Pandas!
Unofficial panda naming contest opens to Macau residents
Unofficial panda naming contest opens | MACAU DAILY TIMES
The New Macau Association (ANM) announced the launch of an unofficial naming competition for the new Panda cubs born recently in the territory, yesterday. According to ANM representatives who called a press conference to disclose the initiative, the government's competition for the official naming of the newborn animals will result in a "non-transparent" decision-making process.
Alright folks, this is some heavy Panda politics!
This isn't the post about Pandas as an instrument of globalisation.
It is about Pandas as an instrument of Government By the People.
Macau is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) in China. It was settled by the Portuguese Empire nearly 500 years ago. It was transferred to China in 1999, following Hong Kong's transfer from the United Kingdom in 1997. Macau, to its west, is a day-trip away from Hong Kong.
As SARs, they enjoy a certain amount of autonomy under the "one country, two systems" policy. However, tensions between mainland China and these SARs have existed in this uneasy state of affairs.
More recently, the 2014 Hong Kong protests concerned China pre-screening candidates for election, widely seen as restrictive and non-transparent.
Likewise, The New Macau Association is running this unofficial Panda naming contest, as it sees China's official naming contest to be non-transparent. This is not a joke. Macau residents have named previous Panda cubs, and this new process cedes control to China. The New Macau Association contends it endangers Macau's unique identity.



