Re: A new Macao across Xiamen bay ?

[Yannick -Ed]

Dear Cristiano, dear all, this is a long post but worth the reading.

This is probably a good news, at least because the project will be
submitted to the vote of Kinmen (金门) people...
From that point, the big issue is what will be the details of the
project. And who will overlook the projects ? And how the projects
will be framed ?
Should Kinmen become a new Macao ? Will there be someone to submit an
original set of ideas to develop Kinmen in a positive way for the next
100-years-or-more in mind ?
Or will they just copy-paste Macao or Las Vegas ?
The project will probably not affect the seashore, nor the quality of
the (seasonal) surf.
Fine.

But in which places do we want to surf ? Until what point should we
engage to protect the environment ?
I'd rather take my children surfing in a protected natural area where
you have to bring your own food, rather than in Macao, where they will
be photographed by prostitutes (trust me, i lived the situation !).
For the record everyone, please check Cathay Seas article about Kinmen
surf :
http://www.cathayseas.com/index.php/20081113143/Cathay-Seas-newsletter/Kinmen-a-sea-for-yourself.html

As for now, Kinmen is an official taiwanese natural park and i am not
sure the concept goes well along with casinos.
I do hope some China-Taiwan development agency could order mandatory
regulations to make the outcome "sustainable", socially, ecologicaly
and economicaly (sustainable means the three, right ?).
Otherwise, the Money People will have a blank page to maximize quick
return on investment. Sure they'll love it, but what about long
term ?

Mmmh, too bad my Chineses abilities are so poor, because i would have
translated all this for the purpose of the local NGO's and enviro-
agencies. See the Cc: !
See also : http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2009/02/07/2003435487

- Yannick.
wwwcCathaySeas.com


---------- Original message ----------
From: Cristiano Mei <chitemmu...@hotmail.com>
Date: 13 mar, 08:14
Subject: A new Macao across Xiamen bay?
To: http://groups.google.fr/group/110east , the online forum of
www.CathaySeas.com


What do u think Yannick ? Since Kinmen opened his port to Mainland
China its attraction is growing very fast.

Updated: 12 Mar 2009. SOURCE : http://www.chinapost.com.tw/business/2009/03/11/199722/U.S.-firm.htm

"U.S. investment consulting firm in Kinmen for the Casino prospect"
KINMEN, Taiwan - A representative of a U.S. investment consulting firm
visited the island county of Kinmen Wednesday to assess the prospects
of Kinmen developing its own casino and tourism industry.

John Turner, a representative of Pro Forma Advisors, traveled to
Kinmen on a fact-finding trip arranged by the American Institute in
Taiwan, the de facto embassy of the United States in Taiwan.
Turner said his visit was aimed at getting a better understanding of
Kinmen's infrastructure development and its potential for future
development to be able to provide professional advice to his clients.

He will also visit Penghu Island, located off Taiwan's southwestern
county of Chiayi, for the same purpose.

Setting up casinos in Kinmen was made possible after the Legislative
Yuan passed a law in January legalizing gambling on any of Taiwan's
many islands. It stipulated that casinos would have to be set up as
part of tourist hotels.

The law requires, however, that local residents must approve the
concept in a public referendum before gaming projects can be launched.
Any proposed casino plan will require "yes" votes from over half of
the total ballots cast in the referendum, according to the law.

In a meeting with Deputy Kinmen County Magistrate Yang Chung-chuan,
Turner was told that details of Kinmen's casino-related law needed to
be fleshed out further before it could be put to a referendum.
Yang estimated that supporters and opponents of the casino plan in
Kinmen were evenly distributed.
Yang said he personally hopes that the development of casinos in
Kinmen will not compromise the ferry services and tourism exchanges
between Kinmen and Xiamen -- a major port city in China's Fujian
province.
He added that regardless of the fate of potential casino projects,
Kinmen's infrastructure would be strengthened, including expanding
Shuitou Port, making Shangyi Airport an international gateway and
upgrading National Kinmen College of Technology into a university.

The county also hopes to build underseas pipes to bring in fresh water
from China and to build a bridge of at least 8.6 kilometers connecting
Kinmen and Xiamen, he said.

--- END ---

[mega....@gmail.com]

Thank you for the post, Jacques,

I understand the bad state of gambling economy, redarding the existing
settlements at least.
The local people of Kinmen may not be aware of it -and noone will tell
'em probably- and we can suppose the referendum in early April will be
a full Yes, for economic and development purpose. After all, if
there's one economic sector that is not subject to drought, it's
gambling, alcohol and the rest (think about the aforementionned
prostitutes in Macao).
"Getting rich is glorious" they said... sure, but what about
destroying a natural park in the meantime ?

There are examples of sane, long-term development management and it's
called Maldives, for example, or Kenya bush lodges. But this kind of
option wasn't raised for Kinmen. Too bad.
For now it's all in the hands of the local authorities, local NGO's
and maybe the local people who will feel concerned.

- Y.



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Jacques Theophile" <proce...@tpg.com.au>
Date: 15 mar, 01:55
Subject: Fw: [110 east] Re: A new Macao across Xiamen bay ?
To: 110east

Dear Yannick ,

> The casino business is a dying breed and heading for disaster. James
> Packer
> had to pay over A$577 millions as compensation to delay his Los Vegas
> projects
> for three casinos in Pennslyania US. His Singapore and Macau casinos are
> having lots of problem at present.

Jacques T.

[Cristiano Mei]

Hi all,
 
Since I've been to Kinmen several times, I guess I qualify to trow my two cents in here.
 
The main reason people go to Kinmen is the island's environment. I myself drove a scooter on its winding streets, going up and down the green hills and discovering some remote beaches and well preserved old villages. The island it's a gem, the Kuomintang army kept this place off the beaten track for decades and that's the main reason, if not the only one, that made Kinmen unspoiled.  For the occasional traveller it's a joy to discover this jewel just few minutes off China shores.
 
Said that, wandering apart I've also chatted with local people, usually taxi drivers or youngsters. Well, it seems the place it's not so appealing to them in matter of economy and fun. Kids usually move to Taiwan main island to continue their studies or simply to look for a decent job, and who can not leave or doesn't want to leave, has to deal with a comparatively poor economy and remoteness.
 
For the rich westerner in its sixties or the young naturalist on the road, places like this are just heavens, but locals have their own ideas, and being a local allow them to say the last word. People on Kinmen deserve a better lifestyle, job opportunities and, why not, fun.
 
The problem is not a Casino, it's what will be Kinmen after this step. Will it become China's own Vegas? Will it bring caos and incidential activities (prostitution, laundry money, mass tourism etc.). We all know the typical gambler is not the kind of tourist who brings culture and who seeks it. We all know rich chinese are not so interested in natural preserve or wilderness, they want the luxury hotels, they want to be pampered and massaged, they want the glamorous life they see on our western movies. I can not understadn since I haven't lived in China few decades ago, but they did and it was not fun. I live here, I see things around. Kinmen is MONEY, and it's just there, across the bay. You have a busy schedule and no time to fly to Thailand or Macao? You want to live large for one or two days without leaving the business too far from you? Well, Kinmen it's there, and maybe in few years it will be connected by a new engineering miracle, a huge long bridge.
 
I don't want to be cynical, but how can I not be cynical? Gulangyu Island, that is Xiamen's top attraction and a wonderful place itself, is a nightmare during weekends and holidays. Swarm of tourist groups provided of baseball caps, each travel agency has a different colour, storm onto the ferry and invade the little island. To make it worse, the guide would use a loudspeaker all the time. I see Gulangyu today, I see Kinmen tomorrow.
 
Kinmen locals have the choice and the right to decide their own future. We can only give advices and not interfere, how could be even possible to interfere anyway. Being there and having seen people, I guess they also are looking for a change, for something different. I only hope they will be wise enough not to be fooled by those big corporation looking for a new opportunity to make big money. Once a turn it has been made, it's will be almost impossible to turn back. Go to Kinmen now, that's my advice to you all.
 
Cheers
 

Cris
 
 
 


 

---

Cristiano Homo Amoiensis

 
> Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:35:54 -0700
> Subject: [110 east] Re: A new Macao across Xiamen bay ?
> From: mega....@gmail.com
> To: 110...@googlegroups.com
> CC: env...@surfrider.org; an...@sas.org.uk; off...@fon.org.cn; oc...@dahai.ngo.cn; ngo...@dahai.ngo.cn; wwfc...@wwfchina.org; mygre...@vip.sina.com; rmd...@ruc.edu.cn; um...@sun.epa.gov.tw; com...@wildatheart.org.tw

[mega....@gmail.com]

Just one more note to close (?) the chapter. Thanks for posting,
thanks for reading.
Cristiano, it's nice to see the most local of us can have a balanced
view of the subject. We agree on all and, at least, that is a positive
outcome !
I sent this series of posts to 11 NGO's, chinese and taiwanese
environmental authorities... including Surfrider Foundation... but i'm
not sure the Foundation is ready to receive a message speaking about
possible involvement *in China* in a place where there is *surfing*...
two words that the surf mainstream is not ready to match for now.
Please check Cathay Seas' page "About us" to understand how far we are
from casino-ing any place on Earth :
http://www.cathayseas.com/index.php/About-us/index.html

Sure the locals deserve better and richer perspectives in life. Sure
they deserve efforts. And sure they would have deserved also several
different plans to develop their home.
Kinmen is an easy target. I fear this one is lost -is *being* lost.
Anyone has an idea to raise awareness and apply some kind of public
pressure on the officials ? This would be useful for the future, for
the future of surfing in China.

Like The Terminator used to say : I'll be back.

- Yannick.

[mega....@gmail.com]

The subject seemed closed a few weeks ago but in the meantime, people
seem to have had some second thoughts... Is it a really good idea to
develop Kinmen island (and Matsu) with the "help" of the casino
industry ?
Kinmen and Matsu are small protected islands, suitable for eco-tourism
and local management of the development issues. This is our point :
the point of the surfing community.
It would be a great, great mistake to bet on mass tourism, whatever
the form it takes (casinos, tousits charters, etc.).
This would erase the specificity of these places and problems of
larger scale would rise, like ecological issues, low skills employment
and mono-economy.
We surfers, would like to see the development model of the Maldives
islands in here. This would be a solid option and a great opportunity
for Taiwan and China to try something else than mass tourism.

- Yannick.
www.CathaySeas.com

"Kinmen's dreams, Taiwan's future"
Taiwan News, 2009-05-12
SOURCE : http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=945923&lang=eng_news&cate_img=46.jpg&cate_rss=news_Editorial

The new movie "Our Island, Our Dreams" directed by Tang Chen-yu
highlights the unique history and rich cultural resources of Kinmen
and the choices facing its youth and the island's future, symbolized
by the decisions of its key actors to look for development prospects
in Taiwan, abroad or to cultivate local pride and historical tourism
at home.
The appearance of this film is timely because the former island
fortresses of Kinmen across from Xiamen City in the People's Republic
of China and Matsu situated opposite the PRC's Fuzhou City are
approaching a crossroads that may determine whether their islands will
be able to have their own dreams.

The strategic geographic location of Kinmen and Matsu astride direct
sea and air lanes between Taiwan and China was the source of brutal
fighting and touted military triumphs by the beleaguered Chinese
Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) government in resisting assaults by the
rival Chinese Communist Party's People's Liberation Army in the 1950s
and led to the long-term stationing of massive numbers of troops by
the authoritarian KMT.

A "collateral" effect was the imposition of a huge burdens on their
societies, not the least of which was the continuation of martial law
type governance well into the 1990s.

Even though the possibility of military invasion may now seem remote
after the implementation of "small direct links" with the PRC, both
Kinmen and Matsu remains symbolically significant and substantively
important for Taiwan's national security and political future as their
buffer role now also extends into the fields of air and sea navigation
and health and tourism.

Unfortunately, both Kinmen and Matsu and the needs or desires of their
people are usually off the mental map of most Taiwan citizens and
politicians, with rare exceptions such as the proactive proposal
raised in 1995 by then DPP chairman Shih Ming-teh for the
"demilitarization" of both Kinmen and Matsu into a zone of cultural
tourism and peace in the Taiwan Strait.

The naive assumptions underlying Shih's notion have been exposed by
the PRC's continued buildup of tactical missiles, now over 1,500 and
fast approaching the "knock-out blow" threshold of 1,800, and other
offensive forces despite the policy of cross-strait "reconciliation"
adopted by President Ma Ying-jeou's restored KMT government in the
past year.

Ironically, Shih's concept now appears to be entering the mainstream
through the back door of Ma's so-called "Hard ROC Strategy" which
marks a retreat from active defense outside Taiwan's territory through
maintaining air and naval superiority in favor of defense by ground
troops on Taiwan's shores and thereby signals that both Kinmen and
Matsu are now peripheral in the eyes of the KMT administration.

Indeed, the adoption of such a passive stance will inevitably bring
grave strategic risks and costly "side-effects," including a further
decline in the morale and capabilities of civil defense in Kinmen and
Matsu, deeper cuts in defense related spending and gravitation of the
economies of the two island groups toward their closest major cities,
namely Xiamen and Fuzhou.

The casino gamble

The accelerating loss of the unique political role of Kinmen and Matsu
for Taiwan is already leading to conflict between alternative
development paths, as reflected in the debate over whether to allow
the operation of gambling casinos under the authority of the new
Gambling law rammed through the KMT-controlled Legislative Yuan in
January over objections of DPP lawmakers and in the face of protests
outside of the legislative halls by numerous civic, social and
religious reform groups.

As local authorities and casino operators are using the current
economic recession and the KMT government's claims that Chinese
tourists can "save the economy," it is quite possible that many Kinmen
or Matsu residents could be convinced to vote to liberalize casinos,
but they should really think twice before casting such ballots.

We need look no further than the former Portuguese colony of Macao,
now a PRC special administrative region, to see that the proliferation
of casinos and the legalization of gambling have inflicted grave
distortions on industrial and commercial structure, severely
exacerbated unequal division of wealth, fostered organized crime and
other social ills, all for the sake of the profit of a small minority.

Just as in Macao, a "casino-centric" strategy will also result in the
erosion of Kinmen's unique atmosphere and its historical and cultural
attractions and mentality and will thus preclude Kinmen's best
sustainable option of fostering historical or cultural tourism based
on its own "magic" and attractions.

Last but not least, absorption into a "life circle" centered on Xiamen
and the authoritarian PRC will erode the relatively high degree of
political clout and civic rights enjoyed by the people of Kinmen and
Matsu in the Taiwan political community.

Kinmen or Matsu remain vital to the defense of Taiwan from PRC
"invasion" by force or seemingly "peaceful" means and can best retain
their own "dreams" by formulating a long-term "grand strategy" through
democratic discussion instead of being stampeded into becoming just
another casino island on China's periphery.
---END---