It doesn’t look like – despite the advanced baldness I already flaunt – but it’s been 13 years and 6 months since I arrived in Macau. At that time we used to play football in Tap Seac. Then, we could cross the Nobre Carvalho Bridge. Sai Wan was still a project. But even then there was a common building in Macau with a rotten aspect: the Hotel Estoril. There were intentions that it harbour the new facilities of the Portuguese School. There were intentions. But then the road to hell is paved with good (and bad) intentions. Well, finally we have a Secretary – Mr. Alexis Tam – who put his hand up to create something iconic and different. A Secretary with vision, irrespective of my not agreeing with some other policies, such as the smoking ban. But Mr. Tam is making things happen and demonstrating a work ethic. Of course, he will be criticized for the work done. But much better, surely, than not doing anything and being considered competent by default. What Macau also needs is to have places to be visited because the iconic buildings were fashioned by famous architects. What would Bilbao in our days be without the Guggenheim Museum? Well, Macau needs just that. That’s also part of the diversification of the economy. Iconic buildings create new tourism opportunities and new tourists. People that go to Taipei visit the 101 tower. Tourists who go to KL visit the Petronas Towers. Singapore has the Marina Bay Sands Complex and we already think of it as if the city was the building. Well, one may say, we have the Grand Lisboa and we already almost have two Arc de Triomph-like buildings. We will have an Eiffel Tower soon. Yeah, yeah, yeah… Except for the Grand Lisboa, that one starts to like after some years, the others are copies. And people will still prefer the original. In this context, then, I congratulate Mr. Tam and his advisors for the idea of summoning international architects – with all due respect to the locals, some of whom are my very dear friends – to create a project for the Estoril Hotel. Needless to say, I also like the current façade. But I truly dislike the decadent status of the building. Macau needs politicians like Mr. Tam: with vision, without fear of making mistakes, with the capacity to project the city and solve problems. What’s next? The hospital in Cotai before the projected term? Efforts are needed for the good of Macau residents and of all those who would visit us.
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