33
During Macau’s boom we reached out for
their help but when crisis struck, they were
first for the chop. Conservative lawmakers
want their heads and guaranteed jobs
for locals. The clamour to sack foreign
workers can verge on the xenophobic
when
the tables
turn
by Joyce pina
ORN and raised in Macau, Mrs Kong’s daughter
works in the gaming industry and her husband
is a supervisor on construction sites, “Thank-
fully not those at The Venetian’’, she adds quickly.
Like many local households, the Kongs welcome recent
lay-offs in the gaming industry, especially those of the
11,000 or so non-resident workers: “I am very happy to
see so many foreigners going home. Not because more
better paid jobs will be available for locals but because
real estate prices and in some cases prices of everyday
goods in supermarkets have started to go down, back to
levels registered two years ago.”
T
he arrival of such a huge expa- occurred at such a rapid rate created a
triate community with housing great deal of stress on the community.’’
allowances and higher disposable For some these could be considered
income changed the way businessmen cynical not to say reactionary views, but
sell their products, and the first impact to many local legislators, mainly of a
was on prices,’’ says Mrs Kong. conservative hue - who make up the ma-
Moving up the social scale just a lit- jority in Macau’s Legislative Assembly
tle, casino tycoon Steve Wynn seems to - like Au Kam San or Kwan Tsui Hang,
agree with Miss Kong. these are valid arguments, especially in
The Las Vegas mogul-turned-Macau times of crisis.
casino kingpin recently told Associated Kwan, recently called for “stronger
Press: “The fact that the economy and anti-foreign labour policies” while Au
the development and expansion of Macau demanded more restrictive policies to
december 2008
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