Macau, brought to you by Ballard

Ballardian - defined by the Collins English Dictionary as "resembling or suggestive of the conditions described in J. G. Ballard’s novels and stories, especially dystopian modernity, bleak man-made landscapes and the psychological effects of technological, social or environmental developments."

Ballard would have loved present-day Macau.

A small post-colonial enclave, dominated by the gambling industry's overblown temples to greed, run by a venal gang of thugs who all seem to have the surname Ho, totally reliant on a capricious Communist master for its survival.

What's missing? Ah yes - typically in a Ballard novel the bleak landscape is the result of an environmental catastrophe. But no problem - Macau's got that covered.

High-rolling Macau is on the verge of a crisis, with hotel and casino operators - as well as legislators - only now hearing about a critical shortage of drinking water. With key supplier Zhuhai facing woes of its own and Macau having drinking water in its reservoirs for just 10 days, rationing is a real possibility. (from The Standard)

10 days - that's it. And the Macanese government has only now just bothered to tell the city's people of the impending shortage. What were they hoping? That it would miraculously rain huge amounts in the next ten days? And in fact that's probably what they were hoping. They have no control over their water supply and are totally reliant on Zhuhai for water. They are screwed.

Hong Kong could theoretically be in the same situation, except the city has an agreement that supposedly guarantees supply until at least 2012. That supply is interesting - it comes from Dongjiang in Guangdong, and the area that supplies the water has to some extent sacrificed its own economic development to keep the source river clean. I wonder how guaranteed that supply really is if there were to be a prolonged drought such as there's been in Australia for the past decade. I'm not sure the people of Guangdong would be too keen on sacrificing their drinking water just so their rich compatriots in Hong Kong could carry on showering and drinking in the manner to which they're accustomed.

Meanwhile, I was hoping to go to Macau for lunch in the next couple of weeks - might have to stock up on bottled water before I go.  ¶ 9:36 AM