Hosted by the culture department of Macao Special Administrative Region, the 2019 Macao International Parade takes place on December 8 at the Ruins of St. Paul's. Photo: cnsphoto

Editor's Note:

Macao will soon celebrate the 20th anniversary of its return to the People's Republic of China. Recently, reporters from the Global Times interviewed a number of Macao people of different ages and occupations, asking them to recall the unforgettable moment on the day when Macao returned to the motherland 20 years ago. They shared how the development of Macao in the past two decades is closely linked with their lives and personal efforts. From these stories of Macao residents, we can feel the national identity and their feelings of home and country.

Barrister Un Ka-ioi: Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China guarantees Macao's development and legal system

On the eve of the return of Macao to the Chinese mainland, Un Ka-ioi was a young boy just starting middle school. Ten years later, he became a lawyer-in-training.

"On the eve of the return, the school organized us freshmen to participate in a large-scale performance to celebrate Macao's return to China. The months of rehearsals, the number of people mobilized and the length of rehearsals at each school, were absolutely unprecedented. But we all knew in our hearts that this was the most precious and proud experience," Un told the Global Times.

For the past 20 years, Macao has transformed from a small, obscure colony into an internationally renowned city of tourism and leisure. A strong nation is the solid foundation of every happy home, which is the deepest feeling of Macao people after the return, he said.

Reminiscing of the day the Chinese national flag and the regional flag of Macao were slowly raised on the night of Macao's return, Un is still full of excitement and anticipation. "Returning to the motherland is an important milestone in Macao's transformation," Un asserted.

Un Ka-ioi, a barrister of Macao, at his law firm Photo: Courtesy of Un Ka-ioi

He said public safety in Macao was chaotic before the return. Street fights were frequent. Back then, the average salary of graduates in Macao was much lower than that in Hong Kong at the same time. When Un took the exam for his law internship, his salary was far lower than that of professional gamblers. Still, he aspired to practice law.

As a lawyer, Un has witnessed how Macao developed from a weak economy with precarious social environment into a prosperous, stable and comfortable city.

When he entered the law profession 10 years ago, Macao's safe environment attracted many famous international enterprises. With the increasingly active business activities, entrepreneurs in Macao also pay more attention to legal risk management.

As a legal professional, Un is most impressed by "one country, two systems" and "Macao people governing Macao." According to Un, Macao's politics, judiciary, and legislature were controlled by the Portuguese during colonization when the governor was appointed by Portugal. 

Since the return, Macao has been governed by Macao residents, with Chinese citizens holding the main posts in Macao. Language used in the region's legal system has changed from Portuguese to Chinese, so that more people can know and understand the law. It has enhanced Macao people's sense of belonging to Macao and the motherland, Un said.

"The Basic Law of the Macao SAR, as the basis of Macao's laws, has provided a guarantee for Macao's development and legal system. The Basic Law is familiar to every citizen. People learn it from primary school to university," Un explained.

Un often travels between Macao and cities in the Chinese mainland for work. As a Macao native born in the 1980s, he has had quite some time to learn that the development of Macao is inseparable from the support of the motherland. As a legal professional, he knew better that social and economic stability could not be achieved without a sound legal system.

Macao people understand the importance of tolerance. People from different cultures, religions and ethnic backgrounds live in Macao. If they disagree with each other, Macao's economy will stagnate and its society will not develop in a harmonious and orderly way. Therefore, Macao citizens cherish their hard-won peace and stability, Un said.

Lei Hong-po, president of the International Police Association Macao Section: Macao SAR government has worked hard on education

After more than 30 years as a police officer, Lei Hong-po retired and joined the International Police Association Macao Section. Lei recalls his feelings on the night of the return: "I was very excited and hopeful. Macao is our own. We don't have to be oppressed by foreigners."

Compared to the lack of public safety in Macao under the Portuguese government, Lei feels that a great improvement has been achieved since the return. Even before Macao's return to China, police were able to bring underground criminals to justice. But some leaders at the time didn't let them. The disorganized security of Macao during the Portuguese government was deliberately connived from people at the top, Lei told the Global Times. 

A few years before the return, a civilian colleague of him was shot dead by a suspected serial killer, but the case remained unsolved.

After the return of Macao, Lei was transferred back to the Public Security Police Force under Macao SAR. His post-retirement work in the International Police Association Macao Section includes strengthening the communication between the Macao police and the outside world to raise the voice and increase the international reputation of the Macao police.

Lei Hong-po, president of the International Police Association Macao Section Photo: Courtesy of Lei Hong-po

"Police in Macao, and in fact all of Asia, are quite introverted, and it is hard to see us in the activities of international police organizations. My main job now is to try to improve this, and I hope to promote the influence of police in Macao SAR, Chinese mainland and even Asia in international police organizations," he said.

"I think the central government has done a very good job of not interfering in Macao's internal affairs," Lei said, referring to the "one country, two systems" policy of "Macao people governing Macao."

After years of observation and reflection, Lei feels the central government had "indulged" the Macao SAR government too much. He explains that many government officials, including his own police force, were mostly junior staff before the return, as the middle and senior officials were almost all Portuguese.

Some Chinese officials got promoted before and after the return, but there is a lag in their management experience and professional ability. He said there is no personal initiative or determination to administrate or reform in their minds, as they had been executors instead of a decision-makers.

Lei believes that the laws, regulations and administrative habits set by the Portuguese were not suitable for Chinese people, but after the return, Macao officials are reluctant to actively make changes. For fear of making mistakes, they tend to live with the mentality that if they do not change, they will not make mistakes, Lei explained.

He also suggested that the central government should send supervisors and advisers to monitor and guide on behalf of the central government, which would be beneficial to both Macao officials and residents.

He hopes that with the improvement of management and experience of Macao SAR government, Macao can enjoy better development.

"Since the return, the Macao SAR government has made great efforts in education," Lei told the Global Times. The promotion of Chinese history and national conditions, military training for middle school students and organizing trips for high school graduates to Chinese mainland, have brought the younger generation of Macao closer to the motherland.

"I often taught my son not to blindly trust information from unknown sources on the internet and to have the ability to think independently," Lei said. He often encourages his son to visit the mainland and experience the development of the motherland.

Photo: Xinhua

Employees of gambling industry: it is necessary for Macao to develop a diversified economy

Ho Iat Seng, the fifth chief executive of the Macao SAR, said in a recent interview that Macao has a sound political and economic environment, a sound legal system and a good business environment, but it should also acknowledge the weakness of its own development amid a good situation.

For example, the main problem in Macao's current development is its biggest industry is gambling, which functions as a monopoly. At a casino at the new port of Macao, several casino workers, who chose not to give their names, shared their considerations with the Global Times.

"I started my career in gambling industry in 2006 and have been a croupier for many years," a middle-aged man who used to be a croupier but was promoted to management, told the Global Times.

Having connections was required to work as a croupier before, but now as long as one is from Macao, anyone can apply. It is very exhausting to work as a croupier with a highly concentrated spirit. Many colleagues have suffered from occupational health conditions such as the pain in the neck, shoulders, waist and legs.

He said Macao is so small that it used to have nothing but gambling. In the past, people always traveled to Hong Kong first and then came to Macao. Macao was relying on Hong Kong before and now is relying on the Chinese mainland. Without the support of Chinese mainland, it would be difficult for Macao to develop properly.

He married a woman from the Chinese mainland. Many couples like them live apart. "My wife is still waiting in line for her permit of living in Macao. So she can't come to work in Macao, however, our children are studying in Macao. This situation affects our family a lot," he said.

He is looking forward to having his family all work and live in Macao. Speaking of his expectations for the future, he added that Macao, with a population of more than 650,000 - nearly 200,000 more than it returned to China - still has too few government-run hospitals.

Ho Iat Seng also said in that interview that Macao should strengthen supervision of the gambling industry to prevent economic and financial risks.

A woman who works as a broker for casinos agrees, telling the Global Times that it is risky for intermediaries not only to lend chips to clients, but to recover borrowed gambling money from them.

She said that the US government has regulations in place for people who owe gambling money at Las Vegas casinos when they leave the country.

An accountant, 35, who works in a casino in Macao, told the Global Times that he had heard that favorable connections were necessary for working in a casino before. After Macao returned to the motherland, people are happy that working in the gambling industry is not as difficult as before. 

He finds Macao used to be very different from Las Vegas, as Las Vegas develops surrounding industries well, and families often come together to shop, watch musical shows and movies while  the men go to gamble. In contrast, people only saw Macao as a gambling destination.

However, the similarities between Macao and Las Vegas are more and more apparent these days. Since Macao released gambling licenses to public, customers' situations and gamble games styles have been improving. 

Before, customers in VIP rooms enjoy various games more and individual customers with low expenses played slot machines and baccarats. Now casinos pay more attention to individual patrons. The selection of games is wider now.

"In the past, Macao's economy simply could not develop without the huge amount of money provided by the gambling industry and the huge number of tourists it attracted," the accountant said, adding that "Now, the diversified development of Macao's economy has formed a variety of influences on the gambling industry."

The development of tourism, exhibition and catering industries has a good promotion effect on the gambling industry, which can attract more high-quality guests and provide guests with more leisure choices, he explained.