I was very exciting about the upcoming Macau International Dragon Boat Races and was looking forward to writing a great story about it. Unfortunately, following the passing of Mr Ma Man Kei last week, the 2014 Macau International Dragon Boat Races, which originally commemorated the ancient patriotic Chinese poet Qu Yuan, were postponed to this coming weekend of 7 to 8 June. The Macau Sport Development Board and the Macau, China Dragon Boat Association’s sudden postponement was a decision participants couldn’t fathom. Some participants can’t attend the rescheduled event despite having spent the past few months, even a year training for these two days. Residents and visitors also had a no “Dragon Boat” Dragon Boat Festival.
And that’s not the end of the story. The Macau, China Dragon Boat Association had just announced that “the Macau Dragon Boat delegation team members are not allowed to join this race” for fairness, but another new notice released yesterday by The Macau Sport Development Board then announced that the organizer would allow all teams to change their teammates with the Macau Dragon Boat delegation team members if needed. With all of these frequent changes in measures, most of the teams don’t know what they should do. It is suspected that the decision was made under some pressure to help certain teams, so not only have this year’s dragon boat races lost fairness, the awards will also lose credibility.
Over the years, unfair arrangements have happened from time to time during the Dragon Boat Races. For example, last year one government’s team missed the last call of the race and didn’t join in time, but were then allowed to “race” without any competitors, received their score, went into the final race and even boarded the podium to receive an award. This year is even more absurd.
The Macau International Dragon Boat Races is one of the major events we are proud of. Every year it attracts many local residents and visitors who love to come and watch. The Macau Sport Development Board and the Macau, China Dragon Boat Association should seriously review the event arrangement. We need an activity which is fair and equitable, embodies the connotation of the Dragon Boat Festival and the spirit of Dragon Boat Racing. Conversely, if the races degenerate into a benefit game for a very small number of people, I believe those who truly enjoy Dragon Boat racing will no longer participate in it and The Macau International Dragon Boat Races will no longer be a major event in Macau.
