I must admit, I have mixed feelings about the popular trend to commercialise culture these days. To reduce culture into marketable, commercial commodities certainly raises very real and practical questions about the value of doing so. Obviously, art and culture should never be considered as mere commercial objects, that much is clear. So the constant drumbeat about promoting the commercialisation and industrialisation of culture may make people confused and misinformed. Like other goods, culture and art must face the same rules of the market when they are being commercialised. So how can we convince the public to agree to large amount of government spending on the support, promotion and preservation of arts and culture? Can the market really be the best judge of the value of art? This is a question of great debate. But I think most people will believe that the market is not the only standard to judge art by.

When it comes to commerce, arts and culture clearly need to be thought of in a separate vein to other goods and industries. Only then can we have an effective discussion about cultural policy that isn’t solely market-driven. In the example of France, its government has done a lot of work to support, promote and preserve arts and culture. The French people are in full agreement that the arts should be given special treatment.

Macao’s domestic film industry has been slow to develop. At most, local films are only shown at small public venues, away from the eyes of the larger masses. How to take Macao’s film industry to the rest of the population is a difficult challenge. The French example could offer some pointers. French law states that French TV channels must allocate at least half their airtime for films to domestic productions. At least 40% of songs broadcast on French radio must be in French language, and at least half of that must be from new artists. In 2000, France amended its laws for TV and radio stations, such that pure music stations must broadcast French songs 60% of the time. The ultimate goal of this is to allow French arts and culture to expand far and wide to promote domestic productions.

Legislating to promote domestic arts and culture is not something that is unique to France. Some countries, such as Finland, stipulate that TV stations must show local productions during golden time slots. The Macao government could consider following these governments in order to promote its cultural policy, bringing domestic content to a wider range of audiences. We could also explore the rather simple step of having cinemas showcase short Macao-produced films of five to ten minutes, for example, during a normal film screening.

I would rather have a cautious and pessimistic attitude to Macao’s film industry than an optimistic one. Only in this way can we explore new ideas and policies in a level-headed and pragmatic way, rather than wildly fantasising with our heads in the clouds—even if our proposals might ultimately be shot down for being impractical.