Cheng: campus "too quiet" in the election 

Prof. Cheng Tiejun, coordinator for Social Science of Contemporary China Studies of FSH, pointed out that the Students' Union should play a role in arousing students' attention to the election. 

During the whole election period, he said that he did not see any posters or bulletin boards on campus that encouraged students to vote. He compared it with the election campaign he observed in some universities in Taiwan. "Anywhere you go, there are flags, broadcasting promotion, and debating groups in every corner," he said. In contrast, he described UMac campus as "a clean, quiet, and peaceful" environment with no debate, which he said was quite "abnormal."

He thought the Students' Union was partly responsible for the indifferent attitude toward political involvement. Under the Basic Law, the Macao government should be run by the Macao people. If educated people like university students do not bother to care, how we could guarantee that Macao is being administered by our own people, he asked.

Prof. Cheng said he is satisfied with UMac students' turnout rate when compared with that in the United States. However, he also expressed his concern over the low registration rate among students. About 35 percent of eligible student voters did not even register. 

"(It is) such a low ratio for students eligible to vote, but they don't even bother to register," said Cheng.

However, Cheng saw a positive sign in students' high turnout rate and their knowledge about the election and legislature. "Anyway they have showed that they want to be involved in local politics and they want to make some changes."

Cheng suggested that various ways including classroom discussions could be adopted to improve students' attitude towards politics and elections.

He added that the university authorities, students' organizations and every student should consider the issue seriously and figure out ways to improve students' attitudes toward politics.