34 cover sTorY
guarantee employment for residents.
“Those foreigners that later obtain
Macau’s residency are occupying the best
positions. New immigrants mean a great
loss for locals and we must be wary,’’
Kwan has told Macau Business.
Snowball effect
The question of non-residento— r
blue-card holdingab— our has been a
hot topic in Macau throughout the boom
“New immigrants
mean a great loss
for locals and we
must be wary”
Kwan Tsui Hang
years and the recent lay-offs have simply casino-related industries. to Hong Kong workers were emptied in
added fuel to the fire. Thousands of Hong Kong residents the last weeks of November”. She works
Ever since the Las Vegas Sands an- s— killed and unskilleda— re heading mainly with residential units in Ocean
nounced it was laying off 9,000 non- home to a hugely contracted labour mar- Gardens in Taipa.
resident workers - and possibly 2,000 ket. Around 30,000 Hong Kong residents “All of them rented flats with fur-
locals as well, there has been a knock- live in Macau and Mrs Chan, from a lo- niture, some of them with rents paid
on effect which has seem redundancies cal real state agency, says “as many as 10 by their companies. I guess all of them
spread to other casino operators and flats she rented out less than a year ago worked for local casinos. They were in
The dream that died
The wave of lay-offs that has hit the expat community has left a bad taste in the mouth.
The whiff of betrayal is in the air and for many, there will be no coming back
by Anita Duffin
T
hey say any excuse will do for a party, but the most popu- Speculation is running rife as to the reasons behind this
lar one these days isn’t exactly a cause for celebration. A mass exodus, with many believing that the world’s economic
look around Macau’s pubs and restaurants these days quick- crisis is simply a convenient excuse for cuts that have been
ly establishes a pattern - they are full of people saying farewell.… planned for sometime. The ill feeling between LVS and the
and expats with that dazed look that only shock can bring. Macau Government has also been cited as a driving force.
The boom has become gloom and even though the skies For sure, everyone agrees that growth was far too rapid, but
over the city are unusually blue, the mass withdrawal of blue- as one redundant project manager said: “Western interests were
card’s and 10 day exit orders has hit the city’s expatriate com- lured into the city with promises from the Macau Government
munity with a thump. to implement the infrastructure required to cope with it.’’
One major sub-contractor commented: “The Venetian has
Broken promises? grown so quick, but the Venetian came in with the promise from
the government that the entire infrastructure would be devel-
Feelings range from shock and bewilderment to anger, sus- oped. The hotels are running at the moment at huge occupancy
picion and betrayal. Throughout the early days of November rates and when the conventions are running they are packed.
phones and emails were running wild as the first of the big cuts “The developments which have now been brought to a halt,
hit the Cotai Strip. Shangri-La, Sheraton and Traders are needed so the convention
december 2008
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