A voter told the Times, “I found some lawmakers to be ‘slogan-yellers’ and not fulfilling their promises made during the election.”
The voter, surnamed Lei, said that before the election day he did a review on lawmakers’ performances during the past four years. “They should have vetoed the policies that were bad for residents,” he said.
For example, the transfer of the handling authority on civil assembly from the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM) to the Public Security Police Force (PSP) was one of the many policy moments he remembered with clarity.
Before the enactment of the law, the IAM handled declaration of civil assembly. When the law review was discussed, concerns were raised that the transfer of authority may result in the PSP having excessive power to veto assemblies that would oppose the government’s policies or administrative directions.
The voter was also concerned with the fact that many lists in this election, as part of their election platforms, call on the government to issue more subsidies to people.
“But I consider otherwise, especially when during the [Covid-19] pandemic gambling income has plummeted,” Lei said. “First and foremost, what have these lawmakers done except calling on the government to do something?”
His opinion is not completely negative. He pointed out that some lawmakers had done “real work”, such as working for animal rights and the Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) scheme.
Another voter, surnnamed Ng, said that, although she liked lawmakers monitoring the government, she thinks lawmakers should “put their feet in residents’ shoes.”
She feels that lawmakers have not made changes to the city that they promised repeatedly. “Honestly, lawmakers from each legislative term have made promises to solve these or those problems, but in the end it seemed that they did nothing,”
As such, she hoped that the new term of lawmakers would actually “do something for the residents.”
She said she was more concerned with issues related to residence and transport, which affects people’s daily life.
A voter and mother of three named Leong is concerned with housing problems in Macau. She disclosed that, although she has a relatively large nuclear family, she is still living with her parents.
“Property prices in Macau are too expensive,” she said. When she finished schooling, she started applying for an economic housing apartment. However, she made a small mistake while filling out the application form and was eventually eliminated from the queue.
“Despite moving up in a queue, I don’t see a chance of getting an apartment,” Leong said. Her first successful application put her in the 9000s in the queue, while her most recent application was in the mid-5,000s.
As for the current queuing system, she found it more advantageous for people who had been born and raised, and had spent decades, in Macau. “Before, it was easy for many new-comers to get an apartment early. They simply needed to apply with an elderly [resident],” she explained.
She said she has lived in Macau for more than three decades, but she still could not get an economic housing unit.
In contrast to her personal housing concerns, another voter and father of three, also named Leong, was concerned with the overall economy and the city’s economic diversity.
“The tourism industry is crucial to the city. It concerns many people’s livelihood and income,” he said. “I think the new Hengqin plan will help diversify the city’s economy. However, it’s still a long way to go.”
By this, he meant that the Guangdong-Macau Intensive Cooperation Zone in Hengqin will not provide an immediate boost to the economy. He found the revival of the local economy to be the most urgent issue for both the executive and the legislature.
He also discussed the cost of consumer goods. Excluding his mortgage, he revealed that his average household spending is about MOP10,000 per month. He hopes consumer goods prices will fall back to a more reasonable level. Although he has not been furloughed so far, he has a sense of impending doom.
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