A democracia virtual

Macau netizens irked by lack of democracy step out of cyberspace

Fox Yi Hu

South China Morning Post
May 29, 2009

Macau netizens frustrated by a lack of democracy are stepping out of cyberspace, hoping to sway the city's chief executive election by action in the physical world.

They are planning to hold a candlelight vigil to demand clean government in the special administrative region and protest against the widely expected victory of Fernando Chui Sai-on, the former culture minister, in July 26 elections.

A group of netizens have said they plan to stage the vigil in late June against "businesspeople ruling Macau" and "small-circle elections".

Traditionally, residents of the tight-knit Macau community have been conservative and apolitical, and any online talk about politics has rarely translated into action.

But netizens have put their money where their mouths are. A group has chipped in to place an advert in a Hong Kong newspaper warning against big business influence in Macau's chief executive election.

They decided to advertise in Hong Kong after some Macau newspapers refused to run their ad. It appeared in a local Chinese-language newspaper on Tuesday despite the fact that their Macau fund-raising bank account was frozen last week.

Last Sunday, a woman Web user declared on popular Macau forum Cyberctm.com she would confront Dr Chui with tough questions during his press conference on Monday.

Television footage on Monday confirmed that she posed as a journalist to gain entry to the meeting. She asked Dr Chui about his family's business background and how his brother's company had acquired land from the government at below-market price in 2006. Security guards ushered her out of the meeting. Later, she was hailed as a hero on Web forums.

This month, a group of Macau students also used an internet forum to raise funds for an ad in a campus newspaper that urged people not to forget the bloody 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.

Eilo Yu Wing-yat, assistant professor of public administration at the University of Macau, said serious concerns about the election inspired Web users to act. "The message spread by netizens wins public recognition: Macau needs clean government," Professor Yu said. "Netizens have extended their campaign to the real world."

He said there was a lack of channels through which Macau residents could express their political views and vent their frustrations. Mainstream local news media represented people's opinions poorly and the government needed to do a better job in listening to the public, he said.

Legislator Au Kam-san agreed that Macau's social and political structure allowed people few avenues for political expression.

Most Macau news media are government funded.

"Mainstream media have been gatekeepers that promote non-mainstream ideas," Mr Au said. "This time, Macau people are trying to break the barrier and look for new channels to express themselves."

The legislator said residents felt frustrated that they were denied the right to choose their chief executive or express views about him.

A 300-seat committee will elect Macau's chief executive on July 26.

Among five people who have picked up nomination forms, Dr Chui is believed to be the only one with any chance of winning.

O novo sucesso da net

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Ruínas de Cartago

Algures na Tunísia, um pouco das ruínas e do Museu de Cartago.

Chui Sai On em análise no regresso

Depois de uma pausa de pouco mais de duas semanas, devido a compromissos profissionais no exterior, seguidos de alguns dias de (merecidas, pois sim) férias, O Protesto está de volta. Ainda não com a crónica semanal do JTM, uma vez que este não sai amanhã, mas com algumas declarações prestadas à sua edição de hoje sobre a apresentação da candidatura de Chui Sai On a Chefe do Executivo:

Há vinte anos

Jorge Silva e Severo Portela há vinte anos, no telejornal da TDM. Conheci-os meia dúzia de anos mais tarde e eram já bem diferentes. Se não fosse a legenda (enfim, e a voz), acho que jamais teria reconhecido o director do extinto Futuro de Macau...

Novamente, em que ficamos?

Nuno Lima Bastos

Jornal Tribuna de Macau

9 de Maio de 2009

A minha crónica de há duas semanas sobre o hipotético aparecimento de uma candidatura às próximas eleições legislativas locais que disputasse o eleitorado lusófono à ATFPM e, conexamente, sobre as relações entre os portugueses naturais de Macau e os seus compatriotas vindos do cantinho europeu suscitou diversas reacções, no meu blogue e através de mensagens privadas, como já imaginava, dada a enorme sensibilidade do assunto. À semelhança do meu texto, também os comentários que recebi versaram os dois aspectos da questão, ainda que variando na atenção dedicada a cada um deles. Seja como for, foram em quantidade e qualidade mais do que suficientes para justificar alguns considerandos adicionais sobre o tema.
Comecemos pela questão eleitoral. À margem das “farpas” que lancei ao facto de a comunidade macaense não admitir, aparentemente, ser representada num sufrágio local por um “forasteiro” – sendo certo que os forasteiros como eu estão representados no Conselho das Comunidades Portuguesas por três macaenses e convivemos com isso sem qualquer problema ‑, algumas declarações minhas têm vindo a ser interpretadas como de apoio mais ou menos expresso a José Pereira Coutinho. É verdade que, se tivesse que votar hoje, essa seria uma das minhas opções, mas não a única, como também já esclareci.
Diferentemente, tenho é procurado salientar que, para mim, não faz qualquer sentido reclamar-se, sem mais, o (re)lançamento de uma lista alternativa da comunidade portuguesa ‑ ou, de forma mais abrangente, lusófona – com o exíguo argumento de que o líder da ATFPM «a não representa». Ainda que concedendo que o deputado é, fundamentalmente, um sindicalista, reputo de injusto resumir a sua actuação política às reivindicações laborais ou esquecer o contributo que tem dado para a manutenção de uma presença lusa em diversos fóruns da vida de Macau. Mais do que injusto, chega a ser acintoso.
Um dos comentários ao meu texto de 23 de Abril invocava que Pereira Coutinho só estaria disposto a entregar o segundo lugar da sua equipa a um “metropolitano”, não a um filho da terra. Nunca ouvi semelhante coisa e isso até contraria as suas declarações públicas sobre negociações decorridas com figuras da Macau Sempre, mas, se assim sucedesse, qual era o problema? Nem para número dois servimos?
Replicam-me que são precisos os votos chineses para conquistar assentos na legislatura e os macaenses, por questões linguísticas, chegam mais facilmente a esse eleitorado. Permitam-me uma elementar observação: não basta o factor língua para qualquer macaense ser uma mais-valia para a Nova Esperança. Falar cantonês ou mandarim sem substrato e sem provas dadas no terreno não serve para nada (a não ser que se tenha os muitos milhões de certos candidatos...). Daí que Pereira Coutinho ceder o seu lugar-tenente a outro macaense que não tenha estofo nem imagem pública firmada pode degenerar numa dupla perda: nem o ajuda a reforçar a sua penetração no sector chinês, nem a reunir o voto daqueles lusófonos que, tendencialmente, não o apoiariam.
Para encerrar as minhas divagações sobre este tópico, folgo em ver que Casimiro Pinto teve o bom senso de não avançar e só lamento que se tenha manifestado favorável a uma «lista étnica» (sic), exactamente a expressão que os seus promotores da esfera da Macau Sempre têm procurado afastar. Por outro lado, com toda a sinceridade e o devido respeito, quando se diz que Pereira Coutinho não é representativo da comunidade e se insinuam, em alternativa, nomes como o do jovem intérprete-tradutor, ou se anda a brincar com as pessoas ou se perdeu completamente a noção da realidade... Quando, a acrescer a isso, este putativo candidato é preferido pelos seus mentores a qualquer nome “de fora” ‑ e haveria aqui diversas e interessantes opções ‑, então, estamos mesmo a falar de listas étnicas, mas não no sentido amplo de portuguesas... E, quanto a isso, poupem-me de vez à afronta, que eu “vos” poupo ao exercício do meu direito à indignação!
Algumas palavras finais para o excelente e sentido comentário que um leitor apenas identificado como «Jorge» deixou no meu blogue. Dele retive, em particular, estas passagens: «quando chega o “cheirinho do poder”, é natural que [os macaenses] se reservem o direito de o disputar sem o partilharem com os “reinóis”. Trata-se de um direito que lhes advém da sua filiação à terra de Macau, uma jus solis macanensis. Não têm outra. Apenas esta. É a luta pela vida. (...) É legítimo o sentimento de exclusividade do macaense pela terra que o viu nascer, pelo secular sentimento de precariedade pela posse de Macau pelos portugueses».
Percebo o drama da luta de quem se deve sentir, bastas vezes, como um estrangeiro na sua própria terra. Lembro-me de Leonel Alves falar nisso em vésperas da transferência de soberania. O seu semblante e o tom das suas palavras eram a expressão do receio de toda uma colectividade quanto ao futuro nebuloso que aí vinha. Mas este é um caminho a percorrer solidariamente por todos nós. Quanto mais não seja – e estou a ser tão redutor! ‑, porque a dimensão do desafio assim o exige. E convinha que o interiorizássemos de uma vez por todas... Mas também porque uma comunidade com uma diáspora tão vasta como a macaense tem mais do que obrigação de compreender o quão infeliz é discriminar os seus próprios compatriotas que aqui aportaram em busca de uma vida melhor.

PS: por razões profissionais, O Protesto vai fazer uma pausa de duas semanas, regressando no final do mês.

Nota: agradeço ao Bairro do Oriente a menção desta crónica na sua habitual rubrica «Leituras».

Fim da quarentena, início da festa!

Twin victories in swine flu fight
First battle won, Tsang says, and quarantined guests emerge praising HK

Ng Kang-chung and Ella Lee

South China Morning Post
May 09, 2009

Hong Kong claimed initial victory in the battle against human swine flu yesterday as the last of 350 people forced to spend a week in quarantine passed flu tests and walked free.

And it scored a second success - with many of those released from seven days of confinement showering praise on Hong Kong, in contrast to the initial grumbles of some.

But Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen was quick to warn this was only the "beginning of the fight" against the H1N1 virus, and health officials urged residents to stay alert, saying it could return at any time.

Most of those released from quarantine yesterday were guests and staff at the Metropark Hotel.

Cheers and applause erupted at 8.30pm as guests spilt from the Wan Chai hotel's lobby onto the street in a carnival-like end to their week's confinement. They waved and flashed victory signs. Some held up signs reading "I Love Hong Kong"; others shouted thank yous.

Saying "I'm free", one young woman guest threw her arms around the neck of a senior police officer and kissed him on the cheek. A South Korean tourist did a dance and sang an opera excerpt to celebrate his release.

The jubilation contrasted with the frustration guests had expressed in the early stages of their confinement at the Hennessy Road hotel.

Their seven-day detention was ordered on Friday last week after a Mexican guest who had arrived a day earlier via Shanghai and, hours later, gone to hospital with a cough was diagnosed with swine flu. The case was the first in Asia - and so far the only one in Hong Kong.

The virus has infected nearly 2,500 people in 26 countries and killed 46, all but two of them in Mexico, where it first appeared. It worries doctors because it mixes pig flu viruses from three continents with human and bird flu and because people have no natural immunity to it.

At a news conference, Secretary for Food and Health York Chow Yat-ngok said the anti-swine-flu strategy had been a success. "Hong Kong has crossed the first hurdle and can also breathe a sigh of relief. In the prevention of the spread of the virus, we are largely successful." But he said the government could not afford to "ease off" and the emergency alert level would remain in force.

"Hong Kong is an international city and the flow of people is huge. I would not be surprised if there were more cases," Dr Chow said.

Mr Tsang visited the hotel guests and thanked them for their co-operation and sacrifice.

Afterwards, he said: "Many of us might think that by now the threat of human swine flu to Hong Kong has gone. It has not. Rather, the first case of infection marks the beginning of the fight against the new virus." He said it was a "wake-up call" to pay attention to hygiene.

The exodus from the Wan Chai hotel passed off without incident. Some guests boarded coaches for the airport and the border crossing at Lok Ma Chau. More than half said they would stay on in the city.

The hotel will now close for a week for cleaning.

Another 61 people quarantined for a week at the Lady MacLehose Holiday Village in Sai Kung were also released yesterday. Three others who had been kept in hospital were also let go. Two guests who were supposed to have been quarantined at the hotel remain unaccounted for.

Hong Kong is the only place to have quarantined an entire hotel. Critics called the action pointless, but the government took such a tough line because of its experience dealing with the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in 2003, which infected 1,755 people, killing 299.

University of Hong Kong microbiologist Ho Pak-leung hailed the government's effort, but said it was too early to say the first wave of the swine flu outbreak was over. "The number of new cases reported in Mexico, the United States and Canada is going up every day. It is appropriate for Hong Kong to keep the alert at the emergency level for at least two weeks," said Dr Ho.

More than 30 other people placed under quarantine were released from holiday camps on Thursday.

Most were passengers who had sat close to the Mexican tourist on flight MU505 from Shanghai to Hong Kong on Thursday last week. The other two were taxi drivers who had carried the tourist, his brother and two companions.

Hóspedes deixam o Metropark de Hong Kong

Este vídeo do South China Morning Post mostra o momento em que termina a quarentena no Metropark Hotel, em Hong Kong, e os seus hóspedes e trabalhadores são, finalmente, autorizados a sair.

Curioso é o que sucede logo aos dez segundos de gravação, quando se ouve claramente um português a dizer: «olha, agora tenho que filmar, agora tenho que filmar. Até já, até já». Seria da TDM ou de algum canal de Portugal? Dão-se alvíssaras a quem souber a resposta.

Compasso a dois tempos traduzido

Uma alma caridosa anónima traduziu para chinês e colocou num fórum da CTM o artigo «Compasso a dois tempos», da jornalista Sónia Nunes, publicado no Hoje Macau de 20 de Abril (também aqui), que reunia opiniões minhas, de António Katchi e de Jorge Fão sobre a última ida do Chefe do Executivo à Assembleia Legislativa e a sua sucessão.

A tradução ficou, então, assim:

觀察家評論何厚鏵列席立法會全體會議之表現以及現今政治形勢
原地踏步
刊於2009年4月20日之《澳門今日》報之一篇文章，Sónia Nunes著

行政長官何厚鏵列席立法會被理解為其卸任道別之開端，以及顯示其正處於期待階段及仍不知誰是其接棒人。對揀選有潛能成為候選人所出現的技術困局對普通人來說不代表甚麼，但與政治有密切接觸之人士可能會因此感到緊張。

行政長官近期 (今年首次) 列席立法會與政治沒有不太聯繫。這突顯了一位領導者形象，而他選擇向市民派發支票及在金融危機時期和五月一日前夕作出了給予麵包、工作及健康承諾，以作為道別之開始。何厚鏵在其任期屆滿前及 (根據預測) 在舉行選舉前之兩個多月 (雖尚未知誰是候選人)，盡其所能行事：確保社會穩定。關於揀選下任行政長官所出現之似是而非困局將不會引起特別憂慮。普通市民不會有任何擔心，僅是那些愛猜測誰是候選人之人士及那些害怕在轉變中失去地位的人才會擔憂。

在星期四與議員進行的答問大會中已證實了政治觀察家所觀望的事情：何厚鏵列席立法會是為了宣佈在今年增加現金分享計劃之發放金額 (永久居民將獲發放六千元；非永久居民將獲發放三千六百元)，而有關金額將於下個月發放。在答問大會中，沒有對增加發放金額作解釋亦沒有詳細闡述去年現金發放對內部經濟的成效。法律專家Nuno Lima Bastos指出作為一個領導人是應該作出解釋的。

法律專家Nuno Lima Bastos 認為 (行政長官) 在再次採用有關措施時應要考慮周詳，然而他卻只將金額調高百分之二十及宣佈發效醫療券，但又沒有解釋清楚，如為何不能以消費券代替支票，以確保有關款項可用於澳門。前立法議員方永強指出欠缺數字及缺乏長遠政策，這是有意這樣做的。他表示 “發放的津貼金額是一種可親的表現及在政治上是正確的。行政長官是知道還有其他便民的措施可推行，然而其選擇了上指方式，而所有人又感到滿意”。

將要離開

澳門理工學院導師António Katchi指出不要期待一個即將卸任之人會採取一些深層的措施。他強調 “有可能現屆政府不想減低下一任政府的管治範圍及公佈一些約束下一任政府的措施”。這是為着在政治上尊重接班人及考慮到澳門的獨特性。一般而言，一些重大的決定，北京都會參與，但北京現仍未就行政長官候選人發放任何消息。

António Katchi指出 “即使非憲法要求，但對一些重大政策之選擇需與中央政府取得一致。政府均嘗試取得協調。而在任期的尾聲，當然出現政策持續的問題”。正如方永强所表示，“何厚鏵需要與其接班人（仍未揭曉）磨合，具有領導才能的行政長官當知道誰是接班人後，便需與其就深層的政策作出對話。這在政治上是正確的”。

何厚鏵於立法會的表現被視為道別的開始。對於一些人士來說，他列席立法會已不合時宜，而另一些人則認為是合時間的。方永强表示“恰巧是在那天。時間相差不遠。行政長官需就其缷任後安排其將來」。Lima Bastos分析時表示“最理想當然是還可出任領導層。澳門是不會停下來的，需要繼續统治。可能行政長官被歐文龍的案件弄到心力絞碎......　再加上在其任期的尾聲不幸地出現經濟危機”。

倘方永强對行政長官前往立法會的日期沒有其他評論，法律專家Lima Bastos則認為這非絕巧合。他指出“雖是缷任的開端，但卻是策略上的選擇。何厚鏵於五月一日前兩個星期列席立法會，這為着避免在餘下數月發生社會動亂而作出努力。透過那些支票，中央政府亦會就澳門面對經濟危機的處理作出良好評估，並可能會對本地政府心目中的何厚鏵接班人投以更多的信任」。

在三個名字中會存在着甚麼

公眾認為可能有兩位候選人：澳門特別行政區社會文化司司長崔世安及檢察長何超明。方永強卻指出還有一名人士需留意，他就是新聞界少談及之經濟財政司司長譚伯源。既然社會上似乎對候選之人選已心中有數，為何在只有數星期便知悉選舉日期中，仍無人表態參選呢？這是因為北京仍有疑問。

Katchi 指出：“似乎對兩名，又或可能是三名候選人的才能，現仍是未知之數。這所謂的選舉只是一齣笑劇，因為選舉委員會是不會揀選沒有中央支持之人士。在仍未假定僅得一名候選人的時候，多年來被視為何厚鏵繼承人的賀一誠卻承認其不在參選名單內”。

因此在情况未明朗時，無人會向前行。上指學者表示 “任何過早之行為可以被視為對中央政府不忠”。 冒險是不穩當的。 Lima Bastos 評論說 “我並不懷疑崔世安想成為行政長官 (而何厚鏵亦是這般希望)。名單仍未公佈，那是因為有北京的阻力”。方永強指出： “現仍未遇到合適的候選人來領導澳門的將來”。 現仍未知甚麼在秤子上。

崔世安一直是澳門商界精英所提及的名字，而何超明則是北京其中一個强而有力的派系所提及的名字。Katchi及Lima Bastos綜述： “一位是與資產階級界別較多聯繫，而另一位則來自法律界但與商界少有接觸”。有關學者表示“政府可想改變其形像”。 法律專家Lima Bastos指出　“基於檢察長所擔當之職務，其與本地之商界較為疏離，然而檢察長是否已準備引介其經濟政策呢？”。這位法律專家認為，對比崔世安，“普通市民更喜愛”何超明，因為他們想要一名來自法律界的人。

這位法律專家還認為檢察長要準確處理經濟須依靠他將來的班子，所以他提出經濟財政司司長譚伯源的名字。然而方永強卻不同意。該法律專家指出“譚伯源有10年的領導經驗，他有很多成功的可能性，亦有另外兩名候選人的特點，他熟悉經濟情況及曾參與開放賭權之工作，這些是他的優勢。對前立法議員來說，　“三位均具備條件，而他們正等候北京的指示”。

Atraso

Por dificuldades de agenda, O Protesto desta semana será, excepcionalmente, publicado na edição de sexta-feira do Jornal Tribuna de Macau, em vez de hoje.

Grato pela compreensão dos leitores!

Adenda: afinal, parece que não chegou a tempo do fecho da edição de sexta-feira e sairá, por isso, no sábado...

Mensagens dos Serviços de Saúde

Com o despoletar da ameaça da gripe suína, tenho recebido no telemóvel algumas mensagens dos Serviços de Saúde. O problema é que vêm sempre apenas em chinês...

A primeira foi no Dia do Trabalhador e rezava:

«衛生局消息:本澳流感大流行應對級別已升至第四級,未有懷疑病例。H1N1甲型(豬)流感專題網頁已開通。呼籲市民注意家居清潔和個人衛生,勤洗手。»

No dia seguinte, recebi esta:

«衛生局通知:由五月二日中午12時起,所有經關閘口岸來澳人士必須填寫健康申報表;再次呼籲市民要勤洗手,洗手前不要觸摸眼、耳、口、鼻。»

Ontem, veio mais esta:

«衛生局消息:5月7日下午四時,多個部門與社團於祐漢公園舉行全民齊抗疫活動。籲請市民積極響應,共同維護社區衛生,並注意個人和家居清潔。»

Como só conheço meia dúzia de caracteres, a solução foi recorrer à tradução online do Babel Fish. O resultado é um pouco "macarrónico", mas dá para se perceber.

Assim, a primeira mensagem queria dizer o seguinte (exactamente como apareceu no ecrã do meu computador):

«Sanitation bureau news: this Australian flu high prevalence deals with the rank to climb to the fourth level, has not had the suspicion case. H1N1 the Type A (pig) flu topic homepage has cleared. Appealed that the resident pays attention lives at clean and the personal hygiene, the attendance washes the hands.»

A de dois de Maio:

«Sanitation bureau notice: by May 2 12:00 pm, possesses after the puting on the brake port comes the Australian public figures to fill in the health Shanghai report form; Appealed once more resident wants to wash the hands industriously, before washing the hands, do not touch the eye, the ear, the mouth, the nose.»

Finalmente, a de ontem:

«Sanitation bureau news: on May 7 4:00 pm, many departments and mass organization Yu Youhan the park holds all the people Qi Kangyi to move. Appeals to the resident to respond positively, maintains the community health together, and pays attention to individual and lives at cleanly.»

Funciona ou não funciona?

Mexicanos começam a deixar Hong Kong

A situação vista pelo cartoon do South China Morning Post. Sempre queria ver se tivesse sido ao contrário...

Bom, barato e no meio da natureza

Sugestão para um almoço bom, barato e saboreado no meio da natureza: vá ao Estabelecimento de Comidas Fu Kei, no Beco do Gonçalo (a via que dá acesso ao parque de estacionamento do Leal Senado, junto às instalações da Polícia Judiciária na Rua Central), compre tapau (aliás, eles só fazem comida para fora) e vá comê-lo para os bancos do jardim onde está a estátua de Jorge Álvares, ali bem perto. Até se esquece do trânsito à sua volta... O único senão é que a ementa está toda em chinês...

Nú ou nu, outra vez!

Já uma vez escrevi sobre isto, mas continuo a encontrar o mesmo erro vezes sem conta: «nu» escrito com acento. Desta feita, foi no telejornal de ontem da RTP (foto acima).

De uma vez por todas, «nu» não tem acento! Alguém escreve «tu» com acento? Ninguém! Então porquê esta mania de se escrever «nu» (ou «cu») com acento?

Já sei que a língua portuguesa não é fácil, mas isto é bastante básico. Basta pensarmos um pouco: o que é que o acento altera na pronúncia da palavra «nu»? Nada. Os acentos servem para que a palavra escrita corresponda à sua pronúncia. Ora, as palavras monossilábicas terminadas em «u» ou «us» não precisam do acento para nada. «Nu», «tu», «cu» ou «pus», por exemplo, pronunciar-se-iam sempre da mesma maneira com ou sem acento. Então para quê a insistência no dito cujo? Só para se escrever mal, está visto...

Hong Kong e Taiwan menos livres

Segundo o último relatório anual da Freedom House, apenas 17% da população mundial vive em países com imprensa livre.

Vários países e territórios apresentam um declínio da liberdade de imprensa em relação ao ano passado. Dois deles são Hong Kong e Taiwan, que desceram da categoria dos «mais livres» para a dos «quase livres». Na região administrativa especial vizinha, isso deveu-se «à crescente influência do Governo de Pequim sobre os media e a liberdade de expressão no território». Já na ilha Formosa, «a pressão sobre os canais televisivos afectou aquele que era o "o espaço mais livre" da Ásia oriental».

Estes e outros detalhes do relatório encontram-se disponíveis nesta notícia do Público (que não faz qualquer referência a Macau ou aos países de língua oficial portuguesa).

Casinos e justiça privada

Legal issues cited as problem in high-end gambling segment

Neil Gough

South China Morning Post
May 4, 2009

Inadequate regulation in Macau and loopholes in mainland law are partly to blame for criminal behaviour stemming from Macau's junket-dominated VIP gambling segment, according to a report.

A total of 151 firms and individuals were officially registered as junket operators in Macau as of the end of last year. But a report on Macau's VIP junkets commissioned by the Hong Kong Jockey Club and obtained by the South China Morning Post cited previously undisclosed official estimates that 10,000 individuals may be involved in the junket business.

"At some point you have to ask if the junket-licensing system is really doing what it was intended to do, or if it is really just window dressing," one industry insider said.

The report said gaps in the mainland's legal system allowed money to be moved and gambling debts to be collected via ties between junket operators and triads.

The US consulting firm Spectrum Gaming Group's report, which was completed in April last year, said: "Because the court system in China cannot be used to resolve gaming-debt issues, as is the case in almost all other jurisdictions, the collection of gaming debt is left to the junket operator to resolve.

Junket operators are the middlemen who bring high rollers to casinos, issue them credit to gamble and collect debts.

The report estimates 4,000 junket "collaborators" are registered with the government.

But registration falls far short of licensing, and the report said the term collaborator was "less than clear" as it may apply to a wide range of interests or individuals, including "junket operators, sub junkets, loan sharks and tip hustlers".

Casino revenue in Macau grew 31 per cent to 108.77 billion patacas last year, overtaking the Las Vegas Strip and Atlantic City combined. But despite the opening of glitzy and more tourist-oriented casinos in Macau, the junket-dominated VIP gambling segment accounted for 67.8 per cent of total revenue last year.

"The Hong Kong VIP market is the second-most-important market in Macau and has been increasing, but not nearly as rapidly as the [mainland] Chinese market," the Spectrum report said. It estimated Macau's revenue from Hongkongers at HK$13.5 billion, or 25 per cent of total VIP revenue in 2007. That calculation was based on the fact that 25 per cent of arrivals in Macau came from Hong Kong during the year.

But "Hong Kong probably accounts for a higher proportion of Macau's VIP revenue because people have higher ratios of disposable income than on the mainland, and because gaming debt is legally enforceable in Hong Kong," the insider said.

Jogadores de Hong Kong "sangram" em Macau

HK gamblers losing billions in Macau's VIP rooms

Neil Gough
South China Morning Post
May 4, 2009

A confidential report commissioned by the Hong Kong Jockey Club to assess the impact of VIP gambling junkets to Macau has estimated that between 4,000 and 8,000 Hongkongers make 10 to 25 such trips to the city each year.

The report, by US consulting firm Spectrum Gaming Group, estimates that Hong Kong people lost about HK$13.5 billion in Macau's private VIP gambling rooms in 2007.

Macau's VIP junketing boom in recent years has meant negative fallout for Hong Kong in areas such as gambling addiction, loanshark activities and the growth of organised crime locally and, more significant, on the mainland.

"At the minimum there is a relationship between the junkets and triads related to moving money and the collection of gaming debts," the report says.

"The lack of an effective legal process for recovering gaming debt in China has led to an extrajudicial system where debt is collected via intimidation, threats, disruption of business, kidnapping of family members and other strong-arm tactics," it says.

A copy of the 52-page report - commissioned by the Jockey Club to highlight the growing threat of competition from Macau and completed by Spectrum in April last year - was recently acquired by the South China Morning Post.

"We did commission a confidential report last year on casino junkets to assess their impact on the Hong Kong community," said a spokesman for the Jockey Club, who declined to confirm whether the document in question was the Spectrum report.

"We do commission and conduct various gaming-related researches from time to time, and share key findings with the relevant government authorities."

A Bangkok-based director at Spectrum's Asia unit said: "We never comment on specific assignments."

The Jockey Club, which monopolises local betting on horse racing, soccer and the Mark Six lottery, has in recent years expressed growing unease at the explosion of casino gaming in Macau.

The Spectrum report refers to this: "The trend of casinos and horse racing competing against each other has not boded well for the horse-racing industry over the years in the United States, Canada and Australia."

In many US states, horse racecourses have been transformed into "racinos" via the introduction of slot machines or similar electronic gambling machines in an effort to compete with the growth of nearby casino-style gaming.

The Jockey Club is unlikely to offer slot machines. Instead, the Spectrum report is believed to have been circulated among members of government and the Home Affairs Bureau's Betting and Lotteries Commission in advance of last week's public consultation on adding five more race meetings to Hong Kong's annual horse-racing calendar.

The Spectrum report cites data from a Home Affairs Bureau survey estimating that about 80 per cent of Hong Kong people engaged in some form of gambling.

In its description of junket operators in Macau, the report refers to a number of publicly listed Hong Kong companies, including Dore Holdings, A-Max Holdings, Neptune Group and Golden Resorts.

However, the report goes on to say that its descriptions of illegal practices during junkets are "not otherwise intended to suggest, infer or imply that all junket operators or their employees or agents engage or participate in such activities".

The LoDown

Alex Lo

South China Morning Post

May 2, 2009

Just another rude woman making a lot of noise in the street

It's not the mistakes you make that define you, but how you deal with them. Public figures make gaffes that land them in hot water all the time. But some recover and learn a lesson; others blame critics for their trouble and insist they are being unfairly picked on. We can now add Jackie Chan to the latter, whiny bunch.

Columnist Chip Tsao also recently made a gaffe by calling the Philippines "a nation of servants" in a satirical article. This sparked a protest rally by more than 7,000 Filipinos and their supporters, who called him "Cheap Tsao". He quickly saw the error of his ways and made a formal apology to consulate officials in Hong Kong.

According to a report this week in Filipino newspaper the Hong Kong News, the Philippine government has lifted a ban on Tsao from visiting the country and no longer considered him "an undesirable alien". Chip was briefly my boss years ago at a now-defunct newspaper. I know he has a loose tongue, but he is no racist.

The same cannot be said about Chan. We Chinese are highly hierarchical animals. In Chan's mental universe, I am pretty sure wealthy and powerful mainland officials stand at the apex of the Chinese race, after which come people in Hong Kong, Macau and then Taiwan - in that order. This qualifies as a kind of internal racism. In a TV interview this week, Chan said he loves all these places because they are Chinese territories. He only criticised Taiwan, he said, "because I love her", and described his critics using a Chinese phrase that meant "nasty and rude women making lots of noise in the street". Say no more, Jackie, you are sounding exactly like one of those women.

If you think Chinese names are difficult, try Thai or Polish

Republican Texas state lawmaker Betty Brown has recently had to apologise for saying Asian-American voters should adopt names that are "easier for Americans to deal with". Funny that, because I have always thought Chinese names - spelled in English - are among the easiest to remember. I mean, try Thai or Polish names; I could never work as a reporter in Bangkok or Warsaw. Copy editors would murder me for misspelled names. But it's evidently just my own cultural bias. "Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese - I understand it's a rather difficult language," Brown originally said. "Do you think that it would behove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?" It's surprising no one has suggested Brown switch jobs and work in China. She will find much more obliging white-collar mainland workers who have already adopted an English name or are trying to settle on one. I have always found it interesting that many North American-born Chinese I know have a completely Chinese name yet know little of the language, but when you go to Shanghai and Shenzhen, everyone who works in an office has an English name, however weird, like Alien Wang or Bicycle Chen. In colonial Hong Kong, having an English name was considered cool when I was a kid. Not so on the mainland today. It's more of a pragmatic response to an influx of foreigners since China's economic opening, many of whom probably feel the same way about Chinese names as Brown.

Macau's disciplined forces mourn the loss of an adult discipline

Macau's disciplined forces are having a serious crisis, but it has nothing to do with law and order or the economic downturn. An internet forum widely used by members of the forces - which include police, fire and other services - has recently changed its name and address, and cancelled its most popular service - its adult-content section.

Given the kind of businesses for which Macau is famous, it is certainly strange that the old site, http://www.orchidbbs.com/, has changed to http://www.818bbs.net/ and dropped its juiciest section. Site participants have been pleading for its return. The webmaster has also deleted all naughty photos associated with the Edison Chen Koon-hei sex scandal and warned members not to post them again or risk being banned from the site.

One post paraphrased an old communist slogan, "Without the Communist Party, there is no new China" as "Without the adult section, there is no website". Another threatened to lead an exodus to quit the site. One thread has gathered nine pages of replies, mostly supporting reinstating the naughty content. The pleas have fallen on deaf ears. This week, the webmaster took an even harder line and deleted all posts that discussed or merely mentioned the naughty section. That ought to shut those sex-starved officers up.

Candidato "engripado"

Macau's health chief might be too busy to run for top office

Fox Yi Hu
South China Morning Post
May 1, 2009

Threats of swine flu may affect Macau's chief executive election by making it difficult for a popular potential candidate to resign from his government position.

Macau's secretary for social and cultural affairs, Fernando Chui Sai-on, is in charge of public health and is expected to stay in the job to lead Macau through the flu crisis.

Under Macau's law governing chief executive elections, a principal official is barred from running unless he or she resigns before the nomination period.

Political commentator Larry So Man-yum said Dr Chui would be faced with a dilemma if the flu threats worsened into something similar to the 2003 Sars outbreak. Dr Chui led Macau's successful battle against severe acute respiratory syndrome.

He said there were signs that Dr Chui's health team was working extremely hard to prevent an outbreak in Macau.

Dr Chui is one of two favourites to win the election, thanks to his prominent family background and governing experience. The other is chief prosecutor Ho Chio-meng, who has impressed the public with his handling of a huge graft scandal.

Macau Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah has yet to announce a date for the election.

The Electoral Affairs Commission will announce the nomination period after the date is announced.

On Monday, Dr Chui spearheaded a cross-departmental meeting in Macau on how to deal with the threat of swine flu.

Veteran Macau observer Camoes Tam Chi-keung said he believed that Dr Chui's opponents had been using the issue to thwart his candidacy.

"There are people spreading word on the internet and in public that he should be wholehearted in saving people and not resign," Dr Tam said.

The election law says that a nomination period of no less than 12 days should end at least 30 days before election day. The poll must come 60 days before the incumbent chief executive's term expires.

As Mr Ho is due to step down on December 20, the election must be held no later than October 21, with the nomination process beginning in early September.

But it is widely believed that the election will be held before September due to Beijing's preference for a relatively long and stable period of transition in Macau.

Macau Daily News, the city's largest daily, said on Monday the election might be held in mid-July.

If that's the case, Dr Chui would have to resign early next month.

Dr Chui comes from one of Macau's few ruling clans and has seven years of ministerial experience. His late uncle, Chui Tak-kei, was a hardcore Communist Party supporter when Macau was under Portuguese rule. An influential family background is seen as vital to win over various interest groups in Macau.

Contracto ou contrato?

O telejornal de ontem da RTP noticiava que uns quantos trabalhadores de uma fábrica haviam suspendido «os contractos de trabalho». Ora, com ou sem acordo ortográfico, o substantivo contrato não tem «c», apesar de ser originário do latim contractus.

Faço a observação, porque tenho encontrado este erro ortográfico com incómoda frequência, certamente por efeito do inglês contract.

Contracto, com «c», é outra coisa: é um adjectivo equivalente a contraído; que sofreu uma diminuição de volume ou de extensão; que sofreu uma contracção.

PS: falando em telejornais, o da TDM também de ontem noticiava que o imposto de consumo sobre o tabaco ia aumentar «para vinte cêntimos de pataca». A expressão foi proferida três vezes, pelo menos. E eu que pensava que a moeda local se dividia em cem avos...