Pursue Dream or Salary?
By Charmy
Lai, Josephine Ngan, Lily Lei
Jeffery Iao, a Form Six graduate, said that when the Sands opened, he just graduated from the secondary school. He had ever thought to continue his study, but at that time the new casino offered jobs with quite attractive salaries.
Hotel Lisboa, the landmark of the gaming industry in Macau
Iao said, "Money is full of temptation, so I gave up my study plan."
Eliza Chan is a university graduate from the Macao Polytechnic Institute with a major in accounting, who now works as a dealer in the Sands. She said, "At first, I thought the job had to be related to what I learned in the university, so my first job was an accountant in an export trading company. I later discovered that people who worked in the casino have doublemy salary, so I tried to find a job in the casino. Fortunately I have changed my job, and now I am a dealer in the Sands. I've realized that the dream and reality are totally different. Although working in the Sands is harder than the previous job, the salary that I have now is much higher than before."
The high salaries offered by the gambling industry in Macau have considerably affected young people's decision in choosing a career. Many of them prefer to work in the gaming industry regardless of their majors and professions.
In a research survey conducted by this
group of Umac Bridges reporters between October 18-25, 45.3 percent of
the people interviewed would like to have a career in the gaming industry
while less than 6.6 percent said that they prefer to work in professional
jobs. The purpose of this research is about whether students and young
people want to work for jobs of their professional interest or for high
salaries. The ages of the target interviewees are around 16-30. In total
120 local citizens were surveyed, of which 60 were interviewed face-to-face,
another half were interviewed through the telephone.
The survey results show that a large number of young people think that
the best job is working in casinos. According to the research, 89 percent
of the interviewees think that salary is the most important element in
finding jobs. And 45 percent of them agree that study wastes time because
they said that they need to spend four years to get the diploma. Instead,
if they go to work, they can earn much more money during these four years.
Many of the interviewees said that a university student cannot get such
amount of salary which they earn in the casinos. However, most of the
secondary graduates will continue their study in the university, if they
cannot find a job in the casinos.
According to the Statistics and Census Service, an average salary of the gambling industry in the second quarter of 2004 is around MOP7, 000 per month. Adding tips and extra bonuses, the salary of a casino worker would be over MOP10, 000 per month. This is a fine amount for an employee in Macau.
Since the gambling entertainment is developing rapidly, other industries are facing the problem of brain-drain. Many people left their previous jobs and have chosen the career that involves gambling. It is because the salaries in casinos are much higher than others. The situation has aroused some long term concerns. If a large number of students give up their study in universities and go to work in the gaming sector because of a nice salary attraction, the whole education level may decrease within a few years and Macau society will lack quality human resources in future.
Chan Chat Mou, a member of Macau's Legislative Assembly said that other industries, such as hotels and restaurants, and wholesale and retail, are in shortage of human resources, which could then affect the quality of services. Chan hoped that the government should envisage solutions for this problem.
Casino effect
Traditionally, people study in universities because they want to pursue their dream of having a profession. It usually comes with a decent salary as well. But nowadays, the rapid development of the gambling entertainment has changed the job market. University degrees may not necessarily bring graduates the jobs that have salaries competitive enough with those of the gambling industry.
Dr. Zhidong Hao, assistant professor of sociology and coordinator in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (FSH) does not think that the situation that students do not want to go into university study would affect the education level of society. It may be a problem or it may not be a problem, he said. It just depends on whether the people will have the willpower to continue their study or not.
Following the policy of the Macau government, the trend of the main industry is gambling. The development of the city itself is not just providing jobs in casinos; it can be a lot of other things. Dr. Hao pointed out, "The future of the city should not let the casino head over everything, the city government's job is not to let this happen." He also said that it is not the problem of the casino, but rather the problem of the government in terms of creating more jobs and providing more opportunities for people with different abilities.
"Income certainly is a major consideration of finding jobs," said Dr. Hao. He suggested that the government should have some regulations on wage scales of various industries. There cannot be too deep a gap between jobs in a particular industry and those in other industries.
A school social worker, Maycee Lai believes that nowadays students always think of money first. Some of them would even gain their money unscrupulously. She thinks this is a serious problem that teenagers are facing today. Lai added, "As the casino industry has opened up, many students have given up their study for high salary jobs. They think that study in the university may waste time and miss this good chance to earn money."
Recently, many training courses have been established in Macau to train young people as casino workers. Many teenagers, mostly high school graduates, go to apply for these courses. Lai said, "It is not a bad thing because people need to increase their knowledge, no matter what kinds of things they study." However, there are cases that some teenagers discontinued schooling and went to work in the casinos. Lai responded, "Wealth will not follow you forever but knowledge will. I will try my best to push them to come back to school."
Jeffery Iao's father John Iao said, "At first I opposed my son's decision to give up his study for a casino job. I thought that if he gave up his study he could not find a job with a higher salary. But actually I found out later that a university graduate does not have the same salary as my son, some are even much lower than his. So I agree with him now."
Another parent has a different opinion. Wong Pou Pui, mother of a university student said, "Although the casino salary is higher than other jobs, the knowledge students learn in the university is their treasure. And this treasure will follow them forever. In today's society, many people in Macau are university graduates so it is the tendency to study more."