Let down by unfair design contest, Macau architects wary of rematch

Macau architects are hoping for the best after the government decided to invalidate an unfair contest to design the city's central library and launch a new competition.

However, after watching the top two prizes in the canned 2008 contest go to an employee of the brother of chief executive Dr Fernando Chui Sai-on, many are also preparing for the worst.

The Cultural Affairs Bureau, under its new chief, painter Ung Vai-meng, is mulling over rules for the new competition and will announce them later this month, according to a bureau spokesman. Ung took over last month from Heidi Ho Lai Chun da Luz, who was responsible for organising the original contest.

Rui Leao, vice-president of the Architects Association of Macau, said the decision to organise a new competition was a good sign that the government was prepared to do things properly.

However, the unfair contest has done its damage and even news of its relaunch has left some architects cold.

'A lot of colleagues are unimpressed after wasting a large amount of time, energy and money on the first competition,' said architect Joy Choi Tin-tin. Choi's architectural team in 2008 spent one month and about 100,000 patacas on a design for the contest. 'We've lost much of our faith in the way the government organises such events,' she said.