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SILENCE NEVER LIES
Statisticians are frequently under re. Often are they accused of tweaking data to give a different version of reality to suit a particular agenda. It is far from new, as shown by the famous phrase attributed to Benjamin Disraeli, the 19th century British prime minister: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics”. In Macau, our beloved Statistics and
Census Service is keen to prove its work is beyond criticism. What better way to do that than by simply not publishing any potentially controversial statistics? Do you want to know more about wealth
distribution in Macau, usually measured by the Gini coef cient? The most recent available gures are for 2007-2008. Do you want detailed gures about
another hot topic, labour mobility? Again, data is available only up to 2008. Or do you need precise gures about the
city’s economic engine, gaming, such as the average size of a bet? Sorry, not available. Keep up the good work, people at the
Statistics and Census Service. The best way to stay away from criticism is to keep your mouth shut and do nothing. Work that way and no one can point an accusing nger.
WHAT IF?
Frozen Spy is amazed by the wishful thinking shown by some of our legislators. The latest example came from veteran Kwan Tsui Hang. Ms Kwan has demanded
that of cials make public the full reports of all studies commissioned by the government – something that seldom happens. The goal, she says, is to increase transparency and allow the people to assess the quality and relevance of the research. Looking at the Of cial Gazette, Ms Kwan discovered
that the government has recently commissioned at least 10 separate studies and surveys, with prices ranging from a few million patacas to almost MOP60 million (US$7.5 million). While Ms Kwan’s idea is interesting, it would mean
consultancy rms would have to deliver proper results and reports, and that the government would have to explain the need for so many studies and, more importantly, the criteria it uses in choosing the consultancy rms. Finally, Ms Kwan’s idea would oblige somebody in
the government to read those reports and perhaps take them into consideration during the decision-making process. That would be just too troublesome.
DISTORTED SIGNAL
SMART CIVIL SERVANTS
We all know knowledge is power. Living in a society where technology is ubiquitous, it is important for everybody to have a high level of computer literacy, starting with the city’s civil servants. Thanks to the Public Administration and Civil
Service Bureau, that is no longer a problem. Last month the body promoted an iPhone workshop to help public-sector workers learn how to get the most of their smartphones. Next time you are stuck in a waiting room of a
government bureau and see a civil servant behind the counter spending several minutes checking her iPhone, please be patient. Maybe she is doing her revision.
More than a year after the government introduced a bill in the Legislative Assembly revising Macau’s copyright law, lawmakers have yet to give it the nal nod. In any other place in the world, this would be an awkward situation. In Macau, it is just one bill among many dragging their feet. What is special in this case is what divides the
legislature and the government. The government wants to punish only those who make a buck out of sharing copyright-protected les over the Internet, while the lawmakers argue that even people who share les online for nothing should be punished, albeit with lighter sentences. The government is taking a populist stance on
this matter. It wants to avert a public outcry, since we all know how widespread the practice of unauthorised sharing of music, movie and other les is. If the government continues along this path,
sooner or later we will have Robin Hood-style justice, where stealing is not wrong – especially from the mighty United States’ movie studios – just as long as you do not pro t from it. Frozen Spy thinks this is the wrong signal to
send, especially in a city that wants to diversify into cultural industries, which earn their bread and butter from copyright-protected material.
JANUARY 2012
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