The passing of the bill amending the formation of the next Legislative Assembly offers a sad and yet rather telling image of everything that is wrong with political debate in Macao.
By some accounts, we have, on the one hand, a tiny minority of elected lawmakers (four of them) who challenge the rightfulness of the whole political reform consultation process and thus the legitimacy of the adopted bill, and, on the other hand, a vast majority of lawmakers (a mix of appointed, selected and elected personalities) who have demonstrated relentless support for the government and considered it a “duty” to approve the bill proposed by an enlightened government — in 2008, Mr Fong Chi Keong (selected member of the AL) characterized the Macao government as “the best on the planet”…
During that same “endorsement” session on Wednesday, we heard low- and high-pitched condemnations of the political “stunt” carried by three young members of the New Macau Association wearing black T-shirts adorned with the Chinese characters for “Shameful” (可恥) who had interrupted Florinda Chan’s presentation on Tuesday by throwing paper planes and blowing whistles, openly denouncing the consultation process as a “democratic regression”.
Among the condemners, the emotional intervention of Kwan Tsui Hang (elected) can easily be understood: the Federation of Trade Unions that she represents mobilized some 400 volunteers and organized more than 100 meetings in order to collect some 30,000 public opinions supporting the government’s proposals. But if one can appreciate her genuine and heartfelt defense of the work accomplished by her organization, the democrats’ denunciation does raise indeed the question of the intention motivating this Sisyphean endeavor and the role that is assigned to these so-called grassroots organizations: is it one of debate or merely of mobilization?
What is really saddening though are the interventions of two other lawmakers who directly targeted the democrats for their irresponsibility, and even questioned the sanity of the young “manipulated” minds involved in Tuesday’s stunt. Mr. Fong Chi Keong was most certainly the most vocal and aggressive. Mr. Fong is also the president of the Real Estate Developers Association in Macao, and he predicted in 2008 that real estates prices would go back to the ones of 1994-95 and also expressed, on several occasions, deep concern for the rights of illegal workers in our territory (should I say especially the ones busted on construction sites at night?). Mrs. Kwan, who is relentlessly denouncing the government for not proposing a bill regarding illegal workers must have appreciated the irony of the situation. Before that, Mr. Tsui Wai Kwan (appointed by the Chief Executive) had refrained from nominally lambasting the democrats, but mocked the New Macao Association for being a “drama club” hurting the interests of Macao citizens. Mr. Tsui is also the President of Macao Shippers’ Association and the Chairman of the board of the Importers and Exporters Association of Macao. What are the two main evils hurting the people of Macao: lodging and inflation!
The real questions remain: why is it that one third of the only legitimate legislators (the elected ones) voted against the government proposal, either with a bulletin or with their feet? Why is it that young people have to resort to eye-catching stunts when everything else has failed and channels of communication have irremediably been closed? Some say that lack of interest derives from lack of meaning: who are the ones deserving praises then?
Published in Macau Daily Times, May 11 2012
