Will Pandas Become New Landmark?

By Wendy, Wang Ruoyao

With the arrival of panda Hoi Hoi and Sam Sam, the
condition of Macao's zoo will be improved. It is a good
opportunity for the Macao government to make a new
landmark for Macao.

The new panda house is located at Parque de Seac Pai Van in
Coloane, which consists of a zoo, a botanical garden and an
outskirt park. The park is familiar to many Macao students as
they usually go there for autumn outing. The two pandas are
meaningful to Macao.

"The zoo is important for children," Teresa Vong, associate
professor in the Faculty of Education, University of Macau
(UM) said, "It helps children to have respect for life, and
get to know different animals, but the meaning of the two
pandas doesn't stop here. It's more about Chinese identity
and patriotism education. The patriotism education nowadays
is achieved through various activities like the 2008 Beijing
Olympic Games by making Macao or HK people blend in."

Not only children but also local residents need suburban areas
and some leisure places like a zoo. Vong added, "Macao is
small, with great land limitation. There's a trend that the idea
of suburbs is disappearing. Years ago, only a few people lived
in Taipa, but nowadays Taipa is as crowded as Macao. The
government has also decided to build a public housing estate
near Parque de Seac Pai Van in Coloane. It's better to keep
some distance between the city and suburbs. Besides, if the
public housing is near Parque de Seac Pai Van, the zoo won't
have much space to expand. Some animals are smelly. It's
better to provide them a separate place and keep it natural.
We need to preserve a suburb and leisure area. "

To build the zoo into another landmark, the government
needs to consider the land limitation. However, the land
doesn't mean everything. An outsider may provide a clearer
view of what Macao has already had.

"Although it's a small zoo with a few animals, it has its
own characteristics," Zhang Xuan, a mainland student
studying Chinese in UM said. "It has not only a zoo but
also a botanical garden and an outskirt park. This kind of
arrangement provides people more choices and it's cool. The
pig gave me a deep impression. I never thought a pig would
be in the zoo. Although it was not my first time seeing a pig,
people of my age don't have much chance to see animals like
pigs, except when going to the countryside. There are also
raccoons, ostriches and several other cute animals."

Small doesn't mean a lack of features and being unknown.
As Vong suggested, "The combination of a Chinese herbal
medicine garden and a panda house makes it a good
educational place for local students and citizens. It can also
attract more tourists."

Macao is not only about casinos and gambling. Hope the two
pandas can bring forth a new landmark for Macao.