Policy Address | Scholars slam excessive rhetoric about region’s positioning, no action

Scholars have analyzed the features and pointed out the deficiencies in the Chief Executive’s recently released 2015 Policy Address, where a clear elaboration on the city’s overall positioning is allegedly lacking.
At a symposium held by the Macau Polytechnic Institute (IPM)’s One Country Two Systems Research Center yesterday, IPM scholar Yang Yunzhong indicated that clear guidelines for Macau’s overall positioning are not yet in place, and thus the Policy Address has failed to balance the priorities of economic growth and social demands.
“For years we’ve been talking about Macau’s positioning as ‘a center and a platform,’ but that is only in terms of economic development. Macau needs a clear position for its overall development, which should take into consideration the political and cultural developments as well,” he declared.
The scholar recognized that the Policy Address shows the right attitude toward the continuous downturn in the economy, but said that it still needs to identify the downturn’s various causes and the right directions to seek breakthroughs.
“Last year was the first time since the handover that Macau has recorded a negative growth, and it is very likely to see another year of negative growth in 2015. The issues affecting the gaming industry are complex, and thus it’s necessary to identify which are the structural problems, and which are periodic,” he suggested.
Another feature of this year’s Policy Address, according to Professor Yang, is a whole package of livelihood measures; but it still shows a huge gap between the city’s advanced GDP and its low living standards, and doesn’t highlight the enhancement of social structure.
“Macau has ranked quite advanced in GDP, but the local residents’ living standard shows a very large contrast to that. Two thirds of citizens are still living under the average line of the world’s livable standard,” stressed the scholar.
“This puzzles me a lot, as the casinos we see along the shore are indeed world-class, but the old neighborhoods’ basic livelihood aspects are definitely not up to world-class standard. I felt embarrassed when reading the news saying that Macau ranked top in GDP per capita; I don’t know how the government officials felt about that,” he added.
Not only the quality of life, but also the city’s social structure is indicated as a mismatch when paired with the SAR’s economic status. However, an optimization of social structure, especially by increasing the middle-class, didn’t have much representation in the Policy Address.
Scholars pointed out that some good ideas being proposed in previous years’ Policy Addresses couldn’t see effective implementation. Professor Luo Weijian from the University of Macau’s Faculty of Law argued that a lack of in-depth studies in public administration is often a reason for this.
“For example, for the Light Rail Transit, there’s a consensus to build it, but residents have strongly rejected the proposal for it to run on the ground, and have opted to spare the already-small land space in Macau. But the government insists on not changing the plan to build underground. All those disputes would have been avoided, if the government had conducted thorough studies first,” he said.
The professor also recognized that the 2015 Policy Address responded to hot topics in the legal area, such as amending the Legislative Assembly’s indirect election regime, but reiterated that they need to follow up these proposals with in-depth studies. Moreover, scholars have called for a more pragmatic attitude in the work of governmental departments.
Professor Huang Mingjian of the Macau University of Science and Technology recalled that the Environmental Protection Law was enacted 24 years ago, and doesn’t even emphasize the concept of sustainable development. He urged the Environmental Protection Bureau to shift its concept, and become more proactive.
“The 2015 Policy Address carried on the ‘Chui style.’ It covered everything, but is tepid. It responded to society’s concerns, but whether it can solve those problems, people don’t have enough confidence. The next stage is to see how the government acts in response,” said Professor Lou Shenghua of IPM’s School of Public Administration.