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RR RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHHK #2094/01 3220814
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 170814Z NOV 08
FM AMCONSUL HONG KONG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6252
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HONG KONG 002094 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/CM 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/12/2018 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI MC
SUBJECT: MACAU'S MIDDLE CLASS MOVES TO STAKE OUT THE MIDDLE 
GROUND 
 
Classified By: Consul General Joe Donovan for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary and Comment: Newly-emergent political 
coalition Civic Power seeks to represent Macau's formerly 
silent middle class by staking out a position between the 
SAR's marginal democratic movement and the traditional, 
pro-establishment social organizations that dominate SAR 
politics.  The group is still finding its feet, and does not 
expect to field candidates in the 2009 Legislative Assembly 
(LA) elections, but hopes to use media and seminars to gain 
influence.  Democratic activists fear the group may be 
co-opted by the government as a means of further pushing them 
to the margins.  Civic Power is a healthy indicator that 
Macau is beginning to develop a modern civil society.  The 
emerging dichotomy of a more activist Macau university 
student population on the one hand and a rapidly growing 
number of Macau graduates of Mainland universities who return 
more politically conservative, however, will impact this 
development.  End summary and comment. 
 
------------------------ 
Macau's Social Landscape 
------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) We spoke with Civic Power founder Agnes Lam 
Iok-fong, a Macau University journalism professor and media 
commentator, about issues including the state of Macau civil 
society November 6.  We also discussed civil society and the 
prospects for Civic Power with University of Macau Public 
Administration Professors Eilo Yu Wing-yat and Liu Bolong 
November 6, and democratic legislator and New Macau 
Association Chief Member Au Kam-san November 7. 
 
¶3. (C) Macau never really had a middle class in the past, Lam 
contends, because university graduates either went into the 
civil service or went to work in the casinos.  Only in recent 
years has the economy developed and diversified sufficiently 
to produce enough young professionals, scholars and others to 
represent a distinct social strata.  Our contacts told us 
this middle class is now beginning to find its political 
voice.  Yu in particular told us that traditionally 
conservative Macau society was becoming more tolerant of 
politically-oriented organizations, and that advocacy groups 
independent of the government were appearing.  Although our 
contacts report the middle class tends to prefer the 
anonymity of radio and television call-in programs to 
published letters or statements, media have covered protest 
marches this year by teachers and government civil servants 
over wages and other workplace issues.  All that said, Liu 
notes, the middle class comprises only 20-30,000 people among 
Macau's half-million or so people, or less than ten percent 
of the population.  From the democratic camp, legislator Au 
Kam-sam expressed some bemusement about this assertion of a 
class distinction between Civic Power and the democracy 
movement.  Although the movement is active on a number of 
labor and grass-roots issues, Au told us he and fellow New 
Macau Association leader Antonio Ng both come from 
middle-class backgrounds. 
 
¶4. (C) Overseas university education has affected the outlook 
of the middle class. According to Liu, in years past, about a 
third of Macau's university graduates got their degrees from 
Taiwan Universities.  (Note: Although Macau now has several 
universities, ambitious students unable to study in the West 
have traditionally favored Hong Kong and Taiwan universities. 
 End note.)  Exposure to Taiwan's democratic development 
significantly shaped their thinking, he said.  This group is 
now of an age to participate in organizations like Civic 
Power.  Yu and Liu both reported that students in Macau's own 
universities were becoming more politically active through 
on-line fora, although Liu was unsure as to whether the 
students would participate in public events.  That said, 
Macau students can now attend elite universities on the 
Mainland without having to take China's unified university 
entrance exam, and for far less in fees than a similar 
education in Taiwan.  Liu argues these younger graduates are 
more politically conservative and pro-Beijing on their 
return.  (On the other hand, Liu told us about ten percent of 
the University of Macau's student body are Mainlanders, and 
he sees exposure to Macau's more open society transforming 
many of these students' thinking.) 
 
¶5. (C) This emerging middle class society will be competing 
politically with an entrenched but aging range of traditional 
associations, which are both the government's traditional 
base of support and almost entirely dependent on government 
funding.  These groups include Chinese business associations, 
traditional labor unions, neighborhood organizations and 
womens groups.  Lam contends these groups were pro-Beijing 
and anti-Portuguese rule, but had seats at thetable when 
 
HONG KONG 00002094  002 OF 002 
 
 
public policy decisions were made even before the 1999 
handover.  These organizations have (belatedly) realized that 
they need to campaign effectively to win seats in the narrow 
Macau franchise (under the Basic Law, twelve LA members are 
directly elected, ten are elected by four committees drawn 
from these traditional groups, and seven are appointed by the 
Chief Executive).  Despite extensive grass-roots 
organizations, producing some success at the ballot box, our 
contacts said their influence is waning with the aging of 
their memberships and the growing political engagement of the 
middle class. 
 
----------- 
Civic Power 
----------- 
 
¶6. (C) Lam told the South China Morning Post that preparatory 
work for Civic Power began in 2006, but she told us the 
organization as such has only existed for "a month".  She 
described Civic Power as a coalition of scholars, civil 
servants, professionals, NGO members and artists.  The group 
seeks to occupy a middle ground between the established 
groups mentioned above and Macau's small democratic movement. 
 As for elections, Lam fears that the 2009 LA elections are 
too soon for Civic Power to be prepared, while the 2013 
elections may be too far off to maintain momentum.  Lam, 
active herself as a columnist and media commentator, told us 
Civic Power will keep its initial focus on public exposure 
through media events and seminars.  That said, she is also 
aware that grass-roots work is essential in Macau's political 
environment, and thus something Civic Power would need to 
address to become viable as a political party. 
 
¶7. (C) Politically, Lam was critical of the traditional 
organizations, yet described the democrats as "the wrong 
people saying the right things."  While she supports 
political reform, Lam contends that, since the democrats came 
into being as a reaction to the June 4 events in Beijing, 
they carry a burden of being "anti-government" and 
"anti-Beijing".  The democrats have been prudent, she 
believes, in toning down ideological rhetoric in favor of 
addressing grass roots concerns such as the middle-class 
livelihood concerns mentioned above, but she herself still 
prefers a more middle-ground position.  From his side, 
democratic legislator Au Kam-sam was wary that the government 
might seek to co-opt Civic Power to marginalize the 
democrats.  While he could point to nothing to suggest that 
Civic Power was interested in government support, he noted 
the scarcity of funding sources in Macau for civil society, 
suggesting Civic Power might one day find a government 
subsidy attractive.  (Note: We did not discuss funding issues 
with Lam.  End note.) 
DONOVAN