Sunday, August 05, 2007
Fantastic Macau
By Antonio M. Ajero
THERE'S a surfeit of superlatives an impressed visitor can use to describe Macau today. But to me, an aspiring logophile, FANTASTIC is most apt.
Indeed, Macau is a fantastic place. Now officially known as the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) of China, consisting of the Macau Peninsula, the islands of Taipa and Coloane and the reclaimed area called Cotai Strip, Macau is very tiny even by Philippine standards. With only 28.9 square kilometers in size, it is 85 times smaller than Davao City, which has a total area of 2,440 sq kms. Its population of 513,427 as of December is about a third of Davao City's close to 1.5 million.
Baby boomers
I learned these and many other amazing facts, and had a chance to marvel at Macau's much talked about progress when I went there last June with five fellow baby boomers from Davao. They are Arthur M. Garcia, former Local Government secretary Lito Monico Lorenzana, Arthur's and Lito's respective wives who are both named Sylvia; and their family friend, lady banker Jean.
Arthur is the quintessential Dabawenyo trader who I've known all these years as a veritable political oracle whose inside track and prognoses in local and national elections seldom miss. The group's most agile member and a veteran of many tours and cruises, Arthur is the take-charge guy who seems to know his way around even in places where nobody speaks English.
Lito is the Constitutional Commission secretary general and Advocacy Commission guy who continue to believe that the Philippines would be better off with an amended charter. He is the jolly raconteur who never runs out of funny anecdotes, even if he is continually glued to his cellular phone monitoring his investments in the world's various bourses. (Development Bank of the Philippines Director Rey Magno Teves, his bosom friend and fellow federalist, says Lito started playing the stocks way back in their college days).
As Lito would often tease, the three well-traveled ladies have master's degree in shopping and are confessed disciples of Lady Inday whose principle in shopping can floor even the most generous of husbands: "When in doubt, buy."
Amazing facts
Rising during Portugal's golden age in Asia, Macau became a quiet backwater when the British established Hong Kong after the Opium War in 1841. Today there is an amazing turnaround. They're building massive casino resorts, convention centers, theme parks and shopping malls like crazy. The big investors in Las Vegas such as Sands Corp, Wynns and MGM Grand and the Hong Kong-based Galaxy Entertainment Group are now turning this tiny territory into Asia's latest economic miracle.
We visited some of the multi-story casinos with cavernous gaming areas complete with classy restaurants, theaters with round the clock girlie shows and thousands of slot machines and gaming tables. One of us saw Governor Chavit Singson playing bacharat in one of the glittering gambling houses.
Property boom
Admittedly, gaming is the backbone of Macau's burgeoning economy. The big leap started in 2002 when the Chinese government opened up gambling for international competition, ending a four-decade monopoly of Stanley Ho, a Hong Kong-based tycoon who bought the gaming franchise from the Portuguese government in 1961. Now with the expanding casino business and the opening of other funhouses is a resultant property boom. By the end of 2009 Macau is slated to open 20,000 more five-star casino hotel rooms in addition to the existing 11,700.
The government's development plan includes reclaiming close to 300 hectares of land from the sea, thereby increasing the territory's area to 31.18 sq kms, up 11 % from its present 28.9 sq kms.
Latest economic figures show that Macau's economy grew by 16.68% last year, with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) value standing at 227,508 patacas (about USD 28,439), ranking third in Asia.
Macau overtakes Hong Kong
A Sunday Morning Post report last April trumpeted Macau's having overtaken Hong Kong in per capita GDP growth for the first time last year. Official government figures show that Macau's per capita GDP in 2006 was 227,500 patacas (MOP$), while that of Hongkong was HK $214, 710. Roughly eight patacas is equivalent to one US dollar. (By government fiat, the pataca (MOP$) is linked to the Hongkong dollar (HK$) which is accepted as currency in Macau. The exchange rate is MOP$ 103.20=HK$100.00. There are no restrictions on the amount of currency which can be brought in or taken out of the territory.)
Tourism boom
With the establishment of world-class casino hotels and other flashy resorts, together with the liberalization of travel in mainland China, Macau is currently experiencing an unprecedented boom in tourism. Visitors jumped to 22 million last year, up from 7 million in 1999. That would translate to 1.7 million tourists a month. I wonder what would Davao City be like with close to 2 million tourist arrivals every month.
Macau's pluses
What I like about Macau is its mouthwatering cuisine, superb in taste but usually moderately priced. Everybody in the group agrees with this assessment. The ladies- two Sylvias and Jean - enjoyed shopping there
immensely.
On our last night in Macau, we dined in a huge resto in newly-opened Grand Lisboa casino (of tycoon Stanley Ho) which had 400 dining tables in eight or nine rooms. I stopped counting the food offerings half way in the 70-80 meter long smorgasbord manned by 35 uniformed chefs.
The hotel rates are affordable and the service is excellent. Hotel Sintra, another Stanley Ho property where we stayed in the center of Macau, is the favorite of Filipinos. We learned from the Pinoy hotel staff that two Dabawenyo couples stayed there weeks before us.
Colonel Emil Escandor and beauteous wife Violy, owners of Royal Mandaya Hotel and the monolithic DASIA (agency and academy), were billeted there on their way home from Germany sometime ago. Dr. Julian "Ching" Rodriguez Jr. and wife Dona Purita celebrated their golden wedding anniversary at Sintra with several children, in-laws and grandkids in tow last May. (I met Ching at the Grand Regal Hotel here last week and he told me they were again in Macau about a week after we left.)
Another good thing about Macau is its proximity to other tourist areas. Hong Kong is just an hour away by fast sea craft and mainland China is 15 minutes away by taxi.
Rotarian Jesse Fortich, son-in-law of the Rodriguezes, is particularly impressed with Macau's cosmopolitan milieu (a beautiful mixture of the cultures of the East and West, much like Las Vegas, he says) "and yet life there is laid-back, unlike Hong Kong where one has to run always to catch up with the fast pace of life."
"It's so compact, one can walk to just about any place of interest from the hotel," Jesse enthused.
On the penultimate day of our Macau sally, we went to mainland China, just beyond Cotai Strip, in the shopping area right after the gate, a few minutes walk from where we underwent the usual immigration amenities.
This one we really enjoyed. Expectedly the salesgirls spoke nothing but Chinese, although one of them responded with a very sweet smile when Lito called her "honey." We communicated (bargained) through calculators quite effectively. The prices were fantastic: one can have an item at 20 percent of its tag price!
What do the ladies say about it? What do they like most about the trip?
In sum, Sylvia J. Garcia has these to say: "the food and then shopping. People are more friendly and helpful. I like shopping in (nearby) Hong Kong but very expensive."
Jean texted these: "Liked the food, d sights, shopping, old Macau. It's like Las Vegas. Sure wd go back if i had another chance."
"It's a charming place that gives one a glimpse and taste of Portugal. Food is exquisite and its diverse cultural heritage is amply shown in various museums and other historical landmarks. And very tourist-friendly, too"-Sylvia C. Lorenzana.
A scribe like me can write volumes about Macau but at this stage of my life I'd rather just experience the place. Then write about it…if I already have all the time in the world. |
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