Wake up to birds chirping. Start your day with a steaming cup of coffee made in the pantry just down your hallway. Don’t bother with an umbrella or parasol. The covered walkways linking different buildings offer shelter from sun and rain. Lose yourself in a favourite book in the Study Commons, or work on your thesis in the computer rooms. Need a recharge at the end of a busy day? Treat yourself to a nice dinner in one of the many and varied restaurants in the University Mall, or swim a leisurely lap in the international-standard swimming pool. This too-good-tobe- true life can be actually happening on the new campus. In fact, with more and more facilities opening, it won’t be long before the new campus becomes a miniature residential community where all your basic everyday needs will be met.
Following the Chinese fast food restaurant “Food Paradise” and the temporary supermarket and laundry which opened earlier, more and more facilities on the new campus are now available for use, such as the Pacific Coffee, the computer room, and the Study Commons. The Study Commons on the first floor of the library has received a lot of praises for the beautiful window view. “It gives you a personal space, which is great when you need to focus on your study,” says Melody, a PhD student of sociology, “And when I’m tired from studying, I could rest my eyes on the beautiful views outside the window.” But she worries it may not be easy to grab a seat after all the students move in, and she suggests establishing an online seat reservation system. In response to her comments about air conditioner noises, the Facility Operations and Maintenance Section explained that the commissioning of the air conditioning system in the Study Commons is still ongoing and the problem should go away once the process is complete.
Tan Tao, a first-year student from the Department of Chinese, is satisfied with the computer room on the whole, and unlike Melody, he doesn’t seem to worry about seat availability, because there won’t be a big increase in the number of students after the university moves onto the new campus. Now one computer room in the Central Teaching Building is available for use, six or seven others are being set up. As for the Pacific Coffee, according to the staff, business is not exactly brisk at the moment, but they expect to see more patrons once the whole university moves in.
Terry Lam, acting head of the Campus Services Section, tells us that the facilities will be put into use in stages to meet the increasing demand as more and more people move onto the new campus. The bakeries, restaurants, supermarket, dessert shops, banks, and travel agencies in the University Mall are expected to open in the new academic year. “According to our plan, there will be a food court to provide a variety of choices for our staff and students,” Terry says. “In the meantime we will reserve sufficient space just in case we need more shops or services in the future. We hope to make the campus feel like a community.”
But how is the Campus Management Office going to achieve that goal when what makes a campus feel like a community differs from person to person? Terry admits it is indeed not easy to create a community that satisfies the needs of 10,000 students, over 1,000 staff, and countless visitors all at once. “Take restaurants for example. We did surveys to know the likes and expectations of our colleagues and students, and then we started looking for bids,” says Terry. “My experience is that you shouldn’t expect to have all your expectations met 100%. Macao is small, and there are only so many suppliers to choose from, which means we have to constantly revise our plans and expectations. For example, we want variety for our restaurants, but that requires the cooperation of all the parties concerned. We will listen to our colleagues and students and communicate their feedback to the suppliers on a regular basis to try to achieve a winwin situation.”
