7 Deadly Sins - Macau Explored
I recently had a discussion with my old boss when he came to Hong Kong recently. For me personally, and as I explained to him, is that I really don’t like the place. They’ll describe the place as the Las Vegas of Asia but I beg to differ. I personally feel the place is built on the depravity of human nature and it is for this reason why it profits. In my opinion, if there was one place that could be described as hell on earth, it would be Macau.
My former boss, who takes a much shinier view of the locale, tended to agree with me for once. He concluded that in fact, the Special Region could in fact cater for every one of the seven deadly sins. This led to us ponder what exactly they were and we managed to figure out six… a later search on the net revealed the last, which was envy. For those of you unfamiliar with the sins, they are…
Gluttony
Sloth
Anger
Envy
Pride
Greed
Lust
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Macau, here’s a little background. Macau was a former Portugese colony in China, similar to Hong Kong. Although under the Portugese, and as trading port, it developed on different lines than the former British military trading post. It was established by Jesuit missionaries and declared the ironically, The City in the Name of God, Macau.
The Dutch originally had coveted the prosperous city state, but combined with the Spanish occupation in Portugal and the Dutch effectively starving trade to Macau with their hand in isolating Japan and capturing Malacca, the state soon dwindled in importance by the mid-18th century. It was then once known as the “City of Women” where prostitution and child slavery was rampant.
It enjoyed a renaissance towards the 19th Century as a state where many companies could establish themselves in order to enter China but, as Hong Kong’s star rose, its popularity dwindled.
To cut a long story short, the city state effectively became a backwater of the near non-existant Portugese trading empire. It’s handover, a year before Hong Kong’s, saw the Chinese receiving a city that is full of triads, prostitutes and gamblers. It remains very much that today…although, as a “City of Women” it should still be called.
What I plan to do, for the purposes of exploring the city myself, is to take take each of the seven deadly sins and over the course of the next few months explore each. I keep an open eye and as of yet, no plans on how to do it. But this is the fun of the endeavour.
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The Sins
Let me elaborate each sin and my proposed plan of action.
Gluttony
I reckon that I should start with the simplest of tasks that involves relatively little exposure. Macau is a popular destination for the Hong Kong crowd for dining.
The Portugese have left their mark on the cuisine of the place and so many Portugese dishes can be found. Other cuisines can be found in the area which, I am sorry to say, I am not aware of…but that is the whole point of this endeavor.
Sloth
Not quite sure what I plan on doing for this and how to explore any dimensions on this. Any suggestions would be helpful.
Anger
Macau, as most places in China are, full of triads. Prior to handover, there was a recent spate of public violence which ensued with a half-hearted crackdown. Under the Chinese, it appears to be little different. The underground societies are an intergral part of how a lot of Chinese businesses operate and they have their hand in two of Macau’s principle raison d’etres - gambling and prostitution.
For me, however, I plan on a less risky path of exploration. I plan to make this of a more cultural trip to museums and churches. I figured that the bloody history of Macau and the Catholic churches own bloody repression, will serve to be enough of a discovery of this sin.
Envy
From its beginnings, when the Dutch coveted to it, to the more micro-scale envies of human nature - the desire to have what your neighbour has, the desire to have the beautiful girl sleep with you, the desire to be more liberal than Hong Kong and China - I believe that envy is a sin that Macau has exhibited and caters for neutralising. The dreams of many arrive in Macau, which it promises to deliver.
For my exploration of envy, I plan on making this a luxury trip. This will be an attempt to mingle with the social elite of Macau and do the things that they are accustomed to (yes, I will be using a stereotype as model). So, I plan on staying at a luxury hotel, eating in luxurious restaurant, appear in the casino’s “a la Bond, James Bond style”, play a round of golf and maybe take the helicopter back. This is perhaps going to be the hardest sin to explore due to lack of funds and contacts!
Pride
Macau caters for the sin of pride very well. Essentially, there are plenty of nightclubs and places where the rich can enjoy the showboating of their wealth. Nightclub culture is essentially one big pluming of the feathers and making the paying customer feel just right. Plenty of up-market shops are available in Macau and showing off the money, can be done here too.
I guess its this last option that I will explore under this heading. This sin will be explored from the point of few of shopping. After having ventured back from this sin, I will be able to tell you the shopping sites that are a must for a visit to Macau…and yes, I do mean interesting places to shop, not just Gucci or Tiffany’s. Will leave my credit card at home on this one I think.
Greed
Macau is notorious for its casinos. Personally, I think the only one worth visiting is the infamous Hotel Lisboa. Gambling was permitted and encouraged under the Portugese and the Chinese government seems also to be willing keep Macau open for this lucrative income generator. Chinese people like to gamble and the majority of the ferry passangers to Macau are out for an evening of gambling.
I don’t gamble but I think it might be worth just once setting myself an amount and see what fun I can have. The more traditional Western style games (roulette, black jack, poker) are available for foreigners like me and a whole bevy of Chinese gambling games exist. I plan on learning some of them and how they work and also enjoy the atmosphere of the Vegas-esque opportunity.
Lust
Macau has infamously been associated with legalised prostitution. I’m not too sure whether it is legalised. An influx of women come from Taiwan, Vietnam, Korea and Thailand to make their money in Macau. They work in the nightclubs and massage/sauna parlours that can be found around the city. Under the Chinese government, I think it is illegal. But as with the gambling, they are not likely to close down this lucrative revenue source any time soon.
For this, I plan on exploring, and not really doing. It is important to say this - partly because my parents will worry and partly, my girlfriend is likely to kill me if I do anything. I will be sticking to the nightclubs where it is possible to indulge in the sin of lust without having to commit sex or such like. Many of the customers take the girls out. That will not be happening with me. One or two night clubs for an evening entertainment…they are expensive you know.
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Execution
It will probably be a long term project. I’m not rushing out to get to the place and I plan on doing this over a space of a year or two. It is possible to do it quicker, but I do want to limit my exposure to the place.
It’s also a matter of funds and people…I don’t plan on going by myself. Hopefully, with my girlfriend, we can explore some of these sins together!
Keep checking back for more info on how the sins are going.
