimilating from each other and developing together for hundreds of years, are a priceless treasure. Whether we can preserve and develop these features depends on "the arbitrage of knowledge". So, during the second half of the historic period of transition, we should pay more attention to the useful experiences of other ethnic communities and make full use of these experiences. We should avoid ethnical conflicts, pursue peaceful coexistence and promote the stability and prosperity of Macau. At present and in the future, we should respect pluralistic values and support pluralistic developments.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
The political and economic changes of Macau present both challenges and opportunities, which are, moreover, a landmark in the modernization of Macau society. The modernization of ideological concepts usually comes ahead of that of politics and economy. The former, leading the way for the profound change and evolution of the society, is therefore more important than the latter. The youth of Macau should do all they can to grasp this precious opportunity,devote themselves to the future of Macau by thinking more,caring more, participating more, and committing themselves more. They should offer more specific, more innovative and more constructive ideas for the future developments in all fronts and dedicate themselves to making Macau a better and more prosperous city for the people of Macau.
Notes :
(1)For Macau students, Macau Law Programmes were set up by Zhongshan University of Guangzhou and Shantou University, and some law students who have been educated in China studied in the Portuguese Law Programme after taking Portuguese language and culture courses in Portugal.
(2) "The Curricular Development Programme" was passed through in 1994 and will be effective in the academic year of 1995/96.
(3) Some textbooks are on the progress of writing, and can be started to be used in the academic year of 1995/96.
(English translation : Sylvia Sao Leng leong)
Wu Zhiliang was born in Lian Ping, Guangdong Province, China. He graduated from Faculty of Portuguese Language and Culture, Beijing Foreign Studies University, in 1985. In 1986, he went to Portugal to further his studies, first at the Faculty of Arts, University of Lisbon and then at the Faculty of Law, Catholic University. He completed his postgraduate studies in Public Administration, at the University of East Asia, in 1991. His publications include over a hundred news reports, articles and travel talks as well as scores of translated papers.
Wu Zhiliang is now a Director of the Macau Foundation since 1992 and doctoral candidate at Nanjing University. He has written three books: "My Impressions of Portugal", "The Macau Political System: Evolution, Reality and Perspective" and "Guide to Investing in Portugal" (with Mr. Chan Kai Chon).
