Policy Address | Lawmakers call on gov’t for event resumption timeline

During Wednesday’s parliamentary question session with regarding next year’s Policy Address, lawmakers Ngan Iek Hang and Ron Lam inquired on the criteria by which the government will allow events to resume.
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong sat in on the parliamentary session to reply to lawmakers’ questions.
Regarding the resumption of larger-scale to mega-events in Macau, lawmaker Ngan asked the senior official what the criteria for holding events amid the current Covid-19 pandemic and the disease control restrictions would be.
Ngan stressed that, due to the halt in organizing and presenting events, many workers in or related to the industry have become unemployed.
Additionally, Ngan pointed out that the government had justified the decision to not host the New Year Countdown Show by asserting that foreign performers may not be able to enter Macau.
The lawmaker recommended the Secretary consider hosting the event by drawing upon local and Mainland performers.
Responding to the question, Ao Ieong clarified that the government did not ban concerts. As many professionals in the industry, such as lighting technicians and other mechanics, cannot enter Macau, the organization of concerts has been impossible.
Lawmaker Lam was not satisfied with the senior official’s explanation. He said that in the past decade the city has nurtured its own team of professional show technicians skilled in organizing events in the city.
“We all know that in 2019 we had a show also every week,” Lam recalled, hinting that the city should have a sufficient workforce to organize its own event.
Regarding the Countdown Show’s cancellation this year, the Secretary explained that it will be difficult to control spectators’ emotions, hinting that they may break disease control rules. Moreover, she admitted that it would be meaningless to have a “tranquil” countdown.
Lam was also not happy with this explanation, saying that the government, and specifically the Health Bureau, allowed the Grand Prix, the Food Festival, and the Lights Festival.
“I see people at the Food Festival as excited as the countdown crowds,” Lam said.
In response, the senior official stated that the government is “lacking the intelligence” to ensure that there are separate entrances and exits for spectators to the countdown show.
“In this case, we cannot take body temperature and check health codes,” Ao Ieong said.
Recalling previous editions of the countdown show at the Sai Van Lake Plaza, barriers have been used to separate different audience zones. The Secretary did not explain why this tactic, or the confinement strategies used at the Food Festival and the Tap Siac Art Fair, could not be used at the countdown show.

No more meltdown
in the future
Lawmaker Ella Lei expressed concerns about the clarity of the disease prevention standards. She asked officials if there is a new case in the future, under the proposed strategy of “disease control as a new normal” will go beyond cordoning off the affected area and trigger tight immigration restrictions, such as quarantine-upon-arrival.
She also argued for clearer disease control guidelines and criteria so that the public will understand whether their daily lives will be halted when a new case is detected.
In response, Ao Ieong said that the disease control measures were updated recently, although they are still being discussed with the authorities in the mainland. Ao Ieong hopes that, even if the city becomes a mid-risk area in the future, the meltdown mechanism will not be triggered.
The meltdown mechanism is the suspension of quarantine-upon-arrival-free border-crossings between Macau and mainland China.
Regarding the handling of Macau becoming a high-risk area, details are still in negotiations, Ao Ieong added.