Many ‘blue cards’ have no other home, but are treated like coolies

DISCRIMINATION in Macau is worsening, thanks to the tendency to establish countless legal differences between permanent and non-permanent residents  – when the only initial difference was the right to vote – and the establishment of a huge gap in rights between these and the “blue card” holders. It seems there are first- and second-class citizens, and then some others who are treated like coolies.

The term “non-resident worker” was badly penned. We all know cases of non-residents who are born here but are denied residency simply because their parents, who already resided here, did not have a local ID. Many non-residents know no other home, yet they face discrimination from birth. Private schools here charge non-local students the “market price” for fees – around twice what locals pay. The difference between these “non-local” students and “local students” is the fact that the latter possess a Macau ID.

Once again, the government is not setting a good example in a city with deep multicultural roots. [my latest column, read more here]