The Macau Collective Energy electoral list, the No.5 on the ballot paper for the upcoming direct legislative election, puts special emphasis on urban planning, as well as measures combatting the operation of illegal inns and sham marriages.
While the electoral list’s Portuguese name, Energia Colectiva de Macau, is literally translated as Macau Collective Energy, its Chinese name, 澳門發展力量, directly translated means, Macau Development Power.
The list’s campaign platform for the September 12 election comprises four major aspects, namely urban planning, good governance, employment, and daily life matters.
The Macau Collective Energy list, which is headed by civic leader-cum-current affairs commentator Chan Tak Seng, 61, is running in the legislative election for the first time. However, Chan was the number-six candidate of the Macau United Citizens Association (ACUM) list in the direct election in 2013, which was then headed by prominent businessman Chan Meng Kam.
The ACUM list has been running in the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) direct election since 2005. For the upcoming direct election, the ACUM list is headed by incumbent lawmaker-cum-civic leader Si Ka Lon.
The ACUM list has been set up by the Alliance for Common People Building Up Macau (API) – one of the city’s biggest community associations, of which Chan Tak Seng was previously a senior board member.
Chan Tak Seng did not run in the direct election four years ago.
Chan Tak Seng was a member of the government-appointed Urban Planning Council (CPU). He currently heads the Macau Regional Development Promotion Association, a think tank set up in 2018 to study daily life matters affecting civil society. He is one of the founding members of the association.
The Macau Collective Energy list comprises 11 candidates. The list’s number-two candidate is Kou Seng Man, who works in the education sector. Kou, 36, is running in the legislative election for the first time.
Concerning urban planning, the list’s campaign platform urges the government to draft its urban master plan in a way that meets the needs of residents living in the city’s different neighbourhoods. The platform also urges the government to get its flood prevention projects and urban renewal projects finally off the ground. In addition, the platform calls for the government to improve its planning on cultural heritage protection.
The platform urges the government to draft amendments to the current illegal accommodation law with the aim of combatting illegal inns more effectively. The candidacy list also calls for “tough” measures to combat sham marriages, saying that those who have obtained Macau residency through sham marriages are usurping “social resources” belonging to local residents.
The platform urges the government to strengthen the training of professionals in various fields, also calling for the drafting of policies protecting the employment of residents with different income levels.
The platform urges the government to improve its housing policy, increase the supply of public health services and improve its quality, and raise citizen’s various allowances.
The number-one candidate of the Macau Collective Energy direct-election list, Chan Tak Seng (second from right), talks with two stall holders in Iao Hon last week, as the number-two candidate Kou Seng Man (first from right) looks on. Photo: Macau Collective Energy
