Our Desk
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Healthy Macau – from a micro to a macro perspective
Conversations about obesity often focus on individual responsibility. “Eating better, moving more, and trying harder” are typical phrases. This simplistic framing overlooks a structural ... -
Chatbot confessions: A mental health crisis in the making
Picture this: Your teen, midmeltdown, seeks solace in a chatbot, texting it instead of telling you. It’s not just a Macau thing – it’s ... -
Big dreams, yet lost in translation
In Macau, language barriers in the medical sector are impossible to ignore. Cantonese, Portuguese, Mandarin, and English coexist, but fluency is uneven. Even with ... -
Pursuit of visitor numbers is driving away high-value tourists
Overcrowding during Macau’s peak tourist season has become a persistent concern, with critics accusing tourism authorities of prioritizing visitor numbers over residents’ well-being. Tourism ... -
History lessons say progress comes after turmoil
We often tell ourselves this comforting story about how humanity’s progress happens gradually through diplomacy, cooperation, and stability. In this version of history, societies ... -
Macau’s misfired concert dream
The Cotai outdoor performance venue, heralded as a game-changer for Macau’s entertainment ambitions, now faces a stark pivot, a conversion into a humble three-on-three ... -
The nursery race that turns parents into anxious spectators
Nursery school interviews in Macau have quietly become a source of stress for many parents. The nursery admission interviews commenced earlier this month and ... -
The urgent need to preserve Cantonese
A local Portuguese-language media outlet reported numerous errors in Macau’s Portuguese language usage, with a commentator suggesting that the government is gradually placing less ... -
Uber-taxis won’t fix the structural problem
Macau’s transportation woes are not new. Long queues at taxi stands, scarce taxis during peak hours, and residents struggling to get a ride home ... -
Generative AI: playground, power tool or pandora’s box?
Like most, I’ve tinkered with ChatGPT, Perplexity, DeepSeek and other AI agents, prompting them to draft emails, brainstorm ideas, offer opposing views and simulate ... -
The gallop begins, but is Macau ready?
Macau’s tourism engine is running at full speed again during Chinese New Year. Visitor numbers have risen, surpassing the government’s cautious projections. Streets are ... -
The issue of making babies
It is not new that the falling birth rate in Macau and its consequences of turning our society into a super-aged one (over 20% ... -
Ready to organize the Olympics?
Following the words of President Xi Jinping and other high-ranking officials from the Central Government, the local government has rushed to promote the idea ... -
All in the same boat, they say
The mandate that all Filipino nationals should undergo mass testing has led to public outcry, fueled frustrations and disappointment among many, and several have ... -
Our Desk | This is not a democracy – Part 1
This is not a democracy! This was a sentence I have gotten used to hearing since my early days in Macau. I confess that ... -
Our Desk | Macau’s (new) low standards
In a region that survives almost exclusively on tourism and the service sector, we should expect that its service standards would be of a ... -
Our Desk | Anxiety among Gen Z
The distressing suicides of several young people this year have come to the attention of the education and social welfare bureaus, implying the urgent ... -
Our Desk | Predictions for the Ox-picious new year
This new year will be running under the auspiciousness of the Metal Ox. This means that it will be certainly a lucky one (as ... -
Our Desk | What’s going on with these people?
On the same day I wrote this article, something happened during my bus trip, which expanded my horizons. I was on my way to ... -
Our Desk | The fallout from ill-planned infrastructure
Several weeks ago, I took my first ride on the Macau Light Rail Transit (LRT), heading from The Londoner Macao to Old Taipa Village ... -
Our Desk | An inconvenient dependency
If there is something that the Covid-19 pandemic is responsible for, it is definitely the highlighting of certain dependencies, links, and interactions that most ... -
Our Desk | Social turmoil it is
“Macau seems to be changing a lot.” This is what I would normally hear following all the economic consequences brought forth by the pandemic. ... -
Our Desk | Hengqin the new ‘El Dorado’?
History says that when Christopher Columbus arrived in the Americas around 1492, the moment marked one of the first chapters of the world’s clash ... -
Our Desk | The veil of statistics
It appears that things in Macau have gone down the right path — locals are splurging through their e-vouchers and vacationing in mainland cities. ... -
Our Desk | McD reads MDT!
In my previous Our Desk article, the lack of marketing by a particular chain restaurant for other types of meat products – other than ... -
Our Desk | How much of a ‘sham’ is a ‘sham marriage’?
In October 2019, the Court of First Instance issued a three-year suspended imprisonment sentence to a “couple” because the court had found them guilty ... -
Our Desk | Macau’s only problem
Reading the daily news and strolling around the city, one might easily be led to think that Macau, despite being a beautiful and safe ... -
Our Desk | Policy versus Execution
Mid-November is historically the time for the year’s review and assessment and, in regard to Macau, for the government to announce the new policies ... -
Our Desk | Beef or no beef, that is the question
I was walking by a fast food chain the other day when my attention was caught by a drop-down banner hanging on the window, ... -
Our Desk | Social distancing amid mega events
Following the series of measures the Health Bureau has had in place since early this year to deter the spread of Covid-19, Macau residents ... -
Our Desk | Wear your mask, mind your own business
I support you and respect you when you wear a mask because you personally thought it through and decided that it was prudent to ... -
Our Desk | The Grand Prix of Ignorance
In less than a month, Macau will host the largest annual event in the city and one of the largest events in all of ... -
Our Desk | A not-so-golden week
The streets of Leal Senado leading up to the Ruins of St Paul have not been crowded for the past – at least – ... -
Our Desk | The food discrimination chain
Do you eat blood? I mean any kind of edible blood, like the French and the Chinese do. Do you eat goose liver like ... -
Our Desk | Macau’s stranger things
In the past few days, strange and mysterious things have been happening in Macau which have not been mentioned. Over the last week, the ...
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