Macau more than a gambling city
MY recent revisit to Macau was meant to be a working visit but it ended up as an experience of a life time witnessing Typhoon Mangkhut in Macau over the weekend.
The deadly storm lashed the Les Vegas-alike city with winds, rain and flooding that destroyed building, homes and infrastructure and drenching the city rain and with blistering winds up to 173 km/h on 16-17 September recently.
Mangkhut, named after the Thai word for mangosteen, was a super typhoon when it triggered the No 8 signal in the early hour wind speeds of 195km/h making it the most powerful since Typhoon Hope in 1979 and stronger than Super Typhoon Hato last year.
The storm ripped windows out of buildings and causing flooding at the casino district.
We were holed up for 33 hours by the Typhoon Mangkhut that shut down the city for the entire day, forcing residents to stay indoors for agonizing 10 hours under a No 10 warning signal, as high-rise buildings swayed, scaffolding blown off skyscrapers, the lift shaft of a building under construction collapsed, and roads were blocked by severe flooding and fallen trees.
Looking at the ruin, I told myself Sabah is a blessed and best place to live in the world.
Do you know that a typhoon and a hurricane are the same thing?
In the western Pacific they call them typhoons. In the Eastern Pacific to the Atlantic they name them hurricanes.
In the South Pacific and Indian Ocean they are known as cyclones. Australians call them willy-willy’s or something like that…either way, they are scary and never to be underestimated.
Typhoon Mangkhut caused a 33-hour emergency shutdown of Macau’s 42 casinos over the weekend, the first forced cessation of gaming in the enclave’s history.
We were part of the history (so to say) in the making as we were staying at the Venecian Macau Hotel that house the largest casino in the Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.
According to the report by Union Gaming Securities Asia analyst Grant Govertsen, the casino shutdown is estimated to cost Macau 1.1 billion patacas to 1.5 billion patacas (US$185.6 million) in lost gaming revenue. That was a very big figure….
Officially Macau is China’s autonomous territory on the western side of the Pearl River estuary in East Asia.
Along with Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, and several other major cities in Guangdong, the territory forms a core part of the Pearl River Delta metropolitan region, the most populated area in the world.
With a population of 650,900 in an area of 30.5 km2, it is the most densely populated region in the world.
The prosperity of gambling industry in Macau makes people have the stereotype that Macau is only a city of dreamland and when people talk about this territory, the main topic is only gambling. Besides, they would think it is a cultural desert.
To be fair, Macau is a cultural city, which has a long history and prosperous cultures. There are lots of museums. Many music festivals take place in Macau every year and there are numerous kinds of magazines and newspapers published every day.
While it is very true that economically the liberation of gaming licenses had bought about large foreign investments and facilitates infrastructure to Macau, the fact is Macau has the long history and diverse cultures.
The diverse cultures coexist harmoniously in the tiny space, and that is different with the condition of many regions where many cultures coexist.
The negative social effect of single big industry in Macau, which is gambling, provides Macau with ample opportunities to develop other industries.
Undoubtedly the better choices are the tourism and culture related industries, because the gambling industry has laid the foundation of tourism industry, and the long history and diverse cultures are the advantages of Macau compared to Las Vegas.
Macau, a tiny space, shows the picture of harmonious coexistence of many ethnic cultures, which is on contrast to the cultural conflicts of other countries.
In fact if you happened to be in Macau and watch their musical plays and the lifestyle of the citizens of this ex Portuguese colony, you will observe that the different cultures not only coexist but also the cooperation between the different cultures is obvious.
In modern time, the harmonious coexistence of different cultures and work for the same goal are the common need of the human being.
I heard sometime you can watch William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night play in English stage in Beijing Opera Style which is a form of Chinese opera that combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. How I wish can be there.
The successful experience of Macau to embrace their differences proves that the harmonious coexistence of ethnic cultures is possible and provides an important reference for the construction of harmonious culture and society.
For example we see the worship of Mazu reflects the nautical culture of Macau Chinese, and the Guan Gong - god belief reflects the worship for the hero and upright officer of Macau Chinese respectively.
At the same time, as a sin city it is obvious Macau economy is heavily featured by gambling where is witnessestoo many disastrous tragedies caused by gambling, which the living lessons were provided to the people in Macau to warn the next generation away from the pornography, gambling and drugs.
Such thought is the embodiment of Lotus Spirit. In Chinese tradition, lotus is a kind of plant which grows up from the dirty silt but is very pure and noble.
Macau society does not achieve excellent artistic style, but it records the history honestly, describing the historic and cultural phenomena vividly.
Food for thought over this week end?
Despite the fact that gambling license had bought about large foreign investments and facilitates infrastructure to Macau, the authority realized that it is vital for Macau to have tourism industry that maintain sustainable growth in a long run.
Macau adjusts itself in various fields so as to remain its competitiveness as a tourism destination and attract more tourists.
Hence, obviously Macau is famous for the blend of Portuguese and Chinese cultures and its gambling industry, which includes Casino Lisboa, Macau, Sands Macau, The Venetian Macau, and Wynn Macau.
There are also many choices of hotels and resorts since it is one of the world class tourism industries in Asia.
Macau is also the home to Asia’s largest fully integrated convention and exhibition Centre; a city of world heritage stature that also boasts one of the world’s most spectacular and modern skylines; a city that blends the rich traditions of Chinese and Portuguese cultures which is reflected in its lifestyle, food, restaurants, architecture and festivities.
Of late Macau has also diversified its offerings to Business Tourism visitors and incentive travelers in recent years to provide designer shopping, luxury hotels, places of interest and resorts as well as many more dining and entertainment options.
Some of the few places which I never failed to visit whenever I am in Macau are The Ruins of St Paul’s which was originally built in 17th century.
It was destroyed by fire in 1835. What remains till today is the facade of the Church & St Paul’s college, and The St Dominic Church that was founded in 1587 by three Spanish Dominican priests who originally came from Acapulco in Mexico.
This is the place where the first Portuguese newspaper was published in China. Whenever I have enough time Senado Square which has been Macau’s urban centre for centuries & still a popular venue for celebrations is also my favorite.
For gastronomic delight, I will go to a place paved with a wavepatterned mosaic colored stones created by the Portuguese called Rua du Cunha that is situated at a narrow pedestrian street offering a variety of delicious local food.
This place is named after Portuguese explorer Trist?o da Cunha.
I could name many more of good places to visit in Macau but I think it is best to let the travel agents do their job but what I can confirm is that Macau is not just a casino city but it is a city with holistic approach in terms of tourism attractions that command one of the best tourism spots in the world.
No wonder statistics shows that visitor arrivals in Macau jumped 18.7 percent year-on-year to an all-time high of 3.404 million in August 2018, following a 4 percent rise in July. Macau oh Macau, in the words General Mc Arthur “I shall Return”.