Letters | Has Macau changed for the better, 20 years since returning to China?

While the special administrative region has been stable and prosperous, the political system and policies seen to favour new immigrants can frustrate local residents

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Macau marks the 20th anniversary of its return to China after 442 years of Portuguese rule on December 20, 2019. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 7:45am, 20 Dec 2019Updated: 7:45am, 20 Dec 2019

A day before the return of Macau to Chinese administration, I came across a friend of mine, a Chinese-Portuguese woman, with her father, a native of Portugal, sitting on the staircase of the Ruins of St Paul’s, looking depressed.

On December 20, 1999, Portugal returned Macau to China, ending 442 years of formal Portuguese rule over the last European colony on the Asian continent. Worried about the transformation from European administration to Communist Party rule, a number of my close friends emigrated to Portugal, England and Canada before the handover.

Although my friends exhorted me to leave Macau for Britain, where they already had stable jobs, saying they could help me find employment and even house me in the interim, I refused their offers.

I remained in Macau, as did many others confident in the policy of “one country, two systems”, proposed by the late paramount leader, Deng Xiaoping.

But, as the years elapsed, many changes occurred in Macau that seemed to run contrary to my belief. Suspicious of the promise of Macau people governing Macau, some people began to think “one country, two systems” was just a makeshift plan.