Space

One thing that has always kind of bothered me about Macau is the way that people here are really not aware of space. In most big cities, people go out of their way not to touch you, brush up against you, talk to you, make eye contact-- or just generally acknowledge the presence of others. It's interesting because it's so subconscious. Professionals can give full attention to their blackberries while navigating people and traffic with their peripheral vision. There's almost a code of personal space.

Not so in Macau.

Macau is one of the highest population densities on Earth. But still - people don't look when they step our from their homes or businesses onto the street. They stop suddenly in the middle of the sidewalk. They hang out with their friends, blocking the sidewalk in front of a crosswalk. They walk slowly, two or three abreast, down the very narrow sidewalk, making it nearly impossible to get by them. Even when I say, "excuse me" in Cantonese, they either don't notice or don't register that someone is trying to pass.

At first, I chalked it up to the typical casual/rude attitude of Cantonese people. (I know that is a huge generalization-- but you try getting on a bus in rush hour, ordering food from a restaurant, or renting an apartment. You will either be the target of or be extremely close to a woman yelling, ranting, screaming all the time). I read somewhere that 50% of Macau's population are relatively recent immigrants from the mainland. It makes sense now - this is why people in Macau don't act like city dwellers-- why they constantly bump into each other.

OK maybe I'm taking my armchair theories a bit far...but it makes sense to me.