Thorough regulations are being made by the Chinese government on the construction of new casinos in Macao, as well as restraining the movement of Chinese locals to that area. The main reason is because they fear that the casino industry may debilitate Macao’s economy and its social infrastructure.
An owner of a restaurant in downtown Macau, protests about the bad impact the casino industry has had on his business. “Even if I advertise a job opening, young people in Macao would rather work at casinos. The starting salary there is usually about 14,000 patacas (aproximately 196,000 yen) is twice the amount we pay. I can’t do anything about it”, he said. The sign hanging from the restaurant’s door with the words “help wanted” has “no need to present your ID” underneith; this means that he has no option but to hire illegal chinese tourists.
Since the casino business in Macao opened up to foreign competitors in 2002, large casinos such as The Sands, Wynn and The Venetian have come to the area, causing Macao’s casino economy to fleet to other countries. Today, there are 29 casinos functioning in Macao, and just the tax generated by these represent 70 percent of Macao’s government total earnings.
The main fear of the Chinese government is that Macao’s economy, which strongly depends on the income from the casinos, could debilitate the society in some aspects. On one hand, industries which do not belong to casinos are finding it difficult to hire new staff; on the other hand, many students are dropping out of university in order to work in these casinos, as salaries there are pretty high when compared to other regular salaries.
