Scholars | Detailed measures should be included in Policy Address

Lawmaker and scholar Davis Fong

Scholars from the University of Macau (UM) want the government to include typhoon prevention measures as well as concrete measures regarding participation in the Greater Bay Area plan included in the 2018 Policy Address.

In a symposium, which took place last week at UM, several participants who teach at UM voiced their opinions on the preview of the policy address for the fiscal year of 2018 in Macau.

Kwan Fung, Assistant Professor of the Department of Government and Public Administration in the Faculty of Social Sciences at UM, said that the local government must use the experience of Hato to reach a “conclusion regarding the [potential influence of a] typhoon over the development of Macau.” In Kwan’s opinion, the government needs to set out a plan of action to prepare for future typhoons.

When commenting on the government’s financial assistance payments to the victims of Typhoon Hato, particularly the payments to the SMEs, Kwan said that “they [SMEs] already lost their properties, [therefore] subsidies might not be of much help.” Kwan then added that “regarding the typhoon, the government needs to assume the biggest responsibility because it did not perform well on warning and advising.”

Davis Fong, director of Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming of UM, who is also a lawmaker, wants the government to reveal the number of jobs already completed within the first five-year plan, which was published last year.

“I hope that in this Policy Address the government can report how much it has done regarding the five-year plan. […] Will it [the government] reach its goal during the remaining three years?” asked Fong. Fong would also like the Policy Address to include a detailed strategy plan for Macau’s entrance into the Greater Bay Area plan.

“How can the [regional] Greater Bay Area plan coordinate with the [local] five-year plan?” Fong questioned. He affirmed that he hopes the two plans will not lead Macau into competition with her sister cities.

Hao Yufan, dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at UM, suggested that there is still a long way for Macau to go before it can be considered a world class tourism and leisure center.

“The typhoon shows that there is still a great distance between Macau and a world level tourism leisure center across all domains, such as infrastructures, warning systems, and handling of crisis,” said Hao.

Hao also thinks that Macau lacks an accountability mechanism. He has hopes that, this time, the SAR government can establish one in its policy address.

“I hope this time [the government] can elucidate exactly how it will participate in the Greater Bay area plan, […] [Macau] should study plans for accelerating the integration [into the Greater Bay Area] and for simultaneously reducing costs,” Hao declared.

He explained that the government should figure out methods for Macau to assimilate with the regional development without compromising Macau’s quality of life.

Several other professors also voiced their differing opinions regarding the Policy Address 2018. Calling Macau to improve its cultural and scientific development was another popular suggestion.