GlennMcCartneyMacaoTourism

8/4/2019 GlennMcCartneyMacaoTourism

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Heritage versus Gaming: Odds on winning a piece of the tourist pie.

Glenn McCartneyInstitute For Tourism Studies

Macao, SAR

and

Sanjay NadkarniInstitute For Tourism Studies

Macao, SAR

Abstract

With the liberalisation of the gaming industry, Macao, a former Portuguese enclave forover four centuries and now a special administrative region of the Peoples Republic ofChina, is on the threshold of a major transformation. Do centuries of accumulated cultureand legacy stand threatened in the wake of these developments? Will a once laid back,relatively sequestered small town lifestyle with its unique blend of customs be swampedby an influx of outside influences brought in by expatriates and visitors alike? An uneasy status quo of gaming and cultural tourism that has prevailed thus far, with gamblingrevenues contributing circa 60% of Macaos GDP, over 70% of its tourists and providingsignificant funding to cultural programmes and preservation could be unsettled. While theMacao Government are investing vast sums in the preservation and promotion of cultural

tourism, there is the pending danger that it will be simply relegated to the backstage, withcasino development taking the prime slot. Though the Macao government has over theyears promoted Macao as a city of culture, the future reality of this message willultimately lie with the attitudes of local residents, and particularly, its youth. This issueassumes further significance in light of the proposed listing pending with UNESCO todesignate Macao a World Heritage City. In this paper, the authors highlight some of themore prominent issues emanating from this identity conundrum facing Macao.

Key words: heritage preservation, culture, casino and tourism development, resident and

youth perceptions.

Introduction

In 1557, the isthmus of Macao1, named after the Chinese sea goddess A-M, came under

the administration of the Portuguese, being given the first official permit to operate assuch by the Chinese. On one of the southern most tips of China, Macao for the next three

1 Macao is the English translation, while Macau is the Portuguese version


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hundred years became the main and most important trading post between the West andEast, in particular China. It represented a strategic gateway, being at the mouth of thePearl River, an important access point to the go-downs and warehouses in the region ofCanton. During this time, Macao would have been a thriving melting pot of Eastern andWestern nationalities and cultures. This wide variety of languages and values,

architectural styles, cultural traditions, customs, even cuisine would have existed side byside and gradually influenced one another. Perhaps fortuitously, Macao developed into aunique pluralistic society, interchanged with influences from the orient and occident. Onesuch custom and pastime in which there was a overlap and amiable agreement of culturalacceptance was that of gambling which became a favourite pastime for many, forforeigner and Chinese alike, although it was initially illegal (Pinho, 1991) yet very muchtolerated by the local Portuguese authorities as being a part of everyday life and Chineseculture.

Early reporting on gambling in Macao has been portrayed in a rather negative light, suchas from the Franciscan friar, Jos de Jesus Maria, who was in Macao in the 1740s and

wrote of how the town was made up of gambling, murder, drunkenness, fighting,robbery, and a long list of other vices (Pinho, 1991), a sentiment similarly shared by otherwriters on Macaos history in the 17th century:

Chinese of the lower orders aggravated the situation by pandering to the sailors,running brothels, drinking and gambling houses for them, soaking them in cheap potent Chinese liquors and robbing them (a favourite trick) when they passedout. (Coates, 1966, pp.39)

The gambling industry was obviously having a negative effect on public order within thecity, although this continued to take a backseat to the main task of trade between East andWest. Macaos gaming industry has metamorphosed through a matrix of illegal gamblinghouses, to legalisation, monopoly franchise, and recently liberalisation (Appendix A),which saw two major Las Vegas gaming consortia (The Venetian, under the local GalaxyCasino banner, and Wynn Resorts) win casino concessions in Macao (the other casinoconcession went to Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, SJM renamed from STDM, whichsimply inherited the present eleven casinos). The liberalisation process was spurred bythe similar motives of generating revenue for government coffers, and other fiscalbenefits, as well as social stability and the wish to limit criminal activities from within thegaming industry (McCartney, 2003).

However, Macaos reliance on the gambling dollar is significant with gamblingrepresenting 60% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with tax from casino revenuesgenerating 7.4 billion patacas2 in 2002 (Gaming Control Board, Macao SAR, 2003)showing Macaos casinos (of which there are presently still eleven) to be one of the mostlucrative casino industries internationally. However, while the economic argument isused to justify and introduce or expand casino development, as done in many gaming jurisdictions worldwide (Roehl, 1994; Smith and Hinch, 1996; Smeral, 1998), severalsocial costs can emerge as a consequence of this development (Pizam, 1978) such as

2 1USD = 7.8 Patacas


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increases in crime and prostitution, addiction to gambling and drug abuse, traffic jams,littering as well as in the case of Macao, the possibility of a negative impact on its alreadyfragile culture and heritage. With a population of 441,600 inhabitants and landmass of26.8km2 (DSEC, 2003), tourist arrivals to Macao in 2002 topped over 11.5 million(MGTO, 2002a) and continue to increase in 2003. This is significant considering

Macaos small living area and has put added pressure on the preservation of its culture.Coupled with this is the introduction in the coming years of Las Vegas themed casinoproperties from the Wynn and The Venetian gaming consortia with promises of creatingMacao as Asias Las Vegas, a mega-gaming hub with casino strips, themed propertiesand entertainment complexes with the vision of a casino strip totalling potentially 58casinos (Events, 2002) and a total investment from all concession winners of US$1.6billion (a third of Macaos GDP in 2002) (Ponto Final, 2003). As a result, a once laid back, relatively sequestered small town lifestyle with its unique blend of customs andheritage is progressively being exposed to global cultures. This issue assumes furthersignificance in light of the proposed listing pending with UNESCO to designate Macao aWorld Heritage City (Engelhart, 2002).

In an attempt to protect Macaos unique Sino-Portuguese architectural and culturalheritage, all the new mega-resorts comprising casinos, convention centres and hotels andother supporting infrastructure projects are to be built on Macao Peninsulas OuterHarbour and on reclaimed land between the two off-short islands of Taipa and Coloane(Ponto Final, 2003), named Cotai, an abbreviated and combined form of the two islandnames. This new self-contained city will allow Macao to expand a further 6.2 squarekilometres, and accommodate an estimated 150,000 residents (Macau Image, 2002).

Amidst this substantial growth and infrastructure expansion, the preservation of Macaoscultural heritage is spearheaded by the Cultural Institute of Macao. Initially set up as a public institution in 1982 aimed at implementing policies on culture and academicresearch related to Sino-Portuguese cultural interchange, and stimulating interest inPortuguese language and culture in Macao and the region, its status and responsibilitiestowards cultural and heritage preservation have evolved and increased to its finalstanding in 1994:

The Cultural Institute aims to maintain, preserve and renovate the local cultural,historical and architectural heritage, and to develop regulations to ensure that itremains available for the public to enjoy. The promotion of research to help thecommunity understand Macaos culture and heritage better is another of its goals.(Macao Yearbook, 2002, pp.325)

The Cultural Institute with a budget of over US$12 million in 2002, has enacted a broadstrategy from publications, the establishment and maintenance of libraries and archives,cultural and artistic events, arts and film festivals to the running and maintenance of theMacau Conservatory (for music, dance and drama), The Museum of Macau (constructedin the interior of one of Macaos oldest and largest fortresses, Monte Fort) and variouslibraries.


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However, the Cultural Institute is but one of a myriad of stakeholders with a vestedinterest in Macaos future. Ultimately though, it will be the reaction or interaction ofMacaos local resident community, as well as Macaos youth population towardsupcoming casino development that will determine and shape Macaos future legacy andthe success of cultural and heritage preservation.

This paper while discussing whether the cohabitation of two seemingly incompatibleconcepts of gambling and heritage will spawn a culture paradox, will also highlight thefindings from two previous research projects in relation to cultural preservation;Perceptions of Casino Impacts Among Macao Residents: A Study of the Liberalisationof the Casino Industry (McCartney & Vong, 2003) and Assessment of InterculturalAwareness Among Macaos Student Community (Nadkarni, 2003).

Cultural Tourism applied to Macao

The term cultural tourism contains several related elements, leading to how attractive theculture will be to the tourist. These have been highlighted by Hall (1997) showing threecomponents of culture:

Figure1: The three components of culture (Hall, 1997) cited in Hall (2002), pp.284

High culture Multiculturalism

Heritage- Art galleries- Museums- Historic sites

Performing

arts- Theatre- Music

- Dance

- Events

Lifestyles- Gastronomy- Socialenvironments- Folkways- Craft

- Festivals

Mass culture- Shopping- Film- Entertainment- Sport- Electronic massmedia- Vernacular

architecture

Language Ethnicity/

Ethnic

symbols

- Ethnic festivals- Communitycelebrations- Religious

events

Folk and popular culture

CULTURE

Symbolic meaning system

Using the three components of culture, high culture, folk and popular culture andmulticulturalism, which are again broken down into smaller components, culture can bepacked into various tourism products. Through 450 years of historical exchange betweenAsian and Western cultures, the Cultural Institute and the Macao Government TouristOffice offer a year round extensive event list (MGTO, 2003a) promoting local


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performing arts, lifestyles (showing the mix of Chinese, Macanese, Portuguese and otherminority cultures cuisine, costume and festivals), languages (with Chinese andPortuguese as the official languages, although English is widely used in commerce andeducation unfortunately the local dialect of Patwa has all but disappeared), religiousevents and ceremonies (Christian and Buddhist mostly) supported by a patchwork of old

churches and temples throughout Macao and its islands, along with a large list andvariety of museums (MGTO, 2003 b) and listed historical buildings. In fact Macao isoften cited as having more churches than the Vatican as well as more gambling tablesthan Monte Carlo. However tourists to these cultural components will have varyingmotivations:

There are a number of aesthetic, intellectual, emotional, and psychologicalfactors motivating tourists to seek out and enjoy cultural experiencesVisitors toart galleries are seeking to encounter beauty, authenticity, uniqueness, andexclusiveness. The individual visitor becomes involved in the often solemncontemplation of art works and the encounter creates a very personal aesthetic

experience. In contrast, visitors to museums are seeking discovery, novelty,diversity, and knowledge.Heritage sites can also convey a sense of place andbring visitors an awareness of the historical context of an area. However, visitorsto performing arts events are seeking a more emotional experience and an escapefrom the everyday world. (Hall, 2002, pp.404)

As it is, over three quarters of all tourists to Macao come for the prime reason ofgambling. Of those locations that are visited, mostly by tour groups, such as St. Paulsruins, Macaos major icon, they are as honey pots of visitor attraction (Freitag, 1994,Collins, 1999) which in itself can have a negative effect on the tourism environment andresident populations around these sites, as the visitors are not being spatially dissipated.There is a lack of research in visitor (local resident and tourist) participation andmotivation in not just visiting heritage sites, galleries and shows, but also in measuringtheir cultural experience. While the Cultural Institutes main objective is to protect,maintain and revitalise Macaus historic, architectural and cultural heritage and to drawup the guidelines ensuring their survival, growth and dissemination (ICM, 2003) the presence of culture is a promotional spin used by the Macao Government in themarketing of Macao: For almost four and half centuries international travelers have beencoming to Macaofor adventure and sanctuarybusiness and pleasure. Invariably, theyhave found far more than they expected in the tiny outpost that once flourished as the prime commercial and cultural crossroad between Europe and Asia (MGTO, 2002b,pp.1). However it is important that Macaos cultural preservation and tourism policy beclosely linked (particularly now in the face of such dramatic casino and infrastructuredevelopment), a sentiment shared by Helmy & Cooper (2002) in the preservation ofarchaeological heritage in Egypt. There is a gap between the general tourist policy andthe strategy for cultural heritage conservation. A sub-policy for the protection of thecultural and historic sites needs to be created to link the main tourist policy and thestrategy for cultural heritage conservation in the field of tourism (pp.525).


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While authenticity is one of the main motivations for tourists to visit foreign culture andheritage spots, in contrast, the casino industry in fact manufactures the experience that istransportable:

While mountain or coastal scenery may make an attractive backdrop for casinos,

from a purely functional perspective it can be argued that a casino is a builtfacility that is not dependent on any specific natural or cultural resource. Oncepatrons are participating in the games of chance, the backdrop becomes largelyirrelevant. Casinos in Las Vegas have consciously divorced themselves from theirnatural environmentLas Vegas is literally an oasis that has been created bydevelopers in the desert. (Smith and Hinch, 1996, pp.38)

In addition, the casino industry may borrow a false or commercially manipulatedhistorical image, as was the case of casino development in Colorado (Stokowski, 1999).With Macao, there is the ever more presence of danger that even where historic centerssurvive, their values intact they often do so as oases surrounded by featureless and

meaningless outlying areas serving more directly the needs of business, residents andindustry (Stovel, 2002, pp.94). With the knowledge that Macaos cultural and heritagebackdrop is not an important feature for the gaming tourist, efforts must be made to widerthe tourist segment profile, and to have Macaos cultural and heritage attributes marketedin conjunction (and as an equal partner) with the casino industry to appeal to a broaderaudience.

Gambling an intrinsic part of Macaos society

In a recent study on cultural sustainability on the island of Cyprus (Scott, 2003), (which

has become increasingly dependent on casinos since commercial gambling wasestablished in 1975), that although Turkish Cypriots are banned from all forms ofgambling inside or outside the casino, gambling was still widespread in the community.Before the development of large-scale commercial gambling, it was a non-monetarypastime allowing for social interaction, forming part of stories and local song:

Gambling, it seemed, was an underlying fact of life: persistent, relativelywidespread, sometimes problematic, yet socially managed and accommodated. Itwas also evident that a shift had occurred with the opening of the casinos and theparticular gambling opportunities they offered, exacerbating existing tensions andthreatening established social and family strategies for managing gambling and its

sometimes difficult consequences. (ibid, pp.267)

A problem the author goes on to write (citing McMillan, 1996) is that little research has been done to the significance of traditional gambling cultures which pre-date theintroduction of commercial casino gambling, apart from wishing to cite as either a legalor illegal form, although this traditional form of gambling fulfils diverse socialfunctions, where the economic factor was of minor importance. Albeit, commercialgambling has been present in Macao for some time. However, participation rates are low


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(Vong & McCartney, 2003) which may be due to being part of the social fabric ofMacaos culture and does not arouse any special interest in the population as yet, incontrast to people living in places where gambling is not allowed ( ibid, 2003) or beinglegalised for the first time. With the liberalisation, this may have dramatic impacts ontraditional gambling in Macaos society, emphasising the significance of the socio-

cultural context for an understanding of the evolving casino industry in Macao.

Having had gambling since its outset, historical references to gambling houses, the initialcasinos, those involved in the casino industry and events evolving around gambling, haveall added to the its colourful and exciting past. Even Fantan3, which would have been afavourite gambling game 450 years ago in Macao, was still played in some casinos in thesecond monopoly franchise under STDM (although it is now no longer played). Anotherpopular game played in Chinese society is that of Mahjong, which until very recently wasalso played in some of Macaos casinos, but continues to be a favourite pastime by many(while small side bets are placed adding to the vigor of the game, a major factor behindthe playing of Mahjong is in social interaction).

By linking the history of gambling and traditional forms of gambling (such as Mahjongand Fantan) more into the cultural framework of Macao, can only assist further in puttingheritage preservation on a equal par with that of future commercial casino gambling.

Perceived impact of casino liberalisation by Macao residents on culture and

heritage4

Most of the literature on casino impact and development explores the introduction oflegalised casinos in the community (Long et al, 1996; Perdue et al, 1995; Stokowski,

1998). However, legalised gambling houses were first introduced into Macao in the1850s, with the government already receiving revenue from a tax on gaming revenues.Applying the analogy put forth by Smith & Hinch (1996) that casino have nuclearhierarchy, spatial distribution, and spatial structure, as Macaos casinos act as a primarydraw for over three quarters of all visitors to Macao, they act as a primary nucleus. Hadthey not been present, the argument goes, the tourists would have gone elsewhere.Regarding spatial distribution, of four possible categories for the location of casinos(Eadington, 1995), most of Macaos present casinos are in major urban centres , openlyaccessible to local and regional populations. A lot of Macaos residents are in close proximity to casino properties, suggesting the possibility of stronger opinions andperceptions regarding impacts (Belisle and Hoy, 1980). With regards to spatial structure,

three spatial rings are suggested, with the core being a nucleus (casino and gaming area),an inviolate belt (such as hotels and restaurants, adding protection to the nucleus), and azone of closure (surrounding commercial areas). In Macao, however, these threeconcentric rings tend to blur in distinction, as the inviolate belt of hotels and restaurants,rather than offer a protection function, tends to be more a condition of the casinos

3 This popular ancient gambling game was easy to set-up requiring no more than a number of buttons, coinsor stones being divided four times with a stick, and guessing the number.4 Excerpts from (McCartney & Vong, 2003), under journal review.


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existence. Similarly, some of Macaos commercial enterprises indirectly benefit from the presence of the casinos. The less distinctive these rings or boundaries, the closer thecommunity will come into contact with casinos and casino development, increasing thelikelihood for greater impact.

With a large percentage of Macao residents either directly or indirectly employed withintourism and, therefore, being more dependent economically on the industry, research hasshown that these residents have a tendency to be more positive toward tourism (theopposite happens with those not employed in tourism) (Pizam, 1978). As the perceivedfuture of the community with gambling becomes more positive, resident support forgambling will increase. It is tautological to propose that resident support for gamblingwill increase with the individuals level of perceived benefit derived from gambling(Perdue et al, 1995, p.4).

With this in mind, a longitudinal study was conducted in 2003 by McCartney & Vongamong a resident sample in Macao. Several impact factors were researched to include a

comprehensive list of economic benefits and social costs and the residents asked if thepresence of the new casino development would increase these benefits and social costs.Economic gains (such as employment, tourism spending, investment) received thestrongest agreement. One factor, preservation of local custom and culture while notshowing a clear weighting to agree or disagree, did show a slight skew to agree (that thenew casinos would help preserve local custom and culture). However, this research wasconducted prior to the opening for the new casinos (with the first, The Sands, under TheVenetian banner to open in early 2004), with the hope that it can serve as a benchmarkfor future longitudinal and comparison research. Macao has very definite naturalboundaries to expansion. Because of Macao residents close proximity to the casinos, it issuggested that stronger opinions and perceptions of impacts will be felt (Belisle & Hoy,1980). Carmichael et al (1998) conceptualised that residents would develop either positive or negative attitudes toward the casino developers (in this case SJM, GalaxyCasino, The Venetian and Wynn Resorts) base on both personal factors (such asemployment opportunities within the tourism or casino industry) and the perceivedimpacts (social, economic, and environmental). Should the perceived social impacts startto increase significantly enough, one being the decline of local customs and culture, (i.e.are not at least equally being offset by the various economic benefits), followingCarmicheal etals framework there can be a shift to negative attitudes toward the casinodevelopment.

A lack of perceived impacts in tourism research was reported by Mason and Cheyne(2000). There are few studies on the perceived impacts of tourism either prior to anydevelopment or when it is not yet seen to be a significant economic area of activity for aregion (pp.400). What is apparent is that the continued success of gaming tourism andthe preservation of cultural tourism for Macao will also rest with residents perceptionsbeing carefully monitored in the coming years, and the need for more impact research. Asimilar cautionary note was highlighted by Long (1996):


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One piece of planning advice commonly heard from all constituencies that haveexperiences with gambling is to be vigilant. All jurisdictions report unanticipatedproblems, new pressures, the need for constant monitoring and similar concerns.To build toward long-term success it will be important to monitor a communitysability to handle issues, to focus on the health and integrity of the gambling

industry and the value of the experience to the states visitors, determine theeffectiveness of service delivery to the communities, and monitor the impacts onother parts of the state. (pp.352)

Heritage Management - collaboration in tourism planning

Taking into consideration that heritage resources once removed are irreplaceable, acollaborated effort of all stakeholders, headed by the Macao Government is needed. Atthe moment, major tourism decisions in Macao are a top down approach, where decisionsmade at a localised level have little or no impact on government tourism policy

formation. However, as mentioned by Bramwell & Lane (2000):

The importance of involving diverse stakeholders in tourism planning andmanagement is receiving growing recognition. This has led to increasing attentionbeing directed to the use of collaborative arrangements or partnership that bringtogether a range of interests in order to develop and sometimes also implementtourism policies. Stakeholder collaboration has the potential to lead to dialogue,negotiation and the building of mutually acceptable proposals about how tourismshould be developed. (pp.1)

However within Macao, there are a myriad of shareholders with differing and vestedinterests in its tourism development. With the Macao Government and the casinodevelopers taking obvious leadership and power positions, there is all the danger thatsuch synergy creating bodies become just window dressing with those with less powerbeing excluded or having less influence on the decision making process. In responding tothe influence of local residents, in Singapore on the issue of tourism and heritageconservation, public forums were invited by the Singapore Government, to consolidateresidents feelings towards the commercialisation of conservation projects or tourismdevelopments on one hand, and the need to preserve local heritage on the other (Teo &Huang, 1995). This assisted in the formation of a sound tourism development plan,reflecting the views and aspirations of local people.

Later Teo & Huang writes of the danger that tourism development can destroy local andregional features and replaces these with psuedo places which suggest nothing of thehistory, life, and culture of the people who live or work around them (pp.594) and intheir citing of Relph (1976, pp.95) of the use of the term Disneyfication to describeplaces that have become absurd [and] syntheticmade up of a surrealistic combinationof history, myth, reality and fantasy that have little relationship with the particulargeographical setting. Museumization is also mentioned as a form of Disneyfication of


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museums, which construct idealized pasts, a historic ambience for tourist enjoymentthan for representing a true picture of the past (pp.594).

With this in mind, there is the risk that culture and heritage solely become components ofthe tourism product or as a commodity (Hewison, 1988, sited in Hall, 2002). Already,

some are critical of cultural preservation in the face of tourism development:

In the coming two years, private investors are expected to sink billions of patacas(the Macau currency) into the SAR, according to official government reports. Theinvestment will make a key contribution to the change of the unique profile ofthe SAR, as well as the historic sites that blend occidental and oriental charm in away not found in other cities. But many government projects have put the historicsites into a deteriorating situation.Macau is preparing some historic and naturalsites to seek inclusion on the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientificand Cultural Organization) World Heritage list. Funds allotted for protectionworks as well as for the application process far exceed those of other places, such

as mainland China and Hong Kong, the other SAR. However, if Macaus mode ofpreserving cultural heritage keeps following the manner in which local Jesuits aretreating their founding father, it will be money down the drain. (Chan, 2003)

Assessment of intercultural awareness among Macaos youth

The significance of the perceptions of Macaos local resident community, especially theyouth population, was emphasised in the introductory section of this paper. Withreference to the three components of culture as propounded by Hall (1997), an auditstudy on one of these components, namely, multiculturalism, was conducted from the point of view of gauging the extent of cultural sensitivity and awareness prevailing inMacao.

The recent spate of developments that Macao has been witnessing on the socio-economichorizons is expected to attract expatriate talent to the SAR. This in turn is bound to havean influence on the demographic undertones and consequently, the attitudes of the SARsresidents vis--vis non-local cultures. From a socio-cultural perspective, the dynamism ofany society is, inter alia, attributable to the extent to which external cultural influencesand minority sub-cultures can be tolerated, accommodated, appreciated and assimilatedby the dominant host culture. Such a perspective also has economic as well as politicalovertones. As Naisbitt and Adurdene (1997) have sought to underscore, all segments of asociety are affected by the political, social, economic and cultural transformations. Thekey to sustainable economic growth, apart from tangible investment climate created byvirtue of regulatory mechanisms on part of the Government is to ensure a healthy andwelcoming environment from the cultural perspective for the expatriates and theirdependents. Building such an environment is all the more relevant in this era ofglobalisation which has witnessed the rise of a new breed of global professionals drawnfrom different social, national and cultural backgrounds.


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Though being a predominantly Chinese society, Macao, as in the case of Hong Kong, byvirtue of being a former protectorate of an erstwhile European metropolitan power, has,over the years, had a fair degree of international exposure, thereby attracting overseasmigrants who have been integrated to a large extent into the mainstream of the localethos, and yet, have managed to retain their distinct roots and identities. Macao has, in

the past four centuries, played host to people from other Portuguese colonies such as Goa,Brazil, Cape Verde and Timor. These ethnic minorities have enriched the host society byvirtue of their economic and cultural contributions and have kept alive their Lusophonicidentity. In the post colonial epoch which has coincided with the era of globalisation, towhat extent do ethnic minorities feel assimilated in the host society is a possiblereflection of the extent to which a society can be considered to be cosmopolitan.

More specifically, in the context of Macao, it is imperative that the SAR metamorphoseinto a cosmopolitan entity, given the rapid pace of development spurred by thederegulation of the gaming sector and the attendant inflow of foreign capital, both,financial and human. Apart from the advantages that accrue towards attracting overseas

expatriate talent to live and work in Macao, a cosmopolitan environment will also ensurea more at home feeling for overseas tourists and contribute towards providing furtherdiversity to the local heritage in the long term. Thus, the advantages that Macao canleverage by enhancing its cosmopolitan image are two fold: attracting overseas talent andtourists as well as evolving a more varied heritage.

Towards this end, it is necessary to do the spadework in terms of determining Macaospreparedness in being able to evolve into a cosmopolitan city whilst simultaneously beingable to conserve its heritage. As economic growth, fuelled by the deregulation of thegaming sector inadvertently takes precedence over culture, conservation and heritage facethe distinct possibility of being relegated to the backburner. Such a task can beaccomplished from different perspectives that take into consideration social, cultural,anthropological and demographic factors. Though the opinions of all sections of thesociety are important, the segment of population that matters most is the youngergeneration who are the citizens of the future. Corsaro (1997) has highlighted that in socialscience research, seldom does this segment of society get recognised as an active socialagent. As future citizens, their perceptions cannot and should not be overlooked. In thisregard, Aitken (1998) emphasises that their role be given due recognition as an importantdimension in social and cultural theory propounded by James & Prout (1992). It is thegist of these arguments that form the rationale behind focusing on the higher secondarystudent segment as the target population for this phase of the study.

The principal aspects of culture on which the students attitude and awareness levels weregauged were language, cuisine and religion. In so far as language is concerned,expectedly, an overwhelming majority of the students cited Cantonese, which is the localdialect, as being their preferred language of communication, this being irrespective of themedium of instruction at school. In terms of working knowledge, Mandarin and Englishfigure more prominently though there is a desire on part of the students to getfamiliarised with other languages such as Japanese and Korean. It is of interest to notethat despite Portuguese being one of the two official languages of Macao (the other being


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Chinese), there does not seem to be any overwhelming desire on part of the students tolearn it. Perhaps, this has to do with the perceived utility of a language in a globalisedcontext.

Again, in their choice of cuisines, the students demonstrated a predisposition for Chinese

food, which was followed by Japanese cuisine. Portuguese fare also figured prominentlyand given the influence that Portuguese kitchen has had on local cooking such anoutcome is consistent with the situational context. Other cuisines such as Italian, Thai,Korean and Indian also find a reasonable level of mention. Students were also tested ontheir awareness of various faiths. Catholicism, Buddhism and Islam ranked top three interms of awareness. As such, the Portuguese influence in the spread of Catholicism isevident vis--vis the response pattern. A significant number of students indicated theirlack of awareness of Judaism, Hinduism and surprisingly, Taoism. The outcome of thisstudy tentatively suggests that overall, the younger population of Macao does seemconscious of multicultural attributes, although the awareness seems largely confined toregions closer to home.

This study has essentially been a modest preliminary step in probing into the prevailingextent of intercultural awareness among the youngsters in Macao. It needs to beemphasised at this juncture that the results are purely tentative, given the indicativenature of this study. It provides scope for further exploring the cultural angle from the perspective of sustainable conservation of Macaos s heritage in the backdrop ofeconomic development as also to develop a research plan for studying the other twodimensions of culture, namely high culture and folk and popular culture (Hall, 1997). Thepursuit of research along the lines of the propounded framework will contribute towardsevolving policies and practices to enhance the Macao youths worldview and enrich theircultural kaleidoscope with the objective of creating a vibrant cosmopolitan environmentin Macao. This, it is hoped, will not just help keep alive the interest in Macaos pastlegacy in the face of gaming induced commercialisation but also create a thrivingcosmopolitan environment conducive and receptive to external cultural influences, theassimilation of which into the local milieu will ensure the evolving enrichment ofMacaos heritage to the benefit of posterity.

Conclusions

By providing a temporal snapshot of Macaos present phase of development, this paperhas brought to the fore an apparent joisting between two seemingly incompatibleconcepts of heritage and gaming. To what extent are these incompatibilities reconcilableand whether an uneasy cohabitation or even a symbiotic coexistence possible? These arethe moot questions, the answers to which will determine the future of heritageconservation as well as the development of the casino industry in Macao.

The world over, paucity of funds on account of empty government coffers is a reasonoften cited for neglect of heritage sites. Macao has been more fortunate in this regard, itspublic purse being consistently in the surplus, thanks to the revenues generated through


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taxes imposed on gaming income. Though this paper has avoided speculation on howeffectively the revenues thus generated have been deployed by various governmentagencies in the promotion of cultural tourism and conservation of heritage and culture, itis worth noting that the increasing prioritisation on part of the government authorities totransform Macaos economic contours as evidenced by the recent liberalisation of the

gaming sector call for the strengthening of coordination among the stakeholders inevolving effective strategies that will ensure the conservation of Macaos varied past.That failing, an overemphasis on the development of the gaming sector would result inheritage and conservation issues being relegated to the backburner. Once the proverbialRubicon is crossed, no amount of resources allocated by a cash-rich government willarrest the gradual or even rapid fading into oblivion of centuries of culture, therebyleading to an unfortunate paradox wherein the hand that fed was also the hand that killed.

On the basis of the arguments presented in this paper, the authors recommended a balanced policy and decision making process, based on continually evolving dialogue between all the stakeholders, primarily, the government agencies responsible for the

development of tourism and conserving Macaos heritage. Towards this end, it isrecommended that a nodal agency be established, that will be in a position to coordinateand conduct research relevant to meeting the (at times conflicting) objectives of thestakeholders. With appropriate policy mechanisms and regulatory guidelines that areevolved on the basis of sound academic research, it would be possible to derive synergiesvis--vis a seemingly incompatible pair: heritage and gaming:

At bestculture can be hoped to be co-equal or partner of modern entertainmentin attracting tourists. At worst, culture can be relegated to the backstage ofeconomic development where the mainstay is the gambling industry. Therefore,the challenge for Macao SAR Government, especially, the Macao CulturalInstitute is to muster all its efforts in promoting the culture heritage of the place asa partner of equal significance of the gambling industry in attracting tourists.UNESCO, to the mind of this paper writer will demand no less if the place wishesto be inscribed in the World Heritage List. (Lamarca, 2002, pp.67)


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References:

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Appendix 1. Macaos Casino Continuum

Illegal gaming houses and

1557

other forms of illegal gambling

permitted by local authorities

LEGALISATION

Licensing of casino houses

1840

successfully raises gaming taxesalthough industry is still gangstercontrolled

MONOPOLYFRANCHISE

Ownership of Tai Xing Company

1932

SECONDMONOPOLYFRANCHISE

Ownership of Sociedade de

1962

Turismo e Diversoes de Macau(SDTM)

2001LIBERALISATION

Regulatory framework passedin August, bidding begins in

November. Close off is Decemberwith 21 tenders received

Awarding of 3 casino concessions

2002

from 1st April 2002

2006

COMPETITION

Each concession holder to implement

contractual obligations

2022MACAO

ASIAS LAS VEGAS?

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