Walking around the streets of the city on a daily basis, the dearth of street name signs has become increasingly noticeable, building numbers too for that matter. Where have they gone?
Typically street name signs are placed on all corners of buildings at road junctions so that those walking up a street and arriving at a junction can see the name of street they are on and the name of the streets or street that cross the junction.
The street name signs in Macau are particularly beautiful, white tiles with blue or black lettering showing the street names in the Chinese and Portuguese languages.
Building numbers are on rectangular metal plaques issued by the erstwhile Leal Senado and now the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) are usually above the door of a premises although many have been placed on the wall beside the properties. Many are not there at all, making it difficult to work out where you are in a street. Some businesses have replaced the plaques with their own design of numbers in the window or lower on the wall.
Photo: Lesley Wells
