Gaming group appeals for making cash handout routine

A group member hands over petition to a gov’t official

Members from the Power of the Macao Gaming Association were at government headquarters yesterday morning as they petitioned authorities to guarantee implementation of the annual Macau Wealth Partaking Scheme next year.
After submitting their plea to a government representative, the nine petitioners, clad in their association jackets, told media that the cash handout scheme was “essential” to grassroots communities, calling it a “rudimentary measure favorable to citizens” in spite of the shrinking gaming revenue.
“At the moment, we still have an average gaming income of MOP20 billion, which means the cash handout could still be possible next year,” said Stephen Lau, the association’s general meeting chairman.
Citing a hypothetical example of a four-member family that can receive a total of MOP36,000 based on this year’s scheme, granting MOP9,000 per permanent resident, Lau said that it could be hard for some households to save up such a sum.
The money is also vital to low-­income families that fail to qualify for other subsidies provided by the government, the chairman said.
Mainland scholars have previously criticized the after-effects of the scheme, claiming that reliance on the policy for income could make its beneficiaries “slothful.” Lau responded that cash recipients who deny the scheme’s significance might donate their grants to the needy, instead of calling for an end to the policy.
In June, Executive Council spokesman Leong Heng Teng expressed the authorities’ intention to collect public opinions concerning turning the cash distribution into an ongoing policy. Before such a move eventuates, Lau believes that the region’s leader should make the policy routine each year. “Before he makes the scheme constant, we hope the CE can keep that scheme ongoing every year,” he said, “because many citizens here don’t necessarily share the economic fruits of the gaming industry.”
In July, Chief executive Chui Sai On said that he wished to see the economic fruit be shared among citizens. This year’s cash handout cost the authorities around 5.83 billion, with over 670,000 citizens benefiting from what most dub as “candy giving.” Staff reporter