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158 Alex H. Choi and Eva P. W. Hung applicable to any sector. Second, his answer was self-contradictory because if the same standard was applied to any other sector, there would hardly be any sector in Macao that would qualify for labour importation. Apparently, at that time, the government had not yet formulated a clear policy of labour importation in the croupier business and thus the status quo had to be justi¿ed by reference to the law on migrant workers. One year later, the situation had profoundly changed. The increase in the number of migrant workers as well as illegal workers coupled with the uncontrolled expansion of the casino economy had caused congestion, high land prices, and inÀation, all of which stirred social discontent. Even the pro-government Macao Federation of Trade Unions found it necessary to organise a major indoor gathering condemning the government’s ‘unrestrained’ importation of migrant workers (Macao Daily News, April 13, 2006). A few maverick unions planned to stage an anti-migrant workers’ demonstration on Labour Day.11 In an attempt to defuse the situation, the Chief Executive informed the Legislative Assembly on April 4, 2006 that the government had decided ‘to reserve the casino industry to be an economic sphere that belonged to Macao talents’. He understood that croupiers carried ‘special meaning’to Macao people because, ‘after going through appropriate training, people can earn a higher income’. Hence, despite tremendous pressure from the casino industry, his government ‘would not consider importing labour until the moment all proper methods including retraining and job switching have been exhausted but [the industry] still could not ¿nd the workers to ¿ll up the vacancies’ (Macao Daily News, April 5, 2006). This statement could be considered to be a shrewd move. Many of the unemployed were middle-aged unskilled workers whose jobs had been taken away by the migrant workers. Croupiers were considered to be a low-skilled occupation without high educational requirements. The Chief Executive’s mention of retraining may have been directed at this group of workers. Indeed, hundreds of people lined up, many for over 48 hours, for an application form for a croupier training class during this period (Jornal Cheng Pao, July 12, 2006). João Bosco Cheang’s governmentfunded croupier training centre was said to be specialised in retraining low-skilled workers because it did not require potential trainees to pass English-speaking and computer-literacy tests.12 In fact, Cheang was proud of his training centre’s success in transforming the lives of thousands of people. He pointed out that more than 80 percent of his training centre graduates obtained jobs in the casinos.13 Their income instantly doubled or tripled, lifting the entire family from poverty to the level of a middle-class income. Those were the hopes and aspirations that the Chief Executive tried to capture in his policy of constructing a Macao identity for the croupiers. The beauty of the policy was that the cost of improving the status of the croupiers was borne by the casino operators while local businessmen could continue to enjoy the bene¿ts of an unimpeded supply of low-cost migrant workers. In addition, the 159 Labour Regulation in the Liberalised Casino Economy policy implied that becoming a croupier could provide a way out from the migrantdominated labour market. The infusion of young people into the job because of the high wages offered also meant that the public image of croupiers improved from the previous perception that it was an exclusive sector reserved for those with the right connections. Becoming a croupier was now a proper and well paid position that was available and attainable for ordinary people as long as they had the necessary document, that is, a Macao identi¿cation card. Withthepolicyofreservingthecroupierpositionsforlocalresidentsestablished, casino operators were permitted to import workers for other jobs. This dashed the hopes of those demanding that all casino jobs should be reserved for local workers (Jornal San Wa Ou, April 15, 2006). Three months after the policy was announced, the government allowed Wynn to import migrant workers and the casinos became one of the largest employers of migrant workers in Macao.14 An ethnic hierarchy is thus constructed: the bottom level of unskilled cleaning and waiting jobs is ¿lled mainly by migrant workers from China, well-paid croupier jobs are reserved for locals, and higher positions in the managerial ladder are recruited from Southeast Asia and Hong Kong. The top echelon, however, is usually seconded from...

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