澳门把焦点都集中在了赌场上并没有使该地区经济因赌博业的变化无常而变得脆弱。据当地一些居民反映，就因为焦点都集中在了赌场上，所以澳门文化特性得到的关注较少了。澳门律师飞文基Miguel Senna de Fernandes说，澳门过去多元文化所产生的带有独特的艺术性和文化性的东西并没有得到适当的支持；赌场也不能把这些文化特性继承下去；如今“一切都从赌场的着眼点出发”；澳门也许能把碧昂丝Beyonce和黑眼豆豆合唱团Black Eyed Peas引进城，但“对澳门的文化特性来说没什么意义”。飞文基和一些其他的人把澳门曾经作为葡萄牙贸易港口的独特背景看做是一份巨大的财产。这份财产能吸引来可能对该地区的丰富历史更感兴趣的人，而不是其显著的物质财富。他说，如果赌场对澳门文化没有益处，“澳门只不过就变成了另一个有赌场的普通城市——就只能这样了。”

　　目前政府仍允许许多赌场的建立，以逐渐消除澳门的贫困人口。澳门大学博彩研究所Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming所长冯家超Davis Fong表示，在接管前，澳门有超过7000人生活在贫困线以下；如今，这一数字已降到了3000；这要极大地归功于建赌场带来的工作机会；政府没有忽视人民，只不过“政府的效率还没那么好”。尽管没人能预知崔世安对公众呼吁的选举改革会做出何种反应，冯家超说“来自民众的压力会迫使政府给予当地居民更多的权利或更多的政治权力”。

　　冯家超和其他人承认，澳门经济如果想要继续增长就不能完全依赖赌博业。但冯家超乐观地认为澳门赌场的成功为将来铺平了道路。随着澳门成为世界上赌博业最赚钱的地方，中国正计划着雄心勃勃的交通工程，比如改善铁路系统和建立世界上最长的连接澳门和香港的跨海大桥以吸引游客。到那时，这个城市虽然仍然只有18000个旅馆房间，仍然比拉斯维加斯要少10万多个房间，但开大会已足够了。但除了足够的房间和改善了的交通系统，冯家超乐观地认为随着未来两到三年内1万多旅馆房间的增加，澳门在赚钱的大会市场上会分到一杯羹。相应地，零售业和娱乐业也会有大发展。

　　最后，没人知道澳门在未来的10年里会发到什么牌。中国可能会有意地减慢澳门增长速度以使基础交通设施建设跟上赌场激增步伐。世界可能会陷入又一个经济衰退。也可能中国越来越多的百万富翁和亿万富翁会继续流向澳门，使该地区继续保持金钱充足。空前的10年增长过后，澳门的地平线都快认不出来了。在以后的10年中，这个曾经的殖民地小城市必定还会有更多的变化。飞文基只是希望新领导崔世安能有更新的主意应对经济增长所伴随的一些痛苦并保证澳门不要只是变成了又一个赌场云集的地方。他说：“还有很多问题要解决。为了解决它们，你必须得改变。”

　　译文：

　　But the region's focus on casinos doesn't just leave it financiallyvulnerable to the fickleness of the gambling industry or the whims ofBeijing politicians. According to some residents, it has also shiftedthe government's focus away from topics essential to Macau's culturalidentity. The unique artistic and cultural offerings of Macau'smulit-cultural past have not been properly supported by the governmentor casinos, says Miguel Senna de Fernandes, a Macanese lawyer. Thesedays "everything starts from the casino's point of view," saysFernandes. Macau may be able to bring in Beyonce or the Black Eyed Peasto town, he says, but "that doesn't say anything about Macau."Fernandes and others see Macau's unique background as a Portuguesetrading port as an asset that could help attract visitors who might bemore interested in the area's rich history than in striking it rich. Ifthe casinos don't help Macanese culture, Fernandes says, "Macau willbecome just another common city with casinos — nothing more than that."（See pictures of the gambler's paradise.）With few democratically elected positions, Antonio Ng, one of 12 ofthe 29 legislators who was directly elected, says many of Macau'spoliticians aren't responding to the needs of Fernandes or other Macauresidents. Instead of watching out for the public interest, he says,the "ruling class" is transferring money and influence to privatecompanies. "This is not illegal," he says, because "the chief executiveapproves these decisions." Chui, the new chief executive of Macau whotakes over on Sunday, was chosen by a 300-member committee, and at themoment, he does not appear to have popular support. Though reliablepolling data does not exist, in an informal online election, Chui camein a distant third, pulling in just over 10% of the vote. Ng says thatright now Macau has an "authority problem," but he expects Chui willtry and maintain status quo rather than go out of his way to institutedemocratic reform.

　　Still, the current political structure has allowed many of the casinosto succeed, a benefit that has managed to trickle down to Macau's poor.Davis Fong, the director of the Institute for the Study of CommercialGaming at the University of Macau, says before the handover, there wereover 7,000 families living under Macau's poverty line. Today, thatnumber has dropped to about 3,000, a decline widely attributed to thejobs the casinos have created. The government hasn't ignored thepeople, says Fong, it's just that "the efficiency of the government isnot so good." Though no one can predict how Chui will react to callsfor electoral reform, Fong says there will be "some pressure from thepublic pushing the government to give more rights or more politicalpower to the local residents."Macau can't rely on gambling alone if it's going to continue itseconomic growth, Fong and others acknowledge, but Fong is optimisticthat the success of Macau's casinos has literally helped pave the wayto its future. With Macau becoming the world's biggest gamblingmoneymaker, China has planned ambitious transportation projects like animproved railway system and the world's longest cross-sea bridgeconnecting Macau to Hong Kong to draw visitors. What happens when theyget there remains to be seen: The city still has only about 18,000hotel rooms, still over 100,000 fewer rooms than Las Vegas and not yetenough to hold major conventions. But with good deals available forrooms and improved infrastructure, Fong is optimistic that Macau willgrab a share of the lucrative convention market when the number ofrooms increases by more than 10,000 in the next two to three years.This will, in turn, lead to the development of a larger retail andentertainment sectors.

　　In the end, no one knows what cards Macau will be dealt over thenext ten years. China could intentionally slow Macau's growth to allowthe infrastructure to catch up with the casino boom. The world coulddip into another recession, or China's growing number of millionairesand billionaires could keep streaming into Macau, keeping the regionflush with cash. After a decade of unprecedented growth, Macau'sskyline is nearly unrecognizable, and the next decade will surely bringmore changes to the once quiet colonial town. Fernandes just hopesChui, as its new leader, will face some of the region's growing painswith new ideas and ensure that Macau turns into something more thanjust another generic cluster of gambling dens. "There are still a lotof problems to be solved," says Fernandes, "and in order to solve them,you have to be different."