It is hard to reconcile these problems with the official economic data, which portray Macau as a huge economic success. Last year, the economy grew 16.6 percent, one of the fastest rates in the world. In the second quarter of this year, growth was 31.9 percent. Official unemployment in August was 3.1 percent.
The city's 23 casinos generated revenues of US$6.87 billion last year, surpassing Las Vegas as the largest gaming market in the world. As money from gambling tourists has flooded in, per capita income reached US$28,436 last year, according to the government, which placed Macau on a par with Hong Kong.
OLDER WORKERS
But for older workers, and those who miss out on a casino or civil service job, opportunities and incomes have deteriorated. Many earn less than a quarter of the wages pulled in by a card dealer in a casino.
Lei Kok Eiu, a 62-year-old electrician who retired this year from a pharmaceutical factory, said the reality for many workers is: "Don't get sick. If you get sick, you can't afford it."
Political analysts say the popular frustration over widening income inequality is being further exacerbated by a succession of government bribery scandals.
All of this has emboldened Macau's democrats and swelled their ranks.
In contrast to the boisterous democracy movement in Hong Kong, the people of Macau have tended to be ambivalent about their politics.
The Sino-Portuguese Joint Declaration of 1987 and the Basic Law, Macau's mini-constitution, make no mention of universal suffrage as the ultimate goal of political reform, as Hong Kong's Basic Law does.
"The situation in Macau is similar to Hong Kong in the 1970s," said Eilo Yu (余
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