VOX PARVA: Poorest of the poor

Benedict Keith Ip

How would you define poor? If we opt for an international standard, economic data will help us to draw a poverty threshold. Theoretically, we can collect the statistics to find “the total cost of all the essential resources that an average human adult consumes in one year.” And practically we can give this assignment to the economists if a government wants to do so.
In our surrounding region, there is a fairy tale well spread to describe Macau: Macau has no poor. On different occasions, I have asked people how they came to this conclusion. The answers are usually related to money: Our famous Wealth Partaking Scheme; extremely low unemployment rates; no beggars; various subsidies. Some even describe how a Macau ID card holder equals an ATM card. It gives you money from time to time, and also job opportunities.
Indeed, they are right because we have a very strong economy. The CIA Factbook shows our GDP per capita (PPP) is estimated to be USD88,700 for 2013, the highest third position comparing to the rest of the world. The unemployment rate is currently at its historical lowest 1.7%. The Gini coefficient is closed to, but not yet beyond the significant 0.4.

However, after the past weekend, I truly believe that we still have a large portion of poor. They exist, but very few people care about them. They are just invisible to the eyes of the general public.
Last Sunday, I volunteered along with friends and faithful in the church to help with an event organized by the Missionaries of Charity near Ilha Verde. We celebrated Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, also known as Mother Teresa’s day. The mass and food sharing gathered groups of families, vagrants, elderly, disabled and homeless people. They may not know each other, and many of them are not Catholic of course. But they were invited, shared, and filled with both physical and spiritual sustenance.
The sisters are so humble that they always keep a very low profile. They even give and serve whatever they have on their community’s feast day. In the affixed area where the government recently reclaimed to build tall public housing marks a huge contrast to the two story house. Our residents are crying not to be able to buy an apartment. Indeed, we deserve a proper place to go home to after a hard day’s work. Yet, please do keep in mind that we still have a lot of poor. They urgently need our compassion and care. They also deserve to live with dignity by having mooncakes in the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Mother Teresa once said, “I heard the call to give up all and follow Christ into the slums to serve him among the poorest of the poor.” Then she left her position as a school principal to take care of people who were dying, or the poorest of the poor. We must always keep in mind that the meaning of poor is far beyond our imagination in Macau.