Although the gaming industry is bringing enormous wealth to Macau, many students in the former Portuguese enclave dream of a landscape with fewer casinos and more trees. Opposition to the island becoming a casino jungle was revealed in a Youth's Ideal Macau poster competition last month. Dozens of student artists painted the future Macau in the contest organised by 15 youth groups. The winning posters were displayed at Friendship Square on May 27. Most of the contestants envisioned a greener Macau with large areas of trees and gardens. 'Sadly, some parks have given way to casinos,' said Leong Hoi-sa, a Hou Kong School student who won first prize in the contest. 'Some of the remaining ones are besieged by skyscrapers that block the sunlight.' In her poster, Hoi-sa visualised co-existence between the city's old and new landmarks, including the Ruins of St Paul's, the A-ma Temple, and the Macau Dome stadium, all surrounded by trees and grass. 'We'll need everyone's support to bring trees back,' said the Form Three student. Some contestants have international aspirations for Macau. They painted people of different skin colours and various national flags, while others depicted the city's cultural heritage sites standing in harmony with modern structures. First runner-up Chong Oi-fong's poster showed the hands of men, women, the elderly and children working on a jigsaw puzzle featuring Macau's landmarks, but from which many green pieces were still missing. Oi-fong, a Form Four student at Keang Peng School, said her drawing showed that it would require the joint efforts of different people to build a green Macau. 'I don't want Macau to be a casino city. I'd like to see more green areas,' said Oi-fong. 'But new buildings and new cars are crowding out trees.' She suggested the greater use of bicycles to reduce traffic jams and create space for trees. 'Macau is such a small city, it's easy to get around by bike,' she said. Both Hoi-sa and Oi-fong have been drawing since they were young. Last year, Hoi-sa won top prize in the Pan-Macau Student Painting Contest, while Oi-fong was the first runner-up in a drawing contest on environmental protection organised by the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau.