Macao’s 400-year-old ties with the lusophone states have come to shape its future.
Tara Loader Wilkinson
At only 30 square kilometres, Macao is a geographical dot on the world map. But it punches above its weight in many ways, thanks in part to its unique history.
As one of the first places that Europeans settled in Asia, Macao’s deep roots extend all over the world. What was initially a trading post administered by the Portuguese empire since the 16th century was then handed back to China in 1999. This historical relationship cemented a gateway between two different worlds, the neutral bridge where East met West for centuries.
Now it is widely known as Asia’s gaming capital, with gaming revenues hitting nearly US$38 billion last year. Its gigantic gaming facilities and malls on the Cotai Strip, which links the islands of Taipa and Coloane, have earned it a reputation as the Las Vegas of Asia.
But a closer look reveals a melting pot of historic cultures. Ancient Buddhist temples neighbour Catholic churches, while luxury contemporary hotels sit side-by-side to 17th century ruins.
The reason it can co-exist so harmoniously is down to its multifaceted past, says Rogério Miguel Puga, one of the world’s foremost experts on Anglo-Portuguese studies, and a former resident. “Macao is not so much a city of a fusion of cultures, but a city of cultural tolerance,” he remarks.
“It is a city built on reasonableness,” agrees William Guthrie, an American anthropologist who called the city-state home for a decade. He points to the huge influx of Chinese refugees fleeing the Chinese Civil War who swelled Macao’s population during the last century, helping expand its economy.
Today, the still-thriving trade links between China and the lusophone countries, via Macao, including Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde and Mozambique, span four continents and paint a bright future for Macao.
Architecture
Modern Macao welcomes its visitors with a psychedelic explosion of architecture, each structure vying for attention like the larger-than-life dancers of a Brazilian carnival.
When taking in Macao’s skyline visitors can spot a 500-foot mock Eiffel Tower at The Parisian Macao, and the dizzying exoskeleton of Zaha Hadid Studio’s Morpheus Hotel. There is also the Roman Colosseum and the replica Venice, complete with opera-singing gondoliers and the world’s first figure-eight Ferris Wheel, looping around the gargantuan Studio City gaming property. Not to mention the 55km mega-bridge linking Macao with its sister special administrative region (SAR), Hong Kong, and the Chinese city of Zhuhai.
These architectural wonders have transformed Macao from modest fishing village – a third of modern Macao’s size – to today’s neck-craning metropolis built on swathes of reclaimed land. And it has mainly happened in the 15 years since additional gaming concessions were granted in 2002, according to Guthrie.
The Venetian Macao was the first location constructed that served as a one-stop-shop for a resort with gaming, entertainment, shopping, dining as well as meetings, conference and exhibitions facilities. Guthrie, who was living and teaching in Macao at the time, recalls the sheer size of the foundations, each wall “as thick as an apartment”.
“It changed Macao’s face forever, because from an engineering perspective, The Venetian set the bar for everything that came ever since”. But scratch beneath the surface and signs of Macao’s architectural roots still gleam. Portuguese road signs, narrow cobbled streets and coral pink and tangerine-coloured shophouses still thrive in areas like Taipa Village, a historical enclave that celebrates the old colonial spirit.
Language
The name ‘Macao’, as legend has it, actually comes from a 500-year-old gaffe made by Portuguese merchants arriving in the 16th century. As the story goes, when their boats docked on what was back then a rocky outcrop, the Portuguese merchants headed to the Temple A-Ma to meet the locals.
Through the translators they had brought with them from Malaysia, they asked the Fujian fisherman, ‘Where are we?’ The fishermen replied, ‘A-Ma-Gau,’ which translates to its location in the Bay of A-Ma, the Chinese goddess of the sea. The misheard name stuck, and survived the centuries, as did the now UNESCO-protected Temple A-Ma that you can still visit to this day.
Today, the official languages of Macao are Cantonese (85.7 per cent) and Portuguese (0.6 per cent). English remains a lingua franca but you will increasingly hear Mandarin (Putonghua) spoken in the SAR.
There is also a barely-there Macanese patois called Patuá, a Portuguese-based creole language with a substrate from Malay, Cantonese and Sinhalese, which is only spoken by a few old families. “The language died away because the population was never forced to speak it,” says Puga. “That’s a reflection of Macao’s tolerance.”
Cuisine
If Macao is a cultural melting pot, its food is the ultimate fusion cuisine. You can trace the ingredients in its most classic delicacies all the way back through the Portuguese trading routes, from Brazil to Angola, Mozambique to Malaysia, and to Goa and beyond. For example, yuenyeung cha, coffee mixed with sweetened tea, has been a popular beverage in Macao ever since the Portuguese brought coffee beans and sugar on their ships from Africa some 400 years ago.
The Macanese classic, Portuguese Chicken, a curried coconut chicken and potatoes dish, came into being using spices and potatoes from India and coconuts from Malaysia. Minchi, arguably the national dish of Macao, made from fried minced pork and beef and served with a fried egg on top, has its roots in Goa, another former Portuguese trading post.
But Macao’s most iconic sweet treat, the pastel de nata, has a slightly different story. The famous egg custard tart with flaky pastry crust, while originally supposedly a Portuguese import, was rejuvenated reinvented 30 years ago by English pharmacist-turned baker Andrew Stow. He gave the tarts an English twist by cutting out the corn flour and caramelising the top. He opened Lord Stow’s Bakery in Coloane’s central square, and now his tarts are famous all over Macao and beyond.
Religion
Down one of Macao’s zig-zagging old alleyways you will find a hole-in-the-wall papelaria, a typical Portuguese stationary shop. It is full of Buddhist deities and paper sacrifices, but at Christmas time the next-door shelves are crammed with artificial Christmas trees, icicle chains and plastic Santa Clauses, along with greeting cards in four languages.
It is symbolic of Macao’s religious cultural tolerance that many of the inhabitants consider themselves Christian Chinese. Guthrie recalls being in the graveyard of the Catholic chapel of St Michael’s, on Qing Ming, the Chinese holy day for sweeping the graves of ancestors. “I remember watching a Macanese girl in a grey suit cleaning a Catholic tomb after attending Mass. Then she took an incense stick in her hand and performed bows to her ancestors,” says Guthrie. “It was one of those ‘only in Macao’ moments.”
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