The usual suspect

One of the good things for the publishers of news in Macau and for those who try to opine, like myself, is that a particular member of the Legislative Assembly seems to have a penchant for bombastic declarations whenever he speaks for the plenary. Not infrequently these ‘speeches’ are subsequently aired in the newspapers for free.
This time it was the fact that the police forces still speak in Portuguese when they swear the oath for the flag in Macau or when issuing commands. His friends find it strange that he has airtime in the house of the people of Macau to address such an ‘important’ issue. Worse than that is the fact that the Chief Executive of Macau appointed him for a 4-year term as a member of the Legislative Assembly.
Fortunately, the Secretary – who appears to be catapulting himself to pole position for the next Chief Executive of Macau elections – has already responded with a stately speech, affirming that the culture and the heritage of Macau are all-inclusive and that Macau is what it is today because of that very legacy.
The referred member appointed by the Chief Executive seems to forget the fact that the Portuguese language is still an official language in Macau despite all that has been done.
I may even add to the wise and remarkable words of Secretary Wong that the fact that Macau is today what it is – globally recognised as the capital of gaming and entertainment – is due to the legal system and the fact that the legal concepts have been consolidated for a long time, even if sometimes those concepts and principles are not respected by the authorities.
One cannot believe that a member of the Legislative Assembly does not understand that as it is stated in the Basic Law of Macau.
When we hear that the Macau Government is preparing a law to prevent situations a la Hong Kong it would be good to also include in such legislation that the members of the Legislative Assembly be requested to respect the Basic Law of Macau and restrain themselves from public utterances which contradict and undermine the mini-Constitution of Macau.
Luckily, or not, it might be the last term which, to speak frankly, is not good news for those who try to write some columns lacking sometimes the inspiration for that, as is my case today.