Tag: Kapok
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Kapok | Macao in a Kiang Wu cup
Anybody and everybody knows the Kiang Wu Hospital in Macao. Not for its ugly architecture that scars the whole area behind the façade of Saint Paul, ... -
Kapok | It’s the politics, stupid!
The news on Wednesday that a parking bay had been snatched in Hong Kong for the modest amount of HK$7.6 million had me gaping at the ... -
Kapok | Too late and too little
When on September 4 Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam finally decided to officially “withdraw” the Extradition Bill, the overall reaction in the pro-democracy camp was ... -
Kapok | Who does what?
The publication of the yearly report of the Legislative Assembly always provides an interesting snapshot of politics in Macao and a better understanding, albeit limited in ... -
Kapok | What benefit of the doubt?
One should always be entitled to the benefit of the doubt, and this applies to everyone, weak or powerful, rich or poor, anonymous or famous. Such ... -
Kapok | The ugly foreigner
It’s a classic survival tactic: if anything goes wrong, blame it on the other(s) and not on yourself! The burden of responsibility all of a sudden ... -
Kapok | For the people?
The contrast could not be more striking: while in Hong Kong two million residents were taking to the streets to express their dissatisfaction at Chief Executive ... -
Kapok | The politics of memory
Remembering and commemorating June 4, 1989 is not an easy task. First and foremost as the government that sits in Beijing forbids and effectively prevents any ... -
Kapok | Aiming higher
Reference documents and generic resolutions adopted by the United Nations are usually dismissed by critics as either too broad, too generous or too normative, and sometimes ... -
Kapok | Killing them not so softly
True: United Nations agencies or “bodies” can be confusing, especially when their names are long — the more specialized they are the longer the name — ... -
Kapok | The spire hiding the temple
While presiding over a regular meeting of the Cultural Heritage Council last week, Alexis Tam, the secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, grabbed the opportunity of ... -
Kapok | 22 of the dirty 400
For a reason that escapes any logic primarily concerned with fairness, only 22 members of the Legislative Assembly will participate in the Election Committee responsible for ... -
Kapok | Liveable tourism
When designing or even reviewing policy-making, the whole process is bound to start with a discussion of sort. Whether it is a subdued exchange of views ... -
Kapok | Images speak louder than words
Upon return from Beijing, Macao’s political heavyweights staged a highly official debriefing conference highlighting key points from their study trip and their studious participation in what ... -
Kapok | What has been will be again
Not everything is about arithmetic, far from it, as Macao’s Chief Executive election clearly shows. If numbers were all that matters, elections in Macao would seem ... -
Kapok | There can be only one
Elections are in the air — it has become palpable. Just a few days ago, Judge Song Man Lei was for the second time appointed as ... -
Kapok | Opaque and unaccountable
How many times have you heard the assertion “information is power”? Then, if politics is not only understood literally or even figuratively, and yet, on the ... -
Kapok | The art of irrelevance
Eric Sautedé Let’s be honest, mumbling half-hearted speeches full of empty promises year after year borders on art. More so when you happen to be an ... -
Kapok | Not so fantastic anymore
One of my fellow columnists with the Times has made the fight against the abusive usage of plastic an all-out effort, very often taking a very ... -
Kapok | Ethics?
Max Weber’s famous 1918 lecture entitled “Politics as a vocation” is usually remembered for the very performative definition it gives of the modern state as being ... -
Kapok | A few good men
The sacking of two liberal-minded… The non-renewal of contract of two Portuguese legal advisors, Paulo Cardinal 簡天龍 and Paulo Taipa 戴保祿, who had been employed by the ... -
Kapok | Not so cool after all
We have known for some time that air-conditioning is not only bad for the environment, but also pretty dreadful for our health. It consumes a lot ... -
Kapok | Putting a cap
Greece roughly receives the same number of tourists as Macao; around 32 million per year. Tourism in Greece represents about 20% of GDP and, directly or ... -
Kapok | Teaching history: what for?
It is not an easy thing to win the heart and mind of the people for government officials in peaceful times. Being elected is a good ... -
Kapok | Paper tigers vs. paper planes
The Sulu Sou case has been an embarrassment ever since the youngest directly elected legislator had his mandate suspended last December 4. Twenty-eight legislators ridiculed themselves ... -
Kapok | Toothless labor organizations
I was recently reminded that in the years leading to the handover, the Portuguese administration had expressed the wish, almost on an annual basis, to move ... -
Kapok | Reconciling the irreconcilable
Maybe it was mere slip of the tongue. Maybe it was simply a manner of speaking. Or maybe it was truly what was meant. Yet, when ... -
Kapok | Wynn-lose or win-win?
Think about it: the viral #MeToo campaign is only five months old, and yet, it is bringing down the rich and powerful the world over! It ... -
Kapok | Everyone’s responsibility
Instances of censorship are pretty straightforward and rather easy to comprehend. This is the realm of “black and white,” and for some, more normatively, “good and ... -
Kapok | Unsophisticated zealots
Some people never fail to disappoint you, or rather to meet your expectations as being the least principled human beings there are. Former dancers incapable of ... -
Kapok | The colonial past
Reading what Lei Chan U had to say this week about the functions of the Permanent Council for Social Dialogue startled me somehow. During an oral ... -
Kapok | Up in smoke
Back in October 2014, it was announced that in order to comply with the Environmental Protection Planning of Macao (2010-2020) and the Transport Policy of Macao (2010-2020), both of which ... -
Kapok | (No) sense and sensibility
The serialized “Sulu case”, full of twists and turns ever since the New Macau Association figurehead was rightfully elected via universal suffrage to the Legislative Assembly ... -
Kapok | Apologies warranted
New Year greetings is a must for a politician and even more so for a statesman: it provides the perfect occasion to reflect on past deeds ... -
Kapok | Detrimental ignorance
The results of the latest yearly survey regarding the trust Macao people place in their government is truly appalling. Not only has Mr Chui Sai On ...
