Leanda Lee
“How long have you been in Macau?” appears an innocent enough question but can be heavily laden with judgement depending upon the answer and enquirer. It’s fulfilling to know one’s community, to belong and become part of the fabric of society, and with so many people coming and going there’s always the opportunity to lend a hand and assist newbies to understand one’s own version of the ‘truth’ of Macau.
Invariably our version is incomplete; not just because our experience is limited but because there are so many perspectives and unknowables; the stories vary depending upon the source; and bureaucratic processes seem to change overnight. Secrecy and lack of transparency aren’t the only obfuscators; inaccessibility to groups and communities due to cultural and class differences, ethnicity, and language is part of our reality here. There are the known, the knowable, the complex and the chaotic. The latter are in abundance in our town.
We meet many old-hand (and some newly) localised foreigners who profess knowledge and navigational skills of our complex community per virtue of networks inaccessible to all but the chosen few – it’s a kind of status symbol. “You seem to be well connected,” or “You’re well informed” are high-order compliments, if not a little patronising.
Then there are the rest with limited time, resources, need or interest who merely explain the goings on around us with the perfunctory “That’s Macau!” It’s an acknowledgement that true understanding will never be reached; chaos is not to be understood.
The newbies that care or are sufficiently frustrated often exhibit moments of enthusiasm, energy, and effort once they start to settle and have some ability to manoeuvre through the complexity. Many come to Macau from cultures that value action when they judge that things can be better. They assume that the problems that they perceive have not been fixed because they haven’t been identified, the solution hasn’t been found or implemented, the time hasn’t been right, the community and authorities are apathetic, or the right person with the right skills just hasn’t emerged – the implication being that only someone from outside has the insight and capability. Indeed, organisational change studies suggest that this is often the case: even if people inside have the capacity, it’s often easier for those from outside who aren’t part of the system of political interests to push for change. Changes to legislation; customer service mindset; medical knowledge, technology and techniques; community integration; journalism; pedagogy at all levels of education; expectations of higher living standards; better housing, cuisine…I know newcomers to Macau in all these fields who have brought with them improvements to these areas and more – we have all benefited.
One person or a group of people can certainly make a difference to our community. Whether it be opportunistic behaviour by service providers, betrayal of freedoms, demise of our green belt, loss of sports venues, overcrowding of community space, roads and facilities; or many other leakages from community amenity and of the common good, those who dare take action or speak up about such matters will invariably hit resistance as they attempt to change the status quo.
People don’t like others prodding at the norms even if they are outdated or lousy, for we become comfortable with those norms, we “go native”. People feel threatened by change and will fight back. So, incredulity at the audacity of newbies to affect change creates resistance and attack or just mean-spiritedness aimed at someone new having the courage to dare to step forward, dare to demand, dare to speak up.
Let change agents have a go, if they get it wrong, they will have more stories about the idiosyncratic Macau and at worst lose a job or residency, but if they Dare Greatly and get it right, life may just get a little better.
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