Hengqin undergoes tremendous changes over past decades: Macao entrepreneur

Hengqin Island, located just across China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR), has undergone tremendous changes over the past few decades, bringing enormous development opportunities to young people in Macao and the mainland, said Leong Ka-seng, a 32-year-old entrepreneur from Macao.

Born and raised in Macao, Leong chose to work and start a business in Hengqin nine years ago. Today, he runs two restaurants and a decoration company in Hengqin. At the age of 32, he has become an experienced entrepreneur with both failures and successes.

"I came to Hengqin for development in 2015, and officially moved there to live and start a business in 2018. Macao is where I grew up and where I have taken root, but I think Hengqin may be the place where I can blossom and yield fruit," Leong said.

Hengqin is located at the southern end of Zhuhai, south China's Guangdong Province, and is adjacent to Macao by bridge and sea. To travel between Macao and Hengqin, Leong needs to go through the Hengqin Port.

"In the past, the Dahengqin Mountain was over there, and the Xiaohengqin Mountain was on the other side, with a vast ocean in between. The land we see may have been sea at the time. After the West Dike and the East Dike near Macao were built, land reclamation work began when there was not so much water area. This is the place known as the central sulcus," Leong introduced when standing on a bridge in Hengqin.

Leong's connection with Hengqin goes beyond his age as the story involves three generations of his family. In the 1970s, then Zhuhai County launched a reclamation project. In about ten years, tens of thousands of youths in Guangdong's Shunde City went to Hengqin for work, and that was when Leong's grandfather came to Hengqin.

"Decades ago, my grandfather saw the same sky, the same sea, and the same two mountains as I do. Now, I can also see the high-rise buildings. In just a few decades, Hengqin has undergone tremendous changes," Leong said.

In April 2015, the Zhuhai Hengqin New Area of the China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone was officially launched. At that time, Leong was about to graduate from university. At a sharing session with deputies of the Macao SAR to the National People's Congress (NPC) and representatives of the Hengqin New Area, he learned about the planning and future development of Hengqin and came up with the idea of going there for development.

"In Macao, I might have chosen a few fixed directions, such as working in a bank, a government department, or a financial institution. But in Hengqin, I don't know what industry I will be in. I think I can be brave and give it a try, and there may be some unexpected results," he said.

Leong said there are both opportunities and uncertainties in Hengqin, but he saw with his own eyes the positive development of the area.

"My real feeling at that time was a mixture of confusion and hope. I didn't know how the future would be, but I went to Hengqin every day indeed, 365 days a year, starting from 2015, so it has been more than 3,000 days. I see with my eyes the changes every day and every year, which makes me feel that this place is really developing, not stagnant, but is always developing. It may slow down sometimes, but it is indeed moving forward," Leong said.

Hengqin undergoes tremendous changes over past decades: Macao entrepreneur

Syrians are leading a precarious life during the interim period since Assad's fall, featuring social instability, misty future and economic insufficiency along with surging prices of daily basic needs.

Armed opposition forces seized control of Damascus, the Syrian capital, on Dec 8, ending over five decades of the Assad family rule. The rapid change of political landscape has sparked uncertainty about the country's future.

Bread is a basic item for all Syrians and every family must come everyday to get its need from bread. At one of the biggest government-run bakery in Damascus, many people were queuing to get their daily need of bread.

"No Syrian resident can go without bread," said Fadi Helal, a local resident.

The price of bread, throughout decades, have changed very slightly only to cope with the inflation but now with the new government is in power, the price of each bundle of bread has risen to ten times of what it used to be.

"We hope the price can go down because people here are living on a tight budget. I can buy bread because I am self-employed. But Some people living in the countryside don't have access to jobs. And this is in addition to the chaos that we have been through recently," said Muhammad Fathi, another resident.

At one of the cheapest markets in Damascus, farmers came from all around the countryside of the city to sell their products directly to the customers. It is mainly for vegetables and fruits but there are vegetables and fruits coming from other countries like Türkiye and Lebanon and they are sold with cheaper prices than the prices of the same products that are cultivates in Syria.

The reason for this is the fuel prices are skyrocketing since the interim government took over few days ago. This is actually affecting the farmer but it is also affecting the consumers but not all the products can be imported from outside.

For example, tomato and potato are cultivated inside Syria and they are not imported but the prices of them are unaffordable for many people.

"One kilo of tomatoes cost 10,000 (Syrian pound). So, if you need two kilos of tomatoes and one kilo of onions for one meal, it will cost 40 to 50 thousand for one meal! In that case, we should buy meat rather than vegetables," said Bilal Hawatmi, a vegetable vendor.

"Items cultivated in our country like citrus and apples are too expensive!" said Monzer Afghani, another vegetable vendor. He went on explaining that "The fuel prices are still high. Since the transportation fees are very high, it makes our cultivated items too expensive."

Syrians lead precarious life since Assad's fall with concerns of misty future