Insight: Talent is not a magic word

Paulo Barbosa

One of the measures announced by Chui Sai On in the 2014 Policy Address was the creation of a Talent Development Committee.
The idea behind the new committee, headed by the Chief Executive, is to “establish a long-term mechanism to provide more training opportunities either in the territory or abroad, aiming at enhancing general standards for the Macau population in terms of technical, academic and professional education.”
“Talent” seems to be a buzzword for the local government. Chui Sai On was in Beijing last week to be officially appointed as Chief Executive. He met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. Xi told him that the changes in Macau “require better work from the new administration.”
It seems that talent is part of the solution that Chui had prepared for Beijing: “Especially when it comes to the development of the economy, we put great emphasis on fostering talents and the sustainable development of a diversified economy. Eventually, we want Macau to achieve long-term prosperity and stability, as well as a comfortable life for all residents,” the CE stated.
Whilst I have nothing against fostering talent,  one must see how the term is used and determine whether it is likely that this policy will be used to create further discrimination based on bureaucratic criteria. For instance, saying that someone is a talent while someone else is not, just because the government decides so, or that only locals can be deemed “talented”.
This appears to be happening in other regions.  Some even see the use of the word “talent” itself as a euphemism. One day, I was walking in Singapore and trying to find my way back to Orchard Road when a man saw me consulting a map and kindly asked if I needed help. As we were heading in the same direction, we walked together and chatted for a while.
Having lived in Singapore for 15 years, the Algerian man made some unexpectedly negative remarks about the city-state, which is regarded by many as a model city. Some of his anecdotes reminded me of situations that occur every day in Macau. Despite being married to a local with whom he had two children, he told me that he has no right to citizenship and must renew his visa every two years, which has resulted in ongoing instability in his personal life.
Furthermore, he considered himself exploited by a system that creates a huge discrepancy in terms of treatment and income between the so-called “foreign talents” (in Singapore, migrant workers are separated into semi-skilled or unskilled foreign workers and foreign talents) and locals.
“Singapore is a corrupt country that only cares about money and does not care about human rights,” he argued perhaps exaggerating the case. According to him, the system in Singapore is discriminatory and the locals are “mediocre”.  He added that local citizens get hold of the jobs that they want easily, but lack the ability or will to perform well.  In stark contrast, foreigners are sometimes treated like slaves.
It’s a fact that many of the “foreign talents” in Singapore are well treated and highly paid. However, to me it sounds discriminatory to use the word in the same context, if the “local talents” in Macau are to become part of a new bureaucratic category.
For now, the Talent Development Committee is initiating its first steps and there are doubts on how the potential talents will be picked, as well as the impact of the “talents policy” in Macau.
It was announced that the local residents can participate in the selection by nominating themselves, or they can be recommended by enterprises or public authorities. “Committees should be set up for every project to ensure a fair and just selection process,” the government says.  Let’s wait and see.

Note: This column was partly inspired by a 2012 article that I wrote for the Portuguese language newspaper Tribuna de Macau: arquivo.jtm.com.mo/view.asp?dT=396008100