Editorial
Last week’s BEYOND International Technology Innovation Expo 2023 at the Venetian was a timely reminder that it is high time for all of us in Macau to think beyond the box.
Patrick A. Regoniel, professor of Environmental Science at the Philippines’ Palawan State University, has defined thinking beyond the box as “thinking beyond what you already know, in discovering an unknown phenomenon – a fact or situation that simply exists or happens, … thinking beyond the box recognises stored knowledge in your brain that can discover new things.” *
According to Prof. Regoniel, thinking beyond the box goes beyond thinking outside of the box.
The latter refers to the ability to think in an unconventional manner, while the former is essential to design thinking, i.e., the processes by which design concepts are being developed.
We need both approaches to ensure sustainable development that benefits us all.
Addressing Wednesday’s opening ceremony of the three-day expo, Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng pointed out that the world is undergoing “profound changes” unseen in a century and that the tech revolution is “inevitable. He also said that his government would strive to attract information technology (IT) talent to help Macau prepare for a tech-driven future.
The implications of artificial intelligence (AI) will be manifold also in Macau. We have to get ready for the multitudinous changes driven by AI that the local economy will be subjected to, such as its labour market and transport.
For instance, the tourism sector’s recovery by leaps and bounds since the beginning of the year has reminded us of the shortcomings of our public transport systems.
Perilously overcrowded public buses where passengers – both residents and tourists – are packed like sardines, tourist coaches parked in long rows unnervingly close to residential buildings in narrow streets, cabbies refusing locals, overcharging visitors or “negotiating” their fares, jumping the queue at taxi racks and long-hauling to drive up the fares are just some of the unpleasant predicaments besetting the transport sector once again, after the drastic decline in visitor arrivals caused by travel curbs during the three-year COVID-19 pandemic.
The Year of the Rabbit has been auspiciously beneficial to our tourism industry. Well, bunnies are known for their ability to jump nearly one metre high.**
In the first quarter, visitor arrivals jumped by 163 percent to 4.9 million, hotel guests grew by 96 percent to 2.7 million and, last but not least, gross gaming leapt by nearly 450 percent to 14.7 billion patacas. I am sure that any rabbit would turn green with envy looking at these astronomical leaps in numbers.
Macau’s public bus and private coach services are run by two companies (Transmac and TCM) licensed by the government as well as a raft of private operators such as travel agencies and casino concessionaires, the latter of which operate their own fleets of so-called “good fortune” shuttle buses.
That’s why it is high time to think beyond and out of the box about urgently needed improvements to our city’s public transport system – including the quasi-public coach services run by Macau’s six gaming concessionaires.
The city’s light rail transit (LRT) East Line is only slated to be operational in 2028. Beyond that year, no additional LRT project has been announced by the government. Currently, the LRT network offers a sort of theme-park-styled “fun ride” around some of the casino-hotels in Cotai. Only when the LRT’s line via Sai Van Bridge between Taipa and the peninsula’s Barra (Ma Kok) terminal and its extension lines to the sprawling Seac Pai Van housing estate in Coloane and the Macau-Hengqin checkpoint are ready between late this year and early next year can the light rail transit system finally be expected to assume its usefulness that it is supposed to provide. Construction of the LRT commenced back in 2012.
Our newspaper published on Friday a Xinhua photo showing a train running on the brand-new suspension monorail line in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province. It looks impressive – and I wonder if it could be a feasible alternative transport mode in Macau, such as in certain parts of the peninsula.
We must start thinking beyond the LRT project. The central government has given Macau the task of transforming itself into a “World Centre of Tourism and Leisure”, and in order to achieve this goal Macau must be equipped with a world-class public transport system.
Macau can certainly learn from the various public transport systems available in the Chinese mainland, such as in the nearby high-tech mega-city of Shenzhen which runs an impressive system comprising taxis, buses, coaches, a regional railway, trams, and an extensive metro network.
The mainland is at the forefront of high-speed passenger rail transport and integrated urban transport systems in the world that are lightyears ahead of those in countries such as the United States and India. For instance, Macau could learn a lot from Shenzhen. As a member of a local media delegation, I had the privilege to visit its state-of-the-art traffic control system a few years ago.
Macau could also learn from Bangkok, another major tourist destination, which has set up a well-functioning elevated (BTS) and underground (MRT) public transport network.
As far as public transport is concerned, our civil servants and civic leaders need to learn to think out of and beyond the box. Some of them still seem to live their lives as a frog in the well that knows nothing of the sea.***
Macau should strive hard to become a public transport showpiece so that we can make the whole nation proud of our hospitality – which necessarily includes convenient and comfortable transport both for locals and visitors. Happy travel depends on efficient transport.
And, most importantly, any public transport system must bring social benefits to justify its not inconsiderable investment and operating costs…
– Harald Brüning
*Thinking “Beyond” vs “Outside” the Box
https://simplyeducate.me/2023/01/13/thinking-outside-of-the-box/
**Dr Jess: How High Can A Rabbit Jump?
https://vetexplainspets.com/how-high-can-rabbit-jump/
***This Japanese proverb is said to have come from a Chinese fable which is attributed to philosopher Zhuang Zhou, who lived around the 4th century BC.
http://inotherwords.ac/proverbs-the-frog-in-the-well/
