Episodes of hope and not so in Macau

Editor Instituto Internacional de Macau Title The city in review – Episodes of hope and not so in Macau Collection MOSAICO – Volume LXVIII Author Sheyla S. Zandonai Cover design MAP Printing Vui Fong Printing Company Limited Circulation 300 ISBN 978-99965-59-71-6 All rights reserved. Macau, December 2021. With the support of

TO MY PARENTS

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 4 - ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the readers of this work whose interest or curiosity create a dialogue of ideas. A special thanks to the International Institute of Macau for putting up with the challenge to publish this book at times of increased media and society scrutiny. This work would not have been possible without the support of my dear husband and family, and a few friends who have been great interlocutors and listeners. Last but not least, I extend my acknowledgements to the people who were the subjects of these columns, citizens and public figures alike, who threw some light on Macau’s idiosyncrasies, although sometimes that cast a shadow over the city.

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction………………………………………………… 6 City planning …………………………………………………… 10 Urban identity ………………………………………………… 23 Heritage matters ……………………………………………… 31 Gambling governance ………………………………………… 42 The Bay and the Road ………………………………………… 50 City affairs ……………………………………………………… 60 The sovereign and the alien …………………………………… 72 Thoughts ……………………………………………………… 78 References ……………………………………………………… 87 Bio ……………………………………………………………… 88

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 6 - INTRODUCTION The city has been at the core of my academic reflections and work for several years. I have been pulled by a fascination towards many things urban for a long time. My first contact with the works of Georg Simmel during my undergraduate years, followed by my arrival in Paris in my early 20s left a profound impact on my understanding of the world: the diversity, the complexity and the endlessness of the city as a place have constantly informed my manifold interests in urban life and its forms. The city is mundane, metaphysical, magnetic. It is chaotic and confusing. It is a delight to the senses, and an annoyance at times. Early social studies devoted to theorizing the urban space, from Simmel, Max Weber, and Robert Park to Henri Lefebvre, Michel de Certeau and Lewis Mumford, share a common understanding of the city as the product of human agency revealing the material and symbolic imprint of successive generations. French sociologist Lefebvre claims that “the city is the work of a history, i.e., well-defined people and groups who achieve this work under historical conditions” (1968: 53). The city thus defined is a growth, that is, a moving, changing object (Park 1915). This growth is assurance of two things: problems that need be constantly accommodated by citizens and the powers that be, and an abundance of material one can write about. It is a moveable feast for scholars and journalists.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 7 - The articles collected in this volume convey opinions I formed based on more than a decade of learning and experience in and about Macau. They were written between 2017 and 2018 in the city’s lingua franca, English, for the media: the now extinguished Business Daily and Macau News Agency. I like to think they contribute some testimony to the ways Macau has reinvented itself in due course. Back then, I accumulated many roles and functions. A Research Associate at the Architecture Anthropology Lab (France), I was also working as a journalist, columnist, and Editor-in-Chief in Macau1. My incursion into journalism was challenging but it felt somewhat natural. It allowed me to explore topics I wanted to expand, gave me an opportunity to update my own research and learn more about themes that would overall enhance my knowledge about Macau, now in a faster and shorter format – although over time I became weary of journalism’s transience, and frustrated with pressing deadlines and a staff-deprived newsroom. Don’t read me wrong. An outsider turned insider, I learned to better appreciate the value of journalism, especially under times of hardline politics, and continue to occasionally contribute to media outlets these days. But it is a different type of writing, serving different occasions, publics, and agendas. My relationship with Macau goes back many years. I first visited the city in 2006. I was then a Ph.D. student in Social Anthropology and Ethnology at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in France. It was my first time in China and Asia. It was thrilling. I repeated this first field trip of nearly six months a year later, and again in 2008 and 2009, although for shorter periods of time. I would, then, only return to Macau again in 2013 and settle there on a more permanent basis in 2015. 1 Working for Project Asia, a Macau-based media publisher, I relayed on these roles for roughly three-years, half of the time as the first Editor-in-Chief of Macau News Agency, and half as contributing editor for Macau Business, a magazine published by the same group. My opinion columns have been published weekly in the dailies from the start.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 8 - I began writing opinion columns to the local Portuguese and English media in this first phase of my early Ph.D. explorations. These were the product of my younger self as a doctoral student, while I was still based in France. The logistics of these comings and goings has never been an easy part of the job. But they allowed me to entertain, for a certain period at least, the spirit of an adventurer, with few constraints, and equally little money, but with a fair amount of freedom my older self has not found that often. The city looked and smelled different back then. A blend of incense and freshly cooked rice spread over many streets of the old town. Macau was still the dormant and somewhat postcolonial city striving to find its new identity. Much of which came later to be defined, for better or worse, through its gambling dimension. I witnessed the full-fledged transformation that took over the cityscape since the gambling liberalization in 2002. In March 2006 when I arrived at the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal from Hong Kong, the Sands’s golden-walled building was still the only casino completed after the end of the monopoly era. We called them casino-hotels back then, and ‘gambling’ was not yet glamourized there as ‘gaming’ – a move by big casino corporations in America to brush off the sector’s bad reputation from the 1990s. It might have been me, quite unacquainted with Macau’s landscape, which I only knew before my arrival through books2 and movies which celebrated the city’s rather murky past, but Macau emanated a peculiar atmosphere. There was a general sense of excitement, mostly on the part of the Chinese, countered by a feeling of disillusion that several Portuguese and Macanese residents that I have encountered, got to know, and interviewed over the years, conveyed. As time passed and gambling took unexpected leaps forward 2 Boxer, Montalto de Jesus, Pina-Cabral and Porter are among some of my first readings about Macau.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 9 - (economically) and backward (socially), a general anxiety defined much of what people felt during the sector’s boom years. The Macau Riviera mood was over. A much more complex city has gradually emerged. The relationship with China gained steam in multiple forms. Remaining colonial tropes have been demised, trolled over by gambling’s expansion and the city spectacular rise from a laid-back town to a thriving city of the Greater Bay. Heritage, especially after UNESCO’s nomination in 2005, received carte blanche and became in many ways a signifier for Macau’s colourful and intricate cultural past. These are some of the themes that I dialogue with in the articles gathered here – written in the light of an anthropological perspective that embraces fieldwork and a holistic and comparative approach – under different themes. Many of them, though, do fall under two or more categories. Several pieces under “Heritage matters” will fit the notion of “Urban identity”. Works under “City affairs” will undoubtedly reveal a variety of sub-topics that dialogue with legal, economic, and political issues. The themes serve just as references to better index the work. An article is by no means solely engaged in one topic or another. Above all, this is a collection that documents Macau’s recent history, although the personal is never too far away from the way facts and events are described. After all, they are opinion columns. Hopefully, they will also be read as signs of the city’s growth. Macau, November 2021 Sheyla S. Zandonai

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 10 - CITY PLANNING Get real January 23, 2017 Last week, Macau’s three 'beloved’ public transportation companies – TCM, Transmac and Nova Era – conscientiously sent their executives and managers to speak on the radio programme “Forum Macau” on TDM’s Chinese channel3. Now, here is a group of people that most Macau residents would be keen to listen to, although it is less sure they would expect to hear great things. In fact, as the programme revealed – and as anyone who has ever ventured to ride on one of Macau’s public buses may have noticed – people have a hard time concealing their annoyance. Though customers will, often, restrain their exasperation, sighing deeply instead of casting a vicious curse upon the driver’s mother, people are clearly unsatisfied with the current state of affairs. There are limits, even to Chinese patience. Generally, there is a feeling of impotence and resignation. The need to improve Macau’s urban transport systems is a well-known issue these days, and so the companies’ representatives have voiced it to some extent. Drivers who are ill-prepared – and allow me to say in passing, seemingly unafraid of death – force commuters to become unwilling participants in infuriating races. Nova Era has said that it will add 57 vehicles to its fleet by the first half of 2017. Now, that raises another problem: where are they driving? Again, there is confusion between quantity and quality, as if having more cars in circulation would mean that a company is being run successfully, despite knowing that this might not be beneficial to passengers and residents, overall. So, the problem is not identifying the variables that are causing popular discontent. The problem is tackling them. At first, it is understandable 3 Teledifusão de Macau (Macao Broadcasting).

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 11 - that higher demand – more than 200 million passengers in 2016 – pushes companies to react quickly rather than plan ahead. So, companies have responded by suggesting solutions or amendments that merely add more layers to the problem: hiring more (crazy) drivers; adding more buses to existing routes; and replacing smaller vehicles with larger ones to travel through congested neighbourhoods. Whether due to a lack of imagination or lack of principle, there are no changes to the outcome. On average, the quality of services remains dubious, air and sound pollution higher, and traffic worse. Public transport companies should have been employing clean-energy technology for a while now. There are opportunities for business, profits to be made, and demands to supply. So: why the delay? Pocket parks March 27, 2017 What is it that makes a city desirable to live in? This is a question that concerns public agents, urban planners, scholars, and citizens, mostly. Quality of life, an index to measure a city’s attractiveness, is a topic of conversation, reason for public concern, and a goal, ultimately, in people’s lives. By nature, it is contentious. Not everybody wants or seeks the same things. It is hard to strike a balance where public and private interests often clash. Eventually, it becomes a matter of which side you are on. But that’s open to negotiation. Although we cannot easily picture real estate developers lobbying for more public parks in the city, they might, if they think about the long-term return; a house with a garden, a room with a view, so the story goes. In the latest ranking of cities offering the best quality of life worldwide, released in early 2017 by Mercer, a consultant, Vienna came first. Except for Auckland and Vancouver, the top ten cities are all located in Europe. Safety, good welfare-state provision, and a high life expectancy, to name a few, were all part of the equation that put the Austrian capital in the coveted spot.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 12 - Within this framework, however, less consideration of equally fulfilling things in life, such as food experience and exposure to natural light, lowers the appeal, so to speak, of other, more alive, organic, and global places. Hanoi, for instance, has an extremely vibrant street food scene, but the fact that it is a bit on the rack makes it a lesser contender. It came in at the 156th position on Mercer’s ranking. Hong Kong came 71st. Macau did not make the list. At the end of the day, part of it comes down to personal choice. Perhaps a wonton soup in that rundown neighbourhood speaks more to you than a tart in a fancy Viennese café. That said, there is still a way to go here. European cities have been constantly re-adapted in line with comprehensive planning. Overall, they have gone greener and integrated more hi-tech features. Gardens remain a public entity as well as an aim in urban design. The fact that cities with hundreds of years of history remain both functional and beautiful speaks for itself. In Macau, one solution to density has been to create “pocket parks,” small green buffers in the middle of a forest of concrete and cars. It is a start. But is it what a liveable city should feel like? Tree buildings April 10, 2017 A new trend in urban design has it that wood is the new concrete. Architects are now experimenting and building skyscrapers using timber in London, Paris, Vancouver, and Vienna, to name a few. So buildings are the new trees. Wood has a long history in construction. From houses and boats to temples and pagodas, wood-building techniques and traditions can be found across the world, from northern Europe to Latin America, and East and South-East Asia. On the one hand, wood is a natural resource close at hand to people’s surrounding environment – or at least it used to be. On the other, it is

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 13 - both aesthetically appealing and more in tune with nature than, say, concrete and steel, which constitute the bulk of our cityscapes, so that human beings may feel more attracted to their organic quality. Considering wood’s carbon-sequestering feature, timber buildings would actually be a welcome addition to car-jammed, densely urbanized Macau, except that tropical weather is not to their advantage here. Although sharp engineering has made fire-resistant wood a possibility in the large-scale construction enterprise, namely for high-rises, humidity is an often merciless, conspicuous force hard to fight here. It does not even spare concrete from slow though steady deterioration. For this reason, wood architecture seems a distant alternative for being integrated into Macau’s building landscape. With notable exceptions, as the shipyards in Coloane – which stand as an example of the ways negligence and minimal maintenance can harm a fragile wood site – wood is not remarkably present in the cityscape. So, what more feasible option for cleaner air and, arguably, a more liveable city could be afforded here? More trees. Vegetation and materials more connected to nature are increasingly said to have a positive effect on people’s emotional attachment to a place and their overall physical and mental well-being. There are several signs of that attraction to greenery both in large and small-scale settings in Macau. On the one hand, gardens such as Camões, which are carefully taken care of, though arguably too few, remain popular venues in the city. On the other hand, vegetation spread over balconies, offices, and private spaces suggests that people are continuously seeking engagement with nature, producing their own green spaces. Why not harness this inclination under a larger plan for a greener Macau?

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 14 - Connecting dots July 17, 2017 Chances are the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge will be completed and operational this year4, despite safety claims regarding the concrete that has been used in parts of the superstructure. On the west side of the Delta, construction on the artificial island that will connect the bridge to Macau is progressing steadily, so that the checkpoint can be opened when the bridge opens. Most likely, the super bridge will create a new influx of visitors to Macau, in addition to the regular hordes. But mind that the only structure connecting the island to the city proper is a tiny bridge that links the new landfill to the peninsula, up north. Now, that might be problematic. It is well known that the Gongbei checkpoint – and by extension, the peninsula – is saturated. Not only does it receive the largest influx of tourists from the Mainland, but large numbers of workers also cross it on a daily basis. I must agree that the Light Rail Transit (LRT) does make sense in that regard. But then it too is complicated. Yet, money is but lacking, and technology and experience are out there to assist in the task. Subject to public consultation, several problems were raised in regard to the LRT track. In truth, nobody wants a train passing by their window. But some things must be done, regardless. At some point, the project posed a problem to the Border Gate monument. The authorities considered removing it – yes, as in physically changing places – and assigning it to another site in the city – an apparently surreal proposition which is foreseen by the Cultural Heritage Protection law (Saint Paul’s, watch out!). It is actually quite amazing that removing heritage property around the city, leaving free space to private developers, has not yet been done. In any case, dropping the LRT plan for the peninsula would make sense if there were already a connection between the artificial island and Cotai, 4 The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge opened on 24 October 2018.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 15 - given it is likely that the majority of visitors will come to gamble after all. And so, the fourth bridge makes more sense, except that it is not out there yet, and it might take a long time to materialize – think the Pac-On ferry terminal, the LRT itself, the new hospital, the recycled water plant… Channelled to Cotai, visitors who would rather not wander around casino venues could always reach the peninsula by hopping on a shuttle bus, public transport, or cab. Maybe one day, they will even be able cross back and forth on a boat! Urban equipment July 31, 2017 Public transportation is a wonder of big cities. We live in an urbanized world in which people move often and increasingly more. Transport solutions should be constantly revisited and improved, for cities to continue to operate efficiently, if possible. If everybody going to work, school, shopping or out dining, only commuted using his or her own car or motorbike, congested urban centres would be much more of a hassle than they actually are. And Macau is already not far from that. We know that if all existing cars in the city were put on the streets at the same time, there wouldn’t be enough space for all of them to circulate. Efficient cities run multiple integrated transportation systems. Subways, buses, bicycles, and shuttles are connected in a way that people can reach any destination without having to use a private car. This would imply some walking along the way, but then we all have to compromise a little for the sake of the public good. But Macau is still in need of an efficient integrated transportation system, as well as good service provision. Overall, this would mean good equipment and well-trained staff. In particular, smart planning of routes

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 16 - and the ways different types of transport could be connected, would be helpful. Extremely helpful. Creating alternatives, for instance, by regulating other types of private transport, such as electric bikes, wouldn’t hurt. But to tackle something that is concrete, consider the buses running in the city. Although there has been some improvement recently, the service continues to be poor. Maybe you are one of those fortunate people that don’t have to take a bus to move around the city, and to deal with elated tourists and racing drivers every day. Lucky you. Many bus drivers continue to be ruthless, departing brusquely, and breaking abruptly at every stop. Of course, there are drivers who are more professional and well-trained. But they don’t seem to be that numerous. I am always stunned, edging the cynical, when I see a video that is broadcasted on TV sets on some of the city’s buses, promoting the safe and courteous driving manners of Macau’s bus drivers, when the actual driver at the wheel is in sharp contrast to that image. Where did they pull that from? It is actually a wonder that accidents do not happen more often. In any case, it is still a pain. Eye cloud August 7, 2017 In early August, Macau received a visit from a distinguished guest, the then head of Alibaba giant, Jack Ma. Ma was in town to sign an agreement of co-operation with the Macau SAR5 Government, to develop an automated platform for Big Data and artificial intelligence use in the city. 5 Special Administrative Region.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 17 - The term used to describe the goal underlying the creation of a local cloud-computing centre, to be implemented within the next four years, was ‘urban brain.’ All brains welcome. So, the previously announced smart city plan is now bound to take shape within a series of areas, ranging from transport and healthcare to talent pooling and development. The framework agreement will provide structure to the five-year plan the local government announced in 2016 as a comprehensive chart of principles to be pursued. What was intention is now being designed as actual policy. The plan is ambitious, and one might question whether or not there will be enough vision and capacity for it to materialize. But this being Jack Ma, the chances are it will work out. Enabling an urban cloud management system could inform governance with efficiency, alleviate urban plights, improve tourism management and healthcare access – although having the new hospital built once and for all seems equally efficacious in regard to the latter. But a cloud, as dynamic and interconnected – as well as volatile and subject to breaching – as it can be, still has to operate within extant, physical infrastructures. If they are not in place, they will have to be. This raises a series of questions. During the protocol signing, it was mentioned that the cloud-computing centre will complement the information technology infrastructure already in place. In addition to asking what ‘information technology infrastructure’ they were referring to, one might ask, who will actually be in charge of implementing the new system? Will it be centralized, and under which government department? Does Macau have local people to develop and oversee the related operations? Secondly, authorities claimed that the data will be stored in the city. Alibaba’s representatives in town also said the system will be connected to other cloud systems which belong to the group worldwide. That means there will be a mechanism for cloud data distribution and sharing from the start.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 18 - Talk about integrating Macau within the Greater Bay Area. Infrastructure-wise, the process is moving forward at a fast pace. Now, it is time for integrating people. Personal data protection will be at the core of the process. Plug and pray. Planning reality August 21, 2017 The Macau SAR Government is finally moving ahead with the comprehensive urban planning of the city. In a dispatch published in the Official Gazette in mid-August, the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) launched the public tender for the development of the Master Plan of Macau6. A Master Plan offers a long-range vision for the built environment of a city. It is not concerned only with the materiality of things. That’s a blueprint. It also tackles the social fabric of a place. At the end of the day, it is an enterprise in design, communication, and policy development. While detailed information is expected to be included in the MOP1,000 dossier that bidders will have access to by entering a competition, there are a few details which deserve consideration here, either because they have not been clarified or because they raise questions. The first one would be what the government means by ‘Macau.’ Is it envisaging a Master Plan for the peninsula or for the whole jurisdiction under its control? Does it include the new reclaimed land zones and territorial waters? The timing of the publication of the dispatch and the time allowed for the submission of proposals also deserve some thought. 6 A contract was awarded in March 2018 to Hong Kong-based Ove Arup & Partners to develop Macau Master Plan for MOP11 million (US$1.37 million).

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 19 - The dispatch came out after the Legislative Assembly closed its yearly cycle and in a period where city affairs are slower than usual because of the summer break. As for the time allowed for submissions, defined as little more than one month and a half from the date of announcement, it seems short at first approach. In fact, talks about the Master Plan have been present in the public debate for at least the last 10 years. But it is somewhat striking that its design is now a matter of a month or so. If the data provided to bidders is comprehensive, skilful teams or consortia might be able to come up with a decent proposal, knowing that this would also require them to be resourceful. Planning involves imagination. Urban designers consider master plans as road maps. They are relevant as long as they chart a course of action that allows what exists to become a better reality, with milestones along the way. It is a process of collaboration between designers, authorities, developers, and citizens. Given the scope, it is likely the contract will be awarded to a consortium, probably with outside offices involved. Ideally, it would include a local company. The question is: who in the city has the expertise and connections to pursue the goal? Unloading safety November 20, 2017 Access to housing continues to be a leading point on both the Macau SAR Government’s and the legislators’ agendas for the coming year, as announcements made last week during the Policy Address for the fiscal year 2018 showed. Macau’s population remains concerned about the offer of social housing available in the city, which it claims overall to be lacking.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 20 - Since Edmund Ho Hau Wah’s administration, there have been regular official claims that Macau lacks space for developing new projects that could accommodate popular demand. During [Secretary for Public Works] Raimundo do Rosário’s term, the government has recovered several land plots which were not developed within the 25-year period defined by the law. Mr. Rosário has also been overseeing a couple of committees in charge of discussing alternative uses for old, industrial buildings in the north of the Macau peninsula, and ways of revitalizing old neighbourhoods, mainly in the Inner Harbour area, which have fallen into disrepair. At the same time, current plans are designed in such a way that new houses will be built in the medium and long term. A major project in that regard is the construction of 28,000 public housing units in the reclaimed land Zone A. Last week, Mr. Rosário made public comments saying that he is currently unable to provide a timeline for the project, due to several reasons. Once the report that is being developed about the project’s design is submitted to the Urban Planning Committee for approval, it still has to be given the green light by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, and then submitted to UNESCO – which requested the Macau SAR to submit a report on the conditions of heritage preservation by the end of 2018. All steps included, it is unlikely there will be any clear guidelines or the opening of applications for social housing in Zone A in the next few months to come. For one, there is an unavoidable bureaucratic path at this stage. Secondly, UNESCO is vigilant, and the city may not be willing to risk its World Heritage status. Thirdly, there is a technical aspect that has not been mentioned and that needs consideration. Landfills are big infrastructure projects which, by nature, require time to settle in. Engineers often state those areas should be allowed to sit for several years, perhaps ten, after completion, before construction can commence; the aim being to allow sedimentation to take place properly, avoiding later cracks and surface unevenness, when projects are built.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 21 - Not at any moment has this been brought to light in the public debates. People are restless and demand commitment from the government. But the government should also respond to people’s safety. And experts should definitely have a say in this. Planning not January 29, 2018 The only matter that can get more complicated than planning is not planning. Over the last few days of January, the Macau SAR Government has engaged in a series of acts to present its latest efforts at planning concerning several areas of the city, including the new landfill named Zone A located east of the Macau Peninsula, the Historic Centre, and the shipyards in Coloane. The plan for Zone A – perhaps it is time to get a proper name for what is to become a concrete extension of the Macau SAR territory – has been presented as a variegated type of urban space, with projects available for all people and pockets, as long as they are Macau residents. For the time being. In addition to social housing and green areas – not often mulled as an element that should integrate the landscape – surface and underground metro routes plus bridge and tunnel connections to other parts of Macau are being considered. Note, however, that while members of the Urban Planning Committee have complained that the government submitted plans of Zone A for their evaluation quite late, public tenders for the design of the fourth bridge, connecting the same Zone A with Zone E1 in Taipa, and the development of a tunnel to link the area to Zone B have already been granted. Meanwhile, in the old historic town, more planning is being unveiled by the Cultural Affairs Bureau as it presents its protection management plan for heritage conservation following serious concerns being raised last year by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee about the government’s commitment to heritage protection.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 22 - The Coloane shipyards have also been in the spotlight after struggles between Lai Chi Wun villagers, public opinion and the government proper have dragged on for more than a year. Also under public consultation, the site is earmarked for protection and eventual classification on the city’s heritage list. Note, however, that the consultation was launched without the presentation of a concrete plan for the site, although several interests and ideas have been contemplated for the area, including the Wine Museum. A plan for part of the area, on Rua dos Navegantes – of which specifics have not been clarified by the attendant authorities – is being prepared by CAA City Planning & Engineering Consultants Ltd., a company chaired by legislator José Chui Sai Peng. It is particularly puzzling, though, that the logic of zoning continues to prevail when the Master Plan of Macau has yet to be decided, and that contracts for the development of urban projects continue to be awarded before proper planning is conducted. So much for due process.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 23 - URBAN IDENTITY Mong Ha March 6, 2017 Mong Ha is a busy neighbourhood of Macau. It is also an old, nearly mythical one, said to be the location of one of the first establishments of Chinese people in the peninsula, at a time when it was not properly a city yet, prior to the arrival of the Portuguese in the sixteenth century. Its different urban and architectural layers bear witness to its long and yet dynamic history. It has a thriving social and economic life, and a life for the after-death. Temples, cemeteries, and mortuary houses find their way within the urban fabric with the living. Evolving around the hill, which carries the eponymous name, the district is surrounded by diverse remnants of Macau’s history. On the southern base of the hill, facing the main city, several ancient houses emerge here and there, telling the story of a town that belongs to the past. On the northern base, connected to the Areia Preta district and facing China, Mong Ha gives in to another type of human and urban density – where trades, crafts, and businesses form an active commercial and industrial quarter. On one side and the other, two different populations more or less converge: the Macau people, to the south, and the Mainland Chinese, to the north. Mong Ha has, thus, the particularity of being both a transitional space and a cultural midway between the local and the local to be, one day. Though the district has immense character, politics have not accomplished much in the last few years to ascribe to it proper value within the larger cultural geography of Macau. In fact, although one of the last endeavours by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, still under Guilherme Ung Vai Meng’s direction, was to list a couple of sites in the area – the dog kennel being one of them – Mong Ha has been on the map rather due to contestation over some of its old houses. Initially earmarked for renovation, they were withdrawn from the urban planning programme,

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 24 - with no reasonable explanation given, followed by silence on the part of public authorities. But residents are alert. For one, the Ox Warehouse7 keeps busy with cultural and artistic activities that engage people living in the area. Last week students from the Heritage Management programme at the Institute for Tourism Studies presented their graduation work focused on Mong Ha. “Reconnecting” the neighbourhood was their main call in the project. It may as well be time to reconsider. Multicultural practice October 30, 2017 Speaking during an event at the Macao Trade and Investment Fair last week, Frederick Ma Chi Ngai, Permanent President of the Macao Youth Association and Vice President of China Youth Entrepreneurs Association, said that “multiculturalism” is in Macau’s DNA. Multiculturalism is a big word, which actually entails a policy-oriented framework, designed to integrate immigrants within a given society. While we can claim Macau is multicultural by social practice, historically and presently, it is different to claim it is by political design. Recent political episodes, such as the ones linked to public transportation proposals to separate resident from non-resident users, suggest policy is not drawing on multicultural values. Rather, the contrary. A more compelling case is the blue card system [immigrant worker visa], which is built in a way so as to exclude immigrants from the social security system, for instance, based on the fact that they don’t have the ‘right’ passport. Accordingly, several jobs and positions are reserved for Macau residents in the government and academic institutions. On the other hand, the private sector is leading a silent battle against the bureaucratic hurdles 7 Ox Warehouse is a Macau-based non-profit art association founded in 2003. It has later relocated to Saint-Lazarus neighbourhood.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 25 - to recruit foreign labour, which affects big corporations and small and medium enterprises (SME) alike. Some of the operating criteria for excluding foreigners from rights of residency are tacit, belonging to unaccountable decision-making, which leaves room for discretionary decisions. Rules of the game, so to speak. But that wouldn’t have to be an issue if the trade-off allowed for integration to happen in other domains of life. For integration is not only a matter of papers. It overlaps with cultural and social policies as well as the very experience of the city. It ranges from creating language policies and juridical and medical assistance, to job placement and employment information, designed to accommodate immigrants to the needs of society and vice-versa, so that all can live in a ‘harmonious’ society, lest we miss the focal point here: locals and foreigners are human beings. Multiculturalism is not a formula for flawless coexistence, but it is the best option at hand if we consider that cultural diversity in a city like Macau is historically binding and currently unavoidable. In popular parlance, if you cannot beat them, join them – if only for the sake of peaceful cohabitation. Culture wanted November 6, 2017 The re-opening of Hotel Central has been delayed. Initially slated to open for the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the handover of Macau to China, in 2019, the owners of the property claimed the target date would be missed. At this stage, a slight delay is better than no plan at all. Hotel Central, along with the Grand Hotel, situated at the west end of Avenida Almeida Ribeiro, could provide nice alternatives to visitors who are not planning to make gambling their main holiday activity in the city. Thousands of rooms are available at casino properties in Macau, with occupancy rates often high, and amenities being generally good vis-a-

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 26 - vis the prices proposed. But it is still somewhat expensive when compared to other cities, mainly because there are no options available in-between pricey casino rooms and budget hotels or semi-legal accommodations in town. With Airbnb out of the picture for the time being – and for a long time to come, it seems, according to recent declarations from tourism authorities – the scope of the offer is narrow. And this not only relates to the price-range. It is also a matter of choice and taste. One may be perfectly happy to pay a price similar to that which the Integrated Resorts ask for, but also have the option to stay downtown, closer to the historic centre, in the city proper, where daily life is one of the main attractions, instead of being limited to Cotai. Such a venture would fall in line with repeated government proposals to diversify the economy, while re-signifying the role of Macau as a place of culture. We often get overexposed to the official pitch of transforming the city into a world destination of tourism and leisure. Whereas this agenda is good for business, it may not be good for all types of businesses. Small enterprises risk collapsing further if there is no careful planning to cope with the challenges brought by big corporations to the more traditional social and economic fabric of the city. So, it is good, but not good enough. On the bright side, there are always possibilities emerging. The latest UNESCO designation in the field of gastronomy adds another layer of recognition to Macau’s historical complexity and capacity to re-invent itself. They all fit within the mandate, suggesting that this is an enormous opportunity to reassign meaning to Macau as a place of culture and craft. With a title comes a responsibility.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 27 - Spectacular week November 13, 2017 This is an eventful week, packing in some of the best features Macau praises itself for as an international city of entertainment and leisure. The Macao Gaming Show (MGS) kicks off tomorrow, with the Grand Prix beginning the qualifying races on Thursday and running until Sunday. These are two important events for the local tourism and gambling industry, which bring people from around Asia and beyond to enjoy Macau’s hospitality in something that the city claims it does very well, namely, entertaining. It is then interesting to see that the Macau SAR Government chose this particular week to present its annual Policy Address, and subsequent question and answer session, for the fiscal year 2017. Would entertaining here mean a way of distracting, other local audiences? You be the judge. Yet, as per usual, many questions are being raised as expectations rise about the short-term political orientation that the address will be setting the tone for the next months to come. While housing, the labour market, and transport will be in the spotlight, the government might also want to address its plans for the cloud and praise some of the latest achievements it brought to light with the recent completion of the Tourism Master Plan. The Master Plan produced by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) – which is comprehensive, but not as detailed as one might expect – remains one of the most noticeable deeds the administration has pulled off in the last few years, especially given that many other projects have been inexplicably delayed, such as the new public hospital and the LRT, although the latter is finally, after much ado, literally starting to move. MGTO is becoming a powerful engine, moving funds and capitalizing on many of the city’s assets to fulfil China’s vision for Macau – although not always to the benefit of residents, if the mandate is quantity and not quality.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 28 - Harnessing Macau’s resilient gambling industry, MGS has also shrewdly fed into the government’s desire to move on with the Smart City project and is bringing speakers from noted companies in the field, such as Alibaba and Amazon, while also dedicating a full day of conferences to developments in e-sports and social games, two noted trends of late in the industry. A week to be remembered in a spectacle for the eyes and the ears. Laissez-faire April 2, 2018 For a long time, I have wondered about Cotai and how it fits in to the city’s identity and overall sense of historical coherence. It still does not match well with the old urban fabric, although the casino strip is a strong component of the city’s economic machine – the most powerful one. After Cotai started building up, amassing casino structures ever more colossal and grandiose, its influence on the old casino venues on the Macau Peninsula was somewhat gradually felt. Some of the previous casinos from the Stanley Ho era located in the ZAPE district started adopting the LED patterns of the new times and gained more ornamental façades. Against all odds, Jai Alai, which is one of the oldest gambling venues in town, emerged as a quite successful example of renovation – at least its exterior. Amazing retrofitting work, low key, low rise, with some dignity. As many others slowly revamped and had to compete with the new casinos of the liberalization era, which were popping up across ZAPE, in the NAPE district, they have engendered some gentrification in their whereabouts. New businesses that gradually opened, clearing away some old shops and leading to a wave of standardized products and services in the area – clothing and liquor stores, or traditional Chinese medicine – do not necessarily mean that good taste is their strongest currency, but also do not mean they have a cheap price tag.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 29 - So ZAPE became a little bit more adapted to the ideas of ‘wealth’ and ‘success’ that a gambling hub in Asia, and in particular China, can project to the types of clients that they cater to in that specific area of town. We have to keep it real too. Many of the rich bunches, and not so, that end up here, belong to the new rich class China has produced over a two-decade span. For many years, the Chinese central government promoted the idea that ‘to become rich is glorious.’ I still have a hard time seeing gloriousness in a lot of rich, poorly educated people, who have particularly strange taste in clothes. But then again, Macau is a place free of many constraints, where people come to be someone else, away from work hierarchies, family commitments, and the vigilant eyes of China. From that perspective, Cotai suits much of what Macau has been for centuries: a place of laissez-faire. So, it has its spot, even if it seems a bit at odds with history, within the city’s soul. Chinese Riviera May 7, 2018 In its latest effort to promote Macau’s territorial waters, the government stated last week that upcoming details will soon be announced on a series of new schemes that will allow leisure boats to navigate the waters of the Pearl River delta on their way to different – but only specifically targeted – areas of Guangdong Province. The areas in question, three in total, are defined as free trade – and undoubtedly the newest experimental – zones of the South China Sea, namely Hengqin, the closest neighbour to Macau, Nansha, in Guangzhou, and Qianhai-Shekou, in Shenzen. Fairly distributed zones and their promising new and existing marinas that may indeed attract more sailors from the city. In this regard, consider that previous arguments for the failure of luring local embarkations to slide their way to Zhongshan – the first free yacht

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 30 - scheme enacted by the government in 2017 – was a lack of appeal ensuing from Zhongshan proper or its marina. I have searched but haven’t found many images of the place, except for a few design renderings, in which the water, berthed boats and houses sitting by the river are all bright and shiny and appealing. I wouldn’t picture the waters of the delta so blue under such a sunny sky, but Photoshop tells there are limits to reality we cannot fight against these days. In any case, Macau-registered boat owners have barely considered making their way up the delta. The number of registered embarkations for the scheme can be counted on two hands. Whether the new areas will be more efficient in persuading leisure boat owners from Macau to sign up to the new scheme is still to be seen, but some may be moved by curiosity, others for the chance of navigating further away from the city to enjoy different sea landscapes that are promising fantastic marinas and the luxury experience of the French Riviera, if you take their promotional enthusiasm by the letter. It is likely the water may be bluer on the other side as we sit here and contemplate the city being walled by high-rise buildings and landfills. While part of the decision from boat owners, in general, to adhere to the scheme will be weighed against the conditions that will be put up – fees and the like – another part will certainly be related to the attraction of Macau’s marinas to those from mainland China mulling the possibility to subscribe to the proposal. From this side of the river though, nothing much seems to have happened here to attract the sailing visitors.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 31 - HERITAGE MATTERS Water matters February 6, 2017 In the beginning of February, a member of the Urban Planning Committee suggested that the government should consider developing maritime links between the Macau peninsula and Taipa, in order to ease pressure on land transportation systems. Residents and tourists, to different extents, might find the idea attractive. Travelling or commuting by water would offer an agreeable way to enjoy Macau’s now dazzling skyline, if not to avoid the herds on public buses. It should be a goal to boost a sector of economic activity which has great potential for the tourism and entertainment businesses. The city was built, after all, owing much to its links with the water: trade, fishing, and transport. Though dormant, those links remain simmering. Maritime transportation services for passengers between Macau, Taipa, and Coloane were a fact of daily life in the 1950s. A road connection between Taipa and Macau would have to wait another twenty years or so to materialize, when in 1974, the Governador Nobre de Carvalho bridge was opened to traffic. Road and water connections could be complementary modes for facilitating the movement of people and goods. There is space to accommodate both. Surely, there are businesses craving for the opportunity, so that options could extend way beyond carrier services. No doubt the Yacht Scheme launched last year was a huge step in such a direction, lest it not be stalled by red tape. Now, should last week’s announcement by the government, that the majority of the old shipyards in Coloane will be destroyed, be a reason for concern? Yes. First, the abandon, then, the hazards that have gradually deteriorated the site since the government dithered in its 2012 renovation plans, have done no good. Not maintained accordingly,

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 32 - replacing them by other structures may be the only option available now. The question, though, is: what is going to be replacing them? The site has recently received project proposals from people in the sailing and maritime businesses that have approached the government and have been assessed and studied in the past. The Institute of European Studies of Macau (IEEM), for one, conducted a study of the area a few years ago, in partnership with the Polytechnic University of Milan and the University of Saint Joseph. The tourism bureau has also announced plans for the three to-be-standing shipyards, which will fall along the now typical lines of culture, the arts, and tourism activities. But as per what has become practice, what these plans mean and what the government is truly concocting for the site is a behind-closed-doors matter. A man February 13, 2017 Guilherme Ung Vai Meng is stepping down from his position as President of the Macau Cultural Affairs Bureau this week. The artist-turned-bureaucrat spearheaded the cultural bureau for nearly seven years – though he joined the institution much earlier, over 30 years ago. He may have allied with the government, as he should, but on that side of affairs, he led a silent rebellion too. He, as other well-intentioned highly-positioned men, and women in the administrative and political jobs of this town, got a taste of how hard it can be to get anything of worth accomplished, to pursue a vision – lest they have one to follow. Ung chose his fights. And he fought many, taking risks as well. Consider the Iec Long Fireworks Factory in Taipa. He made a U-turn on the case when the chances for renovating the site were seemingly a dead deal. Focusing on this and other sites outside World Heritage and local protection lists, he broadened Macau’s heritage fabric, restoring some of the missing links with Chinese history the city should also epitomize in its heritage landscape. Making amends with those previous heritage classifications in which Portuguese monuments and sites are

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 33 - overrepresented, he was aligning with the same “East meets West” rhetoric that has travelled from the times of the Portuguese administration to date. Nevertheless, he was stamping his mark. Though critics of his positioning and choices during his administrator career have lately labelled some of his preferences as strategic mistakes – seen as somewhat “downgrading” the distinction that Portuguese legacies confer to the city – his struggle to rehabilitate the old courthouse as the site for the new Central Library says otherwise. Undeniably, heritage was one of his main causes. He worked diligently to expand original notions tied to monumentality and materiality to an idea of heritage as living matter. Buildings should be renovated and lent back to the people, as libraries, museums, community centres. They should be revived and ‘inhabited’ by the population – not only by tourists. Though Ung also had to comply with the latter, he demanded Macau residents be granted history and culture; more often than not, their own. Surely, a few people made business out of this – construction companies and owners of properties targeted for safeguarding actions. Now, name one sector in which business is not an underlying force in Macau. Beyond that, Ung Vai Meng is a man and an artist. His legacy should also be assessed along those lines. Shipyards’ agreement April 3, 2017 Last week, the government went back on its decision to tear down the shipyards in Coloane after relentless pressure from activist groups and public opinion. I have previously written in this column that local authorities had earmarked the shipyards for renovation and preservation in 2012. Earlier this year, the tourism office confirmed that the site was going to be revamped, just a couple of months before its death sentence was declared. Now, we are back to an awkward pardon note. In Macau, it seems, it is never a done deal in urban affairs.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 34 - What happened in the meantime, while the government let the place fall to ruins, nobody seems to know for sure. The few people who may be either acquainted or directly involved with the case are not keen to step out and give face to explain the unexplainable. This is one point of the story that should be clarified. Public trust is weary. Lengthy delays and changes of plans for several urban projects make a long list – the central library, the hospital, residential buildings surrounding the lighthouse, and so on. The other, related point, which hangs around the shipyard’s ‘mystery’ like a ghost, is accountability. In Western political theory, modern mechanisms of representation have been consolidated, at least since the French Revolution, based on the idea of the ‘social contract’ that Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a Swiss-French philosopher, developed in the eighteenth-century. Basically speaking, the social contract defines the bond between people and government on the grounds of the sovereign rights of the people, removing a principle from the Ancient Regime according to which rulers were invested by divine laws to govern. In contemporary parlance, the social contract is not strictly a statement for independence claims, though it could run that length – as has been the case in Hong Kong – but a claim for responsible governing. Accountability, a much more fashionable term, works now as synonymous with what the social contract used to stand for before governments became too entrenched in compromise with business and capital interests – so-called neoliberalism. People’s agency and application in check-balancing governance, as they felt there was an attack on the common good or rights, historical and cultural, they considered legitimate, were the tools that have enabled the shipyards to stand still. The other part of the agreement is for the government to fulfil. Why not?

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 35 - Tail eater June 5, 2017 The World Heritage Committee has recently claimed that Macau is underperforming in the protection of its heritage ensemble. The Committee, which has published online several documents forming the basis of its annual meeting this summer, pointed out a couple of areas of concern in Macau. Overall, these relate to the slow response in tackling the question of urban planning in the city. The first name that comes to mind is Public Works (DSSOPT). But it is not alone on that one. Planning is also lacking on the part of the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) regarding a comprehensive framework on heritage management, the so-called Protection and Management Plan (PMP). The bureau has been working on the task. But it is taking too long, some five years now. Maybe more. Why so long? Because it is tied to urban planning. So, we are back to the start. Ouroboros. It is expected that IC should integrate in its plan, information such as height restrictions for certain areas of the city. But these are Public Works’ scope. Yet wouldn’t it be sensible for the IC to define such limits and recommended them to the DSSOPT, instead of the other way around? Such an approach would solve two problems. First, IC would get the PMP done – considering that is the only matter holding it up. Secondly, it would ensure that risks to heritage sites – as the one cast over Guia Lighthouse roughly ten years ago – be minimized. If any public body can claim knowledge and authority on technical issues related to heritage, it is the cultural bureau. All things considered that leaves us with the always-tricky part of the deal. Development. Real estate and construction are powerful forces here that should not be underestimated. But they are not to be confounded with government, even if there are signs pointing otherwise. For all that matters, governments should govern. While that does not exclude accommodating business’ interests, it should not mean

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 36 - bending to them, especially in a domain such as heritage, which is larger than private agendas and the present itself. So, IC’s continuous work to restore and classify new buildings is encouraging. World Heritage-wise, however, there is a fundamental flaw in the way the Macau Historic Centre was designed: breaking down the ensemble into two zones, and not including large parts of the old Chinese town in the overall proposition. So, China, the State Party, and UNESCO are also partly responsible for endorsing such a design. But it is never too late to amend it. Why not? September 25, 2017 Hotel Estoril is the latest in a series of urban properties which has been, again, earmarked for renovation. As per what has become a local trend, decisions on what to do or what not to do with the defunct hotel – the first modern-style casino marking the beginning of Stanley Ho’s STDM gambling monopoly era in 1962 – had been dragging on for a long time. For long enough if we consider that activities in the facilities were discontinued in the 1990s. Now, it seems that will no longer be the case. A few days ago, the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam pledged that a public tender would be launched this month for the renovation of the hotel. Truth be told, Estoril is not an architectural masterpiece. But it has evolved to become an icon of old times, which some also associate with happier times. Although its eventual demolition has raised a wave of popular commotion, several architects agree that the building itself has no architectural value worth the time, money, or the pain of revamping it.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 37 - The members of the Cultural Heritage Committee have also supported such a position, by endorsing the government’s decision last year not to list the building as a cultural heritage property. These are technical standpoints, and people are free to disagree on other bases, affective, emotional, or purely provocative. But at some point, we should come to terms with the fact that people with knowledge to assess such matters – as far as they are really experts and information on the decision-making process is made public – have reason to be listened to. That said, just because Estoril may not be an avenue for increasing the city’s heritage or urban profile, does not mean the building, part of it, or its location could not be re-signified or transformed into something else. Preserving it or part of it, because it embodies social memories or a particular history is, hence, another matter. The question would then be, what to preserve and how. So far, it seems the only value-adding part of the building – although, again, far from yielding consensus – is Oseo Acconci’s Fortuna mural hanging on the rundown facade. What to do with it? Leave it there or take it down? A friend, who follows urban matters closely, suggested the wildest idea last week: placing the mosaic on the bottom of a swimming pool. Why not? The powers that be are often too conservative, or too afraid to dare. It wouldn’t hurt from time to time to show some boldness8. Shipyards’ life December 4, 2017 After much political controversy and nature’s harsh hand, the remaining shipyards in Lai Chi Wun village [in Coloane] finally seem to be getting what they deserve, a new life. Efforts of conservation have been 8 After intense debate, public authorities decided in early 2021 that the site of Hotel Estoril will accommodate the city’s new Central Library. Dutch design firm Mecanoo will develop the project. Acconci’s mural is set to be preserved.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 38 - intermittent. Previously considered to be a threat to public safety, two shipyards were dismantled by the Macau SAR Government in early March. As popular protests arose, the government walked back on its decision to completely destroy the site – not without a loss to some real estate tycoon, very likely. Despite late conservation efforts after an announcement by the Secretary of Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, that the government had finally committed to safeguard the site and surrounding area, another shipyard was completely destroyed during the passage of Typhoon Hato in late August. The Cultural Affairs Bureau had, nevertheless, already commenced the work of reinforcing and protecting the structures before the typhoon season. Was it enough or was Hato’s blast too strong for the fragile structures to cope with? We will probably never know. The good news is that the government made another step last Friday, when it launched an exhibition about the site called ‘Rebirth.’ To make it clear, there are no plans to reactivate the ship building industry. Current affairs and the scope of economic designs no longer allow much space for family-sized enterprises. But the reactivation of memories and the place of the shipyards in the city’s collective history is welcome, precisely because of the latter. Given the pace of change and integration into plans ever more ambitious, there is often little space and time for soul business. Sustainability and transformation are two elements that integrate the commitment the government is putting forward by holding the exhibition. In addition to paintings and photography works, furniture design pieces and ship models made of wood from the shipyards are also being displayed. Reusing the wood, which is the backbone of the shipyards, in the fabrication of new items underlies the will to preserve while adapting the site to new uses and functions. Following the recent announcement of the tourism master plan, such intentions have also become clear, although not defined. There is mention in the plan about revitalizing – or some other generic word

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 39 - that is often used in such contexts – but it is crucial to be quite specific on this, and that people who live on the site be an integral part of the project, together with authorities, and local and international consultants. Better late than never. But better good than not. Same chapter March 19, 2018 Much of Macau’s history can be inferred from its urban fabric. The way streets are designed and named, the way and the time buildings were implanted in the city, the way they survived political and economic changes and the hazards from nature – all tell part of what makes Macau a city of unrivalled features. Amongst the buildings and sites here we call historic, some are heritage-protected. Although we could not properly call such ensembles monumental, they are broad and diverse. The work of heritage agencies aside, they are part of people’s own personal histories and present realities. They are part of the city just as the city is part of the people, so citizens and heritage watchdogs occasionally express their concerns about the current state of affairs of some of Macau’s most iconic buildings. The Guia Lighthouse is emblematic in that regard, embattled in a contentious case for over ten years now, as the New Macau Association highlighted last week in an address to public authorities and UNESCO. The local government is poised to guarantee that the view of the Lighthouse from different points of the city is maintained. This was one of the most controversial points UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee raised last year in its annual meeting. By year-end, relevant authorities should present to UNESCO a reasonable plan for controlling height limits both in the surroundings areas of the hill where the Lighthouse sits, and nearby areas pending development, such as the new landfill Zone A, west of the Outer Harbour.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 40 - To such a simple demand, the response has, however, been slow. It is no piece of cake to reason with real estate investors willing to push developments higher every time. But it should not be that complicated either to guarantee that heritage-linked properties be protected. For one, if the question is that of having the authority necessary to legitimize local claims, approval has been granted by China, the State Party on heritage matters regarding Macau, from the onset. Protecting Macau’s ‘Historic Centre’ as World Heritage has been presented as a political project by China since the beginning – regardless of technical and cultural support by previous Portuguese authorities and experts. Hence, at times of ‘One country’ politics, there is no stronger message than this, that China endorses Macau’s heritage in the first place. The rest is bullying from local developers or, likely, ill-equipped management by the government departments involved. Double talk June 11, 2018 The Cultural Heritage Committee took many people by surprise last week when it announced that the majority of its members were not in favour of the classification of the shipyards in Coloane. After all the campaigns on the ground for the protection of the site, and the expression of public support for their preservation during the consultation period, the committee’s position came as a little bit unexpected. The first reaction from parties directly concerned, and heritage associations, was outrage. Such a position from a committee which features the word ‘heritage’ in its name could not have been foreseen – we would rather expect it to come from a real estate or developer’s association, which would probably have little concern in stating such a view. The committee’s position is strange for a couple of reasons. First, because their claim for opposing the classification is based on the high

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 41 - cost that the maintenance of the structures would entail, yet no bill has been presented to the public. I do not think the committee’s meeting being a closed door one is problematic per se, although some might object to that. We ought to trust that government members and appointees are doing their best to perform functions for which they have been chosen as experts, as well as to correspond to public expectations. But coming out with a partial argument damages the committee’s credibility and creates more public discontent. Moreover, is it difficult to believe money is really a problem in this city. The second, and perhaps slyer argument, is the semantic confusion the committee and the government are thereby creating by separating the terms preservation and revitalization, as if the two were mutually exclusive operations. There may be limits to ‘revitalizing’ classified sites, but they can still be given new life. Usually, such decisions may come under fire and undergo a long process of public debate before they can materialize, but this is the beauty of public debate. I find it very funny that you can see a place like Senado Square being inundated by mass consumption brands – clearly revitalized – and yet nobody objects to this. The Ruins of Saint Paul’s have gained a museum. The Pawnshop tower on Avenida Almeida Ribeiro was converted into a museum and, for a while, hosted a shop and a tearoom on its top floor. The late Sun Yat-Sen pharmacy also became a gallery. The Mandarin House hosts exhibitions from time to time. Classification does not entail the freezing of a heritage property in its original state. It only requires thinking outside of the box.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 42 - GAMBLING GOVERNANCE Foggy reasons February 20, 2017 Last week, a battle over the retention of smoking lounges inside casino facilities dominated the government’s agenda. CEOs and high representatives of the six gambling corporations operating in Macau opened the week by publicly presenting a study they had submitted to the government in December 2016, which concludes that the majority of casino employees would not be strictly opposed to one of the two proposed smoking lounges ‘solutions,’ either on mass floor areas or inside VIP rooms. Given that a full smoking ban was on the line for the bill on tobacco prevention and control, the announcement triggered a series of reactions, from lawmakers to associations of gambling employees, and the Health Bureau. The latter of which issued two consecutive statements saying that, although it supports the study, it recommends higher standards of measures for better air quality inside casino premises and stricter controls on tobacco-smoking, highlighting that the political decision is not final yet. Read it as you like. PolyU Technology and Consultancy Co. Limited, from Hong Kong Polytechnic University, which conducted the part of the study commissioned by the ‘big six’ dealing with technical features, concluded that all gambling operators comply with the standards established by the Health Bureau. Note, however, that the evaluation was not conducted in all Macau casinos, but only in one facility of each licensee, making for six, and not the 38 casinos in town – a number that does not include the likes of Mocha Clubs. If you have ventured across some of the casinos located in the Macau Peninsula, say, StarWorld or Pharaoh’s Palace, PolyU’s research findings are, at best, wishful thinking. Smoking happens freely in semi-open

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 43 - areas, which do not comply with whatever air pressure benchmarks and automatic doors everybody has been talking about lately. Inspections too are seemingly few. While several thousands were conducted in the city’s public spaces, only 44 were carried out in casinos for the whole year of 2016. Now, don’t get me wrong. There is no doubt that employees’ health should be a matter of public concern – and getting rid of misleading data may be a good start. Whereas everybody seems so worried about following the standards set by the World Health Organization, we have yet to hear the government commit to running pollutant-free public buses, for instance. If health is the main question in the public debate, I don’t see why car traffic shouldn’t also be reason for disquiet. Hot commodity May 8, 2017 Last week, the government announced that the average daily wages in Macau had increased during the first quarter of 2017. In addition, it said that construction workers with resident status make more money per-hour-worked than skilled and semi-skilled labour. Laws of supply and demand. Apparently, Macau doesn’t need doctors; it needs builders. The government’s fiscal surplus for the whole year of 2016, which was also disclosed last week, likewise posted an increase of 9 per cent year-on-year, amounting to MOP12.82 billion – hard to claim the need for ‘austerity’ measures on that one. Thanks to the invisible hand of VIP rolling, Macau’s rich economy is retrieving its means to keep growing richer. As the hottest commodity in town – money – resumes being generously poured into the local economy, all sectors tend to react accordingly. Including real estate. Or, mainly, real estate, to be precise. Following the series of figures the government released last week, there is enough reason to believe the property market is on the rise again. For one, overall residential prices during the first quarter of 2017 increased 4.7 per cent when compared to the previous quarter. In

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 44 - tandem, commercial transactions of residential units dropped. While 2,201 units changed hands in December 2016, nearly half that amount, or 1,041, was traded in January 2017, and only 841 in February 2017. There is a tantalizing correlation between the return of robust VIP activity and the surge in real estate. Macau’s recent history has shown that they often go hand in hand and that there is enough smoke up in the air now stirring people’s worst fears, that the real estate beast is just around the corner, waiting to assail town. Please, call the fire brigade. It is here already. Topping a week of public announcements, the city’s economic services communicated that it is reducing the credit line for those wishing to acquire a second residence in Macau, residents and non-residents alike, while first-buyer residents will continue to have access to the largest mortgage loan ratios. In other words, first-buyer residents will still get the same credit ratios as before, but property available on sale will also be more expensive, given the recent trends. For those that will agonize over a lifetime mortgage commitment, the question to ask is how effective the latest government policy to attempt to curb real estate speculation will be. Common good March 20, 2017 The opening of Macau’s gambling sector to foreign competition fifteen years ago has catapulted the city into the global financial economy. The liberalization’s impact over the urban fabric, and Macau’s demographics and industry, has been both overwhelming and unsettling. At first, capital inflows were so large that it took the city’s political body a while to devise a development plan, if any. Disconnected urban projects, rather than a comprehensive city planning strategy have been the rule. Another problem, epitomized early on by (former Secretary for Transport and Public Works) Ao Man Long’s corruption misdemeanors, is that abundant financial resources have not been systematically converted into forms of wealth that would more faithfully reciprocate a

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 45 - general, yet increasingly more difficult-to-define, idea of the common good. If Ao’s case is a closed chapter, at least formally, the common good is not. Eventually, I am not sure if that is what the Chinese central authorities had in mind for Macau while promoting the notion “becoming rich is glorious.” But the city’s development and economic growth have worked out for quite a few people. Ask around. No doubt, there is always the wide, though arguably narrower, bottom of the pyramid, which have not benefitted comparatively from the fact that Macau became a wealthy city nearly overnight – a fact that has entertained quite a long life-span. Just a couple of weeks ago, Macau ranked the third wealthiest jurisdiction in the world, behind only Qatar and Luxembourg, with the local GDP per capita currently set at US$87,845 (MOP702,385). Take an example. The average monthly earnings of a dealer in a local casino today hits roughly MOP19,000 (US$2,700/Euro 2,200). That is close to the amount an early career professor would earn in France. Yet the fact that a dealer in Macau would pay nearly as much as a professor in Paris to rent an apartment, makes it perhaps less interesting and much less attractive. While the real estate market is pairing up with Macau’s economic bonanza, it does not seem the city is pairing up with higher quality of life standards. It is, though, a fact of economic orthodoxy that a global rise in revenue has an impact on per capita income, through wage increases, drops in unemployment rates, or more inclusive social welfare benefits, reallocated by governments according to the size of public coffers and the political ideology that drives bureaucratic intelligentsia. The public coffers are full. But is there a driver at the wheel? Women play May 22, 2017 As the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia drew to an end last Thursday in Macau, one point seems to be worth highlighting amongst the

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 46 - overwhelming flow of information that made the 11th edition of the show: opportunities emerging from a combination of gender and product design in regard to the target consumer public. As one strolled around the booths’ pavilions and the conference rooms, where talks for and by industry insiders were held, there were clear indications that gambling is still a men’s world. In addition to the fact that public visitors and exhibitors were mostly male, the expo’s atmosphere was also designed to attract the latter: women welcoming visitors in stands and performing gigs dressed in tight and bright dresses, or costumes emulating gaming-universe characters brought to real life. If the public is all suits, then, it may seem logical and, arguably compelling, to have female performers providing a touch of ‘feminine charm’ to the show. I am not a supporter of objectification – far from it – but we know it is more complicated than that when it comes down to male-centric milieus. And that’s the point I am trying to make. Having men, and a few women, already working to cater to a female audience in their strive to grasp new markets and demographics, so to speak, in gambling, is still a strategy the industry seems to be missing as a whole. While there may be several historical and cultural reasons for this, gambling itself is not gender oriented. But the set up for gambling activity may be. I don’t have answers for this, at least not on a scientific basis. But, in general terms, women may be attracted to different things than those that appeal to men, and that may include features that range from design and ambiance to services and game offer. It is a recurrent trait in societies across the world that groups form and gather around shared interests and expectations. This holds true for culture, class, and profession. To a certain extent, it also holds true for gender. Men and women convene and tie, but they also have different topics of conversation, different ways of being in the world and interacting, different interpretations of excitement, safety, sociality, and, perhaps most importantly here, fun.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 47 - Ultimately, the question the industry should keep asking at this point is: what is it that makes the experience of play and gambling entertaining for women? Junket twist September 4, 2017 Junkets are an important engine of Macau’s gambling-centred economy9. Confirmed trends of higher VIP spending for several months in a row make the junket position and business economically justified and strengthened. Essentially, junkets operate in the lending business. This involves opening credit lines to high-end clients – mostly from mainland China – and collecting debts. Accordingly, big operators such as Suncity, Neptune, and Tak Chun move large resources around town and abroad. Because of their financial links with China and elsewhere – the Philippines, South Korea, and Vietnam, to name a few – the junket business is both local and international in nature. It is a trend that well-capitalized companies in the sector are gradually increasing their international profiles, while seeking diversification of activity by investing more in other trades, such as casinos, entertainment, and the so-called ‘concierge’ services, a round list of hospitality essentials that include booking shows abroad, arranging yacht trips and shopping experience. Hong Kong-listed Suncity Group, which is said to operate half of the VIP rooms in Macau, has recently announced plans to bid in Japan, possibly in partnership with Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd., in a minority stake ranging from 10 to 20 per cent. 9 China’s clampdown on junket operators in 2021, targeting cross-border flows of capital for VIP gambling activity, led to the termination/suspension of their contracts with casinos in town.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 48 - Because it is highly unlikely that local junkets will secure a casino operator license in Macau – due to administrative bottlenecks and sensitive political reasons – they are bidding outside. Suncity’s Alvin Chau took the first step when he decided to develop an Integrated Resort in Hoi An, Vietnam. Neptune recently announced it was moving its business focus from VIP rooms to the lending business proper. Though the service is not new, the approach is. The company – whose most recent change has been to propose a new name, Rich Goldman – controlled several VIP rooms in the Venetian Macao, which were terminated this year. As for Tak Chun Group, it has started channelling some money to the arts. An agreement signed with a local art space, Art Garden, effective last Friday, entitles the space to over MOP1 million per year for a period of five years. It is not much but it is revealing about the company’s attempt to direct public focus to its curator and art investor profile. What is interesting about Tak Chun’s deal is that it is penetrating a field for which funding was nearly exclusively raised by the government – even though, at the end of the day, it is gambling money being re-directed to support artistic and cultural activities. Such moves and new strategies send strong signs about Macau’s positive economic outlook and local companies’ capacity to re-invent themselves. A little twist with a big impact on accounts and image. Luck(y) business March 5, 2018 Last week the Macau SAR Government surprised citizens when it announced it was extending the concession of the Macau Jockey Club for the not so negligible period of more than 24 years. The decision is baffling for several reasons. First, the length of the contract proper, since previous renewals of the Jockey Club’s contract were agreed to on a much shorter basis, five years, ten years at most.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 49 - Twenty-four years from now, we will be just a few years away from the return of Macau to China (due to take place in 2049). It is very unlikely, political, and economic scenarios considered, that anyone could know what Macau’s position and situation will look like by then. The second, and perhaps even more baffling aspect to this unexplained decision, is the fact, which is also public knowledge, that the company has continuously registered losses since at least 2005, amounting to some MOP4 billion last year. Truth be told, in a ‘normal’ economy, a company with such a depressing performance would have been out of business a long time ago. But Macau is not a normal economy. After a couple of declarations by the Secretary of Economy and Finance, Lionel Leong, and the company’s executive and legislator, Angela Leong, who very calmly stepped out to claim the company was going to invest some MOP1.5 billion in non-gambling elements – as if that alone could justify the 24 years granted – the Secretary stated further that the decision was a bet on the company’s recovery. As if that were not perplexing enough, Mr. Leong added that if the Jockey Club manages to get out of the red, it might even pay the taxes it owes to the public coffers. Ultimately, the man responsible for the city’s economy is betting on luck. With luck, we would all be rich, Mr. Secretary. While it is unlikely that a decent explanation can be extracted from of the city’s political minds any time soon, or ever, for that fact, what is more disconcerting here is that the government is giving the best example of poor management: rewarding a company that does not generate capital, does not create jobs and has been reportedly known for poor treatment of the horses – which are supposed to be its main assets. If the government is so keen to grant a 24-year contract to an unhealthy company, how much time will it be willing to award casino operators that are recording two-digit growth and creating jobs and wealth – although distribution of this wealth is another matter – one might ask? On such grounds, we might see gambling concessions renewed for another 100 years. Not that they would mind.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 50 - THE BAY AND THE ROAD Expanding West May 29, 2017 Figuring out the scope of the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative is not hard. It is massive, to say the least. China’s new expansionism is driving west by covering the territorial basis of Central and West Asia, up to the Middle East and Europe, connecting localities from the historical Silk Road. As for the initiative’s maritime chapter, stretching from China to Southeast and South Asia, we still have not heard much about it. But given that virtually anything seems to fit the plan first promoted by China’s President Xi Jinping by the end of 2013, it may start taking shape soon. Strangely, but not surprisingly, hence, the initiative is stretching further to the Portuguese-speaking countries, owing to the Macau ‘link.’ I suppose it makes sense that this part of the plan is harnessed to its maritime chapter. And so, this leads us to the part that’s difficult to grasp about the OBOR initiative: how does it translate into concrete actions, strategies, and policy? Let’s try to straighten a few things out. Although colossal in purpose, the OBOR is basic in principle. Through investment in the development of infrastructure, private and public, it seeks to strengthen the links between China and some dozens of countries and localities, mainly those extending along the land-based road. China realized that underinvestment in transportation infrastructure in Asia was a huge opportunity for securing the basis to export its production excess – amidst slower economic growth and weaker consumer demand at home – and selling infrastructural equipment to developing countries along the way.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 51 - So, it is betting on expansionism old style by providing opportunities for development and industrialization, while grounding partnerships with economically striving countries which would be happy to oblige. Connecting Asia through infrastructure-driven economic growth. Smart move China. In the meantime, the motherland is stocking on its hegemonic plans by striving to re-Orient* the world’s economic centre toward itself, echoing its leading role in the tributary system it commanded before European maritime hegemony, which extended as far as the Levant. Now, what? With the hype building up again after the OBOR Forum that took place in Beijing in mid-May, expectations are renewing and Macau is caught in the loop. Let’s hope the reconstruction of the Super Bridge linking Macau, Hong Kong, and Zhuhai is not one of the infrastructure plans in the pipeline. * I borrowed this expression from Andre Gunder Frank’s eponymous book. Internet realm June 12, 2017 The role the Internet can play in fostering small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Macau is apparently being underestimated. In a series of comments by industry insiders speaking at the One Belt, One Road Conference held last week, the unexplored potential of using cyberspace to launch new businesses in the city was highlighted a few times. Start-up companies are usually small-sized, knowledge-intensive ventures, which should be able to make the most they can out of new technologies – and wild, innovative ideas – with little resources, financial and human, in order to be successful. The target market of young entrepreneurs should not be limited to the boundaries of their hometowns. They should think globally and embrace the World Wide Web.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 52 - Although reaching out is the way to go, there are a few elements that have to be well-developed at the basis, the physical location, so to speak, where those companies set up shop. First, there is a need for a qualified workforce in areas such as foreign languages and coding. Coding is the language of the future. And there is a reason for that. Services are increasingly more sophisticated and explore the edges of technologies available and emerging everyday around the world. Grappling with this idea, several high schools in Europe and in parts of Asia have already included coding in their basic curriculum. The premise is simple. If you don’t have enough trained people, you cannot move ahead. And that leads us to the second matter. Red tape. Currently in Macau, improving education and training is as much an issue as making foreign qualified staff promptly available. And for business, this also means having the choice to opt for imported labour, if they deem the options available locally do not meet their requirements. Finally, there is a crucial matter, which has been partly covered here. Raising funds. The Macau SAR Government has set up quite a generous scheme of aids and loans for SMEs. Just last week, the Macau Science and Technology Fund also increased the offer, by launching a bid to provide financial support up to MOP500,000 for candidates that present practical and interesting solutions to help develop Macau as a Smart City. So, the options are seemingly expanding as the virtual world continues to open yet more chapters for those willing to make a difference. And change, in this case, should begin with the mindset.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 53 - The Road June 19, 2017 Exchanges and partnerships with Portuguese-speaking countries seem to be the clearest strategy the Macau SAR government has voiced so far, to claim its adherence to the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, the role of Macau as a ‘centre’ and ‘platform’ between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries feeds on a scheme that was established before OBOR took off and became duly noted in regular political parlance. Secondly, because the Belt and Road initiative comprises a series of guiding principles which do not necessarily translate into policy, there is a vast extent of projects and ventures that could indeed claim the stamp. Hence, tightening Sino-Luso ties, which range from trade partnerships and tourism development to language training, may suitably appeal to the scheme, if only because nearly anything could at this stage. For one, the strategy has been designed within the scope of China’s national plan for Macau. Moreover, it has been conceived – coincidentally perhaps – within the final geographical aim of the OBOR proper, that is, reaching out and engaging Europe – never mind the fact that countries such as Angola and Brazil are located far beyond the extent of either the ‘Belt’ or the ‘Road,’ which refer to the land and maritime chapter of the initiative, respectively. What is lacking? Although a local OBOR committee has recently been created, there is no specific funding consecrated to developing initiatives within such framework, so that government discourse keeps applying the term widely and, perhaps, randomly. Tommy Lau, a legislator, raised the point last week. If there are no specific projects, nor bespoke financial means for channelling them, there is little relevance in claiming proposals are being made, and discussions held, under the Road and Belt scope.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 54 - If there is one feature that can define China’s new expansionist plan under Xi Jinping’s most forward foreign policy programme to date, it is investment in infrastructure. Being a debt-financed strategy for infrastructure development is what defines OBOR’s DNA. China is pledging to spend some US$150 billion a year in the 68 countries that have signed up to the initiative. That’s not negligible. And that’s how it all began in the first place. The rest is talk. In fact, Macau might not join the OBOR initiative to harness infrastructure development deals. It does not really need that. But a clear, simple, and co-ordinated idea between its offices about what it is aiming to accomplish would be a good start. Grey Bay July 3, 2017 Last Friday, the government concluded yet another round of public consultation, this time set to collect suggestions for the development planning of the Greater Bay Area. The Greater Bay Area, which includes Macau, Hong Kong, and Guangdong province, is a term crafted to replace the earlier Pan Pearl River Delta. The information so far made available by public authorities on the results of the consultation is scarce – we know little apart from the fact that it was met with ‘enthusiasm’ by residents, sectors, and associations, and that it was a ‘success.’ But we take it is a plan aimed at increasing coordination initiatives within the region. If we are talking about planning proper, it seems adequate to claim that the first step to better integrate Macau into the Bay would be systematizing planning strategies at home. One starting point could be to finally implement a comprehensive urban framework for the city, the so-called Master Plan. The more it is delayed, the more complex the question becomes.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 55 - At first, when the proposition was raised several years ago, it was a matter of optimizing the urban fabric. Now it should include strategies for new reclaimed land and Macau’s no-longer-so-new territorial waters. Infrastructure plans on-hand, such as the metro (LRT), were seemingly designed with such purpose in mind, planning. But as construction was launched before there was agreement on the transport system’s design, there was a risk, and the risk is costing time and money now. The government announced also last week that the project for the Barra LRT station will be changed, although what changes it implies nobody knows for sure at this stage. Take the Lotus Bridge, on the Cotai side. Casino operators thought it was a safe bet, that it would channel an abundant influx of tourists to their properties. The large majority of visitors continue, however, to arrive through the Gongbei checkpoint, obstructing the already saturated peninsula. None of this is new. The construction of the fourth bridge, to connect the new reclaimed land in the Outer Harbour to the new reclaimed land near the International Airport in Taipa, is also in the pipeline. But the government only came forward about having granted a contract for the project’s oversight after our news desk published the story. The strategy is not clear. So, what’s the plan? Metropolis calling July 10, 2017 The Greater Bay is moving ahead. One small step for China, one giant leap for Macau. Last week, the local government signed an agreement that seals the strengthening of co-operation intent with Hong Kong and Guangdong – called the Framework Agreement on Deepening Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Cooperation in the Development of the Bay Area.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 56 - Not much was reported on the Macau side, perhaps because there is little to be said at this stage. The agreement remains a protocol of intentions. The Chinese entity behind it is the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), which is an administrative and management agency with a broad scope over the planning of the Chinese economy. The Commission’s attributions cover the fields of development, planning, and investment programmes. The Greater Bay Area inherits a tradition of co-operation within the South of China. Macau, Hong Kong, and Guangdong are historically distinct and yet closely linked through the sharing of Cantonese culture, found, for instance, in language and a tradition of diaspora. By assembling such links via infrastructure connections and deeper market integration, China is drawing on a regional pre-disposition for co-operation to validate a national strategy. By deepening Macau and Hong Kong’s integration within its national plan, China is also soothing political divergence through economic co-optation – a VIP ticket to the train of Chinese development, as a high-ranking Party official said recently. Amongst the few guidelines appointed by Macau’s Chief Executive [Fernando Chui Sai On] during the signing of the agreement was the aim to ‘proactively enhance communication’ with the central government. That’s only expected. What is vague, assuming the infrastructure and the logistics bits are more plausible, is the goal of creating an ‘ideal place for living, working, and travelling.’ If the completion of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge means more people coming to Macau, would that be ideal for living? Clearly, the new Taipa Ferry Terminal – aka Pac-On – was designed with the goal of travelling, and perhaps working, in mind. Otherwise, it is just money down the drain. The new reclaimed land zones have also been planned with the purpose of furthering integration. The Light Rail Transit (LRT), the fourth bridge, the Lotus Bridge, the new Integrated Resorts – all have the word ‘expansion’ written on them.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 57 - So, it seems the old town is saying goodbye to embrace the metropolis. A farewell to arms, essentially. Global city July 24, 2017 The State is overrated. Think about the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative and the Greater Bay Area. Both are plans under China’s national strategy to systematize and re-organize its economy for the next several years to come. But they aim at garnering results under different arrangements. While the Belt and Road is an international strategy, the Greater Bay is one amongst various other plans of similar scope to optimize production and harness regional integration at the domestic level. It is a two-fold strategy to secure the means for keeping the ball of growth rolling and fostering consumption. China creates markets. Both initiatives concern Macau in a similar fashion. One calls the local government to adhere to the Road, mostly by harnessing connections with Portuguese-speaking countries. The other drives the city further down the ineluctable path of merging within the Cantonese cluster. The Greater Bay is a reality. The Belt and Road is a loose goal, at least as long as it is not, in what relates to Macau, tied to a funding agency that caters for and captures concrete projects. Negotiated at the city level, the interregional cluster generates policy on customs, logistics, finance, and infrastructure. And it moves capital. For instance, several Macau-based companies, from banking and real estate to law firms have opened representative offices in Hengqin, the sleek skyscrapers town next door in Zhuhai. Nothing of the sort here has materialized under the Belt and Road. The Macau SAR Government can take advantage of initiatives that already exist, such as the Macau Forum, which acts as a connector with the Portuguese-speaking world.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 58 - But new projects are welcome for a city like Macau, in which there are continuous claims to internationalize. It does not have to be complicated. The Portuguese-speaking thread is long, complex, and large enough to generate promising prospects. To go back to my first point, agreements do not have to be crafted only at the nation-state level. Several cities in South and South-east Asia, for instance, have populations who claim Portuguese-descent and speak some local form of Portuguese, in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam. OBOR promotes development in infrastructure. But strengthening cultural links can cause no harm. Perhaps other opportunities in trade, business and policy exchange will follow. Macau should make full and good use of its primary condition, that of being a city. And not just any city. A city with a global history, opened to the world. Greater China September 3, 2018 The first noteworthy measure came when the Chinese State Council announced it was streamlining the procedures for Macau residents, as well as those of Hong Kong and Taiwan, to apply for a residence permit in the Mainland (five years, renewable), if they are already living or working in China. Later, another policy, this time benefitting Chinese residents from the Mainland who wish to visit Macau – or Hong Kong and Taiwan – was also unveiled last week. Starting on September 1, a total of new 386 visa application offices will be open in Guangdong Province alone. The novelty of this policy is related to the relaxation of the household registration system (hukou) – which ties a person to his or her place of origin to enjoy medical and other benefits – thus enabling people working but not registered in several cities in Guangdong to apply directly there, instead of having to go back to his or her hometown to apply for a tourist visa to Macau.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 59 - Since it is on China’s side of the rope to allow more or less visitors to come to the city, the effects of the new policy might have an impact on the local tourism market. Chances are the number of people visiting casino venues and heritage sites, not to mention those transiting through the Macau airport – which again recently registered a record number of passengers – will increase. Remember that the head of the Tourism Bureau, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, said last year that they aim to welcome 40 million tourists per year to the city. At nearly 32.61 million at the end of 2017, the new policy might slowly work to get us there. But the main point is that those initiatives that we could clearly say are aimed at gearing up integration within the Chinese idea of Greater China – including the Special Administrative Regions (SAR) and Taiwan – have been announced by the central government, with no prior note by the local administration to the local population about their enactment. In addition to an overtly top-down approach – we know policy design is usually top-down, although we expect their announcements be made at the local level – the Macau government has remained mute about the new policies. There is not much information available to residents, and all that could be gathered so far has come from official Chinese statements and Mainland Chinese media. A sign of the times.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 60 - CITY AFFAIRS In review January 9, 2017 2016 was a challenging and surprising year for Macau. Gambling revenues oscillated, although they hit more highs than lows, reversing the declining pattern apparent since 2014. Tourism crossed new frontiers; with more visitors from Korea and Japan, although more long-term visitors also flooded the city. Justice affairs closed in December, opening a puzzling chapter for the year ahead. The Light Rapid Transit (LRT)’s U-turn in planning made us slightly dizzy. And there has been no inaugural ride yet. The historic enactment of Macau’s territorial waters was also marked, opening exciting prospects that we hope might set sail and not remain becalmed. A new Central Library project. A controversial but case-closed plan (so far) after the initial proposal dragged on for nearly 10 years in the government’s lap. Checked. The Cultural Affairs Bureau renovated and reopened forgotten historical venues: the Patane Library, Dr. Sun Yat Sen’s Chong Sai Dispensary, the Maritime workshops, all in the Inner Harbour area. Beautifully restored buildings, highlighting cherished Chinese memories and personalities of Macau. Not all terribly famous moments regarding the leadership’s record, but not all terribly disappointing. The government has worked hard – or at least some officials have – although not always in the directions residents expected or judged sensible. Recent toughened penalties for drug use serve as an example of how legislation can go against successful international practices on decriminalization to favour an approach of the likes of Duterte and hard-line regimes in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Even in terms of Confucian moral rectitude, it is difficult to make a cogent case for this

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 61 - one, when ‘Sin City’ is rife with lax moral standards elsewhere. But the approval of the domestic violence law should be highly praised. Never mind New Year’s Eve going dark for the duly-noted absence of traditional fireworks display. Residents were, nevertheless, offered another, if rather low-key spectacle of light at the eponymous festival prior to the start of 2017. And the casinos diligently stayed bright enough all year long. But if, perhaps, the year has started off on the wrong foot there is still a chance to make it right again three weeks from now, when Chinese celebrations herald the arrival of Spring. Not every city is lucky enough to have two New Year celebrations on their calendar. So, we might as well start on a positive note. For a New Year ahead is as good as a whole year ahead. Rest assured, there will be time for fussing and fighting, my friend. Transport solution October 23, 2017 Transport problems are well known in Macau. The quality of services provided by the three public transportation companies is not exactly laudable. Poorly trained drivers continue to be the rule, rather than the exception, making users’ lives a bit unpleasant every day. Then, there is noise, lots of it, generated both inside and outside the vehicles. Announcements of stations and instructions for better use of public transport playing inside the buses are frequent and unnecessarily loud. Outside, the engines can be deafening. Not to mention the honking, which has become routine. The whole picture is not flattering. We could still argue that taxi services have improved a tiny thread, with more cars around and more drivers willing to pick up residents. But customer relations are still a bit far from being satisfactory.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 62 - These lead us to the problem of the types of transport themselves, and ways of integrating them in a more efficient manner. So, it is a talk about solutions, for a change. Here it is tempting to compare Macau’s system with Hong Kong’s. Differences in size notwithstanding, the development of the local LRT is an indication that there is a will to provide a multi-modal, hopefully integrated, service to local users, residents, and tourists alike, emulating the neighbouring city. At least as inspiration. It was disclosed last week that the government is currently mulling the possibility of adding an LRT segment between Pac On and the Border Gate. Although the new segment may or not be added, there is no reason for it to delay completion of other segments. That said, these might take some time anyways. The government expects to launch the Taipa LRT line only in 2019, with the Macau sub-system having no scheduled date yet. With the LRT conclusively far from being a reality any time soon, we are but to rely on the good old bus type for public transportation for the few years to come. Working to improve what is already at hand seems to be a sound strategy for coping with the problem – never mind ideas such as creating separate bus companies for residents and non-residents. Solutions can be simple. On the one hand, betting on training and hiring more people if necessary. On the other, taking seriously into consideration the implementation of green energy. The latter would improve noise emissions and reduce air pollution immediately. And would open up opportunities for new businesses. Typhoon season April 16, 2018 The last couples of weeks have witnessed a series of events that have put the environment at the core of affairs in town. With the typhoon season approaching, expectations are high to see what the government

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 63 - will do in the little time that still remains before the tropical storm season begins. After the visit of specialists from the disaster prevention team of the World Health Organization, it was time for the government to roll out its plans and intentions for preparing the city for the adverse conditions that may hit hard again. China is providing a lot of technical and scholarly support, with the study the Macau government presented last week having been conducted by mainland universities and research centres. For that reason, the local government may give it credibility – if only because the local capacity to conduct this type of research is not as fully developed. Will local authorities have time to implement and take the necessary measures to cope with the force of nature if violent tropical storms hit the city as hard as they did last year? We would like to think so. But given the past history of expediency on the part of the Macau government – think about construction of the Islands Medical Complex or the LRT – the odds are not on its favour. At least, we should assume or expect that the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau will act more promptly and with more authority this year, and impose, with no hesitation or restrictions, instructions that should be followed as an indisputable rule by the government, corporations, and civil society alike. Hopefully, the casino lobby will be more conscientious this time, after last year’s typhoon left them hanging with no water, no lights, and no gambling. People were hasty to condemn the weather bureau’s chief [Fong Soi-kun] after Hato, but very few directly pointed the finger at the Civil Protection Office, and to how unprepared it was for coping with the whole situation, which put the city into nearly complete shut down for several days afterwards. It is about time to act.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 64 - Equipping people April 23, 2018 The Macau SAR Government last week has introduced a series of measures to cope with the event of strong typhoons in the city. These range from the construction of tidal gates in the Inner Harbour and the replacement of overhead cables of the Zhuhai electric power transmission channel to the city by underground cables – allowing greater reliability in the production energy – to the four time increase in the number of shelters. Although some of the initiatives, such as the relocation of plumbing to create more space for the construction of rainwater drainage boxes was said to have been concluded, some of the works still need time to be implemented and developed. Some of these concern infrastructures, such as the tidal gates or the additional sewage rainwater collection stations the government said it will implement in the Inner Harbour. Such measures, applied to avoid or reduce the risk of flooding, are crucial in the long run, with the Inner Harbour being one of the most critical low areas of the city. But it is unlikely that many of them will see the day for this year’s typhoon season, which specialists from the weather bureau claimed will be longer, with five to seven typhoons expected to hit. The sewage collection stations, for instance, might not be finished before 2021. As for the tidal barrier, the Chief Executive, Fernando Chui Sai On, stated also last week that it would entail “a great deal of work.” Some of the latest projects which have required a great deal of work, such as the LRT or the public hospital of the islands, have not been completed in over ten years since they have been first announced. Considering the barrier would imply less work, although likely involve equally complex engineering expertise, we may be looking at a few years down the road until it is completed and operational. In such scenario, it seems relevant that the government invests and applies its resources in preparing the population for the case of greater adversity.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 65 - Relying on a solid disaster response structure would be reassuring, but the full-fledged plan the government has rolled out will not be a matter of weeks to be functional. At the current stage, abundant access to information and training at the individual level should be made available to better equip people to make right decisions when disaster strikes, thus, enhancing credibility in the system. Obscene wealth May 21, 2018 We often think of, perceive, and refer to Macau as a place of wealth. The gambling boom has mostly created a sense of having provided more resources to residents, despite also having increased living costs and household expenses. The base salaries of civil servants, casino dealers, banking and finance workers, and management positions in the casinos and integrated resorts, seem to be fairly reasonable for a city, of whose recent morose economy many still remember – rents in some capital cities of Europe are more expensive than here, while minimum wages are set at half of what a Macau dealer makes. For those who had a house and managed to buy one or more when prices and conditions were still affordable to the local middle class, small fortunes are on the make. Rental prices only rarely retrocede, and when that does happen it is within a very thin margin. Overall, life conditions have improved for many residents, many of whom have experienced material benefits fast. Migrant workers have also found better job opportunities and higher pays, although actual improvements vary depending on the category of work those immigrants are involved in. The statistics are always making a case for Macau’s impressive economic performance. It is one of the richest cities in the world based on GDP per capita income, and a city with one of the fattest public reserves worldwide.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 66 - Walls and roofs and doors are painted in gold, literally, or just as an emulation of that wealth which is generated daily by the gambling economy. Yet this raises two issues. Because it is dragging an incredible amount of the population under its domain, gambling, as an economic activity, is creating a legion of political alienates, people defining values by the price tag they have. Chinese here have been often linked to a frenzied quest of material wealth. Though it is a common human feature in capitalist societies, it stands out in this part of the world. It is a not a search for happiness in the terms defined by the European modernity project. It is a call to the mission of accumulation. Imperial times and communism have undoubtedly contributed their part in prompting people – who have been deprived of nearly all – to secure all the possessions they can in a lifetime. The other issue is the extent of inequality this extreme wealth is covering up. Elderly people occasionally begging for money in the streets or searching for food in garbage bins are scenes that one can spot from time to time around the city. Elderly homes, poorly run and maintained, are shameful given the obscene influx of capital that circulates in this town. The sun shines more golden for some. On books May 28, 2018 What is the place of books in Macau’s society? What is the place of books elsewhere? We are not accustomed to seeing people reading in public spaces in Macau as one can often see in Europe, or other countries in the so-called developed world. While this does not mean that people here are not reading – they may be more attracted to electronic devices – it suggests that, if people are reading books at all, they do it in their school time, at home, or in public libraries.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 67 - With more resources, financial and human, public libraries are capable of affording, collecting, and organizing an array of collections, making knowledge available in several fields, languages, and interests, for free or at a very low cost for a pubic who, otherwise, might not have such a large variety of options. Libraries are in demand in the city10. From kids and teenagers to elderly residents, it is common to see library facilities busy during the day until late at night. They provide a space of rest and a moment of piece for reading and learning in a city too often overly crowded and noisy. It is public money put to good use if we consider that library users have a good experience with what is being provided to them. A case of public money applied to general education and leisure time put to bad use was, however, recently revealed in a less than flattering report by the Commission of Audit. In its report, the Commission claims some 100,000 books from the public library system have been left unattended for years in warehouses found to be in poor condition. It is hard to foresee how the Cultural Affairs Bureau, which is the entity in charge of the book collections, could provide a convincing explanation for the unexplainable. In its laconic response so far, the Bureau has only issued a public excuse and a promise to comply with the suggestions made by the Commission. Is the Bureau lacking money or trained personnel, or simply staff? How can we retrace the origin of such failure? And how and when will they remediate the problem? No information that could shed light on those questions has been provided by the competent authorities so far, to explain the negligence and bad management that led to this sad scandal. We should expect that they will come clean some time soon out of respect to people and knowledge. 10 New libraries and reading spaces have opened since then (e.g. Seac Pai Wan public housing complex), while others have been refurbished.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 68 - Waste land July 16, 2018 The popularly loved restaurant buffet – more in vogue in the beginning of the gambling liberalisation era – continues to be present and appreciated by tourists and locals in some of the fancy and popular hotels in the city, being reinvented from venue to venue from time to time. Lunches and dinners organised by associations, companies, and government departments also provide their quota of indulgence to clients and guests who are among the chosen ones to be pampered. Although the latter can be more or less catered to the size of the audience to be hosted that particular day or evening, there is always some food waste which is inevitable. The buffet type, on the other hand, is where most waste strikes. Loads of foods of all types are thrown away by the end of each service to comply with hygiene requisites which seem to be regularly observed in the main casino-hotels in town although cases of food intoxication arise from time to time. On a daily basis, tons of food end up in the garbage bin. Gluttony is one of the deadly sins, goes the Christian teaching, but who has not secretly or more overtly enjoyed a meal or two they are fond of or which they found to have been prepared to their taste? Indulgence in excess is human and it gets to us for different reasons and times. But waste is immoral. Throwing food away is perceived as iniquitous in many cultures. But in the culture of big corporations, selling the extravagance of excess in its many forms does raise questions, both economic and moral. Food waste management is, though, a serious matter which has not yet been seriously tackled in Macau. It could be activated by creating simple forms of redistribution for still-fresh food produce to be consumed, for instance, to the more complex recycling system, which could transform organic waste into compost and biogas for recovery.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 69 - There is a whole business in waste that has not been considered by private initiative or government authorities locally, which is past the time of being an option in a city throwing tons of food away every day. Plastic culture July 30, 2018 Big corporations should set the environmental example, while the government should demand businesses comply with certain standards for saving resources and material, which are not only difficult to recycle, but are barely treated and transformed in the city into any other form than garbage proper, and that end up in a giant incineration chamber. The government claims it only recycles 18 to 20 per cent of solid waste in the city – which is already a surprise given that the talk in town is that the local recycling garbage bins are useless. Surprisingly enough, no glass-recycling programme exists currently, after Typhoon Hato damaged the facilities in which such procedures developed – note, nearly one year ago. Why the government is so slow in repairing the facilities and resuming the programme, is the kind of question which belongs to the political and decision-making interrogations that are typical of the city, which boil down to the lack of transparency in public communication. To speak a language that tends more often to strike a chord in Macau, if there is a chance of improving recycling, and there is undoubtedly potential in that, it is by highlighting its business side. Recycling is not only a trade, but it also cuts down operational costs for small and big companies alike, in the medium and long term. An important obstacle then to this, is not only practical – ‘if things are working the way they are, why change them?’ – but also cultural. The culture of expediency and urgency that permeates daily life – in the food, construction, or other businesses – is the same culture that makes plastic an omnipresent and tyrannical element of life. The take-away culture that is intrinsic to the fast-food restaurants, the plastic bags of the supermarkets [now charged], the bakeries, and the

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 70 - fruit shops, are signs of a society who clearly puts its values somewhere else, certainly not in improving the overall living standards for now and the years to come: it is immediate thinking and focused on the satisfaction of one’s own needs. It is egotistic. Recycling is, therefore, not the main word in that case. Killing the plastic bag and container and bottle is the way to go. Life matters September 17, 2018 The typhoon, upgraded to a severe tropical storm yesterday, was likely more serious than the infamous Hato, which battered the city roughly a year ago. For one, the World Meteorological Organisation stated that Mangkhut was the strongest tropical cyclone the year has seen so far. It was, thus, no joke, and people feared for their safety and lives. But the number of causalities and the damage has been much less this time, with authority’s alert and the prevention and response system set up seemingly way more organized and robust. With a few exceptions, like some restaurants opening on early Sunday morning, and people walking outside here and there, residents prepared to shelter at home or at designated government-provided refuges, and so they remained. A bunch of defiant walkers trying to cross the Governador Nobre de Carvalho Bridge under typhoon signal No. 10, and ‘rescued’ by the police halfway along, would have been the most creatively staged protest against badly behaving taxi drivers, many of whom were caught overcharging passengers yesterday. But the motives for the hazardous incursion were not clarified. And, needless to say, the risk was not worth any intention. The remarkable decision by casino operators to close the doors of casinos on Saturday night at 11:00 pm is also worthy of mention. Probably a first and, if anything, quite a surprising stance from an industry which has long lobbied to remain active under any weather conditions. The risks the staff would have been exposed to under Mangkhut in order to keep gambling venues operating, would not have

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 71 - been worth a day of revenue. I suppose the business decision emanating from all six gambling operators was to focus on harvesting long-term results – being willing to sacrifice a few bucks to lobby for the renewal of their license concessions in the near future. One lesson we can take from all this is that people and public bodies have learned, the hard way, but still learned. At first glance, the Macau SAR Government seems to have managed the situation in quite an agile manner, even if one could expect failures here and there – power cuts and flooding, for instance. And although, truth be told, improving their performance was not very hard given the poor management and despising political attitude during Hato, it is still worth highlighting the efforts made over the last few days. Now it is time to work on the recovery.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 72 - THE SOVEREIGN AND THE ALIEN Wishful thinking October 9, 2017 ‘Non-resident’ inhabitants of Macau, aka blue-card holders, will likely have to pay more to use public transportation in the city. The proposal to increase bus fares, announced by the government over a week ago, is slowly unpacking discontent. Positive or reverse discrimination is a concept which usually describes policies created to enable some advantages for people and groups of people who are usually perceived to enjoy fewer rights or to be somewhat unfairly treated in a society. Those can include ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, women. It is slightly different from the way the Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosário employed the term last weekend to defend the proposal, for it is not being framed as a way to benefit those allegedly more in need, but those allegedly living in less disadvantageous conditions. The only positive aspect to it is, thus, wishful thinking, and that hardly works in policy development. In truth, bus fares in Macau are not expensive in absolute terms, although they may be relatively more expensive or cheaper depending on the distance travelled. It is also common around the world that costs for public transport be subsidized. But in big cities and metropolises, they are usually not cheap, and customers are paying their fare, so to speak. But Mr. Rosário explained the proposal in Macau is not based on economic intelligence. So, it is a political decision. Although its bottom line always reverts to privileging and protecting ‘locals,’ the reasons as to why the increase in bus prices will be higher for non-resident workers did not come out clear enough.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 73 - One thing is certain though. By so doing, the government is creating a political problem where there might not be one. While defining policies that discriminate against the foreign labour force, it is levelling the way of social integration – which barely exists, truth be told – into more troubled waters. Integration does not mean that everybody will enjoy equal rights, or that there will not be resistance from different sectors of society. But enacting arbitrary discrimination is not laying the grounds on a good note. It is high time we recognize societies are not pure, bounded, impenetrable cultural entities. Macau is a diverse place. And mind you, that does not need be a problem. Populist card October 17, 2017 First, a proposal for a new public transportation company designated only for holders of a Macau ID. Then, a total cut of subsidies intended for non-resident workers so that Macau ID holders continue to fully benefit from the subsidies. So said legislators Zheng Anting and Mak Soi Kun, and the Macau People Power, an association. These ideas present unwelcoming messages to foreigners; it is time to do the math. Imagine a scenario in which Macau had no foreign workers, mainland Chinese or others – Filipinos, Indonesians, Americans, Portuguese – employed in security work, menial activities, casinos, hotels, universities and restaurants. Now let’s refresh dormant brains by drawing a simple economic scheme. Macau’s consumption-based economy obliges, government coffers are filled mostly with taxes, mostly corporate. The biggest companies in this city are casinos. Real estate, another important sector, does not pay taxes as high as gambling operators do. Once collected, those monies are generously reallocated by the Macau SAR Government through direct subsidies, funds, or wealth partaking

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 74 - schemes, which for the most part benefit residents – non-residents would rather benefit from indirect allocations, such as bus tariffs and lower taxes levied on income. To go back to our hypothetical case, imagine all those people are sent away, lowering the city’s main source of income (gambling) and available labour force. Try then to figure out where subsidies would be drawn from. Who is going to provide security services at banks, welcome visitors, and clean your house? Moreover, mind you, being a ‘non-resident’ forcibly implies that such a person works in Macau. In basic economic terms, again, this means that this person spends at least part of his or her income here: buying food, clothes, paying for medical services, rent, perhaps even buying a house. That legal alien person is, hence, reverting wages, paltry or high, in revenue for other businesses in the city. That government representatives are not knowledgeable about the rudiments of economics is puzzling. But, truth be told, politics is one of those lines of work in which proof of intelligence is not sine qua non. That said, it is still amusing that politicians continue to believe that hoeing segmentation between locals and foreigners is an efficient way of governing. Populism is hot currency these days. Unfortunately, reason is not. Justice league January 22, 2018 A proposal by the Macau SAR Government based on ethnicity, is advocating that judge’s ruling on matters relating to national security issues should be ethnic Chinese men or women, or Chinese nationals, to use the official parlance. Equating ethnicity to competency is a not a formula necessarily devised for success. But it does guarantee certain protections and controls within national precepts of security and the like. That said, competency does not come from genes.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 75 - It is not strange that countries worldwide reserve top official and administrative positions for their own nationals. There is no reason why this should be different in China. But what is distinctive about the case put forward by the Macau government à propos the revision of the Judicial Organisational Law, is that Macau could not be likened to China when the matters in question relate to the law. Under the existence of the second system, such types of proposals should not see the light of day. And yet they appear and will continue to do so from time to time, because there is an ongoing political battle in which the powers that be will not relent while Hong Kong and Taiwan remain restless. So let’s take it as an exercise in national politics. The Basic Law of Macau already defines positions that can only be held and performed by ethnic Chinese who were born in the city or have been permanent residents of Macau for a number of years (defined in the law). Accordingly, the Chief Executive, the top Prosecutor, members of the Executive Council, among a few others, ought to have Chinese blood and be Chinese nationals. China devised the formula to guarantee that Macau would be ruled by its people, as the aphorism goes. But as history also shows, being Chinese does not mean you are more prepared or more righteous than others to perform tasks assigned here. The same goes for other ethnicities or nationalities in other localities around the world. That said, nations and their homogenizing discourse are still what run politics and move crowds – although reality is more diverse, bursting with migrant movements, ethnic groups, and languages and cultures that do not easily fit the national ‘label.’ The modern world has become as diverse as its history, but the nation-state is determined to hold on to its conservative and short-sighted vision to protect nationals above all. When that jeopardizes the law and the efficiency of a system, it should not apply.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 76 - Come on May 14, 2018 It was sad to see the series of clarifications the Health Bureau and the Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture issued last week apropos the new regulations on childbirth costs being put in place at the local public hospital. After the government officially announced that the prices for childbirth delivery for immigrant workers would actually be increased nine-fold – in spite of Alexis Tam’s promises to the contrary – with the exception of those workers whose monthly incomes are lower than MOP4,550 – authorities seemed concerned to show they were acting nobly. By giving the option to some half of the immigrant population residing in Macau, mainly domestic helpers, to apply for a certificate that would prove their low-income status – and thus enabling them to pay a rate readjusted only three-fold – the government suggested it was acting with good will. Comparing the newly adjusted childbirth fees for low-income workers to the price of birth services in the Philippines, just made what was already looking a bit disturbing seem even more shameful – as if prices taken out of context could serve as justification for charging women foreign workers more to seek child birth services. I don’t know what advisor is assisting the Secretary’s Office, but a person should acknowledge that there are discrepancies between the cost of living in the Philippines and Macau. There is barely a comparison in terms of economic metrics, from food prices and the cost of rent to the wages earned. So, the comparison is not meaningful. Claiming that the regulation is being governed by a principle of ‘double positive discrimination’ just sounded as if the government was trying too hard to make itself look good when the damage was already done. There is a fine line between implementing a neoliberal approach to policies that relate to immigrants – basically defined as providing nearly no benefits or support from the state – and prejudice, to use a mild word.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 77 - As blue card holders, residents don’t pay taxes, and the public coffers are stuffed with gambling money. Why are foreign workers entitled to less benefits if they actively participate in the local economy just like any other economically active person in town? Does the government fear that the hospital could not cope with the demand? It might actually be easy to argue this given the obscene delays in the construction of the new medical complex. Easy as well to blame the most vulnerable.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 78 - THOUGHTS Upbeat downbeat January 16, 2017 As per tradition, the year began with various discussions about numbers and forecasts. Gambling amassed MOP223 billion in gross revenues for 2016 – slightly down from optimistic brokerage estimates, though much higher than the previous year. Analysts sitting behind their stock-trading, multiple-monitor-equipped desks suggest that Macau’s economy is on the rise, with non-gambling related activities picking up momentum. But the VIP segment may not lag for long, either. It is purportedly regaining steam, with fearless junkets slowly returning to entice and enlist gamblers from the mainland, despite Crown’s scare last year when a dozen of its managerial and executive staff was detained in China – with most still remaining there – on charges the authorities called “gambling-related,” which could mean pretty much anything, really. Financial markets sometimes seem to undergo tremendous turmoil with very little cause for concern. Nearly a month ago, the Monetary Authority of Macau announced it was halving the limit of single cash withdrawals at the city’s ATMs for UnionPay cards issued on the mainland (although the total daily cap of MOP10,000 remained unchanged) in an attempt to staunch capital outflows. Some casino stocks dropped as much as 14 per cent. Hong Kong, with its well-established financial services sector, deals with overwhelmingly larger daily financial transactions and yet nobody is talking about it. Forecasts of a US$40 billion gambling market in Japan? Those are groundless assertions, according to Japan-based analysts, though several international media outlets have jumped to conclusions in order to create attention-grabbing headlines. It seems that reasons similar to these are allowing the types like Donald Trump to get the upper hand,

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 79 - making prospects for international politics gloomy, if not terrifying. Facts seem to matter less these days, but they should matter, nevertheless. So I would like to close this column by highlighting a few facts that may provide a different picture of Macau in those times when markets oscillate between nervousness and enthusiasm in a single day: an extremely low unemployment rate of 1.8 per cent (only nine other countries in the world perform better); a current account balance of US$12.11 billion; and a budget surplus which accounts for 14.2 per cent of GDP, the third highest in the world*. Even should Macau fall on hard times, there is plenty in the public coffers to tide it over. A cause for more concern, I’d say, is not converting monetary wealth into social and cultural capital. *All data from 2015. Source: CIA Factbook. Uniting call May 1, 2017 May 1 marks the celebration of workers’ day in several countries across the world. Drawing on a left-wing tradition in politics, from socialist and communist to anarchist ideological platforms, it was established to celebrate the struggles of the working class, somewhat against the driving mill of capitalist forces. Worker’s day harks back to one of the first organized responses to structural changes in working relations ensuing from the Industrial Revolution in eighteenth and nineteenth century England. The world was bound to never be the same after British hegemony. A new form of global capitalism, drawing mainly on the separation of craft from family, has spread its roots. In Marxist terms, this means that workers would, arguably, be irreversibly separated from their means of production, upon which remuneration would therefore depend. We have come a long way since the Industrial Revolution. Global connectedness is embedded in the ways trade and industrial production

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 80 - are pursued and attained, with the de-localization of manufacturing being only one of them. We have reached another stage in globalization, after the Italian and Flemish city-states developed incipient forms of financial capitalism – in many ways, a blueprint of current banking and stock trade practices – and after the modern European states launched their overseas enterprises. Physical mobility of goods and people has developed accordingly. Advancements in technology, from early boat construction to monetary exchange, communications, and logistics, have made the world a smaller and yet more complex place. As companies have sought commodities and cheap labour abroad, so too have workers started seeking employment outside their home countries. It is a common fact today that cities have an extremely diversified population stratum. Migrants from poorer, often previously colonized countries in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, are on the move. But so are workers from the so-called developed countries in Europe, North America, or Australia, although it is more likely they are channelled to high-skilled job positions. As a fact of contemporary working relations, cultural diversity in cities such as Macau is structuring. While the Second International back in the old communist days called for uniting workers across a spectrum of countries, present day workers’ celebrations have another collective issue to tackle: millions of workers are foreigners, immigrants in search of better life opportunities outside their home base. Calls for expulsion and discrimination of late are not a uniting call proper, only deepening the divide. Whatever happened to class solidarity? Cloud ties August 14, 2017 A couple of weeks ago, the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) announced that it plans to launch an evaluation service in the third quarter of this year to speed up temporary residency

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 81 - application procedures for foreigners with some education and specialization. A few days later, the Macau SAR Government and Alibaba Cloud announced that the service was coming to town to assist with implementing the Smart City programme announced during the five-year plan. There is more. Before IPIM and Alibaba Cloud made their respective announcements, it was reported that Alibaba Group has had several applications for trademark protection approved in the city, for products including media, e-payment systems, nautical instruments, and file sharing software. The correlation between these three different events might have been overlooked, but they are an indication of a full-fledged set up to enable the cloud infrastructure to be built and operated onwards from within, while being an outside fabrication, channelling ‘foreign’ workforce, technology, and design to the city. Once the decision has been made to implement cloud computing technology to run things here, there is little room to contest that the city needs a giant such as Alibaba to fulfil the task. The question is, does Macau need Internet-based computing to be a more efficient city? The short answer to that is yes. The long answer remains to be seen. Cloud computing, which basically means storing and sharing resources, software programmes and information over the Internet, is controversial, notably in regards to personal data protection. It might take a while for the government to issue a clearer stance on that front, but in other matters, the cloud might yield more immediate applicability. Transport, for one. Here is the cloud as hope for better integration and co-ordination of the public transportation system. Perhaps one day there will no longer be a need for drivers. Which, truth be told, is a bit tempting given the current offer available. But automation replacing human beings is a trend often perceived as a threat. For other matters, such as improving healthcare access, it is unclear how the cloud will operate. The main problem in Macau today is a lack of

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 82 - infrastructure, trained personnel, and equipment. A cloud won’t solve that, unless it is linked to the task of bringing equipment talent, medical in this case, to the city. But at this point, that’s just speculation. The cloud isn’t. Concretely virtual September 11, 2017 It is a fact, or at least a strong trend, that services are going progressively more digital. Earlier this year, The Economist published a piece advocating that oil is no longer the world’s most valuable resource. Data is. The publishing industry stands as an early example of how digitization can cause pain, but also opens new venues for innovation. Although a few sectors of economic activity still have reason to maintain low-key profiles online – the arts, antiques, and high-end luxury markets, to name a few – both the private sector, from small companies to big corporations, and governments, are testing, implementing, and enhancing digital platforms to communicate and interact with customers and subjects. It is the way of no return and Macau is somewhat lagging behind. Raising the possibility of penalizing Facebook for ‘allowing’ candidates for the coming Legislative Assembly to campaign on its platform is a retrograde, if not perplexing way of tackling the unavoidable. It is also a sign that the point is being missed. Digital language and content management systems are not communication tools of the future. The future is already old in that regard. While much work is still needed here, several registrations for trademark protection that were filed locally in the last couple of months or so for digital and online products and services, show that fulfilling the trend is just a matter of time.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 83 - First, it was Alipay, and then Alibaba Cloud, followed more recently by Baidu, the Chinese search engine. Casino and gambling operator brands – U.S.-based (Caesars, Trump), and those connected to local companies (Tigre de Cristal) – have also applied for the protection of online gambling and services. Accordingly, the much-awaited e-payment feature that is still lacking on the local WeChat platform, may be integrated within the platform soon. It is also noticeable that junket operators have been branding online more aggressively, following recent strategies of image re-definition and expansion of service provision for the mainland China market. Although many local companies and groups use Facebook for advertising, their presence on Twitter is limited. Even big corporations, such as casinos and hotels, are not following the latter path. It may be a question of corporate strategy, but it wouldn’t come as a surprise if it were just a lack of awareness about the potential such a tool bears for worldwide branding. The reality, though, is that we are going virtual in a very concrete way. Political observations September 18, 2017 Elections are a high point in politics. Yet traditional mechanisms of political representation seem to have been lacking lately, in efficient ways of governing and representation itself. We know power and economic interests often take the lead in government. Since neoliberalism became the widespread thread in democracies and not-so-free political regimes, the common good is a battle. Nearly everywhere in the world, political systems are functioning with some degree of dysfunction. Nepotism, traffic of influence, and corruption are common currency in many of them. Does it make them acceptable? I doubt it.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 84 - That is a reason why mechanisms of accountability should be operative and clearly defined. An independent judicial system, for instance, or requiring that politicians make public their income/accounts, can do no harm to humanity. When someone works so close to the public good, it is just expected that the good be made public, and an actual aim of governing. Nothing is new in this. It is in Confucius and in Laozi. In its latest modern, Western conception, politics is a matter of representation, a service rendered to the collective. The collective is, nevertheless, disjointed. In democracies, parties represent groups of interest, and groups are ever more diverse and fragmented, with the demise of clear ideological lines which once defined left- and right-wing politics in a more categorical way. France’s president-elect Emmanuel Macron is an example in point of how a clear left-right cut is no longer, at least in that country. If it is going to yield better results and for whom, that’s a matter to be followed closely. While the right is not necessarily concerned with social benefits and principles of equality, the left has also failed in quite disappointing ways in some parts of the world. Latin America continues to produce forms of populism. Although some may appear more sophisticated and concerned with improving people’s lives, they barely engage in structural reforms capable of yielding sustainable development. Instead, they generate deep social anxiety and moral upheavals when governments collapse. With the introduction of more participatory ways of governing, bridging gaps between constituents and representatives, the political process has become more democratic in a way, closer in line with representation itself, but also more intricate and dispersed. Diversity within politics is a good sign of representation, but it also requires ever more mature mechanisms of checks and balances, and negotiation and accommodation. The floor is open.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 85 - Façade culture March 12, 2018 Government announcements are making everybody’s life a little meaningless lately. In particular, they are making journalists’ lives somewhat difficult. It is news, and the public wants to know, if the Secretary for Economy and Finance meets the CEO of a big corporation, or if the Secretary for Administration and Justice has met with their Hong Kong counterpart to discuss judicial co-operation matters. What is not news – and not new – is the typical vagueness with which these announcements are written and the emptiness of information they convey. More often than not, what follows the first line or first paragraph of such official announcements is a description of the attendant parts praising each other’s efforts – although we are often not clearly informed about the aims of such meetings – and that the government, or this or that department, is pursuing some understated goal of some unexplained agenda in accordance with the law. I don’t think that anybody would expect it to be otherwise. The fact that the government is law-abiding is not a reason for self-advertising. Following the rules does not justify highlighting the government’s performance as outstanding, or judge public service provided to be above expectations or standards. Public officials and civil servants respond to the law. That is their chief responsibility. Announcing that things are being done by the book only reinforces a culture of façade that has been practiced in Macau over the years. If it looks good from the outside, content does not matter – as if repeatedly saying good things which do not necessarily stand true would actually make things good for real. The problem is that it does not. Out of respect for Macau residents and in the name of improved government performance, it would be efficient, and a bit of a breath of fresh air, if the government was willing to act a little more

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 86 - straightforwardly and openly. It would be one way to allow a revision of what is not working properly – public consultation serves but partly to address that matter – and actually address critical points of governance. Hiding information or withholding it from the public eye until second order – additional information requested from the government about the contract extension of the Macau Jockey Club, just to name one, has fallen on deaf ears – damages the government’s image and weakens its credibility on a daily basis. Pretending things are looking good makes it look bad. ***

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 87 - References Boxer, Charles Ralph. 1948. Fidalgos in the Far East, 1550-1770, - Fact and Fancy in the History of Macao. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. Certeau. Michel de. 1980. L’invention du quotidien. Vol. 1. Arts de faire. Paris: Union Générale d’E ́ditions. Lefebvre, Henri. 1970. La Révolution urbaine. Paris: Éditions Gallimard. Lefebvre, Henri. 1968. Le Droit à la ville, I. Paris: Éditions Anthropos. Montalto de Jesus, C. A. 1926 Historic Macao: International traits in China Old and New. Macao: Salesian Printing Press. Mumford, Lewis. 1961. The city in history. Its origins, its transformations, and its prospects. London: Secker & Warburg. Park, Robert. 1915. “The city: Suggestions for investigation of human behavior in the city environment.” American Journal of Sociology, Vol XX, N. 5: 577-612. Pina-Cabral, João de. 2002. Between China and Europe: Person, Culture and Emotion in Macao. London and New York: Continuum. Porter, Jonathan. 2000. Macau. The Imaginary City. Culture and Society, 1557 to the Present. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. Simmel, Georg. 1989. Philosophie de la modernité. Paris: Éditions Payot. Weber, Max. 1947. La Ville. Paris: Éditions Aubier Montagne.

THE CITY IN REVIEW - 88 - Bio Sheyla S. Zandonai holds a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology and Ethnology from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), France. She is Research Associate at the Laboratoire Architecture Anthropologie (LAA) in France, Lecturer at the University of Macau and Visiting Professor at the Catholic University of Macau (Saint-Joseph). She has collaborated with Macau media as a columnist for nearly eight years and was the first Editor-in-Chief of Macau News Agency. Her main research interests include city making and urban history, heritage practices, gambling, and identity politics in Macau.