‘Macau is a haven for the exploitation of workers’

José Pereira Coutinho (J.P.C) – We are trying our best to fulfil our responsibilities so that the main task of overseeing the government work is properly done. But I’m not saying we cannot perform better. However, the current in-house guidelines do not provide much room to enhance our performance. Look at what happened recently when Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On went to the AL. We only had 2 minutes to raise questions on important issues and policies that deserve a better explanation from the government. We didn’t even have the chance to counter-question the Chief Executive. It’s our obligation to add to the government’s transparency by performing our supervision duties well, and to some extent our powers are restricted.

 

 

J.P.C – We should have more time to make our enquiries and be able to do at least one follow-up question [session]. Plus, government officials should be required to provide accurate answers instead of avoiding our enquiries with empty answers.

We should [have] long ago, in 2009, changed the electoral law so that there are more seats for directly elected legislators. From 29, only 12 are directly elected. That’s why young people are not interested in politics, because there’s no future in it. A few influential individuals and traditional families act as puppet masters in Macau. Unfortunately, we don’t see a political future for young people in Macau.

The next step would be to open the doors of the standing committee meetings to reporters, so that people would really know what goes on in these meetings. Plenary meetings should also be made available on TDM’s [the public broadcaster’s] webpage so that residents can watch the whole meeting if they wish to.

 

J.P.C – But it would make our work much more transparent. Transparency not only applies to the government, but also to the legislature. This way, people would also know who says what in the AL. We should provide the example. We need to perform better and more openly. We should also be able to call officials to respond to lawmaker queries in a kind of public audition on relevant government decisions and policies. The current system is too bureaucratic.

 

 

J.P.C – Not in the near future. Not in the way the legislature works nor the government. The current system is perfect for a few influential people, thus the status quo will not change.

For me, the final goal would be to have all members of the legislature elected by the people. I have a dream and I would like to see it materialise one day, but I don’t think I have enough years left to see that happening.

 

J.P.C – Both have different personalities and that shows in the way each one presides over the plenary meetings. We still have to understand how the legislature will be under vice president [Ho Iat Seng], who only presided over two meetings.

J.P.C – I have no doubts that Lau’s term as president is a transition period for Ho Iat Seng to assume power in the future, maybe even before the end of this legislative term [in 2013]. But it’s too soon to evaluate how he [Ho] would perform as president because to date he has only presided over two meetings.

 

 

Born in Macau in 1957, José Pereira Coutinho’s ancestors come from Goa, a city in the South West part of India that was once administrated by Portugal.

But Macau, he says, is the place he calls home and the ground to “fight the battles for more social justice”.

Outspoken and often critical of the government’s policies, Pereira Coutinho has a Law degree from the University of Macau and was a civil servant in the Economic Services Bureau until 2001.

In 1998 he engaged more in social affairs and took the helm of the Macau Civil Servants Association.

A year later he was appointed as the head of the Intellectual Property Department, a post he took for two years. Then, in 2001, and after several years working for the Administration, Pereira Coutinho decided to run for a seat in the Legislative Assembly.

With just 5 percent of the votes, he had to sit out for another four years before successfully being elected with more than double of the votes he had in his first attempt. Two years ago he was again elected and he says that he still is motivated to do more as a legislator.

“It’s something that I love doing. I’m not worried because people say I’m too critical - I’m not there [in the legislature] to represent any business, but to be the voice of civil servants and of the needy,” he says, adding that sometimes he needs to be “inconvenient” to expose some of the government’s wrongdoings.

Since 2003, Pereira Coutinho has also been a member of the Council of the Portuguese Communities, elected by the circle of China, Japan and Thailand.

  

J.P.C – I’m not worried who leads the AL, as long as the person strives to take proper steps towards more transparency, democracy and accountability. Government officials have to properly respond to legislators. It seems that under this president’s watch, officials go in and out of the AL very comfortably. It’s sad to say that it looks like we’re performing in a theatre.

  

J.P.C – The key problem is the lasting incompetence of some government officials, namely these two secretaries. The Chief Executive seems not to have enough power to demand better governance and more accountability [from them]. Probably we’ll have to bear this situation until the new generation of politics takes the helm at the Central Government.

 

J.P.C – Florinda Chan and Lau Si Io have proved to be incompetent in their posts. For instance, the judicial reform has been dragging for years. On the other hand, public works are stalled and we could talk for ages about odd land deals. If one tries to gather information of wrongdoings that took place in the areas overseen by these two secretaries, one would come up with a long list which includes not only incompetence, but also lack of transparency and abuse of power. There are several cases but no one is deemed accountable. Currently, a government official can do whatever he or she wants, because they don’t have to respond before the people and the higher the post, the safer you are.

 

 

J.P.C – It should. For instance, Mr Cheong U has too many areas in his portfolio [Social Affairs, Health, Tourism, Culture, Sports, Education and Youth] and he seems not to be able to oversee the health sector. He’s not performing as well as recent surveys have shown. Mr Cheong is also trying to handle some issues by giving away money to associations. That’s a way to keep them entertained and tight-lipped about the government’s shortcomings

 

J.P.C – We don’t depend on the government subsidies. We are independent because we have some 30,000 members and their fees are more than enough to cover all our expenses. Of course we have some activities that we feel that the government should support, because we’re providing services that should be guaranteed by the Administration. For instance, we are providing counselling services to people with suicidal tendencies – we come across more than ten cases each year – but we do not have these kinds of expertise. So we manage to get help for these people and we then ask for the government’s support. It happens in these cases and also in other situations when we have to financially help a household, which should be the government’s duty. Unfortunately, there is no mandatory provident fund in Macau thus people who retire are penniless and we come across many cases such as this.

  

 

J.P.C – No. Look at the cash handout scheme and the way the government is giving money to people without being thoughtful of their real needs. It basically shows that the government is incompetent in the way it tries to solve people’s problems. There is no mid or long-term plan to develop the city and solve the issues that add pressure to people’s lives. Social security, public housing, health services – it’s all a tremendous mess.

It all began after that unfortunate incident on May 1st, 2007, when a police officer shot into the air with live ammunition during a protest. The following year, the then Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah had no option but to give money to residents, also to gag them. Now it’s used as a current practice to keep people silent.

 

 

J.P.C – People now take it for granted, as the elderly pension or other subsidies for low-income groups. It’s a problem that the government should have considered better before implementing this measure.

 

 

J.P.C – To be a politician in Macau is very easy, you just have to go with the flow. The SAR Government has no long-term plan for the territory’s development and once in a while you need to pull a rabbit out of the hat. The fee to boost the continuing education is a perfect example of that. There are people – they came to my office – asking to open phony courses in order to get the money from the government, which would then be split two ways. In many cases, there is no way to control the quality of these training courses; you just need to show the certificate. I already have received complaints from elderly people who say they were forced to enrol in courses so that their association receives the money. When there is no guidance, these measures backfire.

 

 

J.P.C – There is so much that needs to be done and even though the government has so much money, the gap between rich and poor is widening annually. It is important for the government to perform well, but most of all to be accountable for its decisions, which doesn’t happen nowadays.

I think Macau needs more and better laws related to public tenders and auctions. Those decisions need to be public and not done behind closed doors, not only inside public departments but also in the dozens of commissions established after Macau’s handover. There are hundreds of people appointed in these bodies, who receive money for each meeting, and we see so few recommendations, solutions and decisions. This system needs to be revamped soon.

I would also suggest changing the Commission Against Corruption and Audit Commission from the Chief Executive’s portfolio to AL’s supervision. That would be the only solution to make sure these two bodies are really independent and accountable before lawmakers instead of only one person. The current system is an illusion of independency. Currently, the CCAC and the Audit Commission are two political bodies with criminal powers, which is very dangerous.

 

J.P.C – Those efforts have been falling short because I don’t see any change. This is the result of the political system in Macau, where there is no true accountability. There’s no transparency and there cannot be if the people do not elect the Chief Executive. Furthermore, the legislature does not represent the people, but mostly business interests and that will not change anytime soon. I can bet who will be a lawmaker in 2013 and in 90 percent of the cases I’ll be right.

The ones in charge seem not to care much about our future and what is worse is that young people are learning to be much more materialistic and avoid critical thinking. Sadly, that’s the way for people to prosper in this city.

 

J.P.C – It may hinder our future. The low education quality and civic manners, the lack of good language skills and the stumpy engagement in social affairs will not give our youngsters the required abilities to compete in a globalised world. Particularly in this regional context, with Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and other neighbouring countries developing at a fast pace and sending people to Macau with higher qualifications than local residents. That’s a core problem we need to solve.

 

 

J.P.C – That’s also a way for the government to control the people. The more people you put inside the Administration, the more red tape you put on society. Unfortunately, the system becomes much more bureaucratic and less transparent, which translates into more complications for the common citizen.

 

 

J.P.C – If you compare the Public Administration to small businesses and low paid jobs, of course the government is a safe haven. People in these low ranking jobs have no holidays, they do not get paid for overtime and their wages are miserable. Sadly, Macau is a haven for the exploitation of workers, because we don’t have trade union laws or collective bargaining. Currently, the civil servants just lag behind workers for the six gaming operators, but only in some posts.

Plus, in the government the best workers are shelved while the ones who follow the ‘culture of shoe shinning’ get promoted. Unfortunately, those who get to top posts are the ones making decisions that will have an effect on our future.

 

J.P.C – Definitely. Sometimes you don’t know who is running what and it is not uncommon for two departments to share the same responsibility. The recent case of the explosion in the International Centre building showed just that. Several departments carried out inspections and what was the outcome of those probes? Nothing. Regrettably, the regulations are not enforced.

 

 

J.P.C – It all comes down to one simple answer. People used to say there is collusion between government officials and businesspeople. I say there can’t be collusion because they are the same. As long as we have a single body formed by officials, businesspeople and pro-businesspeople, we will never have trade union laws and collective bargaining in Macau. These people are not in a position to share their power with employees. Look at some lawmaker backgrounds and you will know who represents what interests. When you have members of the AL who are also members of the Executive Council [the government’s top advisory body] or related to the Chief Executive [his brother Chui Sai Cheong and cousin Chui Sai Peng] all is said. Here in Macau very few people control everything.

 

J.P.C – Sure. I’ll try again next year to get the trade union law and collective bargaining approved in Macau. These are two aspects that I consider fundamental for the SAR to have a bright future ahead.