Group 6 Civil Watch – Walk of Guts

To encourage civil participation and to arouse Macau citizen’s concern on those ever deteriorating sites in Macau, Civil Watch and its team had a marathon walk on September 6^th. Starting from Coloane, passing by Taipa, and ending in Macau, the five candidates from Civil Watch and over 60 volunteers have walked for more than 33 km and 49780 steps. They walked by all sorts of districts, communities, and landmarks, which might have been forgotten or scarified along with Macau’s development in the past ten years.

The Walk of Guts event was divided into four parts. The first part started from the Igreja de S.Francisco Xavier in Coloane at 9a.m. Next, the Civil Watch team stopped by the Casas-Museu da Taipa located at Avenida da Praia. The next checkpoint was “Ig Long” firework factory in Taipa. After passing by the Macau University, Tribunal Judicial de Base, and Igreja da Penha, the team settled at Templo de A-Ma. The main message of this part was to encourage conservation of the limited natural environments and resources in Macau.

The relay team started their turn at Templo de A-Ma at 2pm. Despite the burning temperature, the Civil Watch team had successfully voiced their concern when they reached the Ruinas de S.Paulo and sang the election theme song with tourists and pedestrians. The team intended to arouse government’s monitoring on churches and temples, as well as to encourage local artistic development. At around 5pm the team ended the second part of the walk at the Portas do Cerco.

The third part of the walk started with a proposal of 24 hours departure policy at the Portas do Cerco. The team then went by Farol da Guia and Campo do Coronel. Through this part of the walk, Civil Watch ask our government to consider what local citizens, not real estate developer and businessmen, really want. The team finally ended the marathon walk at Rotunda Carlos da Maia at around 7:30pm, where the fourth and last part of the event – an election gathering, began. The Civil Watch team shared with the public their visions and goals through videos, speeches, and sharing of the walk. The gathering ended at 9pm.

Brief introduction of Group 6’s candidates

The first candidate, Agnes Lam, with a solid background in education and public service, is a university professor as well as a public servant. Agnes has had five books and numerous papers published. The second candidate, Wai Tong Kun, is a public servant. He is mostly concerned with the economic development with surrounding districts and the change in public administration. James Chu, arguably the most talented and famous local artist, is the third candidate. Tired of the bureaucracy and inefficiency in the governmental body, he gave up an attractive job from the government and dedicated himself to promoting and developing art and culture in Macau. The fourth candidate is Ng Man Yun. His job as a high school teacher has inspired him to run for the election for the better future of students in Macau. The last candidate Hilda Leong works for a charity, and she has been actively involved in improving the social welfare of the disadvantaged.

Brief introduction of Election Platform

1) Strive for the election of Chief Executive and Legislative Assembly by universal suffrage; enhance the monitoring of policy implementation;

2) Eliminate all unfair distribution of resources, ensuring all citizens can benefit appropriately;

3) Fight for more comprehensive social security for the disadvantaged by evaluating and improving current policies;

4) Invigorate cultural development by overhauling the funding system and improving cultural policies;

5) Suggest an innovative education reform by confronting existing societal challenges and promoting “whole person” development;

6) Develop more qualified professionals by establishing qualification attainment schemes and professional assessment policy;

7) Eliminate cronyism in recruiting public servants and introduce a reform in civil service;

8) Improve the economic system by eradicating vested interest monopolies and developing a honest market;

9) Enhance the living environment by safe-guarding the collective memories of its citizens and building a green city;

10) Promote a civil society by arousing Macao citizens’ awareness of protecting their own rights.