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Macau 'theme park' reverts to China


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By Edward Neilan
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM

December 8, 1999

MACAU -- The longest-running "theme park" on the China coast is changing hands after more than 400 years of Portuguese management.

Macau goes to bed Dec.19 under the Portuguese flag and wakes up Dec 20 as part of China, guaranteed to keep its lifestyle intact for 50 years. It was the first and will be the last European settlement on the South China coast and will slip into history in a manner similar to Hong Kong's passage in 1997.

Maps show Macau to be an isthmus with two small islands connected by causeways and bridges--a total of 6.2 square miles--projecting like a thumb downward from the West bank of the Pearl River south of Guangzhou or Canton.

The population of Macau is consistently understated by as many as 200,000. But U.S. intelligence sources confirmed by the Macau government put the total as slightly more than 550,000 making it one of the world's most densely populated pieces of real estate.

It is described as "sleepy" or "somnolent" on one hand or "mysterious" and "full of intrigue" on the other. Macau was extolled as the "gem of the Orient" by Sir John Bowring, governor of Hong Kong (1854-1859), was called by poet W H. Auden a "city of indulgence ." C.A. Montalto de Jesus was moreto the point terming it a "den of vice."

I like to think of Macau as "intellectually seductive." I first had breakfast after an overnight ferry ride in 1958 at the Hotel Bela Vista, which is to become the Portuguese consulate. Now fleets of jet-powered hydrofoil or "Turbojet" catamarans whisk the visitor to Macau in one hour.

Macau has had it all: pirates, priests, prostitutes, traders, an expatriate art genre, a spicy recipe for African chicken introduced by soldiers from Mozambique, museums, galleries, private schools, an opera house, gambling, gangsters, cobble-stoned streets, the oldest lighthouse (Guia) in Asia, fireworks manufacturing, pink stucco buildings, Casal Garcia and other fine wines, forts with cannon, jai-lai , greyhound racing, horse racing, bullfights, and the Macau Grand Prix auto race.

In the non-stop fiesta atmosphere there is also danger. Organized crime is getting a foothold on the fringes of the gambling industry which accounts for 45 percent of gross domestic product and supports a third of all jobs.

Last year 27 murders were committed in Macau, with the figure this year climbing to 38 through October. In Hong Kong, which has 14 times the population of Macau, 55 persons were murdered through October. China says it will post 1000 troops in Macau after the handoer to guarantee law and order; the announcement drew mixed responses.

The guest list for the Macau handover is impressive. China's President Jiang Zemin is arriving by Boeing 747 from Beijing and will stay at the Pousada de Santiago, an elegant hotel built from an old fortress. Premier Zhu Rongji will arrive in yet another 747. Hong Kong's Chief Executive Officer Tung Chee-hwa will fly in by helicopter. Edmund Ho Hau-wah the Macau chief executive-designate will be driven from his villa to the festivities in his Mercedes.

Zhuo Lin, widow of Deng Xiaoping, architect of "one country, two systems" will also attend.

The symbolism is to remind that Macau is the second territory to come into the China fold under Deng's theory. The next target is Taiwan.

The Portuguese delegation is flying in on two of the TAP national airlines Air Bus aircraft. The delegation on the first plane will be led by Portuguese President Jorge Sampalo and the second by Prime Minister Antonio Guteress.

There is some confusion over where gambling czar Stanley Ho Hung-sun,78, will sit.at the handover ceremony. The answer should be "anywhere he wants" because he controls so much of Macau's budget, not to mention owning three villas with a wife in each and new gambling ventures in Manila, Hanoi and Pyongyang. There is pressure to break-up the monopoly, which Ho has held since 1961. But the betting is his mandate will be extended a further two or three years to provide a smooth transition.

Edward Neilan (eneilan@crisscross.com) is a veteran journalist, based in Tokyo, who covers East Asia and writes weekly for World Tribune.com.

December 8, 1999


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