What Kills Us This Week!

Mainland China this week left me speechless with rage.  In fact, I'm so far beyond fury I will just tell you what's happening and leave you to provide the fury and expletives yourself.

You know Macau, right?  The gorgeous island-city the Portuguese set up in the Pearl River Delta over 500 years ago?

 Macau as seen from the water.

Only it didn't have casinos back then!

As it was over 200 years ago!

And you must be aware also that UNESCO has given the heart of Macau, the exquisite Portuguese-built Centro-area, World Heritage Status because it is an absolutely irreplaceable gem of a place:

Block after block of this and better!

Well, the Mainland, who promised at the 1999 Handover to allow Macau "a high degree of autonomy", turns out to now be secretly implementing a little parcel of "infrastructure improvements" to the World Heritage section that includes:

1) building a refuse centre right next door to the oldest Christian church on Chinese soil ...

St Anthony's Cathedral

built by Portuguese soldiers

in about 1530!

... replacing that fountain you can see at the front of the picture.  And if you can't see it clearly, here it is:

Giving up this for a rubbish dump?  Outrage enough for you?  Well, it has barely begun.

2) The World Heritage Park, Cameo's Garden ...

 My only photo of the place!

... well, since "it's not being used for anything else" it will now be turned into a car park.  And this for a garden that was donated to the people by the British East India Company, in what was clearly a little piece of colonial-one-up-manship!

3)  the lighthouse ...

Guia Fort and Lighthouse

... which has, for over 500 years, hung the weather warning system ...

... and thus needs to be seen from every point in the city, will now have a new large building placed in front of it!

And so on!  A total slap in the face of this SAR, yes?  A total slap to UNESCO?  A total slap to every non-gambling tourist who wants to visit? 

This new infrastructure was all supposed to be kept secret and done in secret - in fact it only came out after they began to jack-hammer up the front of the church - and the Chinese Mainland developers are now LIVID that Macau newspapers, exercising their constitutional right to free press, found the plans and released them to the public.

Outrage?  Look, if you are any place else in the world, can you let other people know? China HAS to be stopped.  Can you do something to help?

 THREATDOWN

 Chinese promises!

And need I have to say this?

THIS MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO HAPPEN!