Gov’t turns down June 4 exhibition application

Lawmaker Au Kam San announced yesterday on his social media page that his group’s application to use public open-air venues to host the annual June 4 exhibition had been turned down by the Municipal Affairs Bureau (IAM).
Au is also the head of the Macau Democratic Development Union, which organized all of the city’s previous editions of June 4 commemorative events.
To justify its decision, the IAM explained that other entities applied for the rights to use all nine open spaces prior to Au’s application. As such, “the IAM cannot provide the concerned venues for your use,” the IAM wrote in the reply, signed by a department head.
Yesterday, Au posted two pictures on his social media page. One displayed the application letter sent to the IAM. It indicated that the duration of this year’s exhibition will be from today to June 8, taking place at various open spaces across the city. The other picture showed the reply from the IAM.
The reply letter from the government indicated that the lawmaker has the right to file an administrative appeal to the bureau. When asked if this will be the next step, Au said no.
He further explained that the application was not an announcement of civil assembly but an application of venue use. “The IAM has the right to not allow [the use of venues],” Au told the Times.
If Au decides to file a judicial appeal, he will need to hire a lawyer to do so, which he said would be “costly and time-consuming.”
However, the lawmaker stressed that the decision of the bureau will not affect the group’s intention to host this year’s June 4 vigil to commemorate the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square incident, implying that the group will file an announcement of civil assembly with the Public Security Police Force. By law, the law-enforcement entity has no authority to ban events of such nature.
“For the time being, I see no reason why the authority will not allow us to hold the vigil,” Au pointed out.
When questioned if the IAM could make better arrangements and allow two events to be held at one venue, Au pointed out that the current “one venue, one event” policy is a bureaucratic practice. “The IAM has been doing so,” he added, but stressed that he disagrees with this practice.
Reemerging social advocate Scott Chiang Meng Hin described the IAM’s justification as a “lazy excuse.” He accused the IAM, with this refusal, of “considering the public as brainless.”
“The government, being an administrator [of public venues], should help make things happen,” Chiang said. “But now they’re helping to make things not happen.”
The advocate worried that the government is abusing this “new normal” to expand its authority without limit.
The exhibition saw its edition last year suspended midway on tour by the IAM, citing Covid-19 pandemic control – more precisely to prevent crowd gathering – as the reason.