With 30 days to go to the opening ceremony of the East Asian Games, the sportsman in the man building a new Macau shines through. 'I feel like a marathon runner,' says Manuel Silverio, chairman of the organising committee.
'We have come a long way and there is only 100 metres to go. Now we have to give our best right to the finish line.
'We have run a good race so far, but we have to beware. You can still fall down near the end.'
Silverio is speaking in his office at the headquarters of the Macau East Asian Games Organising Committee (Meagoc) in Taipa. The refurbished Macau Stadium, which will stage the opening ceremony on October 29, the Olympic Aquatic Centre and the International Hockey Centre are all part of the Macau Olympic Complex, and concrete proof of Macau's expensive and spectacular renovation.
Money talks in Macau, perhaps more than anywhere, and these impressive numbers speak for themselves:
The Macau Special Administrative Region government has invested more than US$350 million (2.8 billion patacas) on 17 building projects.