Ex-Hong Kong finance chief says Macau has lost some ‘local flavor’

[Photo: Lynzy Valles]

Macau’s rapid expansion of ultra-luxury resorts and high-stakes gaming has diluted the city’s “local flavor,” former Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang said in a now-deleted Facebook post following a recent visit.

Tsang, the longest-serving finance chief in Hong Kong, wrote that the scale and opulence of Macau’s newest integrated resorts rival those of global luxury hubs. “I went to Macau a few days ago. I haven’t been there for many years […] I don’t know anything about gambling, and secondly, I have no interest in it.”

Tsang expressed particular astonishment at premium suites costing more than MOP100,000 per night. “They have everything you could imagine: a private pool, a terrace, a gym, and even a karaoke room,” Tsang wrote, stating that amenities in Macau rival those seen in Dubai.

Tsang also highlighted the city’s increasingly exclusive gaming environment. “I took a walk around their casino, and I saw that the minimum bets at the gambling tables were at least HKD2,000, with some even starting as high as HKD10,000,” he said.

Beyond the casinos, Tsang pointed to demographic shifts. “Out on the streets in Macau, about one in four people I saw was a foreign worker,” he wrote, noting the presence of workers from the Philippines, India and Vietnam.

“It was no surprise that it felt as if the city had lost some of its local flavor,” he added.