10 years ago, Macao didn't have a cultural and creative industry, but only some independent artists. Since October 2013, the Macao government set up a foundation to invest in the cultural industry. With an annual budget of MOP200 million, local artists are creating local brands in different corners of the city. What is the direction of the development of Macao's cultural industry? The local entrepreneur William Keong has much to say about it.

 

Keong, 37, a graduate from King's College London, is the chairman of the local cultural company 100Plus Cultural Development Limited. Keong claimed that he has been in the field of cultural and creative industry for more than 12 years, starting as a local music producer.

 

R (Reporter): Why did you start your music career in Macao when there was no music scene and business 12 years ago?

 

K (Keong): During 2003, it was difficult in Macao. During the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) within the region, the city was "pretty dead". I came back to Macao after SARS to see if I could help to rebuild our damaged tourism industry. After SARS, our government came up with some policies to attract tourists, including many free music shows as stimulations. There were many gigs in Macao and musicians were able to make a living. Of course, there were offers from Hong Kong too, so I usually traveled between Hong Kong and Macao for shows and music productions as a freelancer.

 

R: When did the business sector start to spring up?

 

It was 2006, when there were more casinos operating in Macao, the entertainment and music business started to grow, and there were many opportunities. We built our services around music as a start and connected with many clients. From 2006 to 2011 it was a fast-growing period, and we expanded our team and services. We also connected with many international clients and optimized our quality to fulfill different challenges. For example, we started to have the "Global Stars" concert in Macao, and the "Global Entertainment Events" worldwide.

 

R: What did you achieve during the last 10 years of adventure?

K: Music wise, I individually produced more than 50 songs and 10 albums, some were  awarded winning songs. I produced and composed theme music for some International events organized in Macao, such as the 2007 Asian Indoor Game, Lusofonia 2017 and Parade through Macao, Latin City 2014. I am the founder of 100 Plus Music, and we organize the biggest local music festival called "Hush!!Full Band Festival." We also nurture local artists and bands such as C-Plus, Blademark, Catalyser, Aki and Jason Chang. In 2014, we started to fund and develop different creative startups. Manner Production as one of them, has become the most popular online entertainment channel in Macao.

 

R: How about the local cultural development?

 

K: In March 2010, the government established the Department for Promoting Cultural and Creative Industries to foster the industry development. Two months later, they set up the Cultural Industry Committee for the purpose of collecting public opinions on the development of Macao's cultural industry, and formulating policies and measures that met the needs of local communities.

 

As an experienced operator and enterprise in Macao, we were invited for consultation about our industrial needs, and in order to develop our creative industry, we certainly need funds and policies for cultural development. We are then committed to the creation of multiple platforms for artists, platform operators and consumers to interact closely.

 

We endeavor to facilitate collaboration in the three key areas in the cultural and creative industries: creativity, production and distribution, and sales and marketing. Our mission is to raise the overall quality of local cultural development and to promote the cultural and creative industry of Macao.

 

R: What is the current situation of the creative industry

 

As a further step to support the development of local cultural and creative industry, the government set up a fund with an annual budget of MOP 200 million so as to boost the local cultural industry. Since the fund was established, there have been more artists and companies who use the fund for different projects. There are more than 100 projects now since 2015. We are yet to see the result of all these projects, but the creative scene is looking positive and we have many young people joining the industry. Hopefully, we can see some successful cases and projects by 2020.