Trouble in paradise
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It’s a wonderful tourism concept to promote Macau as the perfect place for a heavenly break but if we told tourists the whole truth about the city, would it be economic suicide?
Many of us, for whatever reason, can be “economical with the truth” by withholding material facts. In a court of law, witnesses swear to [...] |
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Should we ban cigarettes?
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Cigarettes, not guns or bombs, are the deadliest artefacts in the history of civilization
U.S. President Barack Obama’s doctor confirmed last year that the president no longer smokes. At the urging of his wife, Michelle Obama, the president first resolved to stop smoking in 2006, and has used nicotine replacement therapy to help him. If it [...] |
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Champs and chumps
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The quality of Macau’s hotels and resorts is variable and the offerings diverse, with some properties standing out, either for all the good or for all the wrong reasons
As 2011 has just come to a close, this is the perfect moment to assess where Macau stands in the ranks of hospitality service, and which hotels [...] |
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Demystifying the Chinese economy
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Justin Yifu Lin Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Development Economics, World Bank
It is likely that China can maintain 8 percent growth in the coming two decades
China had an advanced and prosperous civilization for millennia until the 18th century, but then degenerated into a very poor country for 150 years. Now it has resurged [...] |
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Hopeful of change
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The city’s economy is increasingly dependent on gambling due to short-sighted politics and a laissez-faire approach
Another year has passed with another outstanding display of economic growth by Macau. Unemployment was virtually zero and fears of inflation have abated somewhat.
We may be tempted to conclude that all is well in our SAR. Yet, one cannot avoid [...] |
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Letter to Santa
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Dear Santa, I have been a good customer of Macau’s hospitality industry this year, so I think I’m entitled to a couple of wishes
Dear Santa, what a year this was. It is hard to believe it is already December, the time for people to look back and assess the year passed.
Some will use this opportunity [...] |
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A poor student
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Macau has zeroed in on Singapore as the model for its public administration but the reality is the two cities are oceans apart
After the handover, the Macau government announced it would start looking at Singapore as a model from which to learn good practices in public administration. That led to groups of civil servants being [...] |
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The Philippines joins the Asian race
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The current Filipino administration is committed to transforming a country where nice guys finish last into one where those who deviate from the straight and narrow face punishment for their crimes
In 1980, my father arrived in the United States to undergo a heart bypass, due to the rigors of his imprisonment by the dictatorship of [...] |
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China’s crippled financial sector
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The record of the last 20 years shows that the Chinese monetary and banking authorities have a habit of taking an ostrich approach to the informal financial sector
Even in the best of times, it is difficult for China’s small and medium-size enterprises to get bank loans. But with the current regimen of credit austerity, imposed [...] |
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Legal difficulties
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There are worrying trends emerging in Macau’s legal system that threaten the consistency and quality of justice
With the handover of Macau and Hong Kong, the mainland acquired two new and different legal systems in addition to its own. Preserving those systems was a safeguard for the rights and customs of residents in both territories and [...] |
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Alternative awards for excellence
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The Nobel Prize, Oscars, Emmys, Baftas and Pulitzers – they aren’t needed in Macau where we have our own honours
It is the season of goodwill and time for the end-of-the-year awards. What a wonderful prize-giving event that could be for Macau. Looking back over the year, here is my list of awards and prize-winners.
For bravery
Gold [...] |
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What a surprise!
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The latest report from the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China says American gaming experts should provide technical training and assistance to Macau authorities. One wonders “what for?”
The 2011 Annual Report of the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China, released last month, has garnered rather more media attention than it deserves. Its findings and recommendations are almost [...] |
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The water hegemon
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China, the world’s biggest dam builder, is rapidly accumulating leverage against its neighbours by undertaking massive hydro-engineering projects on transnational rivers
International discussion about China’s rise has focused on its increasing trade muscle, growing maritime ambitions, and expanding capacity to project military power. One critical issue, however, usually escapes attention: China’s rise as a hydro-hegemon with [...] |
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A game everyone loses
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The most popular game in town is not baccarat, but job-hopping
Imagine you are one of Macau’s six casino operators. After years of getting permits, battling bureaucracy and what-have-you, you finally break ground on your new mega-hotel-casino. Then follows the challenge of construction.
Six to eight months before your opening date, you start hiring and training your [...] |
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Good data, bad times
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The city’s ballooning GDP is in stark contrast to the widespread reduction in the quality of life its population endures
In 1957, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan told his supporters “let us be frank about it: most of our people have never had it so good”. More than 50 years later, his message would ring hollow [...] |
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Case studies in couplets
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Management-speak is not a speech impediment but an understanding impediment
We hear reports of mismanagement, or poor and inappropriate management behaviour in Macau. Managers may have all the academic credentials, newly polished MBAs, certificates of merit and so on, yet still be poor managers. How can they be improved?
Stories are a powerful way of learning. The [...] |
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Green fog
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Hell is just another kind of environment and the road to it is paved with good intentions
There is a perception among many of Macau’s residents that air quality is declining. The number of motor vehicles goes up every month, and trucks and buses persist in belching black fumes in a mockery of all the inspections [...] |
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Can China rescue Europe?
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China can take three measures to help Europe, but, if they are to succeed, the European Union must set aside some of its long-standing suspicions about China
The debt crisis in Europe is no longer a European affair. Coupled with fears of a double-dip recession in the United States, the European debt crisis is dragging the [...] |
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A long march with China
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There is no viable alternative to a positive, continuous and frank engagement between China and the rest of the world
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s recent four-day visit to China ended on a high note. He assured Chinese leaders that the United States is committed to honouring all its debts, despite its recent credit downgrade; he [...] |
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Thinking the unthinkable in Europe
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The European Union’s member countries, and not only those in the eurozone, must accept that a new treaty is needed to save the euro
To resolve a crisis in which the impossible has become possible, it is necessary to think the unthinkable. So, to resolve Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis, it is now imperative to prepare for the [...] |
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Fly me to the moon
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Macau does justice to Mark Twain’s famous aphorism: it is a city “where common sense is the least common of senses”
If you are a foreigner thinking of opening a small business in Macau, think twice because you may end up in a Catch-22 situation.
It is a sad fact that Macau is in desperate need of [...] |
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Big reform in small packages
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Since the international monetary system has experienced few changes historically, the effort to revamp it is bound to be a long march
France, which now holds the presidency of the G-20, has chosen reform of the international monetary system as its main priority for the Cannes summit in November. But is the issue worth the time [...] |
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Let’s be unreasonable
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Reasonable people only survive circumstances; those who are unreasonable possess the tools to shape them
Most of us live and work in an environment that we believe is in need of change. However, very few of us really help transformations happen.
If you listen carefully to your own conversations and those of others, you can hear that [...] |
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Verdant dream
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Any useful debate about the state of our environment drifts to pure argument without accurate data
The debate surrounding the environment and, by extension, quality of life in Macau is often a difficult one. Most people agree the environment should be protected and that quality of life should be preserved.
Alas, that is also often the extent [...] |
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Is capitalism doomed?
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Karl Marx, it seems, was partly right in arguing that globalization, financial intermediation run amok, and redistribution of income and wealth from labour to capital could lead capitalism to self-destruct
The massive volatility and sharp equity-price correction now hitting global financial markets signal that most advanced economies are on the brink of a double-dip recession. A [...] |
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