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Macao: Pearl of the Orient Constantino Hermanns Xavier
in Goan Observer, 13 November 2004 http://www.goanobserver.com
After crossing the Indian Ocean and rediscovering East Timor, we today move North, past the Philippines, to another lusophone community in Asia. Macao, located at the mouth of the legendary Pearl River, is a tiny piece of land in vast China. Though not an independent country, Macao has a very special autonomy within socialist China, as a Special Administrative Region, and seeks an observer status within the Community of Portuguese Speaking countries (CPLP).
Tough the Macanese are a tiny minority in their very own land (something Goa may be marching towards too very soon) their identity is continuously respected and preserved, both by the Portuguese and now by the Chinese. There are scarcely 4,000 Macanese among Macau's more than 400,000 residents.
Fishermen from Fujian and farmers from Guangdong were the first known settlers in Macau. In the early 1550s the Portuguese reached Ou Mun, which the locals also called A Ma Gao, in honour of the Goddess of Seafarers. Within a short time Macao became a major entrepot for trade between China, Japan, India and Europe. It also became the perfect crossroad for the meeting of East and West cultures. The Roman Catholic Church sent some of its greatest missionaries to continue the work of St Francis Xavier.
In modern times Macao has developed industries such as textiles, electronics and toys, as well as building up an a world class tourist industry with a wide choice of hotels, resorts, sports facilities, restaurants and casinos. Today Macao is a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (since peaceful transition in 1999). It is growing in size - with more building on reclaimed land - and in population. China has promised that, under its "one country, two systems" formula, its socialist economic system will not be practiced in Macao, and that Macao will enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defence affairs for the next 50 years.
Its population (a third of Goa) is composed of 95% ethnic Chinese, and 5% Portuguese, Europeans etc. Religiously, there are 50% Buddhists and 15% Roman Catholics. Chinese and Portuguese are the official languages. English is generally used in trade, tourism and commerce. Overall, the impression one gets of Macao is that of a highly developed micro-society which has been able to conciliate its rich traditional past with a modern and cosmopolitan future.
Take a look at the Government of Macao website (http://www.macau.gov.mo). It is then no surprise that its GDP is US$6.73 million and that its growth was of 9,5% in 2002. Its GDP per capita is $19,400 (2003 est.) while in Goa it is only slightly above $1,000 (2004 est.). Infant mortality rate is reduced to 4 deaths/1000 live births (17/1000 in Goa, 2002 est.) and 95% of its population is literate (82% in Goa, 2001 est.). Yet, on the other hand, the political system is seen as a "limited democracy" and there are no formal political parties.
Let us take a lusophone tour through the tiny roads of Macao. The historical Barra Fort was converted by the Macao Government Tourist Office into a Portuguese inn, which today is one of the city's great attractions (Pousada de Sao Tiago). This has been tried only recently in Goa, like in the Tiracol Fort or the ancestral Casa Palacio Siolim House. But it is known that each move to adapt Goa's historical places intelligently to tourism exploration has met fierce opposition…Then, while strolling around the historical centre, there are the Largo do Pagode da Barra, Travessa da Misericordia, Avenida da Praia or Rua das Estalagens. Here there is no question of renaming roads… Isn't China is supposed to be an authoritarian regime?
Fundação Oriente, well known to Goans, has its headquarters in the 18th century Casa Garden building and has been very active here in the fields of arts, culture, social work etc. including by publishing the Dicionário de Literatura Goesa, by late Aleixo da Costa. This brings us to the Goan presence in Macao.
Historically there is a great link. Macao was under the rule of Goa's Diocese until the 18th century. But let us look instead at a more contemporary period. Musician Remo Fernandes was there in the 80's. Last year there was the first-ever mass delivered in Konkani, by Father Urbano Fernandes, the Goan Vicar of São Lourenço church. Henrique Fialho was the director of the Hospital Conde de São Janúario in the 70's. Henriqueta Lopes Colaço was a nurse and later administrator of the same hospital. Salvador Figueiredo was a judge in Macao's Court and presently is a lawyer. Prof. Fátima Figueiredo teaches English in secondary schools. In the field of journalism there was late Dr. Eduardo Dias who used to work for the daily Tribuna de Macau. Dr. Rui Cunha, from Daman, lawyer, was administrator of the large gaming company Sociedade de Jogos de Macau. And there is the Goan doctor Afrânio Almeida, famous gynaecologist who is popularly believed to have witnessed the birth of half of Macao's population!
Other Goans are Francisco Lopes, officer at the Leal Senado, Elío Oliveira, administrator of the Macau Electricity Company and Terry Bragança, who has been living in Macao for over 20 years. One of the main faces of the around one-hundred strong Goan community is Jack Colaço, officer in the Economics Department until the 80's and who has been a staunch activist of Goa's identity in Macao.
And, as a final curiosity, regarding Macanese in Goa, there goes the story that in 1962 there was one tailor called Afonso Fong. Indian Police believed he was a Chinese spy and jailed him.
A LUSOPHONE ASIAN
VITÓRIO CARDOSO is a young Macanese activist born in 1978. In Lisbon you can see him in the front row of every event remotely related to Asia and in Macao he attends all lusophone meetings. He says…
From my point of view the Macao's transition is irreversible and stands asan example of a peaceful process of decolonisation Portugal was able to execute in a progressive way. But, on the other hand, it was also a strange experience, as I know feel "a foreigner in my own land".
As a Macanese I consider the historical presence of the Portuguese in Macao as an advantage, something that has positively shaped this place in a different sense from the other cities in the region. Here there is a continuous process of cultural synthesis, in food, architecture, etc.
There are more than only social relations between Goa and Macao. Goa's influence on there is very strong in food habits, language (many words in the local dialect Patua are from Concani). I see Goa as a millenary culture where many cultures have come together, Goa absorving the best from each one, like in Macao.
Though Portugal's priorities are immediately embodied in the construction of a stronger European Union I cannot see why we can't use this to approach the lusophone world. There are several institutions, such as the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and others, that serve the interests of promoting stronger links between Portugal and lusophone Asia. And if Macao is given the observer status in CPLP, I think it would very naturally suit also Goa.
But there has to be a terrain work first, especially with the youth. We have to make people conscious of the Asian lusophone heritage and potential and build bridges between Timor, Macao, Goa etc. Nothing better than cultural, business, sports initiatives that allow a human contact. I will work for this here in Lisbon, in Macao and… who knows, in Goa.
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