Bizcuits | Hopes for the policy address

Leanda Lee

Next week will see the start of the delivery of Macau’s 2016 Policy Address by the CE followed by various sessions over subsequent days to explain the programme and answer questions. After that, the secretaries will take their turns to explain guidelines in their respective areas of responsibility through into December.
There has been a concerted effort to reach out into the community to offer easy access to the information about the SAR’s direction: we can expect live broadcasts through TDM on both television and radio, numerous government websites, a mobile app produced by the CE’s office and one produced by the Government Information Office. Being where we are, information would not be complete without WeChat. For the luddites among us, hard copies of the address will be made available and just to make sure that every household is aware that it’s Policy Address time, we should also see brochures delivered to our mail boxes. The form looks functional.
As a resident, parent, investor, home and business owner and one that rides buses, drives the roads, walks the pathways and breathes the air, as another year goes by I have hopes, rather than expectations, of the Policy Address. The first hope is that it shall not be merely form over function or substance.
The policy address interests me because I want to know how the government intends to remove any obstacles to help me in my various life quests: to live sustainably in a clean and less wasteful fashion in a secure and safe environment; to have government and departmental decisions transparent so that I know where to place my efforts (or not). You will have your own list but gossamer clear criteria and timeframes for applications for blue-card quotas, residency, financial grants and various licenses would really help; to know that the playground of business will run on the same rules as yesterday or at least not be hit with too many surprises – the big boys in town have the means and methods but I am privy to only some of the ways to navigate the arbitrariness and reflexive decisions in Macau’s bureaucratic environment. SMEs need a bit more guidance.
I hope to gain an understanding of the government’s vision on the nature and size of the segments of our economy. By 2020 what proportion of taxation income do they see will be provided by mass/VIP/non-gaming offerings by concessionaires? What of the size of education, health-care, other entertainment, services, technology, creative and new industries…? More importantly, why these goals and how can both the SMEs and Macau’s income tax cash-cows assist with the vision? I want to see a plan, a real one, not generalisations about “joining hands to weather the changes”: numbers, timelines and a blueprint because with this I will understand where I fit in, where I can contribute and whether I still want to.
I hope to hear from the management team of our SARs how it all fits together because we don’t make decisions in a vacuum. Macau’s size and inter-relatedness means that significant changes in almost any area of our lives impacts upon something else – cross-over and spill-over effects are immediate and life-changing.
Most of all, I hope to hear how Macau managed to achieve the broad vision of last year, and the year before and 5, even 10, years before that. How are we going with the population policy, or the reviews of the public housing policy, the transportation network and reclaimed areas? Are we on track? Why, why not? What are the measures of success and evidence of efficacy of implemented policies? What of other research and studies; how have the findings informed policy decisions? And instead of detailing the meal allowances, subsidies and governmental largess to the needy, what are we doing to eliminate the underlying reasons for such need?
For me, more than the inputs, it is substantiated and enumerated evidence of success and failure in the review document that is key. Accountability and track record are important: through these we shall know how much of the 2016 address we can count on.