One day, a while back, I found myself thinking that Macau deserved more than just the countless media outlets it already had, both in Chinese and Portuguese. A couple of years earlier, my partner and I had transformed our Portuguese-language newspaper from a weekly to a daily. The Portuguese community was well served, with three dailies, a weekly, and radio and TV stations. For a universe of a few thousand people, Macau is indeed a
unique place.

Two prior attempts to launch English language newspapers had failed, but I’ve always believed that I am quite good at learning from other people’s mistakes. So, little by little, I spread the idea that a business magazine – albeit with a more diversified content – made perfect sense at a time when the government was trying, once again, to give a little push towards internationalising the city. The liberalisation of gaming was already a hot topic, at least in the newspapers, and this, together with the will to integrate the city with the Delta, was surely a big positive when attracting foreign investment.

I didn’t expect any support from the government, nor should I have done, because governments do not have to support private initiatives, although a clear picture is yet to emerge in Macau on this matter. I presume it is so, due to the personal interests of some leaders for whom the word “transparency” and the expression “free competition” are synonymous with free judgment.

The timing of our launch, the way we created the editorial guidelines and our clear perceptions of the difficulties that lay ahead for a city with such limited resources, ended up acting as a seal of guarantee. That and our readers who, whenever they can – and we are glad they do – remind us somewhat sharply about our mistakes and slips.

We were proud of our gradual increase in circulation and for our presence in the main hotels, ferries, local airline companies and, more recently, in restaurants and luxury, stylish and renowned car dealerships. Also – and we were really proud of this – to be the first Macau publication ever sold in Hong Kong’s international bookstores is indeed a landmark, especially when one considers that Hong Kong publications, in English and Chinese, have been leaving their mark in Macau for decades.

As we enter this seventh year of publication we promise to continue doing what is demanded of us while getting as close to the truth as possible. We also promise to be as impartial as possible, with the conviction that we exist as an amplifying chamber for an all too often mute voice, that of the population. We will strive to be a vehicle for the communication of the ideas, the projects and, sometimes, the lunacies, of a city steeped in the white-hot heat of development.

Naturally, we continue to rely on the preferences, the likes and dislikes, the pressures and the gentleness of everyone that takes us with them. We especially count on the team that works on this project as if every day is the first, and on our friends and clients who put up with us and pay our bills. Six years…it’s little wonder that we think this is the first day, since it seems like just yesterday that we embarked on this adventure…!

A worthless system

Macau’s sick health care system must be changed. We have been demanding it for decades but now, more than ever, something must be done. It’s not so much the way consultations are made, the way bookings are taken or the way medical specialties are created. It’s the way people are chosen to work at the Macau public hospital, how specialists of doubtful quality are brought in from the mainland and how the public interest, our well being, is being managed.

The current chief executive must be aware of this. Healthcare fell under his responsibility for a decade and it was, perhaps, his Achilles heel. Fernando Chui Sai On would be mistaken if he would believe that the lack of investment in the public hospital in favour of the Kiang Wu hospital or even of the Science and Technology University hospital, is something that can be easily forgotten.

Some of our leaders keep making the same mistakes, and the only explanation for them doing so is that they still need better political training. They keep supporting some projects, even if that support is difficult to defend under the principle of a more transparent administration. The risk is, consequently, the public interest being neglected.

The Conde de São Januário hospital remains the setting for some quite incredible cases – which in media parlance are known as ‘’medical blunders’’ but which require much more grave language to describe them. They are caused, by and large, by a mixture of professional ignorance, negligence and carelessness. Such cases should, at least, be handled with a few slaps in the face and summary lay-offs.

Nothing is more important than our health. What good is it if Macau tries to pass itself off as an international city, only to have a health care system which is basic – at least in the hospital -  since the feedback we get from private health care centres is much better? Perhaps the fact that care in the centres is less demanding than in the hospital explains something.

What kind of new hospital – in Taipa – will be built when many nurses do not have officially recognised qualifications? When was the system infected by the stupid xenophobia that contaminates the general law of hiring labour and prevents the promotion of non-local workers? All this at a time when the weakness of local professionals is evident due to either a basic lack of staff or the absence of certain medical specialties? How long will this healthcare chaos last?

It’s never too much

I don’t want to repeat myself, but some things are just too silly to be left alone. The execution of the budget remains at a ridiculous level. What is this government, awash with cash, waiting for? At the very least, can’t it get on and do what it told the Legislative Assembly it would do?

Of course we understand the lack of ideas. This administration isn’t exactly bursting at the seams with geniuses, but surely it’s not hard to identify what Macau lacks and to make sure it gets it. And, my dears, I’m not talking about a special program.

In May, more casino revenue records were set, following the records set in January and April 2010, all this at a time when the entire world was hurting. In the first quarter, our GDP growth reached 30 percent, year-on-year, and what does the government do? That’s right, nothing. No ideas, no projects, nothing.

Is it because the question of the need for public investment is too complex and transcendental at a time when the city needs to create open spaces and infrastructure, to get ready for more growth spurts and to attract investment? Or do our leaders think that the success of a government is measured by the quantity of money it has stashed in the public coffers?

And, as if that wasn’t enough, three billion patacas (US$400 million) is spent every year in cash donations to all residents, rich and poor, tall and short, fat or skinny, in what has almost become a public bribe. Brilliant!