Kapok: Being positive

Let’s start by what could be deemed “positive news” by some: despite (or because) of last week’s upheavals — the dreadful challenges brought about by undeviating Typhoon Hato — Macao society has demonstrated a remarkable resilience capacity: ill-prepared, confronted with overwhelming threats to their safety and earthly possessions, deprived of reliable information both before and at the time of the devastating gale, ordinary citizens unintentionally raised to hero status by displaying the very traits that make us so distinctively humane: our propensity to empathise and our moral urge to exert solidarity.

Overall, mutual aid prevailed over petty self-centred interests, and images of ordinary bravery were on par with frightening snapshots of destruction. Then came the news of three persons having lost their life, ultimately climbing to ten victims. Ten too many, and yet cleaning up started, mainly induced by grassroots and neighbourhood initiatives.

Civil security forces untiringly joined hands with residents — permanent as well as blue-card holders — soon to be seconded by PLA soldiers unprecedentedly called in to provide much-needed relief. The city as a whole was bracing for a second impact as Typhoon Pakhar was fast approaching and even though discontent was starting to grow, the collective bond weathered the storm, undistracted by the lingering bitter taste of incomprehension and unfairness.

These are indeed “uplifting” news. Dare I say not quite surprising? Despite the lamentations regarding the teaching of history and the ambiguities of a holistic destiny for our SAR, there is indeed a shared collective memory in and of Macao, one that is expressly connected to typhoons and the threats they represent, one that flows downhill from the Guia Lighthouse beside which typhoon signals have been hoisted since the end of the nineteenth century.

But positive news is not propaganda, quite the contrary. Positive news is produced by journalists whose stories help put on an equal footing the bright and the dark sides of current affairs. Positive news has the ambition, as one motto goes, to “offer quality, independent reporting on progress and possibility.” It is not and should not be a self-mutilating effort at not reporting the ugly side of things, and it is just an attempt at tilting the balance back towards constructive thinking, but certainly not a replacement for a more critical if not confrontational approach.

When the authorities prevent five Hong Kong journalists from entering the territory on the ground that they ‘pose a risk to the stability of internal security’, they are simply trying to sweep back the dirt under the rug while conspiring against freedom of information and crippling our Basic Law. Contrary to what Secretary Wong says, these were not “any” individuals, but the stories they published in Apple Daily, HK01 and the South China Morning Post had indeed been relentlessly exposing the shortcomings of the Macao government in the early hours of the disaster and the ineptness of the (non-existent) preventive measures at a time when most of the households were entirely deprived of clean water and electricity.

When the Macao Media Workers Association denounces in a public statement the documented pressures exerted over five local media editors to encourage more “positive news” and shield the Chief Executive from any criticism for the sake of public order and social harmony, they are denouncing blatant attempts at censorship and induced self-censorship.

Threatening would be rumour mongers and arresting three elders and a teenager for circulating hair-raising fallacies over WeChat about additional victims instil more doubts than certainties. Rumours do not initially feed on themselves. As social scientists reckon, they spread through “social cascades” and “group polarisation”, and the primary causes are the lack of transparency and trustworthy information.

When will they learn?

Published in Macau Daily Times on September 1, 2017

Kapok: To hoist or not to hoist?

In this part of the world, and especially at that time of the year, the right meteorological prediction can often be a matter of life and death: our subtropical climate endowed with a humid monsoon regime is characterized by a Typhoon-prone wet season in Summer, and tropical cyclones are not only fortuitous happenings — although they can provide the like of Joseph Conrad with great fictional inspiration — but regular manifestations of the (still) indomitable essence of Mother Nature.
The deadliest typhoons killed in the thousands, and memories of super-Typhoons do not date back exclusively to the nineteenth century: in 2013, Haiyan left a trail of some 6,300 dead people in its path, mainly in the Visayas in the Philippines, and some put the unofficial death toll well above 10,000. Many reasons can help explain such a dreadful outcome: the path of the tropical cyclone itself (a direct hit is always the worst), the quality of the constructions (more shoddy means more risky), the zoning of lands defined as proper for construction (floodable areas or landslide paths provide additional danger) and of course the extent of preventive measures, mostly determined by proper meteorological assessment.
Macao has a long history when it comes to early warnings in relation to tropical cyclones. Any visit to the Guia Lighthouse, now part of UNESCO world heritage, constitutes a clear reminder that the oldest modern lighthouse of the China coast (completed in 1865) was (and still is somehow) not only a precious guide for sailors returning to safety harbor but also the point of reference for Typhoon signals — made of black-painted metal — to be literally “hoisted” beside the proud white tower situated on top of Guia ill.
The current controversy regarding the non-issuance of the tropical cyclone No. 8 signal as Nida was making its way towards our shores on August 2nd — whereas not only Hong Kong, but also Shenzhen and Zhuhai had issued such a warning — is thus causing a particular worry in our SAR: how come, such a long and well-established level of competence regarding a system of severe weather condition advanced notices could have gone so much astray? Is it a scientific mistake — despite the director of the Weather Bureau (SMG) claiming to the contrary and that everything was done by the book? Is it a blunder — the decision-making process within the SMG proving dysfunctional? Is it the result of outside pressure and thus influence peddling — fingers are being pointed towards the gaming industry? Is it a public relation disaster — the overconfidence of the scientific bureaucrat proving extremely detrimental, as usual? Is it a mix of all these and then what would it take to make things better? José Pereira Coutinho is asking for the head of Mr Fong and some other legislators for an independent inquiry: would that be a start, or the end of the measures to be swiftly adopted?

What is true is that for years Mr Fong and his chief subaltern, deputy director Leong Ka Cheng, had been under the authority of, first, the most corrupt officials of Macao, up to 2006, and then under one of the most incompetent, by some records, up to 2014. No wonder that bad habits — some revealed by a long and detailed article published by “Macau Concealers” — were taken: a sense of complete impunity by the top management, despite the many administrative enquiries, and the ever worsening mismanagement of human resources inside the bureau characterized by extreme forms of favoritism. Some of the shortcomings of the SMG had already started to show in April this year when the bureau was forced to apologize to the public regarding several blunders concerning mishaps related to rainstorm warnings untimely publicized.
Beyond the potential enquiry and the individual culprits that might be found in the end, and beyond the ever apologizing sense of duty displayed by Secretary Raimundo do Rosário, what will need to be restored is the trust within these public departments: only then can the link with the public prove healthy. Competent people need to be rewarded, not the contrary!

Published in Macau Daily Times on August 5th 2016