Community advisor calls for more global perspective for the year-end celebrations

Macau needs to have a more international vision for the year-end celebrations, António Monteiro, a member of the Central District Community Advisory Board, said ahead of the agenda of the latest meeting of the council held on Wednesday.

In his remarks, the council member said that, considering the opinions gathered about the New Year’s Eve celebrations in Macau, including the fact that many people were disappointed with the lack of fireworks in the Nam Van area, authorities should address the matter and find solutions that can benefit Macau’s image as a World Tourism and Leisure Center.

He expressed that many members of the public have been questioning why there are many celebrations with fireworks throughout the year (from the fireworks competition, Chinese New Year, the celebration of National Day, and the Macau handover), but when it comes to year-end celebrations, a traditional season for this type of event, there has been reluctance to hold such displays, particularly after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Noting that only the Cotai area featured fireworks this year in a display organized by one of the gaming concessionaires, he said that “Macau’s image abroad becomes attached to the Parisian Hotel Eiffel Tower, rather than Macau’s cityscape or its bay,” a fact that contrasts with most places and regions and even with the neighboring region of Hong Kong.

He remarked that the authorities seem not to be taking sufficient note of the recent words of President Xi Jinping during his visit to Macau, in which he attributed the title of “Pearl of the Motherland” to Macau due to its role as a World Tourism and Leisure Center and its connection to the world through tourism.

Monteiro also noted that many experts have been sharing opinions on how the New Year Countdown events can play an important role in economic diversification, in which gaming concessionaires can also participate.

For the Central District Community Advisor, “Macau has its bay and waterfront, which feature several distinctive elements and buildings such as the Macau Tower, the Grand Lisboa and Lisboa Hotels, and many other hotels along the coastline that ends at the Macau Cultural Center, the Science Center, and the Sands Macao.”

He suggested the government consider a pyrotechnic contest or drone show, focusing on the urban landscape of Macau and even Hengqin, without excluding the usual celebrations in Taipa and Cotai, and actively promote this event through regional and international media channels so that Macau can be included, in practice, as a world city.