In context | On track for a selfish society with new kinds of apartheid

Sérgio de Almeida Correia

I believe that the decision made by the Health Bureau is highly discriminatory and should be seen as part of a wrong understanding of what should be the modus vivendi of the Macau SAR and of a “second system”.

What makes Macau different within the PRC is that for centuries different communities have lived together and worked together for the well being and prosperity of the region, giving Macau a unique position in the context of China and Asia. A peaceful land, and a land of opportunities no matter where you come from.

That’s why even before 1999, many Chinese mainlanders – despite the absence of any previous links to Macau – as well as people from many other communities and diverse ethnic origins, no matter the color of their skin, their religion or their academic qualifications would come here.

People found refuge in Macau; a place to live, to marry, to have a family, to grow kids, to come into contact with other cultures, to get rich. Many of them, after two or three generations, became “Macanese”, not ethnically but culturally. And all those coming to this city have contributed to the identity of Macau, irrespective of whether they are ethnic Chinese, Burmese, Portuguese, Indian, Philippine or whatever.

Nowadays, it seems that some people are also trying to gamble with the future, transforming Macau in a horrendous place, highly polluted, awfully “touristic” (i.e. without any reasonable quality for decent ordinary travellers) and with a lack of conditions not only for those who visit us but also for those who live here.

If the Macau authorities had not been so tolerant in the past toward immigrants, most of those who are now on the frontline against migrant communities would never have been able to settle here or bring their own families from mainland China. Some of them have even become legislators and wealthy individuals by any standards. But what is sad is that they did not learn anything from the past, from history, with Mao Zedong and Deng Xiao Ping. They became zealots. The culture of tolerance, mutual understanding and comprehension was replaced by this wilderness where a few try to keep for themselves and their families what belongs to all the community and ultimately to the Chinese people as a whole.

Besides, the people affected by the decision of the Health Bureau are once again the poorest and the unprotected; people that work day and night for the benefit of the MSAR; people that pay their taxes and that at the end of the day have close to nothing – not even a place to give birth.

This is terrible because the people that help us in our daily life, living side by side with us and taking care of our children and elders – humans like us – should have our utmost consideration and our help to achieve better life conditions, better living standards and better education for their kids.

A different situation is that of the tourists, those who do not live in Macau. Here, I understand the point but the values/prices should not be so high that if they have a serious health problem while in Macau they should not be left without efficient and prompt medical care. We are all humans and accidents may occur.

I also don’t understand the so-called “market prices”. Are they referring to Kiang Wu Hospital prices, which are highly priced for the quality of the medical services provided in spite of the millions in subsidies received from the Macau Government of tax payers’ money – residents and non-resident workers?

Unfortunately, it seems that we are on the right track to have in Macau a selfish society with new kinds of apartheid, since it also seems that we are building a highly xenophobic society. Just like the nationalist and populist wave that is taking hold in some Eastern European countries against refugees.

The problems are uneven and sometimes there are humanitarian reasons for recommending a different assessment of a particular situation. It is a pity how things can be destroyed in such a short time. It is a pity that some people have such a short memory.   

Finally, I think that the Health Bureau should be more concerned with elevating the quality of medical services – diagnosis, availability of medicines and recruiting medical specialists – than with increasing prices without any improvement in the health care provided.