AL PLENARY| Lawmakers deem ‘Occupy Central’ illegal and harmful

Lawmakers Sio Chi Wai and Zheng Anting have criticized pro-democracy movement “Occupy Central,” currently underway in Hong Kong. In yesterday’s Legislative Assembly plenary session, they urged the people of Macau to maintain their commitment to loving their city and their nation.
Dubbing the movement illegal, Sio Chi Wai said that Occupy Central “is indeed severely harming the city’s economy, life, traffic, social harmony, and [is affecting] its international image, and relations with the central government.” He added that Hong Kong’s society would face the consequences, as students have occupied some of the HKSAR’s streets for over 15 days.
Sio Chi Wai believes that Macau’s political system should be developed progressively, requiring joint efforts from different sectors of society. He recalled plans to develop the current political framework according to the law, through broad dialogue and rational debate.
The lawmaker urged locals to reinforce their love for Macau and for the nation. “The love for our nation and Macau has always been the social basis of Macau’s legal system. We should therefore ponder the consolidation and the development of that social concept of loving Macau and our nation,” he stressed.
The “one country, two systems” policy has been successful over the past 15 years due to “strict compliance with the Basic Law,” he reiterated.
Zheng Anting shares a similar point of view, stating that the MSAR can draw its own conclusions from the “Occupy Central” movement: The region, he said, cannot rush into the fight for democracy.
He too thinks that respecting the Basic Law is crucial to ensure and reinforce the “one country, two systems” policy. And he also vowed for the Macau government to promote patriotism.
“When someone is hoping to achieve a predefined goal, by any means, it will only lead society to anarchy, ‘where residents will not be left alone even when eating,’ besides facing consequences to their businesses,” he said.
He added that the Occupy Central movement has revealed conflicting [opinions] among society, leading to mutual mistrust. “This has to serve to alert Macau’s society,” he stated.
As young people in Macau are uncertain and insecure about their future, Zheng Anting called on the government to uncover the reasons behind social discontentment and act accordingly. “Young people feel insecure about their future, particularly due to rising real estate prices and an increase on the general cost of living,” he recalled.
Zheng Anting urged the government to find out what the motivations are behind social conflicts and to work toward mitigating them. “In recent years, protests were not only held in Hong Kong, but also in Macau, which in a certain way revealed the government’s lack of means to deal with residents’ discontentment,” he remarked.
The lawmaker went even further, saying that the government should better promote “patriotism” in schools and prevent external forces from intervening in Macau’s political affairs, thus avoiding situations in which external forces fund activities intended to disrupt Macau’s public order.

more smoke in vip rooms

A full smoking ban on mass gaming floors took effect early this month, but lawmaker Lei Cheng I revealed in a spoken enquiry that although casinos’ air quality has improved, some employees claim that gamblers often use VIP rooms to smoke, harming the health of casino dealers working in these particular areas. “[They are turning them] into actual smoke rooms which harm [the health] of those working in VIP rooms,” she recalled. “I call on the government once more to rigorously enforce the law and perform its job well, to end once and for all the ‘grey areas’ and avoid casinos taking advantage of loopholes,” Lei Cheng I stated. Casino employees have told her that after the smoking ban was enforced, gamblers in mass gaming floors enter VIP rooms when they wish to smoke, without showing any VIP membership card.

al budget approved

Lawmakers have unanimously approved a MOP166 million budget for the Legislative Assembly in the coming year. In yesterday’s AL plenary meeting, legislators green lit a budget over MOP166 million, representing a MOP17,861 increase over the previous year. The increase was due to higher expenses with staff and the acquisition of goods and services, among other reasons.