By Paulo A. Azevedo

Founder of Macau Business

Chairman of Project Asia Corporation

During the process of casino gaming concession renewals, the government created press releases and compelled operators to send them as if they were their own. The initial shock and even the attempts to refuse by some, considering it an absolute absurdity to have their responsibilities overtaken and to see the government entering the exclusive sphere of activity of private companies listed internationally on the stock exchange, were eventually appeased by the respective teams.

 All in the name of a renewal that only lasted ten years, far below the initial expectations given the volume of investments made over the last two decades. However, despite everything, it turned out to be ‘better’ than some people had thought. Years of uncertainty regarding the removal of one operator or another to open the door to others, from the region or even from the SAR, made those who felt most attacked reluctantly accept the situation.

This all-hands-on-deck example of Ho Iat Seng’s apparent leadership strategy extends to other sectors as well. Construction is also suffering, with investors complaining that they win a project but then cannot choose the subcontractors or companies they turn to for services and are presented with ‘suggestions’ for partners.

The most generous individuals could turn a blind eye to the very fine line between morality and procedural legality, confirming the veracity of the complaints made by several involved parties.  If, by any chance, absolutely unquestionable values were at stake, such as national honour and national security—the usual reasons of state invoked whenever a leader wants to create exceptional cases, bypassing the scrutiny of the law, both in its letter and spirit. But the truth is that nothing in Macau justifies a government autocracy. Even worse, when it exists, the tendency is always to think that authoritarianism is present to prevent anyone from seeking the true reasons behind such an intense effort, so that no one questions it to avoid being excluded. As the saying goes: “There is no smoke without fire.”

As Macau is not, and will never be, in a phase of dissonance with Beijing, despite there sometimes being different interpretations of matters under consideration, it would be appropriate for the government to allow investors to continue investing in the development of their businesses transparently. Yes, regulation is necessary, but it should be guided by legislative norms and not by whims or decisions that are difficult to explain in light of the rule of law.

雅士度（Paulo A. Azevedo） 

Macau Business 創辦人 

創辦人及董事： 

 Project Asia Corporation  

De Ficção – Multimedia Projects 

Macau Business | Business Intelligence 

Macaubusiness.com | Macau News Agency | MB.tv 

二十載風雨兼程，改變的不僅僅是澳門。我們改變了，世界也改變了。二十年前，澳門正沉醉於博彩市場開放初期帶來的興奮，這一決定最終成功將小城打造成世界頂尖的博彩中心，投注量及營運商和政府收入均領先行業。亦正是此時，身處這座仍只有中文和葡文報章、雜誌的小城，我決定創辦首家英文媒體。人們對過去二十年的輪廓早已了然在心，我們攀過高山，越過低谷，收穫了成就，也經歷了挫敗。在時光流逝中，社會經濟結構和政治心態的變化卻令人感到沮喪。返祖保守主義，即公務員的返祖主義，只關心保全自己的飯碗和取悅直接上級，將首要責任拋諸腦後，令人痛心的是這已變得根深蒂固。這在民間社會本身、主要博彩業者和大型企業中引起了連鎖反應。 

這座城市變得更加灰暗，更加冷漠，新冠肺炎引發的多年封閉亦無濟於事。甚少看到能夠擺脫固定思維、大膽創新的項目。人們謹慎行事，往往需要更長時間方能作出決策，有人甚至乾脆利落地聳聳肩，不再給予回應，擺出一副聽天由命的姿態。 

在這個有點瘋狂的世界中，許多領導人的存在只是因為無知和恐懼——同樣的冷漠也席捲了澳門。即便如此，人們仍可看到新的希望。萬物已邁出了復甦的腳步，也許這群麻木的領導人不會毀掉一切。如果世界不會因區域爭端惡化爆發另一場經濟危機，並引發大國集團之間的對抗，這座城市仍有潛力在世界舞台上綻放耀眼光芒。城市的規模、行政管理的便利性及人均收入的重要性均成為了優勢。由於缺乏聰明才智和中世紀權力傳統的持續存在，那些佔據顯要地位的明顯次要參與者也離開了。何其幸運！ 

我們必須為新時代做好準備，鼓勵它們衝出水面。永恆的變革時代，卻有揭穿神話、打破迷信的勇氣。 

澳門擁有成功所需的一切，就如同小城一樣，這個精緻的媒體集團亦然。 

無論過去，還是現在，我們旗下新聞雜誌和全天候線上新聞中心始終堅定不移地為讀者炮製高品質的新聞報道。面對持續的財務限制，我們不曾放棄過對創新和創造驚喜的追求。正如我們一再重申的那樣，困難不會打垮我們，只會讓我們變得更強大。 

因此，與新時代一同崛起！讓我們攜手度過另一個二十年，讓這個媒體集團能夠繼續為更具洞察力的資訊傳播作出貢獻。知識創造教育。我們本身具備的通透和誠信是社會財富的堅實基礎。 

能夠陪伴您們至今，這令我感到欣慰。如果您讓我們繼續陪伴左右，成為您日常生活的一部分，無論是印刷版還是線上版、電腦版，或手機版，我們將不勝感激。 

明智的決定是成功一半！ 

Macau Business magazine l May 2024 l 20th anniversary edition

In twenty years, it wasn’t just Macau that changed. We changed. The world changed. Two decades ago, when I decided to launch the first English-language media outlet—until then, there were only newspapers and magazines in Chinese and Portuguese—the city was experiencing the excitement of the early days of gambling liberalisation, which would propel it to become the world’s top gambling hub, both in terms of betting volume and revenue for operators and local authorities.

The contours of these years are known—the ups and downs, the achievements and setbacks, alongside changes in socio-economic fabric and political mindsets. Unfortunately, the latter are the most disappointing. The atavistic conservatism, the atavism of public servants who are only concerned with saving their own skin and pleasing immediate superiors instead of remembering that their primary responsibility is with the citizens, has become entrenched. This has had a knock-on effect on civil society itself, major gaming operators, and big businesses.

The city is now greyer, more apathetic. The years of COVID-induced confinement haven’t helped either. There are few projects that demonstrate the audacity to ‘think outside the box.’ People play it safe. It takes much longer to make decisions. And there are even those who no longer hesitate to not respond, in a shrug worthy of someone who is already resigned to everything. 

However, amidst this somewhat crazy world where many leaders exist solely due to ignorance and fear—and where that same apathy also consumes Macau—one can see renewed hopes. Perhaps these individuals won’t manage to ruin everything, now that the recovery has already begun.

If the world doesn’t plunge into another economic crisis fuelled by worsening regional disputes, spreading to a broader confrontation between blocs of powers, this city maintains the potential to see its development shine brightly on a global scale. Thanks to the city’s size, ease of administrative management, and importance of per capita revenue. And, with some luck, with the departure of clearly secondary players who hold prominent positions due to the scarcity of brighter minds and persistence of medieval power traditions.

It is for these new times that we must prepare ourselves and encourage them to surface. Eternal times of change but with the courage to debunk myths and the daring to break superstitions. 

Macau has everything it requires to succeed. Again. And like the city, so does this small media group.

As we remain unwaveringly committed to quality journalism in our news magazines and round-the-clock online news hub, the desire to innovate and surprise persists, despite enduring financial constraints. As we often say here, what doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger.

So, let the new times rise, another twenty years, so that this media group can continue to contribute to discernment founded on better information. Education generated by knowledge. A social wealth grounded on transparency and the integrity of each and every one of us.

 It’s good to know that you’re still with us. And we would greatly appreciate it if you let us continue to be with you, to remain part of your everyday life, whether in print or online, on the computer or your mobile phone. Because a well-informed decision is halfway to victory.

澳門經濟多元化早已被埋葬，但對此一無所知的人們仍然歌頌這個神話。

《商訊》2020年8月 | 文：雅士度 – 環亞媒體行政總裁

多屆政府均沒有智慧，也沒有能力，將政治話語化爲現實，後果亦隱約可見。疫情改變了我們的日常生活，同時令我們突然恢復了理智。

作爲澳門最大的財富來源，旅客和賭徒都消失無蹤，寒冬亦隨之來臨。

在娛樂場令城市金銀滿瀉的時代，政府官員試圖避免談及諸如瘟疫之類的話題。他們因城市財富的來源感到羞恥，但是卻不曾因這些財富為城市帶來發展和自豪感到羞愧。

現在，他們說是時候收緊支出、削減費用和減少投資了。

假如當局經研究才作出有關決定，而非貿然宣佈的話，可以理解。歷史記錄表明，澳門現行的許多政策都在閒談間誕生，僅此而已。

這些將對後代產生影響的政策都未經深思熟慮。只不過是當人們去超級市場購物的時候，看著貨架，突然想起：“啊！我也需要餅乾。”

沒有策略之說，甚至未有清楚地了解哪些屬於不必要，哪些又屬於削減的支出，因為大多數的政府支出都屬於秘密。

在過去的五年，政府機構在研究及其他諮詢服務上支出了近10億澳門元，但當中只有百分之12被公開。

換而言之，我們或多或少知道花費了至少1億元。對那些隱藏在黑幕後的部分就只能猜測了，另外，為這些謎題蓋上黑幕的人大多有義務推動施政透明。我們甚至無法談論這些研究的必要性和完成方式，一切都不在掌控之中。

但是，本文的目的是討論資金，首要話題是需適應削減的支出。

最近一位來自所謂民主陣營的議員回顧，當局過去給予地方機構成千上萬資助，但卻沒有找到有關記錄，獲政府補貼的機構賬戶與透明完全無關。

現在，如果我們將當前數量龐大的協會機構納入考慮，且當中多數協會由不同政府諮詢機構組成的成員領導，那麼我們意識到需要提高透明度。未能做到這一點只能驗證了那些聲音，儘管不過是耳語，但這種聲音助長了政治和裙帶關係的永恆循環。

這筆龐大的資金流入了許多由政府諮詢機制内人員管理的協會，因而具有強大的力量和影響力。這些人由管治城市的確定的標準任命，他們在沒有監管的情況下花錢。

還需要我多說嗎？

必須削減開支，這是毫無疑問。正處於艱難的時期。但是，我們必須從最容易的地方進行削減，即每年因無根據或不負責任的決策被浪費掉的大量資金。沒有透明度，削減支出只會損害公共服務，影響居民生活質素，而不負責任的支出將繼續消耗政府金庫。

結果：與澳門經濟多元化一樣，節約金錢將成為另一個神話。

The government’s intention to save money due to the pandemic impact, if not well though and avoiding some never very well explained money waste, will become another myth, as great as the diversification of Macau’s economy.

The diversification of Macau’s economy, whose myth is still being spread by those who do not know what else to say, has long been dead and buried.

By Paulo A. Azevedo – CEO, Global Asia Media

The different governments have had neither the wit nor the skill to turn political discourse into reality, and the consequences loom over the horizon. We were suddenly brought back to our senses by a virus that is changing the routine of our days.

Without tourists, without casino gamblers — Macau’s greatest sources of wealth — times of austerity were to announced.

When casinos were flooding the city with cash, government officials tried to avoid those words like the plague. They appeared ashamed of the origin of the city’s wealth, but they did not shy from congratulating themselves for the city’s development made possible by that wealth.

Now, they say it is time to cut costs, expenses, and investments.

The decision would even be understandable, if it were studied rather than a sudden reaction. As historical records demonstrate, many of Macau’s existing policies were born out of a Yam Tcha, and that’s it.

These policies, which will have an impact on future generations, are made with as much forethought as when one goes to the supermarket and, while looking at the shelves, suddenly remembers: “Ah! I also need cookies.”

There are no strategies, not even a clear understanding of which expenditures are unnecessary and should therefore be cut — because most of the spending is secret.

In the past five years, government agencies have spent nearly one billion patacas on studies and other consultancy services, but only 12 percent was made known to the public.

In other words, we know, more or less, how a little more than 100 million were spent. We can only guess about the rest, hidden behind a black curtain of opacity drawn by those who have the ostensible duty to foster transparency. Let’s not even mention the need for such studies and the way they are done. Everything escapes us.

But the purpose of this article is to talk about cash, and to discuss which expenses should be cut in the first place.

As a legislator from the so-called democratic camp recently recalled, of the thousands, millions, hundreds of millions of patacas given to local associations, history does not tell. Government-subsidized association accounts are anything but transparent.

Now, if we consider the existence of so many associations — many of them headed by members who are part of the consultative bodies of the various government structures – we realize the need for greater transparency. Failure to do so only validates the voices who say, albeit in a whisper, that this opacity only fosters an eternal cycle of political and nepotistic patronage.

This money — a lot of money — goes into the pockets of associations managed by many people who operate within the government’s consultation mechanisms, and thus wield great power and influence. Such people are appointed according to criteria defined by those who govern. They spend money without supervision.

Need I say more?

Expenses must be cut — that is out of the question. These are difficult times. But we must make the first cuts where they can be most easily afforded, namely on the fabulous sums that are squandered annually through a maze of baseless and unaccountable decisions. Without transparency, spending cuts will only harm public services and citizens’ quality of life, while irresponsible spending continues to drain public coffers.

Result: the intention to save money will become another myth, as great as the diversification of Macau’s economy.

The root of one of Macau’s problems, which leads to situations like the recent request to remove Portuguese names from the local toponymy… remains the same: the very poor choice of the people who are part of an immeasurable number of advisory councils in the city.

In just 24 hours we were able to see how we continue to have government structures that simply work badly, or don’t work at all. They continue to malfunction and act badly, in many cases harming the population, and without those responsible being held accountable for their actions.

In just 24 hours we were able to see how we continue to have government structures that simply work badly, or don’t work at all. They continue to malfunction and act badly, in many cases harming the population, and without those responsible being held accountable for their actions.

The inhabitants of Ka Ho have already been victims of industrial accidents that put their health at risk. Huge levels of pollution were able to be detected, often exceeding the maximum, without the Environmental Protection Services taking action. Basically, according to representatives of the population of Ka Ho, environmental protection sent them out, as if it was not their responsibility.

In another case, it is now known that neither the Commission against Corruption nor the General Prosecution Office has evidence to confirm the accusations against the former president of the Macau Investment Promotion Institute.

Let’s all remember that he was accused of corruption and has been in jail waiting for the current trial for more than a year. With his life and reputation destroyed, detained, petty, people have every right to ask: what system is it that allows such things? Which government, which judicial authorities?

If you don’t have proof to sustain an accusation, work harder, more diligently. Be competent. Unfortunately, this is not the first case and I believe will definitely not be the last.

In the area of telecommunications, the President of CTM came on the television to remind the Chief Executive that it was he, Ho Iat Seng, who asked to move forward with the 5G generation; something that CTM guarantees to have put in the field soon, ensuring one hundred per cent exterior coverage.

However, the government still has not given the license. It reminds us of those strange land deals: the government gives the land to be developed, within 25 years do not allow any development for several reasons and then take the land back because the developers didn’t build on it.

And in the Cultural sector, we now know that the Cultural Institute can grant projects by a public tender, just to realize that nobody can access the why’s and the how’s and not even the background and experience of the winners. It’s all very convenient, as always, very opaque.

Does this not sound strange to the new Chief Executive, that has a strong entrance in the government, almost promising a revolution of mentalities and procedures?
Apparently we will continue to have Macau as before, with the difference that now, in times of a pandemic, Ho Iat Seng wants to spend less. Way less.

Okay, we understand the concern. Let’s see if these cuts will also affect the big, highly profitable institutions that receive hundreds of millions from the government every year since people who manage those associations and foundations seldom [irony] have breakfast with the elites in power.

“那麼，他是一個可怕的人嗎？”他一邊問，一邊走入那個位於葡京酒店頂樓的小型主席辦公室。

文：雅士度

直到今天，我還記得在不同場合採訪何鴻燊的片段。他是《Macau Business》及《商訊》雜誌的主要採訪對象。每當想起這些訪問，我總是情不自禁地發出微笑。在我看來，他第一次接受我的獨家採訪時，拍我脖子的那一下是那麽的自然。

我承認，我不清楚這個策略僅適用於新聞工作者，還是整個商業帝國。但事實上，確實收到了成效。他讓我措手不及，並把我抛到防守綫上。這位澳門賭王控制了整個訪問。我看著我的朋友、他的助手Julie Senna Fernandes，幾乎可以感受到何鴻燊狡猾諷刺的微笑。

在接下來的一個半小時內，我緩過氣來，何鴻燊成為了這片領域的主人。出乎意料的是，他絕非一位苛刻的受訪者，製造難題的反而是他的公關團隊，因為這支隊伍的職責是“捍衛”賭王的言論。對於任何一名對重大新聞總是比較敏感的記者來說，不斷收到“澄清”某些表達或描述的要求，都是一種痛苦。 作為回報，何鴻燊似乎沒有理會這些世俗的問題。 我始終有一種感覺，就是他不過在純粹地表達個人感受，並無他慮。在這方面，他比中國人更隨意。

何鴻燊在香港病逝，享年98歲。現在，有許多常用短語可以使用了。一位出色的商人以獨特的方式建立並經營著人際關係。1999年以前的澳門，處於外國勢力的統治之下，完全不知透明為何物，他的處境有時確實艱難，某些本地勢力總希望這位博彩業大亨垮台，當然，也有人意識到他的公允價值觀，以及他對這座小鎮的奉獻。然而，他選擇回饋的原因是這座城市為他帶來了好運，他坦然承認且絕不會拒絕。在政權回歸且博彩業實現自由化後，他感到自己處於令人羨慕的談判地位，因此，只要遊戲繼續保持公正，他願意在未來的比賽中保持“慷慨”。

“我，糟糕？”我問Julie。你是否告訴過他，我在澳門的“歷史”？就是那些在我有份擁有的報紙上發生的爭拗？又或被許多人視為與上屆澳督打對台的媒體？道出事實，卻被錯誤的批判。對中央集權的軍事管理極端批評嗎？是。韋奇立將軍對我漫不經心，不過，不是他的行為。我在專欄中批評了他，正如我多年來對其他人所做得那樣。如果他因我參與歐華利基金會案而與我斷絕關係的話，那是他的問題。這不應像他接受何鴻燊財政支持和首任行政長官的背書那樣——在里斯本醜聞爆發後，這些都將改變他的看法。

這些都不是何鴻燊所做的。一位精明的人士，擁有海量的記憶和鐵腕的意志，儘管一生中應對各種挑戰並需要解決不同的棘手問題。

我記得Julie 。當時，她已經生病了。她曾在自己的家裡提到，那間公寓不屬於她，而是澳門旅遊娛樂股份有限公司（澳娛）的。與母公司的許多其他設施一樣，何鴻燊當時免費向旗下所有員工開放。

我承認，我從不費心去了解事實是否如此。但是，若事實果真如此，我絕不會感到驚訝。何鴻燊代表著澳門的今天：依然是一座幸運的城市，它清楚人們不應頂風作案，儘管當中或發生了誤會，但令我們團結起來的理由總比那些導致分裂的多。

何鴻燊每天都這樣做。他在父親破產後，成功恢復了家庭聲譽，那要歸功於澳門。作為一名來自香港的人士，他心存感激，並透過贊助社會工作、回應澳門政府提出的諸多要求，來證明這一點。城中幾乎所有基礎設施都與澳娛的貢獻有關。

然而，和任何實力雄厚的企業家一樣，他必須作出能夠贏得政治人物好感的決定。為了政權更迭時的以防萬一，故多數時候都是從當前和未來的政治舞台不同角度出發。因此透過那些關係親密的人士，他確保在一個利益複雜的社會中實現社會和諧。或許會有人認為，假如那些與華人社會有著千絲萬縷關係的三合會，又或那些被北京認為是“愛國主義”的團伙，一直處於受控狀態，那麼澳門將長久地享有令人羨慕的安全保障（上世紀90年代下半葉，葡萄牙司法警察局一名負責人決定改變部隊之間的關係並引發了一場戰爭，這場戰爭花了兩年時間才得以制止。此事除外。），這要歸功於複雜的談判，為了中國歷史上最務實的共同利益。

何鴻燊一直否認與三合會有任何關係。作為一個優秀的商人，他始終主張社會穩定，因能促進發展和開拓業務。除了家族之外，他的成長之地香港和澳門都備受何鴻燊的重視。

如果有保安事件需要解決，那將由安全部隊負責；如果有司法案件，法院將執行其司法程序。他和政治重量級人物霍英東合作，設法獲得了博彩行業的壟斷權。他管理著公司並解決了每天出現的問題，有時候，何鴻燊的處理方式確實較他人的優勝。

當然，他也會做出某些不太正確的決定，但我認為那是由於他自認別無選擇，由那一剎那情況所決定。

在與他進行的最後一次採訪中，我建議到以他名字命名的大道旁拍一張照片。我從他的眼中看到了微笑：“我們還在等什麼？”然後我們乘坐他的豪華轎車出發，保鏢們的車輛緊隨我們之後。那時的何鴻燊得心應手，處在世界之巔。

如果年輕時的何鴻燊更加專注於商業王國，以為自己創造財富和締造名聲為絕對目標，他已經令後來者感到嫉妒。過去的歲月不再令他感動。或者，至少那是他給我的印象。他力證，這些事情早已完成了。

我認為，即使了解他所知道的，在最後彌留之際，何鴻燊也不會改變一生中所做的一切。他為自己決定的，而不是因為當前情況或受當權者威迫而不得不這樣做得。

數天前，當香港電視台對賭王之死進行跟進報道時，我正身處醫院接受檢查。候診室裡擠滿了人。走廊裡一片寂靜，澳門人目光虔誠，專注地看著電視屏幕。我清楚他們對何鴻燊的感受，撇除記者的中立立場，我也能感受到。因此，當我與Reed Expo合作在最初的亞洲國際娛樂展上推出“終身成就獎”，作為首個表彰業內傑出人物的重要大獎，我堅持第一位獲得這個大獎的必須是何鴻燊。因此，這位大亨從首任行政長官何厚鏵的手中接過獎章。

通常，訃聞強調的是人們最出色的那一面，這就是在利弊遊戲中應該採取的方式。但這也是在大多數情況下，錯誤和錯誤的決定幾乎總是不如正面的行動，這是正確的想法。就何鴻燊而言，這就是事實。

澳門會想念他，因為他這個人，還有他所做的善舉。我只希望，他的家人知道如何繼承他留下的巨大遺產。

The duality of the security forces’ criteria is absolutely unacceptable. We are following a dangerous path, instigated by someone who wants to transform Macau into a police state and eradicate all the rights of its inhabitants. It goes without saying, but bears repeating, that this entails throwing the established Basic Law — the mini-constitution that should govern Macau according to the formula of “one country, two systems” — into the rubbish bin — a law that emerged after two states, China and Portugal, had assumed to respect the international treaty that guaranteed the return of the administration of Macau to the People’s Republic of China.
Two people, simply because they are the daughters of Macau’s closest approximation to a pro-Democratic MP, were accused by the police of an illegal meeting during this past 4 June, a date that marks the Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989.
Unlike the situation in Hong Kong, there was no ban on presence in the Senate Square, nor was any demonstration made. Anything that can be said against this is nothing but a sham that could only be possible in a city where political consciences remain dormant.
It is good to have a peaceful Macau — who could argue otherwise? It is bad that the authorities take advantage of their people’s typical cordiality to begin to impose a regime of “interpretation” of the laws — and in some cases, of interpretation of the mere intentionality of acts, which is worse, to silence what was not even noise to start with.
And when 40 others strolled through public spaces, in a loud and colorful manifestation as the television cameras captured, in support of the passage of a Beijing law imposed on Hong Kong, the PSP and its spokesman who assumed to play a sad role in a Press conference – said nothing.
We were all told that the police, in this case, did not know — that they were not informed.
Perhaps the police neither watch television nor have cell phones where they might receive the thousands of messages that fill social media applications. Nor, perhaps, are these resources available to the agents on the streets where the demonstration went on for hours. Or perhaps the PSP had all its agents busy sweeping up anyone who passed through Largo do Senado.
These are the rights and guarantees. This is the example of the new times. The new reality is as frightening as it is revealing: a duality of criteria that disregards the law and the treaties. These are the new times ruled by the razor of “with us or against us,” used to split normal people arbitrarily into “good people” and “bad people”. Curiously, it is a formula that seems to have been copied from some of the Portuguese past administrations. How ironic it is now to watch those who previously criticized following the same system of “I can, I want and I command.”
How predictable is power. And how predictable the reaction of those who do not hesitate to resort to the reason of force to silence the force of reason.
I sincerely hope that there will be a radical change in this way of acting — first of all, because the people of Macau do not deserve it, and secondly because this new persecutory phobia will damage the foundations of a generous city that stands proudly unique in all of China.

“So, is he the terrible one?”, he asked when entered his small Chairman’s office, at the top of the spiral staircase, on the first floor just outside the main entrance of the Lisboa Hotel. 

Stanley Ho’s legacy

Now that I remember these short episodes from my different meetings with Stanley Ho Hung-sun – he as the main interviewee of Macau Business and Business Intelligence (Chinese) magazines and I as a journalist – I can’t stop smiling. And I think his attack to my jugular was natural, the first of the three times he gave me an exclusive interview. 

I confess that I don’t know if it was a tactic used only with journalists, or in business in general. But the truth is, it worked. He caught me off guard and threw me on the defensive, with him, the emperor of the Macau gaming in control of the interview. I looked at my friend and his assistant, Julie Senna Fernandes, and I could almost taste the sneer, the sly smile. 

Over the next hour and a half I was allowed to recover and Stanley was master of his domain. He was not a difficult interviewee, on the contrary. His public relations services were the difficult part, as they needed to ‘defend’ him of his own rhetoric. The constant requests to “clarify” certain expressions and statements were a pain in the soul for any journalist always more interested in having big headlines. Stanley Ho, in return, seemed oblivious to these worldly issues. And the feeling I always had was that he was saying the things he felt, without any other concerns. In that, he was much more Latin than Chinese. 

There are a number of common phrases that can be used now that Stanley Ho is gone, at 98. An excellent businessman who found and managed relationships like no one. Sometimes difficult, in a much more opaque Macau administrated by a foreign power before 1999, with certain local forces that wanted the gaming mogul’s downfall, and others that recognized his fair value and what he gave to this small town. But he gave back because he was never shy in stating that it was the city that gave him his good fortune and he would not turn his back on her. After the handover and the liberalization of the gaming industry, he felt he was in an enviable negotiating position and for that very reason he allowed himself to be “generous” with the future competition, as long as it did not “play dirty”. 

“Me, terrible?”, I asked Julie. Did you tell him about my ‘history’ in Macau, about the quarrels at the newspaper I co-owned and that was considered by many as the opposing media of the last governor of Macau? Incorrectly considered, truth be told. Extremely critical of a centralist military management? Yes. General Rocha Vieira was indifferent to me. Not his actions, though. I criticized him in my opinion articles as I have not failed to do over the years to many others. And if he severed relations with me for my participation in the Jorge Álvares Foundation case, it was his problem, which should not have been created the way he did with the financial support of Stanley Ho and the endorsement of Edmund Ho, the first Chief Executive – which after the scandal broke in Lisbon would change his opinion. 

None of this was Stanley’s doing. A shrewd man, with an elephant memory and with an iron will despite all the different needs – throughout his life – to find difficult points of conciliation. 

I remember Julie – already in the phase when she was sick – having said once at her house that the apartment was not hers. It was from STDM (Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau). Like many others that Stanley Ho’s parent company at the time made available to its employees free of charge. 

I confess that I never bothered to know if it was so. But I was not surprised if it was. Stanley Ho represented what Macau should still be today: a lucky city that knows that one shouldn’t spit against the wind and that despite the misunderstandings of the occasion, there is much more that unites us than what divides us. 

And Stanley did it daily. If he had recovered the family’s reputation after his father lost his entire fortune, it was thanks to Macau. And he, a man from Hong Kong, was grateful and demonstrated it through the social works he sponsored and the many requests that the different Macao governments made to him. There will be few infrastructure works to which STDM has not contributed. 

Stanley Ho gave more than he was asked for by the gaming monopoly that he signed with the fascist dictatorship that bent Portugal for almost half a century. He liked Portugal and Europe, almost as much as dancing in its Portas do Sol restaurant with so many good memories. 

But like any powerful businessman, he had to make decisions that would ensure the good favor of politicians, most of the times from different sides of the political arena, both current and future, just in case of regime changes. And so it was at home too through some of his best affiliated men, to ensure social peace in a society of complex interests. There will be some who say that if the Triads – intrinsically linked to Chinese society, some considered by Beijing to be ‘patriotic’ – had always been under control, Macau could enjoy enviable security throughout the times (except when a director of the Portuguese Judicial Police in the second half of the 90s, decided to change the correlation of forces and triggered a war that took a couple of years to be stopped), it is thanks to complicated negotiations. For the common good in the most pragmatic reading of any Chinese history. 

Stanley Ho has always denied any connection to the Triads. As a good businessman he was always in favor of social stability that would foster development and wealth. In addition to the family, Hong Kong – the city of his youth – and mainly Macau, were at the top of his priorities. 

If there were police cases to resolve, it was the security forces that had that responsibility. If there were cases of justice, the courts would practice their justice. He – and his partners who managed to get their hands on the gambling monopoly, namely Henry Fok, an important name in the early years due to his political influence – managed the business and solved the problems that were arising daily. Sometimes with better tact than others. 

Stanley Ho would make some less correct decisions, but I believe that was because he thought he had no other option. A consequence of momentary circumstances. 

In the last interview I did with him, I suggested that a good photo would be to have him next to the avenue sign that had come to bear his name. I saw a smile in his eyes: “What are we waiting for”? And there we went, in his limousine, with a bodyguard van following us. He was in his element, on the top of the world. 

If, when younger, Stanley Ho was more focused on business and the undeniable goal of making a fortune and name for himself, one that would create envy in generations to come, those older days were no longer what moved him. Or at least that was the impression he gave me. What he had to prove had done so long ago. 

I think that even knowing what he knew, at the time of his last lucidity, Stanley Ho would have changed little of what he did throughout his life. He decided for himself, and not what he was forced to do due to the circumstances of the moment or consequence of confronted powers. 

A few days ago, when Hong Kong television did a follow-up on the death of the “casino king”, I was waiting for a medical appointment at the hospital. The waiting room was full of people. A reverential silence filled the corridors with the eyes of Macau people on the screen. I know how they feel about Stanley Ho, and apart from journalist impartiality – or whatever you want to call it – I also feel it. That’s why when I launched the “Life Achievement Awards” in partnership with Reed Expo during the first years of G2E Asia, the first and biggest award that recognized the role of some of the main personalities in the industry, I insisted that the first recipient would have to be Stanley Ho. So it was, with the tycoon receiving deserved recognition from the Chief Executive, Edmund Ho. 

Obituaries must, as a rule, highlight the best side of people, and that’s how it should be in the game of pros and cons. But also because it is correctly considered that in most cases mistakes and bad decisions are almost always inferior to good actions, and in the case of Stanley Ho, that was clearly it. 

Macau will miss him. For him and for the good he did. I just hope that the family knows how to honor the enormous legacy he leaves. 

當地方政權毫無民主可言，立法及行政機關代表亦非循直接選舉產生時，只有在這樣的城市中才會看到如此厚顏無恥之舉：人們能夠承受最荒謬的空頭白話卻無需擔心後果。我們真的可以這樣肆無忌憚地嘲笑當局嗎？質疑“‘行政當局投資及發展開支計劃’項目執行不力的原因之一是公共部門對自身能力的漠視”？然而，這已是立法會公共財政事務跟進委員會會議後發生的事情。

《商訊》2020年5月 | 發行人語 – 雅士度 

委員會主席麥瑞權向記者坦言，議會“提議公共工程項目部門應作科學評估，加強與自身能力的對話，以保證進行中工程的穩定不變”。我們都愉悅地生活在一個永恆的化裝舞會中。

二十年來，公衆不斷呼籲當局提升行政能力，完善問責制度，加強部門間的協調。最後，我們頗具尊嚴的立法會議員終於決定覺醒，意識到政府部門理應清楚自己的所作所爲。

麥議員的表達更爲貼切：“許多公共部門對需要向土地工務運輸局提交的工程一無所知。有時，他們在知會土地工務運輸局後，才發現這個工程實際上是多餘的。”東方人一貫的狂野作風。

以上的描述確實具有啟發意義，解釋了儘管當局執著於手中的數十億美元賭收，但當這數十億美元不翼而飛後，我們將可看到政府的應對。因為放肆地享受奢侈和無能是一回事，對實際操作和花銷毫無所知又是另外一回事。他們甚至不懂如何安撫那些最常見的批評，包括新官上任，因為他們與最新的決策中心非常接近。

行政改革，是的！

在《施政報告》辯論期間，我們再次想起了那些從未實現的諾言，類似的對話不過是矇騙那群冷漠者的謊言。這些都是有據可循的事實。難怪這座城市能夠被輕易地管理：只要散佈謊言，人們很快就會感到滿足。

行政法務司司長張永春在立法會上重複着其前任的話語。前任行政法務司司長亦不過是重複其前任的腔調：部門間協調方面確實存在不足，公務員人數確實過多，公職人員的問責制度也不明確等等。同時，大家都不約而同地將公共行政改革視爲“優先事項”。

如果他能夠在意識到有必要根據科學研究及配合立法工作處理事務，且明年不再重申相同話題的話，我會感到驚訝。二十年的成長顯然還未足夠……

然後，為接下來的十年設定基調。我們所有人都希望新型冠狀病毒肺炎疫情能盡快得到解決，公帑重回政府庫房，我們艱難的生活得以繼續，特區可能會繼續繁榮，無須作出任何改變。

藏在機場的一頭大象

這本來是一個好主意：在氹仔興建輪渡碼頭，為路氹提供服務，架起與香港之間的海路連接通道，免除了旅客需經澳門半島才能前往路氹的舟車勞頓，將客人送到路氹的酒店和娛樂場。

就像本地大多數基礎設施一樣，這個想法很快就得到了擴展，希望創造滿足最多元化客戶的可能。但是，在沒有部門進行監督和防止公帑浪費的情況下，可疑的合同條款完全沒有受到質疑，偏離了原定計劃，且成本開支不受控制地增加。這座碼頭甚至為滿足與北京有着友好關係的本地大亨，專門提供大型噴射飛船的停泊設備。好好的一項計劃演變成了一部肥皂劇，最終以一無所有而告終，沒有人願意負責暗箱裡操作的所有一切業務。

此外，在短短十年中，預算由最初的5.83億澳門元（折合約7,280萬美元）增加至38億元（折合約4.75億美元）。至少，碼頭終於正式投入運作。但所花費的時間實在太長了，當項目落成之時，大多數設備已經過時了、損壞了，颱風天鴿甚至吹毀了部分頂蓋。

北安碼頭體型巨大，佔地面積多達25個足球場，設有16個高速客船泊位及3個多功能泊位、5個直升機停機坪，並設有1,000個停車場泊位和140多條出入境過關通道，預計出入境日處理量最高為40萬人次，而日均離境處理量較少，原因是另外一座大橋需要為其自身存在找到理由，加上目前的疫情所致。

政府表示，沒關係，現在可以將碼頭改建為機場的擴展部分。假如機場真的實現了國際化，而非作爲一個無法吸引長途航班的區域性設施，那將是一個令人振奮的消息，考慮到區内來自更強大設施的激烈競爭及管理因素，請允許我們坦誠地指出，政府顯然沒有膽量僱用了解行動計劃定義和制定戰略發展的人士！

好消息是我們將擁有一個設備完善的設施。與此同時，我們十分幸運地將錯過了的路線折返。我們將擁有一個大型的流通空間，無須和真正的機場那樣擁擠。在疫情結束的數年後，“新”機場可能吹噓它有助於人們永永遠遠地保持社交距離。

新血

本月，José Carlos Matias將接替我擔任Project Asia Corporation傳媒集團旗下出版社De Ficção – Multimedia Projects.的負責人，負責本刊和澳門通訊社的工作，並與主編Mandy Kuok密切合作，協助姊妹刊物《商訊》的出版。

五月，在英文月刊《Macau Business》周年紀念暨出版十七週年之際，發生的管理層變動純屬巧合。

當新的架構開始描繪之時，我們最初未有設想到世界疫症的爆發，更不曾預料到全球和地方經濟會因此遭到重創。但是我完全有信心，在讀者、供應商、合作夥伴和客戶的配合下，José Carlos Matias有能力將這場危機轉化為新的機遇。

沒有人是不可替代的，加上項目確實需要注入創新，我將全職擔任澳門商務讀者慈善會主席，我希望它能夠付出更多，協助並推動澳門社會經濟和文化的發展。始終與Project Asia Corporation 傳媒集團及其旗下企業，還有本地及東南亞的其他媒體密切合作。

一如以往，請隨時留意我們，保持聯繫。

Only in a place where the current regime is not democratic, with representatives of the legislative and executive powers not being elected by direct suffrage – therefore, where the impudence is so great that one can afford the greatest nonsense without any fear of consequences – is it possible to say without fear of being ridiculed something like: “One of the reasons for the low execution of projects under the Macau government’s Investment and Development Expenditure Plan (PIDDA) is public departments’ ignorance of their own competencies”. And yet, that is what happened after the meeting of the Follow-Up Committee for Public Finance Affairs of the Legislative Assembly. 

From the Publisher’s Desk | Macau Business May 2020

Follow-Up Committee President Mak Soi Kun also candidly told reporters that lawmakers “suggested that a public construction work [the respective] department should make a scientific evaluation, and increase dialogue over their own competences, so there are no changes made to on-going projects”. We all live happily in an eternal masquerade ball. 

For twenty years, the public square has been calling for greater competence and accountability, and for greater interdepartmental coordination. Finally, our dignified MPs have decided to wake up and realize that government departments should actually know what they’re doing. 

Better yet, according to Mr. Mak, “Many public departments don’t know which works need to be presented to the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT). Sometimes they discover after notifying DSSOPT that a certain project was not necessary”. It’s still the wild, wild East folks. 

These statements are truly illuminating, and they explain why the city has desperately, although fortunately, been anchored to the billions made in gambling revenues so far. But now that these billions are missing, we will see how the government is going to react. Because it is one thing to swim in luxury and be incompetent, but it’s an altogether different thing not to know how to operate and not how much to spend. They do not even know how to pacify the usual diatribes, including the incoming ones because they are close to the newest decision centers. 

Administration reform, yeah, right! 

It is during the Public Policy debate that we are once again reminded of promises which were never fulfilled, the same conversations which have been pulling the wool over the eyes of the people who – let it be said in support of the truth – are also not in the least interested. No wonder it is so easy to govern – as long as they have sops to distribute, tails will soon wag with contentment. 

The Secretary for Administration and Justice, Andre Cheong Weng Chon, said at the Legislative Assembly the same thing as his predecessor, who in turn had already said the same thing as the previous ones: there are problems in the coordination of interdepartmental work, and there is an excessive number of public services and an unclear regime of accountability for public office holders. So, defining a public administration reform is a “priority”. 

I’ll be amazed if next year he will not reiterate the same topic, after realizing that the task must be dealt with based on scientific studies and coordinated legislative works. Two decades of maturation is clearly not enough… 

The tone is then set for the next ten years. We all hope this coronavirus pandemic soon gets resolved, so the money can return to the public coffers, hard work can carry on, and the SAR may continue to prosper without having to change anything at all. 

An elephant at the airport 

Initially it was a good idea: having a ferry terminal in Taipa serving Cotai, with direct sea connections from Hong Kong, avoiding having to reach the Macau peninsula and making the trip to Cotai, where new hotels and casinos were eagerly awaiting their customers. 

This idea – as is the case for most infrastructures here – was soon expanded to create the possibility to cater to the most diverse clientele, without a department to oversee and put an end to public money wasting, without questioning suspicious contracts, deviations from plans, and uncontrolled cost increases. It even served to make moorings available for the giant Jetfoils owned by a local tycoon with longstanding ties to Beijing powers. This idea turned into a soap opera that ended in nothing, without anyone being responsible for all these businesses done under the table. 

Also, what had been estimated to cost MOP 583 million (US $72.8 million) ended up being a modest MOP 3.8 billion (US $475 million) a decade later. At least officially, because it took so long for it to start operating that when it did happen, most of the equipment was already obsolete, damaged, and typhoon Hato had even destroyed part of the roof. 

The gigantic Pac On Ferry Terminal, occupying a parcel of land as large as 25 football fields, with 16 berths for ferries, three multifunctional berths, a helipad disposing of five aprons, as well as a car park for 1,000 vehicles, and 140 Customs counters installed in anticipation of handling up to 400,000 arrivals and departures per day is of little use, because of a bridge that still has to find a justification to its own existence, but also because of the pandemic now. 

It doesn’t matter, says the government, it can now serve as an expansion to the local airport. Which would even be exciting news if the airport was truly international, rather than a regional structure unable to attract long-haul flights, given the fierce competition from other more powerful structures in the region, but also because of the management, let us be frank, along with the government’s clear inability to be audacious enough to risk hiring anyone who knows how to define action plans and strategic development. 

The good news is that we will have a well-equipped structure. And, with a little luck, some routes we missed will return. We will have a lot of space to circulate, instead of walking around crowded as if we were in real airports. Years after the end of the coronavirus pandemic, the ‘new’ airport may brag that it continued to maintain social distancing. Forever. 

New blood 

This month, José Carlos Matias replaced me as the Head of  
De Ficção – Multimedia Projects, the publishing house for Project Asia Corp., assuming the direction of this magazine and the Macau News Agency, in addition to coordinating our sister magazine Business Intelligence,  
in close collaboration with its Editor-in-Chief, Mandy Kuok. 

The change of leadership in May, a month that celebrates the anniversary of Macau Business and its entry into the 17th year of publication, is a coincidence. 

When the new structure began to be outlined, this global pandemic and the resulting global and local economic fragility was not envisioned in the original plan. But I have every confidence that José Carlos Matias will be able to transform difficulties into new opportunities, in partnership with readers, suppliers, partners, and customers. 

Since nobody is irreplaceable, and mainly because the projects need to be renewed, I’m taking the helm of the Charity Association of Macau Business Readers full time, which I hope will bring more actions that help develop and promote the socioeconomic and cultural aspects of this city and its agents. Always in close collaboration with Project Asia Corp. and its group of companies, as well as with other media in the city and in Southeast Asia. 

As always, keep an eye on us, and don’t forget to keep in touch. 

隨著疫情全球大流行，澳門政府表示短期目標是保證居民就業。 

《商訊》2020年4月 | 發行人語 – 雅士度 

政府的關注點正確無誤。 然而，不幸的是，我們仍未能看到當局推出真正能夠預防中小型企業崩潰和失業率急劇上升的有效措施。 

迄今為止，政府表露出來的想法籠統且混亂，不過是重拾15年前的政策，譬如提供年期為8年、金額為60萬澳門元的無息貸款。 

我認為，沒有什麼比保證居民和外地僱員就業更重要的了，外地僱員永遠是最脆弱的受害者。 

假若需要運用財政儲備維持經濟運行、保障就業並通過內需持續拉高本地投資，現在是時候了。我們談論的絕非那3,000澳門元購物券，那不過是杯水車薪。僅靠這些措施，無法令政府保住手中大約6,000億澳門元儲備。政府應計劃立即注入至少1,000億澳門元，並憑這些資金作出重大決策。其中一項必需要做的主要決定是保證中小企業僱員獲發部分薪水，預防企業因營運資金不足而被迫倒閉，或背上無法償還的債務。 

這項政策雖非原創，卻能為政府掙得掌聲，並能避免天馬行空的想法。 

財政司司長最近說：“中、小、微企業提供四成就業機會。因此，如果澳門能夠穩定中小微企的話，將能夠穩定就業市場狀況。為此，有必要保證支持僱主向僱員提供一定比例的薪酬，同時啟動新的失業救濟金計劃。” 

幸運的是，澳門的處境令人羨慕，幾乎是世上獨一無二的。用今天的金錢支持明天，是當局能夠想到的最好辦法，因為他們沒有及時採取行動，因此不得不祈求明天不要失去太多。政府也不必擔心：暴風雨過去時，仍有700億美元進賬；如果經濟因實際有效的激勵措施而得到控制，那才是啊！ 

人手必備MACAU BUSINESS NEWS 應用程式 

很不幸的告訴你，那個壞消息是真的，而且比好消息具有更大影響力。這個不好的消息與我們的讀者數量增加和需求量攀升有直接關係。 

過去幾個月鐘，集團的新門戶（www.macaubusiness.com）每天都向我們一再確認這一事實，尤其是最近啟動了MACAU BUSINESS NEWS 應用程式後，導致了手機訪問量大增。 

新型冠狀病毒的報道和其他本地新聞，包括博彩業和房地產等話題，都是必不可少，其次是與政府及金融和經濟政策相關的新聞。 

由於先前的門戶無法滿足日益膨脹的需求，我們不得不推出全新升級的平台，擴大能夠承載的訪問數量。那可是成千上萬的！ 

我們相信，在這個多姿多彩的地球上，無論身處何處，這個工具都將能為我們的讀者提供服務。我們將全天候提供本地和國際信息。 

我們希望能夠以更加尖銳的方式做下去，正如我們希望繼續贏得讀者和合作夥伴的信任一樣，因為沒有他們，我們就無法生存或奮鬥。 

With the pandemic worsening worldwide, the Government of Macau is saying that in the short term the objective is to guarantee the population’s jobs. 

From the Publisher’s Desk | Macau Business April 2020

Correct concern, no doubt. But unfortunately we have not yet seen real measures to prevent the predictable breakdown of small and medium-sized companies and the inexorable increase in unemployment. 

What has been seen so far are general, confused ideas and the recycling of measures that have existed for almost a decade and a half, such as the interest-free loans of 600 thousand patacas for eight years. 

In my view, nothing is more important than guaranteeing employment, the resident population and blue cards – the latter, always the most fragile victims. 

If there is a time when financial reserves should be used to keep the economy running, guaranteed jobs and continued domestic investment through domestic demand, this is one of them. And we are not talking about 3,000 patacas shopping vouchers, which is like throwing a bucket of water to try to put out a fire in the Amazon. The government cannot be meager in the measures and of the approximately MOP600 billion kept in the coffers it can and should plan an immediate injection of at least 100 billion to be able to advance with major decisions. And one of the main, if not the main, decision to be taken is to guarantee part of the salaries of SMEs workers, thus preventing companies from having to close their doors or getting into debt to a point of no return. 

The measure is far from original and in that respect, the government is safeguarded and can still avoid having ideas out of the box. 

The Secretary for the Economy said recently: “Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent about 40 percent of jobs. So if the territory is able to stabilize SMEs it will be able to stabilize the situation of the job market. 

To this end, it is necessary to guarantee support for a percentage of workers’ wages, while new unemployment benefits must be launched.” 

Fortunately, Macau is in an enviable situation, almost unique in the world. Spending today to support tomorrow is the best way we have to avoid way more the day after because we didn’t act in time. And the government should not worry: there will still be several hundred billions left in the coffers for when the storm passes; if the economy remains controlled thanks to real and effective incentive measures, that is. 

Macau Business News App the new must 

Unfortunately it is true that bad news, in general, has a greater impact than good news. And the bad news that concerns us directly causes an increase in demand and readership. 

Over the past few months, this has been reconfirmed daily through our group’s new portal (www.macaubusiness.com) and especially after the recent launch of our ‘Macau Business News’ application, which has triggered greater access via mobile phones. 

The news about coronavirus and the news concerning Macau, including gaming and property, are a must, followed by news about government and financial and economic policies. 

The portal, launched because the previous one was no longer able to accommodate demand, had to be upgraded to expand the number of simultaneous accesses; thousands of them. 

It is an instrument that has, we believe, served our readers, in the most diverse parts of the planet. Within our possibilities, information, local and international, is provided 24/7. 

We hope to be able to continue to do so and in a more incisive way. Just as we hope to continue to earn the trust of readers and partners, because without them there is no project that can survive or strive. 

澳門作為一座小型城市的好處是能夠更輕鬆地張開“保護罩”。得益於此，小城在SARS期間沒有出現任何死亡病例；在新型冠狀病毒肆虐的當下，更是如此。 

《商訊》2020年3月 | 發行人語 – 雅士度 

將一座城市（並非國家）輕易地置於掌控之中，實非地方政府的功勞，儘管城市當權者最終願意攜手協作。在澳門，與公共服務運作相關的諸多問題大多是各部門之間裝聾作啞的結果。面對新型冠狀病毒疫情，行政當局為社會福祉付出共同努力的景象令人欣喜。 希望這一風氣能夠延續下去。 

受到疫情威脅，澳門和香港即時行動，採取有效的追蹤、隔離等多項防控措施。與之相反，2月初的歐洲仿佛陷入了無法理解的沉睡中，就如同新型冠狀病毒是中國獨有的那樣。 

所有由澳門飛往歐洲各地的人士都了解所需的預防措施，亦通過了香港機場和口岸那些神經質的儀器。然而，抵達歐洲後，幾乎沒有人會戴上口罩，機場也沒有設置測溫儀，生活終於回歸平靜和安詳。 

韓國、伊朗、尤其是意大利的感染個案數量飆升給歐洲人敲響了警鐘，提醒人們必須以負責、審慎的態度面對這場疫情，儘管目前的狀況仍未稱得上是“災難”。 

社會確實無需為此歇斯底里；儘管這場疫症近乎大流行，造成的死亡人數卻遠不及每年因普通流感死亡的人數多。另外，媒體和社交媒體對這個問題投入的極大關注誇大了疫情造成的影響。沒有負責任且有效的全球領導，病毒擴撒無疑將對世界經濟產生巨大影響，且在許多情況下，甚至會出現災難性破壞。 

澳門當局的出色表現仍未足夠，因為城市無法獨立於世並自我隔離。我們將繼續感受到有關的影響。 

世界主要國家的政府必須為製藥業尋找療法提供支持（我們清楚業界本身更願意投資治療慢性病的藥物，因為更有利可圖）；其他國家和地區的政府也不能忽略財務資助和扶持政策 ，當中的大多數措施須視其財政和儲備狀況而定，這些都是無須償還的餽贈。 

幸運的是，澳門的財政儲備十分充裕。這正是為了這種情況而準備的！現在，我們要毫不猶豫地為復蘇而投資。與此同時，請不要忽視這樣一個事實：許多人將利用這一機會謀取不當利益。 

無營謊言 

在這場需長期作戰的全球通信範式中，澳門衛生局繼續一貫的宣傳概念和行動方式，令人深感沉悶。 

該部門堅信，開展預防和公共宣傳活動全賴日報和週報、印刷資料，無謂與本地和網上國際媒體攜手合作，恰恰這些媒體卻能產生巨大影響。 

多得這種封閉愚昧的心態，澳門衛生局不過再次承認了人們存疑已久的事情：部門缺乏主動性，依然擁護上世紀流行的溝通方式，之所以沒有造成惡果的原因是線上媒體繼續免費提供服務。 

另外，衛生局所希望的是：本地大型線上媒體繼續免費提供服務，因為職業道德不允許他們不這樣做，這些媒體都無法置之不理。顯然，衛生局高官對此並不了解。 

在最近這些更複雜的時刻，新任社會文化司司長若能理解所發生的一切並制止當中的不公平，那她尚算明智。否則，那些所謂共同努力的話語，那些支持中小企的諾言，都不過是空頭支票而已。從我們和類似機構的近年遭遇看來，不可接受的謊言只會損害大家的共同利益而已。 

The good thing about a small town like Macau is that it’s easier to place it under a “protective bubble.” This is something that worked during SARS, in which the city did not count any fatalities, and even more so now with Covid-19. 

From the Publisher’s Desk | Macau Business March 2020

The ease of controlling a city (instead of a country) does not take the credit from the local authorities who finally acted together. Many of Macau’s problems, with regard to the operation of public services, are the result of deaf conversation between departments. In this case of the coronavirus, it was pleasant to see a collective effort in favor of the common wellbeing. Hopefully, this good example will continue. 

Unlike Macau and Hong Kong, which acted immediately, with effective actions of tracking, isolation, and other preventive measures, Europe was experiencing an almost incomprehensible lethargy in early February. As if the coronavirus problem were exclusively Chinese. 

Anyone who left Macau to fly anywhere in Europe was aware of the precautions to be taken and had to deal with a paraphrenia of equipment at the borders and at the airport in Hong Kong. But, when arriving in Europe, practically nobody wore masks, there was no temperature detector at airports, and life was running calm and serene. 

The escalation of cases in South Korea, Iran, and especially in Italy, was a wake up call for Europeans to a reality that, although still far from being a calamity, has to be addressed with responsibility and precision. 

It is true that there is no point in entering into collective hysteria and that the cases of this near-pandemic are far less deadly than the number of fatalities caused annually by the so-called normal flu. Also, the enormous attention of the media and social media to the problem is giving an excessive proportion to the issue. It is no less true that without responsible and efficient global leadership, the spread of this virus will greatly affect the world economy with repercussions that can in many cases be disastrous. 

The good performance of the Macau authorities is not enough because the city cannot isolate itself from the rest of the world. The impact will continue to make itself felt. 

While the main world governments must support the pharmaceutical industry to find a cure (we know that this industry prefers to invest in medicines for chronic diseases, as it is much more profitable), the governments of smaller countries and regions cannot neglect incentive and support measures, and, in many cases, depending on the state of their finances and reserves, non-repayable contributions. 

Fortunately, Macau’s financial reserves are more than healthy and it is for situations like this that exist. Now, we can’t hesitate to invest in recovery while it is necessary not to lose sight of the fact that it is also an opportunity that many will take advantage to score undeserving gains. 

Unhealthy lies 

The Macao Health Bureau (SS) continues to have an anguished perspective on communication and how they should act in this long-standing global communication paradigm. 

They believe they only have to carry out prevention and public information campaigns through daily and weekly newspapers, in their printed version only, and keep refusing to collaborate with the medium that has an immeasurably greater impact, both locally and globally: the Internet. 

Thanks to this obtuse mentality, the Macao Health Bureau is only confirming what has long been suspected about them: they lack initiative, and have methods of communication that belong to the last century, which have no bad consequences because online media continue to do their work for free. 

Plus, this is what the Macao Health Bureau wants: to have some of the biggest local online media working for them for free, knowing that they can never stop doing it for the sake of professional ethics, from which they cannot distance themselves. Ethics which, apparently, those who lead the Macao Health Bureau seem to be unaware of. 

In these more complicated times, it would be wiser for the new Secretary for Social Affairs to understand what has been happening for a while now, and to finally put an end to this unfair situation. Otherwise, those promises of joint work and support to Macao SMEs are just empty promises. Judging from the experience that groups like ours have had in recent years, unacceptable lies can only harm the common good. 

那些本應以激烈言辭批評政府的重要問題，建制派議員卻以溫順謙和的方式提出。這實在令人感到諷刺。 

《商訊》2020年2月 | 發行人語 – 雅士度 

最近，立法會公共財政事務跟進委員會成員針對澳門特別行政區2019年預算執行情況作出評論，儘管該年度的預算執行情況有所改善，但政府各部門應加強溝通，提高公共項目效率並且預防有關項目出現預算超支的情況。 

澳門通訊社（MNA）報導，委員會主席麥瑞權稱：“與2018年相比，雖然有所改善，但部門間的溝通仍存在改善空間。” 

麥議員的話聽起來有點軟弱。他是如此微妙地提出了特區政府數十年來一直面對的最嚴重問題之一。 

首先，部門之間的溝通幾乎不存在。這從來就不存在，似乎未來也不會出現。 

其次，這不僅與公共項目有關，其他所有一切要求多個政府部門干預的事項都與之息息相關。當兩個或以上的服務機構需要合作並攜手提出解決方案時，反感或一種極強烈的不適感就會產生。然而，當一個項目同時需要多個部門批出準照時，請做好準備，你將面對漫長且緩慢的決策過程。 

最後，這是一個眾所周知的問題，然而，似乎沒有人有興趣去解決這個問題。 

因此，若關注這個問題並著手解決就能夠加速決策的話，那麼澳門的公共工程、基礎設施等項目的完成速度都將比那些無休止且無恥的天價工程要快得多。因有人要從中獲得不少油水，這是我們能夠想到的唯一解釋。當然，這與政府庫房背道而馳。 

然而，請保持樂觀。至少“溫順”先生談到了這個問題。這已經邁出了很好的第一步。現在，就讓我們懷著堅定的信念回到工作中去，來年總有時間去解決同樣的問題。恭喜發財！ 

It is delightful to see how pro-government MPs pose important questions that should strongly criticize the government in such a docile and reverential way.

From the Publisher’s Desk | Macau Business February 2020

Recently, members of the Legislative Assembly Follow-Up Committee commented the execution of the Macau SAR 2019 budget saying that, although budget execution had improved this year, government departments should improve their communication to improve the efficiency of public projects and prevent increases in such projects’ expenses.

“There are improvements when compared to 2018, however, there is still room for improvement in terms of inter-department communication for the project’s development”, committee president Mak Soi Kun said, as reported by Macau News Agency (MNA).

Mr. Mak sounds a bit like a softie, so delicate he seems to be while addressing one of the worst problems that the local government has been facing for decades.

Firstly, inter-department communication is almost non-existent. It never existed and it seems that it never will.

Secondly, it is not only related to public projects, but to everything that requires the intervention of more than a government department. It seems there is an aversion, a sense of deep discomfort when two or more services need to partner up to come up with a strategic solution together. And when a project requires licenses and approvals from several departments, brace for impact – a long, slow impact on the expectations of anyone who needed a faster decision-making.

Thirdly, everyone knows that the problem exists, but nobody is seemingly interested in resolving it.

So, if tackling the matter and solving it will make decision-making faster, and as a consequence Macau will have its public works, infrastructure, projects and so on way quicker than those shameless never-ending attempts that cost an arm and a leg, we can only understand it because someone has a lot to gain. In opposition to the public purse, of course.

But let’s be optimistic. ‘Mr. Softie’ at least talked about the problem. It’s a good first step. Now, we can go back to our lives with the strong conviction that the job is done,otherwise there’s always time to address the same matter next year. Kung Hei Fat Choi!

It was 2014 when the then Portuguese Prime Minister, Paulo Portas, announced with pomp and circumstance an investment of 27 million euros (MOP243 million) in Oliveira de Azeméis, in the north of the country.

Chinese company Wuhan Industries, the city at the epicenter of the cononavirus epidemic, intended to set up an industrial mold production plant, creating 60 jobs.

According to news released Thursday by Jornal de Notícias newspaper, investors have even started to “build three units with eight thousand square meters each in the Entrepreneurship Hosting Area of ​​Ul-Loureiro”.

The initial investment of 12 million euros, however, ended up not being followed up, “because the Chinese did not guarantee full financing conditions”, explained the Portuguese managing partner of Wuhan Industries to the Porto newspaper.

In 2015 the Wuhan ZhongYe group, which owns the company, was bought and the work stopped. According to a municipal councilor, the project is now in a “legal imbroglio”.

The silence of the night is now deafening and the sight of the sidewalks stripped of people, the hustle and bustle of pedestrians, the noise of cars, the neons who bathe alone for the attention of nobody transports us to a Stephen King thriller.

Not even the peaceful Macau of the early 90s, when the Cotai was nothing more than an isthmus and a few garbage dumps carelessly piled up, had such a weak human frame.

In those years, still with just a single bridge connecting to the village of Taipa, without an international airport, with a ferry port barely born and only two hotels managed by international chains, the city lights dazzled only around old Lisboa.

The strong fears of yet another epidemic originating on the other side of the border, despite the territory having few confirmed cases and all being considered stable, emptied the city. That, now contemplated alone sadly, despite the colors sprinkled by the lost rejoicing of the Chinese New Year festivities, wonders what the future may bring.

The fast news, carried at the speed of a thought, still does not bode well. There remains hope for new days, good days. So that Macau’s nights are filled up again and the soul of the city rejoices for feeling the heat of the crowds.

Photos by Buddy Lam (on iPhone)

It is only the first of the alleged cases of corruption linked to the introduction of casinos in Japan, but it is already confirming suspicions that the intention to introduce Integrated Resorts (IR) has been raised to many of the most skeptical.

The indictment of Tsukasa Akimoto for allegedly receiving bribes that now tops more than 7 million yen (around HK$500,000) is confirming the apprehension of many in this country, which for decades has been dealing with a huge gaming industry (pachinko) that is connected in many cities with local organized crime, the yakuza.

A former member of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party, Akimoto, is no other than the lawmaker that led Japan’s casino resort policy.

Indicted in 2017 on charges of receiving 3 million yen (HK$210,000) from Chinese Gambling operator 500.com, who according to reports wanted him to increase the number of planned IR locations in the country to five.

Akimoto was also the target of a fresh arrest warrant this week and prosecutors now accuse him of receiving 7 million yen in bribes, including a 1.5 million trip to the Chinese company headquarters in Shenzhen and 700,000 yen in expenses for a family trip to Hokkaido in 2018.

“I believe we will see more cases in the future, because the interests involved are huge, and competition to enter this market is enormous”, says Macau News Agency (MNA), an analyst that prefers to keep his identity undisclosed.

“If the country wants to avoid the same scandals in other jurisdictions unveiled, when we can just guess how many others will never see the light of the day, a stronger task force needs to address all the lobbying gaming companies and operators that want a piece of the pie are already doing here”, says the same analyst.

The 48-year-old Tsukasa Akimoto, who has denied all the accusations by saying he does not remember receiving cash, according to media reports, is being accused along with four other people: Akihiro Toyoshima, 41, Akimoto’s former secretary; Zheng Xi, 37, former executive of 500.com in Japan; Masahiko Konno, 48, and Katsunori Nakazato, 47, “who both served as advisers to the gambling operator”, published Kyodo news agency.

Konno is also suspected to take more than 20 million yen (MOP1.4 million) in cash into Japan, which violates the country’s foreign exchange law.

The scandal is now making the public more aware of possible problems related to a massive new industry that can generate billions of US dollars.

An opinion poll conducted last weekend show that more than 70 percent of the people interviewed now want the government to review plans to build casinos in Japan.

*In Sapporo, Okkaido, Japan

賀一誠上任後的舉動與卸任不久的崔世安之間沒有太大差別，且實在不十分出色。 

《商訊》2020年1月 | 發行人語 – 雅士度 

的確，所有人都希望有一個具想法並準備採取行動的行政長官，而不是過去十年來那種困倦、不透明的姿態。 

但是，賀一誠的決定以令人哇然的理由向崔世安政府時期的前任司長提出強烈指控，令曾經是澳門公共行政部門其中一位高層人員陷入爭議。 

為了表明自己對不合理的金錢支出的不滿，賀一誠公開指責前社會文化司司長譚俊榮浪費公帑。 

新上任的行政長官在接受媒體採訪時評論說：“不必要的開支和浪費資源，與貪污一樣，都是最大的犯罪。 ” 

賀一誠提出如此強烈的譴責，令人們感到驚訝。而且，應該澄清的是，譴責一旦得到證實，行政當局須進行干預。更甚者，賀一誠親自任命譚俊榮為澳門駐布魯塞爾歐盟經濟貿易辦事處主任。現任運輸工務司司長羅立文曾在這個職位上逗留了很長一段時間，後來離開，接受前任行政長官邀請返回澳門。 

這一獎勵共識的達成實在難以理解，行政長官必須解釋背後的原因，因為他在任命不久後就指責這位前任司長實際上是一名罪犯。 

至於為捍衛加大力度控制公帑支出所做出的批評，我還認為，若一方面沒有理由（正如我稍後將要解釋的那樣），另一方面就是他們被誤導了。 

據澳門新聞社報導，去年的預算執行報告列明，政府2018年僅使用了全年度預算229億澳門元（折合約28億美元）中的72％，這些款項均用於投資。 

實際上，大部分資金都被投入“行政當局投資及發展開支計劃(PIDDA) ”。該計劃使用了授權預算的72.9％，即211億元中的154億元。 

澳門政府的授權開支預算總額為1,051億元，2018年共花費了830億元，按年遞增2.1％，用於投資的資金僅佔總開支的兩成。 

譚俊榮旗下的社會文化司司長辦公室獲得了PIDDA的第二大授權預算，但譚司長僅授權下轄各部門使用了當中的37億元，即43.6％，是2018年五位司長中支出最少。 

因此，不難看出，如果真的要批評譚司長的話，那一定是他沒有將預算用於社會發展的關鍵領域，即教育、衛生和文化。 

我曾多次批評政府未能恰當運用預算，證明這種無所作為導致不必要的儲蓄，尤其年復一年的支出少於收入。 

只是因為節省了支出，就認為社會進步了，這是錯誤的。因此，若譚俊榮為了省錢而甚至沒有花掉他應得的PIDDA的一半資金，那麼只有賀一誠知道自己為何如此嚴厲地批評他。現在，他必須以其他同樣重要的價值觀來澄清這一立場：透明度和公眾對治理金字塔頂端的代理人的信任。 

就支出而言，新任行政長官深知必須澄清，這是對公共資金控制的公然攻擊，是每年數億元，甚至數十億元的“捐贈”令政府成功在基金會和其他類似機構的掩護下，通過法律手段獎勵私人機構。 

我們衷心希望，賀一誠將繼續秉承這一無謂巨額支出的願望，但我們希望他能夠將注意力集中在正確的目標上。 

攻擊真正的魔鬼 

作為前立法會議員和前立法會主席，賀一誠現在有機會改善許多其他不合規定之處、提高透明度、改變程序，甚至改變政治棋局，只要他獲得必要支持，但 出於更充分的原因…… 

正如澳門新聞社最近報道的那樣，立法會公共事務跟進委員會成員對2019年澳門特別行政區預算的執行情況感到驚訝，因為政府代表能夠提供的信息實在太少了，無法回答議員關於公共開支的問題。 

然而，政府代表無法提供因直升機場改造而獲得超過5億元（折合約6,200萬美元）補償的名單，該費用已包括在中期預算審查文件中。 

政府代表甚至無法向委員會提供有關這家直升機場設施的信息。儘管有關協議早已在大約兩年前達成，但他們似乎並不清楚該交易的細節！ 

這些情況並不少見，這確實是恥辱，證明了政府人員不足。 

這就暴露出另一個問題，即稱職的人力資源。當局必須加大投入來解決此問題。 今天被無能或冷漠的高層管理人員節省下來的大量金錢，明天就會因為社會準備不足和城市裝備差而失去。 

The new Chief Executive (CE) Ho Iat Seng’s entry into action could not have been more different from that of the recently departed Chui Sai On. And it was not exactly brilliant. 

From the Publisher’s Desk | Macau Business January 2020

It is true that we all want a CE with ideas and who’s ready for action, rather than the sleepy, opaque posture that has characterized the past decade. 

But Ho Iat Seng decided to strongly accuse Chui Sai On’s former secretary with a justification that has raised many eyebrows, thus tainting with suspicion one of the best mandates in Macau’s public administration. 

In order to justify his displeasure with what he calls unjustified money spending, Ho Iat Seng publicly accused the former Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, of squandering public funds. 

In media interviews, the newly appointed CE commented that the ‘unnecessary spending and wasteful management of resources was as bad as the crime of corruption’. 

Such a strong invective – which should require clarification and, if confirmed, the intervention of the authorities in charge – has taken everyone by surprise. More so, because Ho Iat Seng himself appointed Alexis Tam as the representative of the territory’s Economic and Commercial Delegation in Lisbon and of the European Union in Brussels. The current Secretary for Transports and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosário, who held one of the best positions in the public service, led for a long time and regretfully had to leave to accept the invitation of the previous CE to return to Macau. 

The consensus with which this reward was met is difficult to understand, and the CE will have to explain the reasons behind his behaviour, since he soon after described the former secretary as practically a criminal. 

As for the strong criticism in defense of a greater control on public spending, I also think that, if on the one hand there’s no reason for it, as I will explain shortly, on the other hand they were misdirected. 

With regards to spending, and as the Macau News Agency (MNA) reported, the government has used only 72 percent of its MOP 22.9 billion (US $2.8 billion) budget for investments in 2018, according to last year’s budget execution report. 

In fact, most of the funds were used as part of the government’s Investment and Development Expenditure Plan (PIDDA), which employed the 72.9 percent of the authorised budget (MOP 15.4 billion of the MOP 21.1 billion available). 

In total, the Macau Government had an authorised expenditure budget of MOP 105.1 billion, but finished 2018 with MOP 83 billion in expenses – 2.1 percent year-on-year up – with investments representing only 20 percent of those expenses. 

The Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam Chon Weng, had the second-largest authorised PIDDA budget, but only used 43.6 percent of the MOP 3.7 billion provided for the departments under his authority, the lowest execution rate recorded by the five Secretaries in 2018. 

Thus, it is easy to see that if Secretary Alexis Tam was to be criticised for anything, it would have to be for not having used the money that was budgeted for key areas of social development: education, health, culture. 

I have repeatedly criticized this inability of the government to even use the budgeted money, proving that inaction led to unnecessary savings. Especially when, year after year, expenses are fewer than the revenues. 

It is a mistake to think that a society advances just because it saves money. So, if Alexis Tam didn’t waste money because he didn’t even spend half of the PIDDA he was entitled to, only Ho Iat Seng knows why he criticized him so harshly. And now he has to clarify this stance, in the name of other equally important values: transparency and public trust in the agents placed at the top of the management pyramid. 

As far as spending is concerned, the new CE is well aware that what has to be clarified, and which is a flagrant attack on the control of public money, are the ‘donations’ of hundreds of millions, or better billions a year to profitable private institutions that get those rewards through legal subterfuge, under the cover of foundations and similar other entities. 

We sincerely hope that Ho Iat Seng will continue with this desire to see over such huge unnecessary expenditures, but we hope he will direct his attention towards the right targets. 

Attack the true evils 

As the former MP and President of the Legislative Assembly, Ho Iat Seng now has the opportunity to improve many other irregularities, create greater transparency, change procedures and – provided he will receive the necessary support from the establishment – even change the political chessboard, but for better reasons… 

As the Macau News Agency (MNA) also recently reported, members of the Legislative Assembly Follow-Up Committee on the execution of the Macau SAR 2019 budget were left surprised by the low amount of information that government representatives were able to provide to answer their questions on public expenses. 

The committee met with representatives from six government departments, including the Infrastructure Development Office (GDI) and the Financial Services Bureau (DSF) to discuss the handling of the public purse in 2019. 

However, government representatives were not able to respond to an inquiry on who would receive a compensation amounting to more than MOP 500 million (US $62 million) for the transfer of a heliport, the expense being included in the mid-term budget review documents. 

Government representatives were not even able to provide the committee with information on what kind of heliport facility it was, and seemed not to be aware of the details of the deal although it had been established almost two years ago! 

These situations are not uncommon, and they are a real shame and proof that the government is poorly staffed. 

Which brings another issue to light, that of competent human resources – serious investments must be made to fix this. Whatever money is saved today by having incompetent or disinterested top officials is money – and a lot of it – that is lost tomorrow due to a poorly prepared society and a poorly equipped city. 

甚少有人提出葡語不受尊重這一事實。與《基本法》不同的是，該部章程原定於2049年才正式在澳門特區生效。 

商訊2019年12月 | 發行人語 – 雅士度 

澳門特別行政區司法年度開幕典禮上，有人指出葡語繼續受到法院的輕視。澳門立法會的情況亦然，且最近受到了某位議員的批評。同時，本地政府僅指出語言教學的數字不斷增長，卻不曾提及教學的質量。針對中葡學校語言教學質量的指責純屬聊勝於無。 

在本刊姊妹刊物《Macau Business》的專題報道中，道破一位理工學院教授辯稱葡語最多不過是第二語言或輔助語言的謬論。有關《基本法》解讀都是眾所周知的。但是，總有某些專業人士對自己的民族主義和政治信仰視而不見，這實在令人震驚。 

中央政府應該一勞永逸地闡明立場，而非不斷重復這些兩面派的價值觀。北京可曾考慮在《基本法》中將葡語定義為第二官方語言，又或者在2049年前將中文和葡語賦予同等的價值？ 

培養政治思維、推行計劃，這些主張卻不受保護，甚至時常遭到攻擊。這叫人如何接受！ 

附註：多年來，葡語使用者曾以本地商店、餐廳菜單和標牌等位置的粗糙翻譯為樂，這是最嚴重的錯誤。然而，更令人不解的是政府的粗心大意。例如最近被放置市中心其中一條主幹道路上的標識（照片），指示通往主要交通基礎設施的道路。至少出於對其葡裔上司的尊重和關注，交通部在處理葡語指示的時候理應更加小心。 

揭露虛偽 

公帑充足、政府不曾花掉其預定的年度投資支出，都未能令澳門當局逃過不受保護的經濟階層發起的猛烈攻擊。 

因經濟不景氣，政府迅速同意凍結清潔工和保安的最低工資增長。這群人士目前正收取每小時32元（澳門幣，下同）的薪酬。 

然而，政府未有一視同仁。當局上月宣布，所有公務員的月薪從目前的每點88元調升至91元，增幅約為三個百分點。 

如果政府能夠更加尷尬和謙虛，它將以這次無法與雇主並肩作戰為理由説服雇主，拒絕凍結這群最不受保障的工人的工資增長。若然，它同意雇主提議的話，就沒有任何理由與這個凍薪決定背道而行。政府絕非僅僅為某些人，而是必須為所有人服務。 

所謂的影響者 

本刊姊妹刊物《Macau Business》的專題報道分別介紹了過去20年中20位最具影響力及20位具很強影響力的本地人物。正如我的同事兼特別協調員所解釋的那樣，這是“不可能的任務”，會引起分歧和爭論。 

如果一定要發表意見的話，我認同當中的八成。在我看來，有些名字未被列入前20名，有的卻已經又或應該被降級到第二份我不太重視的清單中。 

然而，我很幸運地充當發表的角色，將選擇權留給了團隊。我迴避了這一責任，並準備觀察名單在公眾中激起的浪花。在這種情況下，請讓我借用富於哲理的短語“拭目以待”。 

值得一提的是，這些清單的重要性，無論是選擇的公平性和強烈的主觀性如何，這些清單仍然能充當本地社會的晴雨表。因此，我們計劃將來進行相應的更新修訂。 

From the Publisher’s Desk | Macau Business December 2019

Rare voices are raised against the fact that the Portuguese language is not being respected. As is not the Basic Law, the constitution that was supposed to be in force in the SAR until 2049. 

During the opening of the Judicial Year, references are made to how Portuguese continues to be increasingly despised in the city courts. The same thing happens in the Legislative Assembly, as one of the MPs recently criticized. But also in language teaching – which, according to the government of the region, has been growing – only the numbers are announced and not its quality. The accusations against the teaching quality of the language of Camões in Portuguese-Chinese schools is slightly better than nothing. 

In this issue, we reveal how a professor at the Polytechnic Institute argues that Portuguese should be a mere secondary language; an accessory language. These interpretations of the Basic Law were already known. But it is always shocking to see that there are professionals who are blinded by their nationalistic and political beliefs. 

The Central Government should make its position clear once and for all instead of feeding this constant duplicity of values. Does it consider or not that the Basic Law defines Portuguese as an official second class language or whether until 2049 the language has the same value as Chinese? 

Nurturing political ideas and projects, but not defending them when what they advocate is attacked on daily basis, is unacceptable. 

PS – All Portuguese speakers have had fun for years with the grossest mistakes in the multiplicity of rough translations on the façades of local shops, restaurant menus, signage, and so on. More odd, however, is the government’s own carelessness, such as the one recently placed in one of the city’s arteries (photo) indicating the way to the city’s main transportation infrastructure. At least out of respect and attention to its boss, who is Portuguese, the Transportation Bureau should be more careful before placing signs showing the complete lack of interest and care for the Portuguese language. 

Revealing hypocrisy 

The full coffers and the fact that the government did not spend what it established for its annual investment spending did not prevent it from launching a violent attack on the most unprotected economic class. 

With the economic downturn as a flag, the government was quick to agree to a freeze on the annual minimum wage increase of cleaners and security guards, which receive MOP32 per hour. 

But of course, it didn’t do the same inside its own doors, announcing last month the salary increases of all civil servants to about 3 percent from the current scale of MOP88 per point to MOP91. 

Had it been a little more embarrassed and humble, it would have confronted the employers by explaining that this time could not be with them, thus not allowing the freezing of the wage increases of the most unprotected workers, because if it said yes it would have no morals to do the opposite with its own workers. And a government must be for all, not just for some. 

The alleged influencers 

In this issue we present the 20 allegedly most influential figures in Macau in the last 20 years. And 20 others that also have a strong dose of influence. It is a list that, as my colleague and this special coordinator explains, is an “impossible task” and as such will cause disagreements and divergences. 

I myself, if I had to give my opinion, would say that I agreed with about 80 per cent of it. There are names that are not on the top 20 list that I would argue would have to be, others that are and should be relegated to the second list and still others who are on this second list to whom I do not attach so much importance. 

But fortunately, on occasions like this, I am only the publisher and I leave the options to the team, shying away from that responsibility and preparing to observe the impact in the public opinion. One of those occasions that we use the deeply philosophical phrase ‘let’s see.’ 

What is noteworthy here, however, is the importance of these lists, which, regardless of the fairness of the choices and their strong subjectivity, are still a barometer of local society. Thus the effort and intention to update them in the future. 

Surprised with the non-renewal as a legal expert in Macau’s Legislative Assembly (AL), after more than two decades, Paulo Cardinal refuses the idea that the book ‘Lessons on Legislative Procedure in Macau Parliamentary Law’, with a public release at 6pm today at the Portuguese Bookstore, is a consequence of his “unfair and opaque” dismissal.

“It is not a reckoning. It began to be written well before. My positions, including criticism, were known and applied in my day to day life in the AL”, he stated to Macau News Agency (MNA).

Today, as a visiting scholar at the Faculty of Law of the Hong Kong University, Mr. Cardinal insists “having in the past, always, a moderate civil intervention in the areas of my professional and academic knowledge. It’s not the fact that I’m out of the AL and the Macau University… that I would stop to intervene publicly when deemed necessary, with my knowledge and capacities”.

The legal expert told MNA he actually would feel “naturally satisfied” to have to intervene less publicly, because that would mean “ less threats exist to the Basic Law, the Joint Declaration, the Rule of Law, the fundamental rights and the legality” in its all.

Author or co-editor of 8 books and author of around 90 works, Paulo Cardinal decided to continue living in Macau “notwithstanding the difficulties and obstacles that may have arisen”. And he tells MNA that the invitation from the Hong Kong Faculty of Law is very important and honorable, specially taking into account the very high ranking that the College occupies in the world levels. It has been a very demanding and at the same time very rewarding experience”, he concluded.

Constitutional Law expert and former SAR parliament jurist, Paulo Cardinal, revealed in a book released today that the latest revisions to the Macau Legislative Assembly’s bylaws have resulted in a lowering of some parliamentarian powers, such as shortened speaking times and a consequent decreased strength of the bill introduced by the MPs.
At the same time, “the draft laws presented by the government are gaining strength”, Paulo Cardinal explained to Macau News Agency (MNA).
His book ‘Lessons on Legislative Procedure in Macau Parliamentary Law’ available from today at the Portuguese Bookstore, emerged as a “set of notes for students of a legislative procedure class within the courses taken at the Legal and Judicial Training Center”, the author stated.
It is a “radiograph based on a legal analysis of the legislative procedure in Macau”. That is, the path down which a bill introduced by an MP or a government bill travels until it is published in the Official Gazette and eventually becomes law.

‘Repeal’

Paulo Cardinal is of the opinion that “several of the changes introduced in 2015 and 2017 should be revoked”, thus returning to the previous discipline: “It should return to the substantial, formal and symbolic equalization of MP bills and government bills”, he said.
“Also, the limitations imposed on proposed amendments to MP bills that are not contained in the Basic Law should disappear, because I find them to be in very doubtful conformity with Macau’s Major Law”.
In a more fundamental reform, the author argued that “many other matters should be changed, namely the present system in which a legislative proposal is voted in Plenary without the legal opinion, as brief as it might be, of the Legislative Assembly informing the MPs”.
Among the decisions that “violated Parliament’s Rules of Procedure” were, for example, the refusal to accept a Land Bill; the refusal to accept a proposal to amend the Draft Law regarding the right to public demonstrations; and the refusal of admission of a proposal to amend the draft law on the elderly, when the opinion of the specialized committee itself expressly suggested that MPs could present amendments”, Mr. Cardinal commented.

For decades it was the headquarters of the major newspaper in Porto, the second biggest city in Portugal. Now, the 1960s head office building of Jornal de Noticias will become a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel.

The deal is scheduled to be signed today, revealed businessman, Kevin Ho King Lun, to Macau News Agency (MNA).

“It’s an investment of 35 to 40 million euros (MOP280 to 320 million) for this 213 hotel room investment”, said the KNJ Investment partner who became a main shareholder in Global Media in 2017, one of the main media groups in Portugal.

Thus, the name chosen for the new hotel has now been revealed to MNA: Hotel Journal, to honour the property’s tradition, but also to perpetuate the building’s image as an iconic skyscraper in the heart of Porto.

“It’s not only tourism that is booming in Portugal, it’s all the economy and one of the most innovative hubs in Europe. The country will even do better in the near future”, Mr. Ho told MNA.

KNJ is also to invest in a luxury residential project in the Foz do Douro area of Porto, named Torre Miramar, and have “other projects” in the pipeline which are targeted to “create around 1,500 jobs in the next five years”, he said.

Mr. Ho had previously expressed interest in reconverting a warehouse in the Vila Nova de Gaia region, next to Porto, into a startup incubator to connect Portuguese and Guangdong Province companies, with the Industry and Commerce Association of Macau and the Macau Youth Entrepreneur Association, having signed an agreement with the Porto authorities last year to help develop the centre.

正當本期專題報道準備交付印刷時，一份全新的環境研究報告吸引了全球媒體的眼球，大家爭相報導。該研究報告清楚地闡述了氣候變化導致海平面上升帶來風險。

商訊2019年11月 | 發行人語 – 雅士度 

奇怪的是，早已有評論員對澳門特區政府在有關事宜的明顯不作爲發表了評論文章。這恰恰屬於那些具預見性的巧合。

實際上，這非常簡單。氣候變化始終是令整個星球頭痛不已的主要問題，卻仍有一些可怕的領導人堅持破壞下一代的未來。

根據澳門通訊社（MNA）報導，該份氣候變化報告表明，按照最新的海平面上升預測，到2050年，包括澳門、香港及其它位於珠三角地區的城市將特別容易發生洪水災害。

或許有人會這樣說，所有人都能夠從日常的新聞消息來預測這一點。我們希望政府也能如此。正如本期專題報道所指出的那樣，特區政府亦因此在2015年3月成立氣候變化跨部門專責小組。然而，時光匆匆，四年、五年過去了，無聲無息，毫無進展。

“該專責小組屬政府內部工作討論，沒有其他可用信息。”政府給予我們的回覆就如同在說“這與你完全無關”一樣。有別於香港，澳門地球物理暨氣象局的官方網站上沒有提供一整套提案，亦不包含任何氣候變化信息。

局方堅定地對記者的諮詢要求保持沉默。

一如傳統，澳門總是用沉默面對行動、信息和才幹。那是無恥且不負責任的沉默。

我們只能希望，這不會成為其中一條罪。

一廂情願

檢察長葉迅生認爲，根據澳門特別行政區現行法律框架，部分職務犯罪的刑罰明顯過輕，應恰當地增加有關的刑罰。

我對此完全同意，但我認爲葉迅生仍有所偏倚。多年來，澳門社會上不乏那些捍衛公務員責任感的聲音，其中以身處高位的人士尤爲突出。而且，在某個階段，我們認為陳海帆司長很可能不過是單純地玩弄文字，又或許，她很快就意識到自己許下的諾言不會在澳門發生。

葉迅生在2019/2020 澳門特別行政區司法年度開幕典禮上致辭時表示，自澳門回歸以來，社會對公務人員廉潔的要求提高了。

檢察長指出：“廉政善治是現代社會高效治理的基本要求，貪腐罪行破壞廉潔社會的價值觀、道德觀和社會公平正義，危害社會穩定和法治，為此，預防和打擊腐敗是現代社會發展的基本要求。”

他當然是對的。然而，社會有社會的想法，與政府決策是兩碼事，尤其是當這個政府幾乎不願意負上任何責任的時候。絕對超出一切的民意之外。因此，我們擔心這不過是被記錄的又一篇優美文章。至少有人完成了工作。下一個！

再見了，Mike

對我們而言，Mike Armstrong代表的遠遠不只是路環，還是我們這個團隊多年來的隱逸、語法和修辭大師，兼校對和編輯。

Mike總是深受我們的喜愛。他誠實，甚至有時令人感到他固執；他禮貌、親切和明智，並因此經常受到嚴厲批評，因為政治、理想主義甚至在人生某個階段，當我們清楚無法對這種巨大的虛榮心和利益產生影響的時候。

Mike是一位朋友，是我的朋友。僅凭這一點，就表明他在接受某些友誼時，是那樣的虔誠且願意付出。

得知他即將離開的消息後，我更經常地將他趕離那個私人洞穴，到澳門高爾夫球鄉村俱樂部的陽台參加我們的例行會議，從那裏俯瞰他毗鄰黑沙海灘的海蘭花園住所。

這就是事實，我們必須接受它。但真的很傷心，該死！你是一位如此生動的友人，我會想念你。

This edition was getting ready to be sent to print when media worldwide reported a new environmental study that clearly shows the risks of rising sea levels as a consequence of climate change.

From the Publisher’s Desk | Macau Business November 2019

Curiously enough, Macau Business already had an article on the apparent inaction of the Macau SAR on the matter. Some coincidences are prophetic.

It’s very simple, actually. Climate change has been a major concern across our mistreated planet, except for some terrible leaders that insist on undermining the future of generations to come.

As reported by Macau News Agency (MNA), a new climate change report indicates that the Pearl River Delta region, including Macau, Hong Kong and several major Chinese cities inside it, are especially vulnerable to flooding, according to new rising sea projections for the period until 2050.

You may say that we all could predict that, just by reading the daily news. Governments as well, we hope. And that is why, as we notice in this edition, that in March 2015, the government created an interdepartmental working group on climate change. Fast forward 4,5 years and little to nothing has happened.

“The group is an internal government work meeting and no other information is available,” was the answer from the government to Macau Business. The same as saying, “It is none of your business.” Unlike Hong Kong, Macau does not provide a set of recommendations or include any climate change information on the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) website.

The bureau also decided to be silent to our journalist’s request for more information.
The usual; Macau’s response to action, information, competence is silence. Shameless, irresponsible silence.

We just hope it will not become a criminal one as well.

Wishful thinking

The Public Prosecutor-General, Ip Son Sang, said that the current penalties included in the Macau SAR legal framework for crimes committed by public administration employees, are “light” and should be increased.

I couldn’t agree more, but I believe Mr Ip is tilting at windmills. For many years, several voices in Macau’s society defended civil servants’ accountability, especially the ones in higher positions. And, at one stage, we thought that that might happen, only to realize that Secretary Sonia Chan was just playing with words or, she rapidly realized that her promise would never happen in Macau.

Speaking at the 2019/2020 judicial year opening ceremony, Ip Son Sang said that since the handover of Macau to China, society has required a higher degree of integrity among civil servants.

“Corruption crimes undermine the values, ethics, impartiality, and justice of a whole society, undermining its stability and the rule of law, so preventing and combating corruption is a fundamental requirement for the development of modern society,” the Public Prosecutor-General noted.

Of course he is right. But one thing is, what the society thinks, and the other is, what the government decides to do, especially when the Government is barely accountable. Definitely not in the polls, so, we’re afraid it’s another nice speech to be kept in the records. Job done, at least. Next!

So long Mike

Mike Armstrong was more than the English of Coloane: reclusive, grammar and syntax polisher, proof reader and editor of this house for many years.

Mike was one of those people we could not help but enjoy immediately.  Truthful – and for this very reason sometimes obstinate -, polite, cordial and sensible and so often scathing because political, idealistic even at that stage of life when we know that little influence can have on this gigantic fair of vanities and interests.

Mike was a friend. He was my friend. And that alone shows that he should also be godly and wasteful in some of the friendships he accepted.

Needless to say, knowing that he would leave soon I would force him out of his cave more often to our usual meetings on the back terrace of Macau Golf & Country Club, overlooking the Helen Gardens on Hac Sa Beach where he lived.

This is how it is and we have to accept it. But it hurts, damn it. You were such a valid person. I’ll miss you my friend.

保安司司長的恐懼，可以理解成他認為澳門或將面臨危險。 

商訊2019年10月 | 發行人語 – 雅士度 

儘管黃少澤早在1998年就被任命為司法警察司副司長，多年來一直監督紀律部隊，但他從來都不曾真正任職警員。在14K和水房等三合會組織公然肆虐的歲月，確實困難重重。然而，14K內部派系不時爆發衝突，其他派系則以香港當時規模最大的三合會組織新義安最為突出。 

若他曾經任職警員，黃司長可能會採取另一種行為方式。然而，這位躋身政治家之列的技術員以安全為上，將澳門打包成一座堡壘，而且只有得到確認的友人們才能進入。一旦進入了，為以防萬一，當局必須監視一切、所有人……並且，如果你有疑問，那麼就是犯罪了。 

黃少澤希望澳門如同2002年史蒂芬．史匹堡動作驚悚片《關鍵報告》中的華盛頓一樣，在犯罪之前就作出懲罰。這是所有香港與民主黨派人士被拒絕進入澳門的唯一解釋。還有攝影記者和牧師，對，就是為了那事。 

保安司司長以“危害公眾安全” 為由，拒絕鄰埠律師、香港民主黨前主席何俊仁進入澳門參加工作會議。然而，當局卻從未提供過這種威脅的證據。然而，司長堅持通過立法懲罰散播謠言的人士，並且提出最高可判處三年監禁的刑罰。這簡直是可笑！ 

最近，警方也擁有了先進的科學技術，似乎能夠預測犯罪。正如司長的解釋一樣：“沒有一個進入澳門的人會說自己計劃損害這座城市的安全，犯罪份子不會告訴你，我是來犯罪的。”  

不曾提供證據；我相信，儘管存在法律且不應以猜測作出武斷的決定，但人們總是單純地猜測並進行評判。澳門有如此多的律師和強大的協會，令人驚訝的是，沒有任何聲音對此事發表評論。他們也許仍然回味著那個值得擁有的悠長暑假。 

香港處於戒嚴狀態，儘管黃少澤清楚自己“安全”，但同樣地，我們也明白他的恐懼。澳門與香港血液內的基因存在差別。  

但執法部門不會冒不必要的風險；因此，他們禁止兩名學生的“示威”，還有一場抗議。我們可以預見將有更多人投入其中，但本地警方因政治動機，決定出手阻止，當中與法律無關。換言之，今時今日，重要的是當局對某種表現的理解，無需理會當中的爭議。 

澳門是最受祖國寵愛的兒子，除了少數腐敗的政客和法庭上永無休止的醜聞外，沒有其它事件能夠騷擾北京的安眠，無人會希望冒險。因此，緊緊地關上大門，禁止一切事項，就如同生活在“圍城”之中。這無不宣示著憲法明文保護的權利均屬無效。 

幸運的是，2020年即將來臨。根據國際貨幣基金組織資料，澳門將有幸名列全球人均富豪榜。如果我們富有，那是因為一切都好，我們所有的罪都得到原諒。 

畢竟，致富是光榮無上的。 

奇怪的未來學 

我不明白一些分析師是怎麼活下來的。9月初，有公司預測，澳門博彩總收入將同比增長約4%至7%。 

在連續兩個月同比負增長後，這個預測是何其樂觀！ 

他們大錯特錯了。增長雖然是正數，但不過是同比輕微上升0.6%，達到220億澳門元（27億美元）大關。 

無可否認，這無法成為一項精確的科學。然而，最後得出的實際結果卻比預測數據相較甚遠。那麼，我想請問，哪些估計和分析仍得到我們的重視呢？ 

This phobia of the Secretary for Security can be understood by what he perceives as possible dangers that Macau may face. 

From the Publisher’s Desk | Macau Business October 2019

Wong Sio Chak has never been a policeman despite overseeing the police force for many years since being appointed Deputy Director of the Judicial Police in 1998. These were difficult years, when open warfare raged between triads – namely, the 14K and Shui Fong or Wo On Lok. But from time to time hostilities erupted  between 14K’s own factions, and others starring Hong Kong’s then-largest triad, Sun Yee On. 

If he were a career policeman the Secretary would probably have adopted another way of acting. Being a technician turned politician, however, Wong prefers to play safe and surround Macau in a kind of fortress which only confirmed friends may enter. And once inside, just in case, authorities must watch everything and everyone . . . and – if in doubt – criminalise. 

Wong Sio Chak wants Macau as Washington was in the 2002 Steven Spielberg action thriller ‘Minority Report’ in which crimes were punished before being committed. This is the only way to understand the unhealthy saga of banning anyone from Hong Kong who wants to come to Macau just because that person is connoted with Democratic factions. Or are photographic reporters. Or priests, for that matter. 

Having barred the SAR attorney and former President of the Hong Kong Democratic Party Albert Ho, travelling here for a working meeting, the Secretary justified the action on the grounds that the lawyer posed a ‘danger to public safety’. Evidence of such danger was never provided. This is nonetheless ludicrous, since it is the Secretary who is insisting upon the adoption of legislation punishing rumourmongers with up to three years’ imprisonment. 

These days the police also have advanced scientific methods and can, it seems, anticipate crimes. As the Secretary explains: “No-one who was rejected entry had expressed the intent to commit crimes to security authorities”. 

Evidence is not presented; people are, I believe, subject to arbitrary decisions in spite of the law and the right not to be judged by guesswork, by mere speculation. With so many lawyers in Macau and a powerful association it is surprising that not a single voice has commented upon the matter. They are all probably still enjoying a much deserved Summer holiday. 

With Hong Kong under a state of siege, one understands the dread of Wong Sio Chak although the Secretary knows that he is ‘safe’ from similar situations. Macau’s DNA is very different to that of Hong Kong. And there are other reasons as argued in this edition by author Chan Hei Yin. 

But law enforcement is not about to take unnecessary risks; thus, they prohibit a ‘demonstration’ of two students as well as another protest, with predictably more people, but which the local police decided to block for politically motivated reasons rather than legal ones. In other words, what counts today is the authorities’ perception of what may be the reasons for a particular manifestation, regardless of what can be argued. 

Macau, the motherland’s beloved son, with no cases disturbing Beijing’s sleep other than a few scandals of corrupt politicians and others that never ended in the courtroom, does not want to take risks. And as such, closes doors and undertakes prohibitions as if we were living under a ‘state of siege’ that justifies the nullity of constitutionally protected rights. 

Fortunately, 2020 is just around the corner, and according to the International Monetary Fund Macau will head the list of richest places per capita on the planet. If we are rich, it is because all is well and all our sins are forgiven. 

After all, getting rich is glorious. 

Strange futurology 

I can’t understand how some analysts survive. In early September a firm predicted that our city’s gross gaming revenue would grow some four to seven per cent year-on-year. 

An optimistic forecast after two months of negative year-on-year growth. 

They could not be more wrong. Growth, albeit positive, stood at a meager 0.6 per cent year-on-year, reaching the MOP22 billion (US$2.7 billion) mark. 

Admittedly, it is not an exact science, but so many times the actual results prove to be light years from predictions – to the extent that we wonder why we still value certain estimates and analyses. 

對那些從來不曾間接或直接受到平壤在澳門影子業務影響的人們來說，對本期其中一個故事略顯陌生。

商訊2019年9月 | 發行人語 – 雅士度 

受到多年貿易禁運的嚴重影響，朝鮮極權主義政權數十年來始終遊走在最陰暗的地帶，以最陰險方式開展業務，維持所謂“賤民國家”的地位——與南部的韓國保持正式的交戰狀態——並且支配著國內不同部族的三代人，勒令國民遠離由其頭號剋星美國帶來的西方“惡魔”影響。

只要在澳門居住超過四分之一世紀的人們，都和我一樣擁有與朝鮮利益相關的事件回憶。某些間諜主題暢銷書比其他的更具價值……幾乎都創造了幾可亂真的故事背景。在這一切回憶中，都不可避免地出現了朝光貿易公司(Zokwang)，這家特殊的貿易企業被認為是朝鮮事實上的外交代表。

在回歸之前，澳門是朝鮮存在和作出影響的理想之地。雖然這是中國領土，卻受到歐洲小國葡萄牙政府的統治，而且這個國家的世界影響力早已陷入歷史的迷霧。作為中國的戰略夥伴，平壤選擇澳門興建人造外牆還有另外一個原因。

在澳門有這樣的說法，高麗航空於20世紀90年代利用澳門運送聯合國禁運物資。這些航班將西方國家出產的最優質貨物帶回朝鮮，取悅國家領導層。正是在那些非常有趣的日子裡，出現了所謂的“超級鈔票”，即非一般的偽造貨幣。在哪裡被首先發現？你猜對了！在澳門。

然而，一名為中央情報局工作的意大利間諜在一本名為《超級鈔票》的書中發誓：實際發生的事情甚至比小說的情節更加離奇。這些鈔票實際上是真實的，由真正的印鈔機印刷，當然了，美國國會和參議院對此毫不知情。根據該書作者Kasper的描述，平城的一部中央情報局機器幾乎摧毀了當地的憲兵隊。這支隊伍為那些在世界各地進行邪惡行動的機構服務，提供資金。故事的細節永遠不會成為公眾關注的焦點。

真相還是故事？ 這似乎不重要，因為很少有人會費心考慮其中的關聯點。在本世紀之初，處於外國政府統治的澳門是朝鮮利益的完美代理人。這座城市同時成為了現任領導人胞兄金正男的避難所，這位金先生曾在澳門的娛樂場賭博耍樂，並不時到路環渡過一段段休閒的時光。2017年2月，他在馬來西亞被人以VX神經毒劑施襲並身亡。

半影子企業朝光貿易公司現已搬遷至珠海，此舉更具意義：因為國際社會成員在澳門普遍存在。儘管跨越了拱北邊境，該企業在珠海的媒體曝光率卻低得多。

這個故事或許是《Macau Business》和《商訊》目前發表的又一個朝鮮亮點，在這個近乎全世界都排斥它的時期。然而，隨著軍售網絡的發展，這將會很有意思。請仔細閱讀。

歡迎賀先生！

正如本期專題報導，我們已清楚閣下宣佈的計劃內容。但是，既然我們已經來到了這裡，我們應該利用您最初的能量，闡明政府轉移的關鍵任務——與您未來的前任形成對比。今天，比任何時候更甚，鄰居香港示威遊行如此生動地宣洩出來。

就兩地的發展進程、各自居民的形成和生活史等方面，澳門與香港截然不同。然而，若說有什麼得到了所有居民的認同，甚至有時激烈地捍衛的話，那就是地方統治階級的完整性和治理的透明度。除此之外，就沒有其他比得上了。無論是民主，還是專制。後者可以理解為更少動盪。

在處理600億儲備作投資基金的古怪提議時，現任政府表現出色，儘管它從一開始的表現就差強人意。也許，這是另一個警告，提示我們誘惑總是比善意厲害：有人可能會說，是鄰埠的暴徒保障了澳門資金的安全。

那些受到法律保護，無需經公開投標程序就能以較高價錢購入服務的合同理應接受審查。凡與這些不規則贈予有關的人士都必須受到問責制的監管。我不了解您，但我對那些嚴重錯誤的事情感到十分厭倦。那些犯了錯誤的人士都以退休或以“家庭原因”辭職，藉此逃避責任，直到開展腐敗調查，才最終真相大白。當然，到那個時候，所有的參與者都已“功成身退”。

然而，投入資源興建更多基礎設施和引入技術是必需的。如果澳門特別行政區需要高素質的員工，請吸引他們：沒有人會認為這樣做的您會錯得更離譜。也許，除了那些害怕與更優秀企業競爭的人們除外。

住房、健康和境。都沒有錯。我們有的是錢，且前景仍然一片光明。一早就步入崩潰的是居民生活質量。請將它帶回來，那麼您的任期就能取得成功。

The cover story of this edition is only strange to those who have never lived, albeit indirectly, in the presence of Pyongyang’s shadow businesses in and throughout Macau. 

From the Publisher’s Desk | Macau Business September 2019

Severely affected by successive trade embargoes, the totalitarian regime in North Korea has for decades been using the most insidious schemes to conduct business that allows it to maintain the pariah state – officially still at war with its southern brothers – and the clan that has dominated it for three generations, far from the influences of the Western ‘demons’. Led by its arch-nemesis America. 

Anyone who has lived in Macau for more than a quarter of a century, as I have, can recall the stories involving North Korean interests in the city. Some espionage bestsellers are more worthy than others . . . but almost all create realistic backgrounds. And in the midst of it all – inevitably – appears Zokwang, a special trade delegation considered a de facto diplomatic representation of the Hermit Kingdom. 

Prior to the handover Macau was an ideal place for the presence and influence of North Koreans. Although Chinese territory, it was under the sway of the Portuguese Administration of a small European state whose world influence had long lapsed into the mists of history. With North Korea China’s strategic partner, there was one more reason for Pyongyang’s faux-funded façade to be here. 

Air Koryo flights during the 1990s, which allegedly carried UN-embargoed goods via Macau, were the talk of the town. On their way back home, the planes were said to take the best that was produced in the West to the delight of the North Korean leadership. It is from those very interesting days that the so-called Supernotes emerged. Extraordinary counterfeit dollars. The first was to be detected – you guessed it! – here in Macau. 

Nevertheless, an Italian spy who worked for the CIA swears in a book – titled ‘Supernotes’ – that what actually happened was even stranger than fiction. That the notes were in fact real, printed on a real machine but naturally unbeknownst to the American Congress and Senate. A CIA-aware machine in Pyonsong – the knowledge of which, according to Agent Kasper’s book, nearly killed the Carabinieri – that served the interests of the agency that needed funds to pay for its numerous nefarious operations around the world. The details of which, of course, will never see the public light of day. 

Truth or fiction? It hardly matters, because few will bother to connect the dots. 

Turn-of-the-century Macau under a foreign Administration, though, was perfect for North Korean interests. The city would also serve as the refuge of the current leader’s brother Kim Jong Nam, who enjoyed gambling in the city’s casinos and lived intermittently for years in Coloane. The older Kim would be murdered in Malaysia in February 2017, victim of an extremely toxic synthetic chemical compound identified as VX. 

The move to Zhuhai for the semi-ghost company Zokwang now makes more sense; and even more so because of the larger presence in Macau of members of the international community. Despite being across the ‘Portas do Cerco’ border, Zhuhai suffers far less media exposure. 

It may be that this story that Macau Business and Business Intelligence magazines now publish is just another shining a light on North Korea’s presence in times of near-global exclusion. But it will be interesting to follow the development of the arms sale website. Good reading. 

Welcome, Mr. Ho 

We already know what your announced plans are, as this edition reports. But since we are here, we should take advantage of your initial energy – such a contrast with that of your future predecessor – to shed light on the important task of government transfer. Today, more than ever, as the demonstrations in neighbouring Hong Kong so well express. 

It is true that Macau is very different to Hong Kong. In its course, in the formation and life history of its people, etc. But if there is one thing that any populace approves of – and sometimes defends vehemently – it is the integrity of its ruling class and the transparency of governing procedures. Nothing much, one would say. Both in democracy and in autocracy. The latter with understandably less turmoil . . . 

The incumbent government has done well to terminate the strange plan of having a company manage MOP60 billion of Macau’s reserves. It smelled bad from the very first moment. Just another warning, perhaps, that temptation is always greater than goodwill: cash saved by the rioters next door, some might say. 

Contracts still in force to deliver services of higher value to those allowed by law without recourse to public tenders should be reviewed. With the necessary accountability of everyone involved in these irregular giveaways. I don’t know about you but I’m quite tired of knowing something is terribly wrong just to be confronted with someone leaving their post to retire or departing for ‘family reasons’ until the day – finally – a corruption investigation is opened. By then, of course, those involved have flown the coop. 

But also the need to invest in more infrastructure and technology. If the MSAR needs highly qualified staff, import them: no-one will think the worse of you. Except, perhaps, for some who fear competition from better quality companies and services. 

Housing, health, environment. There is no mistake. There is money and the outlook remains very positive. What has long begun to crumble is the quality of life. Bring it back and your term will be successful. 

香港街頭上演的連番抗議活動導致當局可信度下降，草率的政治決策是事件的導火綫。林鄭政府不用心聆聽社會各界的聲音，更不用説分析這些意見、建議和忠告的利弊，卻自信能夠作出最終決定。這真是荒天下之大謬！在這些問題上，香港並非澳門，它無法僅僅因爲“由於”而去接受“希望、能夠和要求”的行為。 

發行人語 | 雅士度

所謂的《引渡條例》已被“腰斬”，或待2047年“兩制”的國際承諾到期之日才會重提。直到那時，儘管人們可能希望儘量忽視《聯合聲明》，但仍需要保留另一種制度，理由是國際社會無法在第一種制度中看到可靠保證。事實上，香港大多數居民持同樣的想法。這也是備受爭議的第23條無法在鄰埠推行的原因……反觀自我壓抑的澳門和暢通無阻的立法過程，或許這恰如人們所料。 

香港的示威活動登上了新聞頭條並成爲了國際電視網絡的新聞焦點，媒體蜂擁而至，現場直擊衝突、暴力及其他激烈場面。然而，通常較爲隱諱沉默的葡萄牙至今仍未作出反應。葡萄牙律師公會發表聲明，公開譴責該國與澳門簽署《移交逃犯協定》，直接指出該份文件限制了“公民權利、自由和保障”，違反了“葡萄牙憲法和刑法”。 

律師公會理事會認爲，協定允許追溯適用對嫌疑人不利刑法的規定完全不可接受。 

聲明書中寫道：“在刑事司法協助申請前並無視為犯罪的事實在申請日被認定為犯罪，從而對針對之人作出移交申請，這就違反了葡國憲法第廿九條第一款規定的禁止追溯適用對嫌疑人不利刑法的原則。” 

這仍非全盤真相。 

葡國律師對我們的歷史瞭若指掌。曾有那麽一些時候，身處澳門的被通緝人士被接走，送至關閘後，就被移交至邊境另一端的執法人員手上。這些黑暗歷史令人不得不懷疑，該份《移交逃犯協定》是否賦予當局在“無法保證案件得到任何聯合調查”的情況下，向中國內地移交嫌疑人的權力。 

澳門律師公會主席華年達在接受澳廣視記者訪問時，發現自己跌進了困境：假如支持葡萄牙同行的批評聲音，他給人留下了一個小丑般的鮮明形象，同時也為他所領導的本地專業協會的沉默道歉。爲什麽選擇沉默？澳門特區政府已顯然下定決心不接受任何與之相反的意見。換而言之，澳門律師公會似乎只有在受到邀請後才能就本地事務發表意見。 

人們或許能夠理解華年達無法抗拒地選擇逃避責任。然而，只要在這裡生活一段時間，人們都清楚這是一個錯誤的問題。不僅因為我們相信律師公會能夠隨時接觸該份協議文件，而且協議已被官方正式公佈。我們卻無法回想起，有任何本地專業人士曾經主動提出批評，或有人帶頭提出質疑…… 

然而，如果澳門律師公會真心反對這宗交易，華年達仍可有所作爲，因為該份文件尚未在葡萄牙正式生效。 

因此，我們正凝神静气地、時刻關注着澳門律師公會接下來的舉動。 

如果澳門律師公會反對澳門與葡萄牙之間簽訂《移交逃犯協定》的話，他們仍擁有努力爭取的時間，因該文件尚未在葡萄牙生效。 

政治失誤 

在與澳門類似的城市中，政治形式的價值就和城市本身一樣。微乎其微。 

當大多數公民對所居住城市事務漠不關心的話，只能說他們都得到了應得的。 

然而，其他更具價值的觀念值得關注，尤其是對那些主導澳門特區命運的人們而言。 無論你喜歡與否，獲得國際社會支持是至關重要的。為了不被孤立、保證投資者信心、達成更多國際協議，且避免因無法履行已簽署的社會和政治協議而受到公開指責。事實恰恰相反：我們有辦法成為那道被遵循的光和一個值得參考的例子。 

然而，當主要機構“率先士卒”地對本應堅持的價值觀表示蔑視時，我們就無法實現這一目標。 

在政府總部迴廊上，立法會新任主席獨自站在特區行政長官前，向長官宣讀誓詞，這不僅是程序上的錯誤。這是缺乏常識的表現，是令現屆政府頭疼不已的老問題並顯然受到多重因素的影響——香港是中央政府關注的焦點；城中大部分居民的城市歸屬感脆弱；精英份子手中把握決策權且盡最大努力確保對各方事務的話事權，藉此擴大對經濟結構中所有領域的主導地位。 

新任立法會主席高開賢在宣讀誓詞時讀漏了“澳門”，儘管他只牢牢記住了自己向北京效忠。根據過往記錄，類似狀況曾先後出現了三次。 

此外，新任立法會主席宣誓就任的儀式理應在立法會進行。這不僅僅因為《就職宣誓法》要求主席“須於就職時親自公開宣誓”。然而，我們都清楚，很多時候對法律的解釋取決於人的權力。手上把握了權力，你便能夠暢遊於灰色地帶；假若失去了權力，你便只能聽命於人。不，宣誓的儀式應被視為對小型議會同事的尊重。 

澳門立法權具有的可信度微乎其微，這種情況只會進一步削弱立法會議員所能發揮的作用。 

新任立法會主席宣誓就任的儀式理應在立法會進行。這不僅僅因為《就職宣誓法》要求主席“須於就職時親自公開宣誓”- 也是對小型議會同事的尊重 

The numerous protests unfolding in Hong Kong have resulted in a terrible loss of credibility for various authorities, and are the direct result of careless political decisions. Decisions that Carrie Lam’s Government thought it could make without listening carefully to the different sectors of society and weighing well the pros and cons of such opinions, suggestions and caveats. A big mistake. Hong Kong in these matters is not Macau, it does not accept acts of ‘want, can and command’ just because. 

From the Publisher’s Desk

By Paulo A. Azevedo | Founder and Publisher

The so-called Extradition Act is “dead” and possibly will only be revived in 2047 when the international commitment to maintaining the second system expires. Until then, as much as one may want to minimise the Joint Declaration, there is another system that has to be preserved. This is because it is a reliable guarantee for the various international communities that do not see themselves in the first system. As it happens, much of Hong Kong’s population think the same. Which is why the highly controversial Article 23 collapsed in the neighbouring SAR . . . although it passed almost without comment – as might be expected – in this self-subdued Macau. 

Demonstrations in Hong Kong were making headlines and opening the news of major international television networks, with live reports of clashes, some acts of violence and other dangerous episodes yet to be explained when in Portugal – a country that normally chooses not to be very outspoken – the Bar Association (Ordem dos Advogados) publicly denounced the agreement signed with Macau to surrender fugitives, saying it violates ‘fundamental and structuring principles of Portuguese Constitutional and Criminal Law’ by restricting ‘rights, freedoms and guarantees’. 

For the Bar Council’s General Council it is totally unacceptable that the agreement allows for the retroactive application of criminal law.  

‘The possibility of a fact that was not previously considered a crime but is at the time of the request to be able to substantiate a claim for surrender . . . [is a] . . . “violation of the Constitution and the principle of prohibiting the retroactive application of the criminal law,’ reads the statement. 

That is not all.  

Portuguese lawyers (in Portugal) know something of our history. There were times when wanted people were picked up in the city and simply handed over to police authorities on the other side of the Portas do Cerco border. It is no coincidence that they are suspicious that the agreement would allow people to be handed over to the Macau authorities just to be handed over later to the People’s Republic of China ‘without any guarantee of joint analysis of their [cases’] assumptions’. 

Speaking to TDM – one of the few local media he feels more comfortable in talking to, it seems – the eternal president of the Macau Bar Association undoubtedly found himself in a cleft stick: by going through the motions of shoring up the criticism of his Portuguese counterpart he gave the distinct impression of simultaneously performing an acrobatic feat in also apologising for the silence of the professional association over which he presides here. And the reason for the silence? Apparently, the Macau SAR Government has decided not to entertain conflicting opinions on the issue. Or to put it another way, it seems that the Macau Bar Association will only express an opinion on local matters once invited to do so. 

One can understand Jorge Neto Valente’s irresistible temptation to shake off any responsibility. But anyone who has lived here for some time knows this is a false question. Not only because we believe that the Association could have had access to the agreement document at any time but because it has already been officially published. We don’t recall any criticism by local professionals or those who lead them . . . 

If, however, the Macau Bar Association is truly against the deal, Neto Valente still has time to do something since the document has not yet entered into force in Portugal. 

We are therefore raptly tuned in to carefully following what the Macau Bar Association is going to do. 

If the Macau Bar Association is against the agreement to surrender fugitives between Macau and Portugal, there is still time to do something since the document has not yet entered into force in Portugal 

Political blunder 

The political situation in cities like Macau is worth what it is worth. Little. 

When most citizens seem not to care about what is happening in the city in which they live, it can only be said that they get what they deserve. 

There are other higher values, however, that should matter, especially to those who pilot the destiny of the MSAR. Whether one likes it or not it is of extreme importance to have the international community on one’s side. So as not to be isolated, so as not to affect investors’ confidence, and to be able to develop more international agreements and not be publicly criticised for not fulfilling social and political pacts signed in indelible ink. Quite the opposite, in fact: we have the means to be a light to be followed, a good example, a reference. 

We will not achieve this goal, however, when our main institutions are the first to demonstrate contempt for the values they should uphold. 

The Chief Executive accepting the uttering of the oath of the new President of the Legislative Assembly (local parliament) before only him in the cloistered corridors of Government Headquarters is more than an error of protocol. It reveals a lack of common sense that has often dogged the incumbent Administration, apparently shielded by multiple factors – Hong Kong being the central concern of the Central Government; having a large part of the population that is little identified with the city where they live; power residing in the hands of an elite who will do their utmost not to lose decision-making power in all instances and thus extend dominance in virtually all areas of the economic fabric. 

The new Legislative Assembly (AL) President – Kou Hoi In – should not have “forgotten” the name of Macau in the initial oath. Three times, according to the chronicles. While only remembering his devotion to Beijing. 

In addition, the uttering of this oath should have taken place in the AL. Not just because the oath law mandates the president repeat it ‘personally and publicly’. We all know that so many times here the interpretation of the law depends upon the power one has. With a lot of power you can find and follow gray areas; with no power, you do as you’re told. No, this oath should have been taken as mandated as a sign of respect to his colleagues in our mini-parliament. 

Legislative power in Macau already has so little credibility that such situations only serve to further minimise the role of MPs. 

The uttering of the new Legislative Assembly President oath should have taken place in the AL. Not just because the oath law mandates the president repeat it ‘personally and publicly’ – but as a sign of respect to his colleagues in our mini-parliament. 

Former Director of Public Works Jaime Carion is the main suspect in yet another corruption scandal 

By Paulo A. Azevedo 

The Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) has issued a freeze order on a number of properties valued at hundreds of millions of patacas in the name of Jaime Carion, former Director of the Public Works Bureau, as well as those of relatives and associates. 

The list of 40 properties became public when revealed to the Justice Department in order to prevent them from being sold. The April notification comes in the context of criminal proceedings, as reported by Macau News Agency (MNA). 

The case was first made public by Radio Macau. MNA was assured that the MP had decided upon the action because of “valid suspicions of practice of alleged wrongdoing”. 

Upon retiring in 2014, Carion left Macau for an “unknown destination” according to the Administrative Court, but MNA sources say he is now residing in Portugal. Other sources have told Macau Business that Brazil is also a location where the former public works boss might be. 

Properties seized 

An extensive list of properties has been seized; not only from the former DSSOPT strongman but also from his wife, Lei Wai Cheng, and daughter Célia Ana Carion. Other people are also involved in this process, with properties now frozen by order of the MP; namely, that of Kwong Wan Si and husband Man Lai Chung and Cheang Fong Cheng. 

The list of properties (see list) – purchased between 1991 and 2016 – command hundreds of millions of patacas at current market prices, and comprise apartments, parking spaces, offices and commercial and industrial units. 

According to what we have learned, the Public Prosecutor’s office will want to obtain evidence from all those involved in how they managed to acquire these properties. Others not directly related to Jaime Carion are suspected of having acted as accomplices in the concealment of these assets. 

List of seized assets 

Apartment C17 in Nam Fong building (2005) 

Apartment D17 in Nam Fong building (2005) 

Apartment A1 in Son Nam building (1995) 

Apartment B2 in Son Pou building (1995) 

Building in Beco dos Artilheiros nº 5 (1991) 

Buildings in Beco dos Artilheiros nºs 1,3,5,7,9,11 (1991) 

Office in Wing Luen building (2010) 

Two parking places in Nam Fong building 

Apartment C12 in Nam Fong building (2014) 

Commerce area in Pou Seng building (2008) 

Warehouse in Weng Heng building (2008) 

Office area in Travessa dos Lírios (2008) 

Commercial area in Weng Heng building (2012) 

Industrial area in Nam Fong building (2014) 

Commercial area in Phoenix Garden building (2010) 

Apartment in Son Hang building (2013) 

Apartment in Kong Cheong building (2013) 

Two commercial areas in The Pacific Garden building (2014) 

Two apartments in The Residencia building (2013 and 2014) 

Land lot in Rua das Lorchas (2005) 

Parking place in Nam Fong building 

Four parking places in 東方麗都 Av. Almirante Larcerda building (2011) 

Four parking places in The Residencia building (2013) 

Two parking places in The Meridien Court building (2009) 

Two apartments in The Meridien Court building 

Two commercial areas in Tong Lei building (2010) 

Parking place in Nam Fong building 

Building in S. Roque Street, nº 50 and 52 

Finger points to former Secretary for Public Works 

By Nelson Moura 

Local analysts and politicians told Macau News Agency (MNA) that the former Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Lau Si Io, should take some responsibility if any wrongdoing is proven in the current corruption investigation into the affairs of former Public Works Director Jaime Carion. 

After serving for 36 years as a public official, including stints in management positions in the Infrastructure Development Office (GDI) and the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) during the terms of former Public Works Secretaries Ao Man Long and Lau Si Io, Carion retired in 2014. 

Secretary Ao Man Long served in the latter position between 1999 and 2006 prior to his arrest and trial for corruption – with Carion testifying during that trial – while Secretary Lao Si Iu held the position between 2009 and 2014. 

According to political analyst Larry So Man Yum and Legislator Jose Pereira Coutinho, if Carion is found to have committed any irregularity once the investigation is concluded Secretary Lau Si Io should assume some of the responsibility. 

“Did the former Secretary know about it? We have no idea; we don’t have that information. The former Secretary will be asked to provide more information. But in that post he has the responsibility for his staff or if there is any wrongdoing. It is part of the principles of responsibility,” So told MNA. 

Meanwhile, legislator Coutinho recalls that Secretary Lau publicly praised Carion upon the announcement of his retirement, in which he stated that the former Public Works boss had always acted with ‘zeal, responsibility, and professionalism’ in the discharge of his duties. 

“This shows two things,” the legislator told MNA. “That public praise seems to be [little more than] a performance. It is made as a personal thank-you for the work of their underlings [without] matching reality. But what is more serious is the fact that the former Secretary did not properly supervise his subordinates, incurring disciplinary responsibilities – at least under the public worker’s statutes; namely, when it comes to zeal, loyalty, responsibility and honesty”. 

The legislator also noted that despite current civil servants statutes – including code of conduct for public officials – such norms are not applied by the Chief Executive (CE) when it comes to the holders of high public positions having to assume responsibility for wrongdoings conducted in the departments under their control. 

“The CE needs to improve legislation for holders of the main public positions,” he said. “Especially when it comes to what are their responsibilities and punishments in the case of supervision failures; the greatest issue in public departments in Macau is the lack of responsibility for higher public officials”. 

With Carion’s public career taking off in the early 1990’s, analyst Larry So notes that there seems to be an issue in public departments surrounding certain practices that had become normal even during the time of the Portuguese Administration now clashing with a more stringent anti-corruption mentality. 

“Maybe in the past the local Administration was laxer in terms of monitoring. This kind of ransacking has been quite common among officials and the private sector. At that time many people would look upon it as ‘normal’,” he told MNA. “Nevertheless, it is good for the government to initiate investigations even of people who are already  retired or not in the same positions anymore. Things that happened in the past should be dug up”. 

Legislator Coutinho also noted that the areas under the Secretary for Public Works could be divided – with this department seemingly plagued by malpractice issues – adding it would be ideal to appoint seven Secretaries instead of the current five to increase oversight. 

He also criticises the recommendations usually included in reports by the Commission Against Corruption (CCAC) which do not “suggest that disciplinary measures be taken, even for situations that could constitute criminal infractions”. 

“Macau residents have already got used to the CCAC reports as mere documents with repetitive recommendations and with no use, in the sense that the reports are revealed with what seems to be a planned timing and have no repercussions – and seem more to serve some political purposes,” the legislator lamented. 

自與廣東省政府建立合作關係，澳門特區當局已向這個内地的腹地省份投入了人民幣80億元。然而，兩地機關達成的保密協議，意味著人們無法了解當中的細節，更加無法跟進。 

發行人語 | 雅士度

依賴諸多保密條款的原因是信息“可能會影響投資項目的造價”。 

我們對此深感遺憾，箇中情況亦無法令人感到安心，雖然我對内幕一無所知。值得留意的是，少數政治家和商人爲了打造狂野的西部地區，控制了美國鐵路。一切都受到嚴密保密……然而，通過建立虛假的前線組織，不難發現那些享有特權待遇的名字。 

當然，今天不會發生類似情況——死心吧！不單單是因為人們的道德程度和可信性提高，他們對監管本地投資的公共財政事務跟進委員會充滿了信心。 

作爲委員會主席的麥瑞權議員認爲，投資保證回報率達3.5％才是至關重要。因此，委員會表示遂心满意。 

無論如何，一事還一事。道德和倫理的價值對本地立法會有着不同的意味，這仍然是有史以來最好的水平。 

其他繼續創造巨額回報的不同業務同樣籠罩在不透明的迷霧之下，提出諸多與道德規範相關的假設，並受到保護。然而，在許多情況下，是合法的。我們希望他們不要試圖一路走到底，因為目前看來，似乎只要獲得保證的回報，一切都是值得的。 

自責 

我們生活一個富爭議的時代。一方面，政府擁有的不過是短暫的記憶；另一方面，公衆缺乏耐心。 

香港近期發生的事件令人感到極度羞恥。政府試圖強制推行備受詬病的引渡條例，是另一件令人沮喪的事件。這表明“一國兩制”中的“兩制”純屬虛構。 

澳門同樣存在令人淚光閃閃的例子。然而，這座城市擁有更強大的自我約束力。本期專題報道已解釋了箇中的若干原因。 

一旦國與國之間達成協議後，雙方都必須遵守當中的所有條款：不要以時間推移為藉口，破壞當初的承諾。 

中國正處於積極上升的時期，整體經濟位居世界第二。數以千萬、曾經生活在貧困線以下的國民，生活質素得到了相當大的改善。中國在世界上的影響力日益增強，在很大程度上要歸功於其支持地區發展的政策。 

然而，政策應該是靈活的，且實行避免社會發生撕裂的策略。 

誠然，抗議人士本身應該避免失去控制。我們都清楚，暴徒就是暴徒，無法改變。斬斷統治權的極大誘惑帶來了這些後果。有預見性的領導者不在現場，沒有人能夠阻止暴徒們最激動的反應。暴徒們堅信，最終只有做出可見的行為，掌權者才會傾聽他們的聲音。 

雙方都必須認識，輸家只能是香港，他們亦因此必須設法找到妥協的方式。這並不容易，因為雙方都需要做出讓步。畢竟，政府不過是人民的代表——作爲非直選政府，就必須更加謹慎地行使手中的權力——被統治的一方必須證明自己已經足夠成熟，有朝一日終能協助政治制度，邁出真正的前進步伐。 

Universal, 澳門風格 

已經執政10年的崔世安即將離任。他更傾向於連貫性策略，因此，未見一絲明顯變化。澳門特別行政區實際上掌控了數項主動要素，巨額博彩稅便是其一；城市經濟迷你且易於控制；本地居民較順從溫和。又或者，只要生活尚算可以，便不會因爭執產生任何煩惱。 

因此，對於一位寡言的統治者來說，過去十年的執政並不十分困難。崔世安甚至會在電視攝錄或公開活動期間出現不舒服。當然，這或許屬於機密。零意識形態特徵，或假設不為己任的想法，僅盡可能安靜地為船隻領航，途中風平浪靜。 

這就是我們必須在按揭到期時償還信貸的原因。我們需要一個強壯的心臟，還有很多鎮靜劑，才能面對某些狀況。 

第二屆任期開始時，崔世安做了若干承諾。他已經成功實現了當中的一半。澳門是大中華區唯一不設最低工資保障的地方，終於要迎來全民最低工資標準。好吧，時至今天，這不過是一項法案，但就算立法會被商業領袖佔據了，預料法案也會在明年通過。 

然而，全民最低工資並不全面。再次，這是澳門其中一項特色。成千上萬的家傭和殘疾僱員將繼續被排除在外。 

這不僅僅是城市的恥辱，澳門即將成為2020年世界最富裕地區之一的同時，仍然以第三世界的心態做事。 

我們只能寄望新任行政長官熱門人選賀一誠，能夠表現出更多的同情心和魄力，為那些繼續為澳門繁榮“和諧”做貢獻的人們打造更好的生活，捍衛他們的權利。 

The government has invested RMB8 billion in the hinterland of China as part of a partnership with the Guangdong authorities. But a confidentiality agreement struck between the governments means that people do not know the details of this business and cannot follow up on it. 

From the Publisher’s Desk

By Paulo A. Azevedo | Founder and Publisher

The reason relied upon for so much secrecy is that the information ‘could affect the price of these investments’. 

If this episode that seems to us quite unfortunate does not favour cases of insider information I don’t know what does. It is mindful of the times when only a handful of politicians and businessmen controlled the United States railroads as they rolled back the Wild West. Everything was kept secret . . . but it was not difficult to find out who took advantage of the privileged knowledge by setting up phony front organisations. 

Of course, this does not happen these days – perish the thought! – not least because people are much more moral and credible. In addition, they have the confidence of the Public Affairs Monitoring Committee, which has the responsibility of overseeing Macau’s investments. 

The Committee, led by legislator Mak Soi Kun, is satisfied because, as he explains, the important thing is the guaranteed return of 3.5 per cent. 

It’s business by business, no matter what. Morality and ethics have a different value for the local Parliament, which remains at its best level ever. 

Many other businesses that continue to generate huge returns are equally protected by the lack of transparency and other important assumptions about ethics, and in many cases the legality of them. We hope they are not tempted to go down this path as well since it seems that nowadays everything is worth it as long as there is a guaranteed return. 

Blame yourself 

We live in controversial times because on the one hand we have governments with short memories and on the other populations with less patience. 

What is happening in Hong Kong is a crying shame. The government’s attempt to impose its much-maligned extradition law is yet another discouraging sign of the emptiness of the given word per the autonomy of the second system. 

There are also glaring examples in Macau, but here exists a greater self-restraint upon the part of locals, for several reasons that have already been explained in this column. 

When two states commit to international agreements they must comply with them: not take advantage of the passage of time to undermine the pledged word. 

China is experiencing a positive time, with its economy ranking second in the global marketplace, with considerable improvements to the lives of tens of millions of people once living below the poverty line. China also has a growing influence in the world, thanks largely to its policies of support for regional development. 

But it should have the flexibility to realise that there are ways to ensure the rule of law avoiding tactics that will only serve to divide their populations. 

It is true that the protesters should avoid losing control, although we know that a mob will always be a mob. And the eternal temptation of the power to cut off leadership creates such results. Without a perceived leader on site, no-one can restrain the most excited moments of the mob, who think that only with visible acts will people in power finally listen. 

Both sides have to realise that only Hong Kong loses and thus they have to try to find some sort of compromise. Not easy, since this will involve the need by both sides to give way. After all, a government is no more than the representative of the people – and when not elected directly must more carefully exercise its power – while the governed must prove that they are mature enough to one day aspire to help the political system move genuinely forward. 

Universal, Macau style 

Chui Sai On is on his way out after 10 years at the helm of government. Without visible changes, he has preferred the strategy of continuity. The MSAR has practically held by its own initiative several factors – huge gambling taxes; a small, so easy-to-control economy; and its population continues to be obedient. Or does not show any inclination to bother while life is considerably acceptable. 

Hence, it has not been a difficult decade for a ruler of few words, appearing ever uncomfortable in front of the TV cameras and during public events. But maybe that is the secret. The idea of having no ideological features or assuming projects for which it has no vocation, only guiding the boat as quietly as possible, without waves or major mishap. 

That is why we must give credit where credit is due. It takes a strong stomach to handle certain situations. And plenty of Alka-Seltzer. 

In one of the few promises he has made, at the beginning of the second term, he has succeeded in reaching half. Macau, the only place in the Greater China Region without a minimum wage, will finally have a universal minimum wage. Well, so far it is only a bill but even with a majority of business leaders occupying parliament the legislation is expected to pass, probably next year. 

However – and this again is the particularity of Macau – the universal minimum wage is not that universal. Tens of thousands of domestic workers will continue to remain out of its scope as well as workers with disabilities. 

It is more than a shame, it’s the proof that the city continues to have a third world mentality while enjoying the privileges of becoming the world’s richest place in 2020 according to International Monetary Fund projections. 

Let’s just hope Mr. Ho Iat Seng, the predictable new Chief Executive, will show a bit more compassion and energy in defending the right to a better living for everyone who continues to make Macau a prosperous and ‘harmonious’ place. 

Macau (MNA) – The Public Prosecutions Office (MP) has issued a freezing order for a group of properties valued at hundreds of millions of patacas in the name of Jaime Carion, former director of the Public Works Bureau, relatives and other associates.

The list of 40 properties became public when communicated to the Justice Department in order to prevent them from being sold. The April notification comes in the context of criminal proceedings, Macau News Agency (MNA) learned.

Yesterday, Friday, Radio Macau made public the apprehension in a case that was also being investigated by the MNA, to whom it was assured that the MP decided on the action to advance for having “valid suspicions of practice of alleged wrongdoing”.

Jaime Carion, after retiring in 2014, left Macau to an “uncertain destination” according to the Administrative Court, but sources found by the MNA say he is now residing in Portugal.

Goods seized

It is an extensive list of goods seized; not only from the former strongman of Public Works but also from his wife, Lei Wai Cheng, and daughter Célia Ana Carion. Other people are also involved in this process, with goods now frozen by MP: Kwong Wan Si and husband Man Lai Chung and Cheang Fong Cheng, as was known by MNA.

The list of properties (see list) amounts to hundreds of millions of patacas at current market prices, and were purchased between 1991 and 2016. These are apartments, parking spaces, offices and commercial and industrial units.

According to what we have learned, the Public Prosecutor’s office will want to obtain evidence from all those involved in how they managed to acquire those properties. The others not directly related to Jaime Carion are suspected of having acted as accomplices in the concealment of these goods.

List of seized assets

Apartment C17 Building Nam Fong (2005)

Apartment D17 Building Nam Fong (2005)

Apartment A1 Building Son Nam (1995)

Apartment B2 Building Son Pou (1995)

Building in Beco dos Artilheiros nº 5 (1991)

Buildings in Beco dos Artilheiros nºs 1,3,5,7,9,11 (1991)

Office in Building Wing Luen (2010)

2 Parking places in Building Nam Fong

Apartment C12 in Building Nam Fong (2014)

Commerce area in Building Pou Seng (2008)

Warehouse in Building Weng Heng (2008)

Office area in Travessa dos Lírios (2008)

Commerce area in Building Weng Heng (2012)

Industrial area in Building Nam Fong (2014)

Commerce area in Building Phoenix Garden (2010)

Apartment in Building Son Hang (2013)

Apartment in Building Kong Cheong (2013)

2 Commerce areas in Building The Pacific Garden (2014)

2 Apartments in Building The Residencia (2013 and 2014)

Land lot in Rua das Lorchas (2005)

Parking place in Building Nam Fong

4 parking places in Building 東方麗都 Av. Almirante Larcerda (2011)

4 parking places in Building The Residencia (2013)

2 parking places in Building The Meridien Court (2009)

2 Apartments in Building The Meridien Court

2 Commerce areas in Building Tong Lei (2010)

Parking place in Building Nam Fong

Building in S. Roque street, nº 50 and 52

行政法務司司長最近在立法會上的言行對澳門造成了極負面的影響。我們都懷疑行政當局的腐敗惡化。即使廉署一再挑剔小人物，一而再地小打小鬧，無數的蛛絲馬跡依然令我們不得不產生質疑。一旦散發出可疑的氣味，大鱷們總有時間散盡手上資產和轉移資源，繼而慢條斯理地離開現場。 

商訊 | 發行人語

文：雅士度

健康，甚至家庭原因都能帶來提前退休的結果。出於更迫切的理由，有人急不及待地離開澳門特別行政區，奔向葡萄牙等地，追求更美好的生活。幸運的是，這種情景並不普遍。誠實的人們同樣因合法的原因離開這座城市，他們無法對體制產生認同，更不用説克服，所以選擇另一種無愧於心的生活方式，儘管此舉令錢包大受損傷。我們更願意傾向於佔據大多數比例的後者。但若如此，就應當改變體制。所以…… 

作爲被賦予“治癒”政府一切最頑固疾病責任和權力的司長，陳海帆已在立法會上表明了政府對研究設立監督公務員行爲的紀律委員會持開放態度。然而，不過是轉眼間，就被推翻，變成“複雜”的事件。 

毫無疑問，這的確非常複雜，尤其是對那些沒有必要的政治意願而言。當所有調查都名副其實的時候，當中不涉及政治意願，一個充滿問題的世界將有待發掘…… 

借用行政法務司司長最具洞察力的話語，我們學到：“主管人員有責任監督及管理其下屬”。 

親愛的司長大人，請相信我們告訴你的事情，即使你確信自己已清楚了解：問題，最大的問題，並非前線工作人員。誰會費力把一名權力有限的小小公務員拉上歪道？也許有人需要得到些許幫助？首先要殲滅的是巨大的恩惠和最大宗的不誠實交易。這些都不是下屬能夠決定的！ 

但感謝你的坦言相告。雖然我們已了解，政府和你們的立場明確。這是史冊，現在不會帶來任何好處，但將向後代解釋澳門仍然走在不透明的道路上。 

美好願望 

對於我多年來始終支持的事情，何超鳳的見解與我相似。在亞洲國際娛樂展上，澳門博彩股份有限公司主席兼執行董事對此十分清晰。 

“為打造休閒旅遊業，澳門必須做好六項重要任務，包括改善本地基建設施；提高酒店承載力；增加非博彩設施；發展本地人力資源，以把握發展與機遇；發展旅遊業綠色經濟；避免旅遊業過度開發，以及發展高端市場。” 

當中的部分任務已得到解決，但其他任務仍處於頹勢。 

何女士未有道出，但我們清楚箇中原因。我不介意代替她作解説，冒著促使她再次就公共領域分享見解的風險。好吧，也許不那麼公開，因為某些政府思想家繼續假裝不需要計劃；工作可以在明年完成，一切都很好，因為我們熱愛祖國…… 

然而，讓我們為這些想法添加數據，理由是我們無法撰寫未經證實的意見並因此被評價。 

年復一年，政府得出極低的收入預算，且從不使用公共投資計劃中的分配小額預算。 

毫不奇怪，金融管理局透露，澳門特別行政區在1月至4月間錄得預算盈餘290億澳門元（35億美元），比全年度估算高六十個百分點。哇！ 我知道今年誰無法贏得諾貝爾經濟學獎了。再一次！ 

此外，政府前四個月的支出比同比減少了19.5％，約為163億澳門元。 

這代表着最多9,950萬澳門元支出的公共投資計劃，同比降低八十一個百分點。 

以下是更多資料……以防你仍然不相信。 

立法會公共財政事務跟進委員會最近透露，目前有52個公共項目的進展為零。 

讀者們，別忘了。這是澳門的官方基因。賺錢並把金錢囤積在某處，同時允許向關閘的另一邊送上部分捐款和獻金，還有向常見的嫌疑人名單提供季度補貼，卻避免為那些能夠將澳門打造成全球榜樣（令祖國深感自豪）的基礎設施和項目花費一分一毫。 當決定建造某些工程時，依靠的是永無止境的延遲和藉口，當然，還有超出預算。途徑，遠遠超支。 

我們需要爲此作研究？ 

CSG 研究發現，經港珠澳大橋抵達澳門旅客的平均消費比搭乘渡輪旅客的消費多32％。這是一個驚人的發現。 

如果你認為搭乘渡輪的旅客大多數是每天來澳門耍樂或工作的香港居民，更多旅客選擇港珠澳大橋，因為大橋不為香港居民提供服務，卻專注於機場——瞧！ 

我真誠地希望這項研究不會令澳門公帑付出代價，就如其他多數花費一樣，不具任何意義。 

What the Secretary for Public Administration did recently in the Legislative Assembly (AL) served Macau poorly. We all suspect corruption in the local Administration is vertiginous. And we sense it because there are countless signs, even though the CCAC continues to examine smaller fish. Sharks, when the scent of an investigation begins, have time to dissolve assets, transfer resources and slowly leave the scene.  

From the Publisher’s Desk

By Paulo A. Azevedo | Founder and Publisher

An early retirement, a good-bye for health or even family reasons. While others, with matters more pressing, hurriedly leave the MSAR and for good in search of greener pastures. To places like Portugal. Scenarios that fortunately are not widespread. Honest individuals will leave, too, for legitimate reasons. Because they cannot agree with the system and are unable to overcome it, opting for a quality of life that a quiet conscience provides them with despite the hit to the pocket. We would like to think that in spite of everything the latter are in the majority. But if they were, the system would change. So . . . 

Sonia Chan, the Secretary for responsibilities and power to ‘cure’ the biggest cancer of any Administration has demonstrated “openness” in the AL to the possibility of instituting a special council for discipline pertaining to public servants. But soon after stated that it would be “complicated”. 

Ah, no doubt about it. It will be very complicated indeed. Especially without the necessary political will. And there is no political will because if there were investigations worthy of that name a world of problems would await discovery . . . 

Adopting the most insightful of phrases of the Secretary of the Administration we learn: “Each manager has the responsibility to supervise his/her subordinates”. 

My dear Secretary, believe what we tell you – even though you know for sure that you know it well: the problem – the big problem – is not the frontline staff. Who is trying to divert a minor civil servant with limited power from the path of honesty? Maybe someone who needs a little favour? It is the great favours and the biggest dishonest deals that have to be eliminated first. And these are not decided by subordinates. 

But thanks for the talk. The position of the government and yours is clear, although we already knew it. It’s for the annals of history. It will not do any good now but will explain to future generations why Macau has continued on the path of opacity. 

Good wishes 

Daisy Ho agrees with what I’ve been espousing for many years. At G2E Asia, a gaming show here, the Chairman and Executive Director of SJM Holdings Limited was very clear.  

“The six important tasks for Macau tourism and leisure are to enhance local infrastructure, increase lodging capacity, add more non-gaming attractions, develop local human resources to keep up with leadership opportunities, promote a green economy in tourism, avoid over-tourism and move the customer base up-market”. 

Some of these tasks have been addressed but others lag behind. 

Ms. Ho didn’t say it, and we all know why, but I don’t mind saying it for her, risking having her share again opinions that have long belonged in the public domain. Well, maybe not so public since some government thinkers continue to pretend planning is not needed; work can be done next year, and all is well because we love the Motherland . . . 

But let’s add some numbers to these thoughts, so we will not be judged by writing unsubstantiated opinions. 

Year after year, the government calculates incredibly low income and never spends the small budget allocated in the Public Investment Plan (PIDDA). 

Not surprisingly, The Financial Services Bureau (DSF) reveals that the MSAR recorded a budget surplus of MOP29 billion (US$3.5 billion) between January and April, a value already 60 per cent higher than that estimated for the entire year. Wow! I know who is not going to win the Nobel Prize for Economics this year. Again. 

Also, the amount of expenses incurred by the government in the first four months, was 19.5 per cent lower than in the year prior, some MOP16.3 billion. 

The PIDDA, which represents the largest expense at MOP994.5 million, was 81 per cent lower than that expended in the same period last year. 

Let’s add more info . . . just in case you remain unconvinced. 

The Follow-up Committee for Public Finance of the Legislative Assembly (AL) recently revealed that currently 52 public projects are posting zero progress. 

So folks, forget it. It’s in Macau’s official DNA. Make money, stack it somewhere – while allowing some donations and contributions to the other side of the border plus quarterly subsidies to the usual suspects – and avoid spending on infrastructure and projects that could make Macau an example worldwide (that the Motherland could be proud of). And when a decision is made to build something, count on never ending delays, excuses and, of course, over-budget. Way, way over-budget. 

Do we need research for this? 

CSG Research has found that visitors to Macau arriving via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB) spent on average 32 per cent more than visitors using the sea ports. Amazing findings. 

If you consider that the people using the ferries are – most of them – Hong Kong residents that either come and play or commute daily to work here and the ones using the bridge are tourists rather than the above – because the bridge does not serve Hong Kong but the airport in particular – voila! 

I sincerely hope that this research was not paid for from Macau’s coffers like so many others that are of absolutely no interest whatsoever. 

The largest gaming industry fair takes place here this month. And an exhibition where producers of casino equipment reveal what they are launching on the market. So, it is appropriate to speak of one of the biggest nonsensical situations that has come to be fed by malicious individuals.

From the Publisher’s Desk

By Paulo A. Azevedo | Founder and Publisher

A few years ago, someone started the rumour that the local government forbade the advertising of gaming equipment. From slot machines to other software destined not for sale to the general public but to the industry itself. Conveniently, such advertisements allegedly prohibited in some media were, however, accepted in others – the so-called industry media.

This is patently silly – and only ignorance can lead to such fears. But the truth is that the fashion caught on. Which only shows how lack of knowledge fuelled by the unfounded fears of those who think that local government is devoid of rules makes Macau a place still feared by investors.

The government has never banned such a thing. If it wanted to, then the Legislative Assembly would have to change the current gaming law that does, in fact, allow this kind of publicity.

What is advised against is the advertising of casino games per se: the act of gambling and its promotion. For example: ‘Come and play at Casino X because it is here you can make the fortune of your life’.

If one day the government has the intention of prohibiting the advertising of gaming industry equipment it will certainly not make any distinction between the media.

It is advisable that the people who come to this city inform themselves, because, like this lie many others are fed by ignorance, fear and indifference.

Invest in operational efficiency

With some pomp and circumstance we learn that Chief Executive (CE) Fernando Chui Sai On has signed an agreement with the Bank of China (BoC) giving residents better access to BoC facilities.

Under the terms of the agreement, Macau residents can now use their resident identity cards as a form of accepted identity for opening accounts, handling cards, registering or trading using financial services for around 500 overseas branches of BoC.

All very nice and certainly important. But I for one would prefer BoC use its resources to improve its service to the public here. Queuing at the bank’s sub-branch in San Ma Lou is incomprehensibly terrifying. All three times I needed to be served I gave up after waiting for more than an hour.

BoC leads the ranking of banks in the MSAR. And pockets more profits. It should bet on introducing faster, more efficient services. And certainly no-one would complain about an upgrade in the number of employees serving the public in a timely and professional manner.

Culture of punishment

It is terrifying to note that a taxi driver ran over two ladies and a two-year-old. It is equally terrifying to see that a citizen decided to punch an elderly man because his young grandson might have had an altercation with his son. The blow struck allegedly led to the death of the old man.

Are both the taxi driver and aggressor guilty of reckless, irresponsible and probably criminal actions? No doubt. But the main responsibility – as we are tired of saying – lies with a government that insists on betting on a culture of punishment rather one of education.

The Secretary for Security can put as many video cameras on the road as he wants and the police can conduct alcohol tests. Driving at speed and drunkenness increase the severity of acts, if proven in court. But the truth is that in most cases there is no speeding or alcohol in the blood when similar incidents occur.

Authorities continue to think that a trampling at 60 kilometres per hour kills infants less than an 80 kph hit. What kills is ignorance. And the dearth of education campaigns – consequent, effective – are equally criminal. Unfortunate events that should force the people in charge to respond as co-defendants.

Great business on the prowl

Many of the main local figures are linked, directly or indirectly, to civil construction.

For years the new El Dorado of urban renewal has been underway. Imagine the trillions of patacas to be gained from the renovation of a large part of the city.

Macau Urban Renewal Limited, S.A. is the public company registered for the city’s urban renewal. With an initial capital of MOP100 million (US$12.38 million) it will be 96 per cent held by the government, three per cent by the Industrial and Commercial Development Fund (FDIC) and one per cent by the Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT).

We can anticipate some great fortunes to sharpen the teeth before such an appetising cake, and it will be interesting to see how the various powers position themselves on the political chess table. So much so that there are names that have refused to take up public nominations because they have more to gain doing business. With the right guanxi.

We can only hope that responsibility will finally triumph and that much of the pervasive monkey business that has historically been tolerated will decrease considerably. In the name of the collective interest. Clearly, we are not optimistic . . .

小城將於月内舉行最大型的博彩業博覽會。另外，博彩設備製造商將在另一個展覽上推銷自己即將面市的產品。因此，人們惡意提出的其中一項荒謬之至的情況值得討論。

商訊 – 發行人語 | 雅士度

數年前，有傳言流出，指澳門特區政府禁止刊登以博彩設備為主體的廣告，那些不出售給普羅大眾的角子機或博彩軟件均在其列。然而，這類據稱被某些媒體嚴令禁止的廣告卻被其他媒體所接受——即所謂的行業媒體。

這顯然是愚蠢的——因無知才會產生這種恐懼。事實上，卻是流行佔了上風。這只不過上演了一齣知識貧乏的人如何因毫無根據的恐懼而被愚弄的鬧劇，他們都認爲本地政府的目無法紀令投資者對澳門憂心忡忡。

政府從未禁止這樣的事情。如果當局希望如此，立法會將必須修訂現行的博彩法。事實上，當局允許這種宣傳。

被建議避免刊登的是娛樂場博彩遊戲本身的廣告，即博彩行為本身及相關的推廣。例如：“來某某娛樂場耍樂，你有機會成為大贏家。”

當政府決定禁止博彩設備廣告，肯定不會對媒體作任何區分。

進入這座城市的人可這樣告訴自己，因為類似的謠言大多源於無知、恐懼和漠不關心。

投資運營效率

在某些排場和場合，我們了解到行政長官崔世安已與中國銀行（以下簡稱“中銀”）簽署協議，為居民使用銀行設施提供便利。

根據協議條款，澳門居民均可凴本地居民身份證到中銀全球範圍内的五百多家機構辦理開戶、辦卡、登記或交易等金融業務。

所有安排都很好且十分重要。但我個人更希望中銀利用手上資源，改善公眾服務。新馬路支行等候服務的人龍之長實在令人難以置信。我曾經三次到這家銀行辦理業務，但等待一個多小時後，我都放棄了。

中銀作爲澳門特別行政區銀行業界的領頭羊，獲得更多利潤，理應投入更多，改善服務的速度和效率。當然，沒有人會因服務人員數量和專業程度升級而作出投訴。

處罰文化

一名的士司機撞倒兩名女士和一名兩歲女童；一名居民決定襲擊一名老人，只因他的兒子或與老人的孫子發生了衝突，同時，這名老人據稱被打死了。這些都是令人恐懼的事情。

的士司機和打人者是否都犯下了魯莽、不負責任和可能的刑事罪行？答案毫無疑問。但正如我們都不厭其煩地一再重複，主要責任在於政府對懲罰文化的偏執，而非選擇教育文化。

保安司司長可以在路上安裝數不盡的攝錄機，警方亦可以大範圍進行酒精測試。若法庭能夠證明，超速駕駛和醉駕確實能夠增加危險駕駛行爲的刑罰。但事實上，在大多數情況下，當發生類似事件時，不存在超速駕駛，司機血液中亦偵測不到酒精的蹤影。

官方堅持以每小時60公里速度行駛而過的輾壓、少於80公里/小時的撞擊足以殺死一名嬰孩。殺人的罪魁禍首是無知。教育推廣枯竭的結果同樣具有犯罪性。不幸事件應該迫使負責人稱爲共同被告並作出回應。

徘徊中的商機

澳門許多具舉足輕重地位的人士都或多或少與民間土木工程有所關聯。

多年來，打造烏托邦的城市更新計劃一直持續進行中。試想一下，從城市大部分區域的翻新工程中獲得數萬億澳門元。

作爲為城市更新而專門註冊的公共資本企業，澳門都市更新股份有限公司的初始資本為1億澳門元（折合約1,238萬美元），政府持有96％，工商業發展基金佔有百分之三，科學技術發展基金的佔比為百分之一。

在享用這個美味蛋糕之前，我們期待享用巨大的財富作磨牙的頭盤小食，看看各種政治勢力的自我定位過程將很有趣。爲此，有人拒絕接受公開提名，因為他們有更多生意要做，把持着正確的“關係”。

我們只能希望責任將最終登上寶座，且過往歷史所容忍的大部分小丑戲碼業務將大幅減少，以集體利益名義發誓。顯然，前景並不樂觀……

儘管行政法務司司長曾經許下承諾，但澳門將永遠無法設立問責制，行政機構持續過低的透明度，令簡單的措詞已無法描述腐敗和行政違法的實際嚴重程度。 

發行人語 | 雅士度

最近，廉署揭露市政署負責人自2012年開始濫用職權、澳門特區駐北京辦事處的領導亦得到了同樣的指控，總是問題多多的土地工務運輸局亦被指違法工程合法化處理。案件引起了公眾的注意。這些跡象令人擔憂，甚至令人懷疑某些事情正悄然發生變化，演變成了戲劇性的腫瘤。 

除非採取措施，更有效地解決問題，否則這種趨勢將隨著時間的推移而惡化。由於主管當局的無能為力，令違法者更加氣焰囂張。並非只有澳門的公共機器才會發生自然鬆懈的狀況，在世界其他地方亦時有發生。 

顯然非幸運號碼 

十三第酒店繼續成為城中話題。 

出於最糟糕的理由，甚至可以炫耀一番，這必定是投資界最古怪的案例之一。這座建築物花費了數以億計的美元，卻依然繼續推遲開業時間。 

有投資者垂頭喪氣地離開了，他們已經接受了自己的損失，並在離開時用力地關上了大門。其他人則興高采烈地步入那個看似酒店的場所，設或不設娛樂場，這裡依然自豪地關上那面向公眾的大門。某些聚會，或以更私密的方式，為客戶提供服務。 

整件事情中最古怪的是，澳門政府顯然對細節所知不多。這種漠視的滲透，令這宗古怪事件更加引人注目。就正如這一切都是禁忌。 

當然，在香港證券交易所上市的房地產開發商並不適合投機。對本地政府而言，同樣索然無味，卻視之為榮譽問題——請不要笑——小城的生意業務與任何其他重視自身的城市一樣，清澈透明。 

稅與否 

雖然有酒店繼續吹噓自己的高入住率——當中存有謬誤，因博彩業中介人僅保留房間，卻沒有使用——澳門現因城市飛速增加的旅客數量而處於掙扎的旋渦，尋求解決方案。 

3500萬訪客，是否過多了？ 

十年前，已有不少人士發現，若能夠按時計劃和交付基礎設施的話，3,500萬旅客或許並不算多。但事實並非如此，奇蹟也沒有發生。因此，我們現在要將這些數字視為一個難題，而非祝福。 

然而，政府繼續尷尬地作出可能不受歡迎的決定，並且以此為理由，繼續擁抱數百萬入境旅客，這些旅客幾乎沒有為這座城市作任何貢獻，但統計數據卻令人啼笑皆非。在不太遙遠的未來，這或將被證明是定時炸彈。 

我們必須作出選擇：數量？抑或質量？那一項對澳門特區更有利。 

這座城市很迷你，資源稀缺，在這裡常住的居民同樣需要得到保護，旅客自身亦然。 

或者，若他們因如此龐大數量的旅客感到厭惡的話，還會在這裡紮根嗎？服務的質素和接待旅客的方式會否被徹底改變？ 

如果這意味著徵稅，或大幅削減那些質素存疑的旅客，就讓我們繼續做出決定。與看待輸入勞工等其他難題一樣，必須以相同的方式面對這個問題。 

政府是否仍未決定推行配額制度，以保障本地居民就業，避免僱用可能多餘的勞動力？ 

好吧，也和旅客問題一樣的做法。 

押注那些為城市貢獻更多的旅客，限制那些很少或根本沒有貢獻的人。 

就一次，讓我們把籌碼押到質量之上。 

Macau will never have a system of accountability – despite the promises of the Secretary for Administration – and the administrative machine remains too opaque to present us with the simple notion of how enormous the level of corruption and administrative illegality actually is. 

From the Publisher’s Desk

By Paulo A. Azevedo | Founder and Publisher

The recent cases brought to the public’s attention – IAM division head suspected of abuse of power since 2012; the head of the Macau SAR Office delegation in Beijing also accused of abuse of power; and the always problematic Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT) found to have allowed the illegal construction of an independent house in Coloane – are just a concerning sign of something that we suspect to be a dramatic tumour. 

Unless measures are taken to combat this problem more effectively, the tendency – and the natural laxity of the public machine, which is not a monopoly of Macau, and happens elsewhere – will worsen over time encouraging the confidence of offenders in the lack of ability of the competent authorities. 

Clearly not a lucky number 

The 13 continues to intrigue.  

To dazzle even, for the worst reasons. It must be one of the strangest cases in the investment world. Hundreds of millions of US dollars buried in a building which continues to fail successive opening times. 

There were investors who left – with their heads drooping, having accepted their losses – and slammed the door on their way out. Others have happily entered what seems to be a hotel, with or without casino, which continually and proudly closes its doors to the public. Despite some parties, and possibly accommodating clients in a more private way. 

The curious thing in the midst of all this is the apparent lack of interest of the Macau Government in wanting to know the details. A kind of shrug permeates that makes the mystery even more compelling and intriguing. As if it were all taboo. 

Certainly, speculation does not suit property developer South Shore Holdings Ltd., a company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. And also should not interest the local government, which should consider it a matter of honour – do not laugh, please – that business here is as transparent as in any other city that values itself. 

To tax or not to tax 

While some hotels continue to boast of their very high occupancy rates – some of which is fallacious because rooms are not used despite being reserved by gaming promoters – Macau is now struggling with how to handle its burgeoning number of tourists.  

Are 35 million visitors too many or not? 

As many discovered almost a decade ago, these 35 million would probably not be that many if infrastructure had been planned and delivered on time. But it wasn’t and there are no miracles. Ergo now we do need to face these numbers as a problem rather than as a blessing. 

We continue, however, to be embarrassed to make decisions that may not be popular and with this we continue to allow the entry of millions of tourists who bring little or nothing to the city but statistics to crow about. A situation that in the not too distant future may prove to be a time bomb. 

We must choose whether we want quantity or quality: who cares to the SAR.  

The city is tiny, resources are scarce, and there is a resident population that also has to be protected. Tourists themselves have to be protected. 

Or do you think they will be if a feeling of revulsion at such large numbers of visitors takes root here? Do you think that the quality of services and the way of receiving those who visit us will not be drastically altered? 

If this means imposing taxes or dramatically reducing those tours of tourists of doubtful quality, then let’s go ahead with the decision. This matter has to be seen in the same light as other conundrums. Like the importation of labour, for example. 

Has the government not decided to impose quotas to avoid hiring labour that could be redundant, with the intention of not penalising access to the employment of local residents? 

Well, do it also with the tourists.  

Bet on those who have more to give to the city and limit those who have little or nothing to contribute.  

For once, bet on quality. 

They have everything to be the most desired market. A middle class that is growing at the rate of many millions a year, a will for discovery, perhaps explained by decades of closure of the country, and of course, a population of many millions. “China, a rising star,” was one of the hot topics of the last day of the World Travel & Tourism Council, which took place in Seville, Spain.
For Alex Dichter, Senior Partner Mckinsey & Company, there is no doubt: Chinese tourists are “going to be the driver of tourism.” And the numbers are there to confirm, something that Macau already knows, but others are only now starting to discover. And it seems more exciting by the day. Last year almost 150 million Chinese left the country to travel the world. “In less than two decades, outbound Chinese travel has rocketed by over 1000%, and is forecasted to hit 400 million mark by 2030,” says the WTCC. And this, says Alex Dichter, at a time when the Chinese economy has been cooling down.
The evolution of this market is exciting for the tourism industry. If you still think that Chinese tourists want to travel to go shopping, think again. It was so, in fact, but now it is less. “It went from first to fifth place,” according to a survey conducted by Dichter’s management consulting firm.
Xiang Li, Professor & Director of the U.S.-Asia Center for Tourism and Hospitality Research, Temple University, explains the apparent phenomenon: “Initially, travel from China was relatively rare, so tourists wanted to be stranded with goods. This is no longer the case today. These days Chinese tourists are becoming more comfortable with traveling. They want to relax, have fun.” This might explain the first place in the survey quoted by Dichter: “Nature.”
The Chinese, according to Terry von Bibra, appointed in 2016 by Alibaba Group to be its Europe General Manager, “Like to plan holidays better than Americans or Europeans.” And they prefer to do almost everything from their mobile phone. “In China it is not mobile first, but mobile only,” he says. Again, “an amazing evolution” in such short time.
Moreover, investors and entrepreneurs, many of them present in Seville, know that the future of the industry will see greater growth in developing countries.
Javier Andrino, International Marketing & Luxury Development Director of El Corte Inglés, points out other numbers. Over the next 25 years developed countries will grow from the current US$30 trillion to 34 trillion, while developing ones will jump from US$12 trillion today to 36 trillion. And a good slice will be Chinese, which explains the strong bet that Europe has been making to attract more and more tourists of the rising star.

* Project Asia Corp. was invited by WTCC to the event in Seville

It was an adventurous and sometimes intimate Barack Obama who introduced himself to an audience that overcame the 3,200 seats to basically tell stories and give advice to the delegates of the 19th edition of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTCC) that this Wednesday had its first of two days of sessions on the challenges facing the industry.

Serene, confident, playful and humble; everything the former President of the United States knows pleases those who hear him. And now, without the pressure of the White House’s cutting-edge policy and the venomous political corridors of Washington, elevated to another galaxy. And so, he did not disappoint, even if his presence was far from fundamental to the objectives of the event from a strictly professional point of view.

The value of Obama was in the media attention he secured, projecting the event to another dimension. If that justifies what the Spanish newspaper El Mundo claimed to have been Obama’s cachet – US$400,000 for an hour of sofa talk with the Hilton Group Chairman and WTCC Chairman – is something only the organizers will determine.

With the visit to Seville, the American Democrat ended up paying a “debt” of the past, when he cancelled a previous visit to the city, while still sitting in the Oval Office, and returned from Spain to the US after an attack that killed five policemen in Dallas.

Under the guise of travel, after all the industry for which the WTCC has the responsibility of lobbying, Obama pulled the strands of his memory and shared experiences. From when he had no money and came to this same Spain, still a boy, sleeping in hostels in Barcelona, sharing “bread and wine” and strolling along the famous Ramblas.

But he also spoke of the family, in tones of a conversation between friends; of his wife, Michelle, daughters, now with 17 and 20 years old, and how traveling and encountering cultures opens the horizons and makes the world smaller, but also more conciliatory. Because knowledge about different cultural backgrounds “leads to greater understanding” and therefore makes it easier to compromise.

A political splinter was thrown. No names, but easily detectable. Who is in the antipodes of Obama nowadays: confrontational, disrespectful, arrogant, insecure?

But traveling, says Barack Obama, makes us discover even more: “Makes us see what we have.” And what we can lose if we do not act, he warned. And thus, the theme of destabilization that is being forced on the environment arrives. And with climate change, he asserted, “comes the impact on migratory outbreaks,” because it is all interconnected. All with consequences.

Confidence is in the younger generations, although “old people do not like to lose power.” Young people “are not afraid, they are more adventurous.” There is hope.

The advice he gives to his daughters can be summed in two phrases: “be kind and be useful.” His defense of the role of women in global society and ‘Obamacare’, which extended healthcare to economically disadvantaged Americans, earned him immediate support from the audience. It was not difficult, again, to realize who his target was. Donald Trump’s name was never mentioned. It was not needed.

And what makes Obama proud? In addition to the aforementioned medical support plan, the fact that “we prevented a Great Depression.” The debased consequences of the economic crisis that erupted in 2008, which will more than certainly have a chapter or more in the book that he is working on that will portray his presidency.

In addition to that, he says, between smiles, “We had no scandals. We maintained a high level of integrity. We hired people who were there [White House] for the right reasons.” Again, the audience understood.

Among the work of his Foundation to support young people who may be tomorrow’s leaders, Barack Obama wants to see if he will discover, with time and pace, other places on this planet that were connected by the oceans exactly 500 years ago, with the first voyage of circumnavigation that left from this same city, Seville, led by a Portuguese, but to which all give a Spanish name.

“I want to go to Angkor Wat,” he says, because when he was in Cambodia, agenda issues did not allow him to go to one of the largest religious complexes in the world. But also, to the Taj Mahal in India, also scratched from the presidential agenda by another political emergency. And Patagonia.

With his mission accomplished, Obama left the room, applauded by the audience on its feet. When his caravan ran off at the speed of the Palacio Congresos, few people noticed a small group of demonstrators on the other side of the avenue, who shouted, “Seville is not for sale!” a consequence of the impact that the strong tourist development irremediably has, but that’s for another chronicle.

* Project Asia Corp. was invited by WTCC to the event in Seville