Macau, as a highly urbanized city, has the problem with environmental pollution, traffic and transportation issues, and bad public education. Filled with casinos and vehicles, the rapid industrialization in the Pearl River Delta region is quietly threatening the condition of Macau's environment. Traffic and transportation is the most important because, this issue also pertains to Air Pollution. And air pollution is a health risk to every single person living in Macau because it pertains to the air they breathe. Education is also important, but the least important of the three issues discussed in this essay. This is because it is due to ignorance of the government in trying to teach the children and students of Macau how to be as people, and how much the students are willing to learn.
Traffic is a big problem in Macau. With an area of Ò27.5 square kilometersÓ (Hao), Macau had Ò142,583 motor vehicles, with 68,730 cars and 72,528 motorcycles in 2004Ó (Hao). In the same year, Òout of the 12,758 traffic accidents involving transportation vehicles, there were 16 fatalities, 332 serious injuries, and 3,801 minor injuriesÓ (Hao). It is also not unusual for taxi drivers to refuse service to customers if their destination is too close, and it's not unusual for them to overcharge tourists (Wang). Also, most of the taxi drivers are unable to speak Mandarin Chinese, because Macau is a part of Hong Kong, and the main language is Cantonese. Due to the amount of tourists that come from either Mainland China or another country, it is very hard for them to converse with the taxi drivers. In addition, the bus drivers and just like the taxi drivers, and many so not even know English (Hao). It is also a problem because of how many vehicles there are, and will be, because of the increasing number of vehicles in Macau. With this comes many more responsibilities for the government. New roads would have to be made and then paved, driver education would have to be taught, and the rules and regulations would have to be monitored and enforced (Hao). Many vehicles related accidents are caused because of bad road paving or not following the rules of driver education (Statistics and Census Bureau cited in Hao). Another rule that many drivers do not follow is that pedestrians have right of way, so if there is not enough time for a pedestrian to cross the road, the drivers will not give way to the pedestrians (Macau Daily Times, cited in Hao). However, the government does not do anything to try improving the traffic and transportation issues of Macau (Hao). I feel like this is the most important environmental issue because it affects the people in Macau more than anything. I have been to Macau, and I know how bad the traffic is. I know how badly the drivers drive, and I myself have been one of the customers that got ripped off by the taxi drivers, as my godmother tells me. I have also had first hand experience with this environmental issue, and the amount of cars in Macau is overwhelming.
Air Pollution is not only Mainland China's problem but also Macau's problem. Though the pollution from Mainland China does affect Macau, there are some polluters in Macau too. These are mostly power plants, waste incinerators, and sewage treatment plants (Wang). However, one can never forget about the air pollution due to the exhaust in cars and trucks. In 2003, there were about Ò15 to 25 days when the air quality was the worstÓ (ÒEnvironmental Protection CommitteeÓ, cited in Hao). And since then the air quality has not gotten any better. In 2004, the number of days of bad air quality Òincreased to 42 daysÓ (Macau Daily Times, cited in Hao). Because of this, the number of people with respiratory diseases, such as asthma, has also gotten higher. Travel advice issued by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade suggests that Òpeople who have respiratory diseases reduce physical activity on days when high pollution levels are reported, because the levels of air pollution in Macau may aggravate bronchial, sinus or asthma conditionsÓ (Whitfield). In March 2010, Òthe API in Macau's northern district reached as high as 329, which translated into a 'severe' level of air quality, which is just below the top 'harmful' level, which is between 401 and 500Ó (Leung). In 2009, Òthe University of Macau, Environmental Protection Bureau and SMG jointly conducted a pilot study funded by the Science and Technology Development FundÓ (Whitfield). This study was formed to monitor air quality in Macau for Òseven days using a mobileÓ (Leung). According to professor Mok Kai Meng, dean of the University of Macau's Honors College who led the 2009 study, Òthe mostly common particulates were very likely contributed by vehiclesÓ (Leung). I feel like air pollution is the second most important environmental issue in Macau because the number of vehicles attributes to the amount of pollution in the air for Macau. However, this is not the problem of Macau because a lot of the bad air is coming and being blown from Mainland China, and the smog and pollution from Mainland China is near deadly. So bad that people have to wear facemasks so they don't breathe in the bad particles, and because it affects people who have respiratory problems in a direct way, it is even worse.
Public Education is also another big environmental problem. In Macau, there are Òmore than 143 educational institutions (as counted in 2005)Ó (Statistics and Census Bureau, cited in Hao). Among them, Ò131 provide education from pre-school, primary school, middle school education to occupational trainingÓ (Statistics and Census Bureau, cited in Hao). However, Òonly 15.3% are public schools, with the other 84.7% being private schoolsÓ (Statistics and Census Bureau, cited in Hao). It is also documented that Òof 131 schools, 111 of them use Chinese as the main teaching language, 5 of them use Portuguese, and 15 use EnglishÓ (Statistics and Census Bureau, cited in Hao). Of the Ò111 private schools, 79.3% are in the government network of free and subsidized educationÓ (Statistics and Census Bureau, cited in Hao). There are also Ò15 schools of special education, and 129 places that provide adult educationÓ (Statistics and Census Bureau, cited in Hao). In the year 2003, there were Òan accounted 96,814 studentsÓ that were enrolled in all these schools (Statistics and Census Bureau, cited in Hao). In the same year, Ò4,483 students graduated from high school, and 1,964 of them graduated from vocational-technical high schoolsÓ (Statistics and Census Bureau, cited in Hao). The Òenrollment rate for higher education was 39.2%, which meant that 3,920 graduates went to straight to seeking for a job or already employedÓ (Statistics and Census Bureau, cited in Hao). From here, the problem arises because a lot of them do not have enough training and education to get a good enough job that will support them for a long time. Ò4,908 students left before they actually graduatedÓ (Macau Daily Times, cited in Hao), and about Òone-third of those who didn't finish school went to work in the gaming industry and/or stayed at homeÓ (Education and Youth Affairs Bureau, cited in Hao). A large part of the laborers are not well-educated people; Ò64.7% of the employed people in Macau in 2004 did not graduate from high school; and only 12.4% of the employed people had college degreesÓ (Statistics and Census Bureau, cited in Hao). Even though Òthere are a lot of people who do not speak English in MacauÓ (Wang), a big Ò73% of employers thought that English was necessary for workÓ (Statistics and Census Bureau, cited in Hao). And because Òa lot of the people going into the work industry do not know EnglishÓ (Wang), Òa lot of the employers expressed disappointment in the graduates' ability in speaking English, Portuguese, and Mandarin ChineseÓ (Wang). Another problem is that Òonly one-third of the schools offer ethics classesÓ, and if the students have no awareness of what is ethical, there will be social problems in the future (Statistics and Census Bureau, cited in Hao). And because there are no classes to teach the students, a lot of social problems arise, such as young people sitting in seats meant for the elderly and not giving up their seat when elderly people come, or drivers not giving way to pedestrians when crossing the road (ÒDevelop Macau as a Sustainable Tourism DestinationÓ) (Statistics and Census Bureau, cited in Hao). I have public education listed as the third most important because, even though I do not have first experience with the public and private schools in Macau, just the thought that not a lot of people know English, when English is a universal language is very surprising. However, the public education system is always improving, and one day the government of Macau will fix it and make education more widely accessible.
These environmental issues relate to multiple types of informational technology. With Traffic, vehicles are the main reason for this issue. And with the vehicles, it also causes air pollution, along with the power plants and sewage treatment plants. However, it is not only the informational technology in Macau. The air pollution in Macau is also caused by the air pollution from Mainland China. Maybe a better way to help reduce the amount of air pollution is to switch from vehicles to more energy efficient and air pollution reducing ways of transportation. And rather than a whole bunch of cars together to create more air pollution have more buses or maybe even a subway system so more people can get around at the same time and then walk to reduce the energy being used by vehicles and transportation. With this, the air pollution could be reduced in Macau, however not from Mainland China. Macau could maybe create a large air purifier or maybe even try to have their government place multiple air purifiers in outdoors places, such as in parks, shopping malls, and because Macau has a lot of casino's, even in the casinos and their hotels. However, with education it is harder. While the use of informational technology could be used to help the students, it is up to the students themselves to will themselves to actually want to study and learn from what the informational technology will be teaching them. If they do not want to learn, then the informational technology will just be put to waste. However, if the students do want to learn, and if they are unable to get the proper training because of the public and private school matter, then that is a different matter. Informational technology can help the students who can't get the proper training by maybe having technology that broadcasts the teachers class times online so more people will be able to get an education. Classes to help the taxi drivers with their English and Portuguese could be provided on the radio so they can listen as they drive.