Gaming, Governance and Public Policy in Macao

3. The Impact of Gaming Liberalisation on Public Opinion and Political Culture

(d) MGM Grand – the sub-concessionaire of SJM (e) Venetian — the sub-concessionaire of Galaxy (f) Melco/ PBL (The City of Dreams) – the sub-concessionaire of Wynn Plate 2.2 Height Restrictions near Guia Hill Colour code: Blue: Light House visual corridors area. Red; World heritage site. Yellow: local urban law. Building heights for the 11 zones: Zone 1 – 5 to 52.5 metres Zone 2 – 14 metres Zone 3 – 52.5 metres Zone 4 – 90 metres Zone 5 – 60-90 metres Zone 6 – 52.5 metres Zone 7 – 75 metres Zone 8 – 20.5 metres Zone 9 – 47 metres Zone 10 – 47 metres Zone 11 – 47 metres Plate 2.3 The Oceanus Casino Source: Photograph taken by the authors 3 The Impact of Gaming Liberalisation on Public Opinion and Political Culture Newman M. K. Lam Before its reuni¿cation with China, Macao had a political culture1 which emphasised social harmony and tolerance. Its population was characterised as politically inactive and was believed to be mostly either hostile or apathetic towards politics (Lin, 1998). Community views were expressed through traditional associations and direct criticism of the government was rare. As the evidence presented in this chapter shows, this political culture has been eroding, particularly after the social impact of the liberalisation of the gaming industry began to be felt. People’s attitudes towards the government have changed and their belief in the benevolence of its actions has declined. The value of social harmony has been put to the test. Organised protests have become a more frequent occurrence. There has been more criticism of both the government and the gaming industry. Macao people have become less tolerant of the circumstances in which they ¿nd themselves and more willing to become involved in politics. A number of factors might have contributed to this change in political culture, including the resumption of Chinese sovereignty under the slogan ‘Macao people governing Macao’, a high-pro¿le corruption case resulting in the conviction of the Secretary for Transport and Works, changes in the electoral system and the legislature and phenomenal economic growth in the wake of gaming liberalisation. This chapter focuses mainly on the effects of gaming liberalisation on the changing political culture. It consists of two parts. The ¿rst examines the effects of the gaming liberalisation on political culture through a review of the relevant literature and news reports. The second reports the results of a public opinion survey of people’s beliefs, values, attitudes and sentiment. A Changing Political Culture Economic development in Macao has to be strategic because it is a small economy with limited resources (Ieong and Siu, 1997: 12–13) and lacks an adequate domestic 38 Newman M. K. Lam market for consumption of products or suf¿ciency in resources to compete in many different sectors against rival economies. Macao’s strategy has been to use the gaming industry as the bait to attract investment to other sectors (Lam, 2002). Gaming liberalisation was the most signi¿cant government intervention in the industry in the last few decades and it led to almost immediate and exceptionally rapid economic growth (see Chapter 2). This growth provided job opportunities and greatly increased tax revenue for the government. However, it also led to a substantial income gap, high inÀation rates, and unaffordable property prices for average income-earners, as well as many other social problems (Cheng, 2009: 87– 93; Lam, 2009). Growth also changed the face of the city, although not necessarily for the better (see Chapter 2). In the last few years, public protests, something unusual previously, have become a regular feature of the political scene and a means of expressing a wide range of grievances, from labour issues, to the rising cost of living, to corruption in government, to a lack of parking spaces (see Chapter 4 and Chapter 8). On May 1, 2007, a large-scale protest resulted in confrontation between police and protestors, ending with 21 police of¿cers injured and damage to the equipment of 91 of¿cers. Lo argues that these protests might be a sign of a legitimacy crisis (Lo, 2008: 65–73). Macao people were once characterised as politically inactive. A substantial number of them2 considered politics to be either dirty or dangerous (Lo, 1995: 55–58; Lin, 1998; Yee, 1998). Yee and Lo (2000) attribute these attitudes to the absence...