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ALL OUR YESTERDAYS. . . . .(Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5)THE SONS OF MACAO - THEIR HISTORY AND HERITAGE Early History Who Are We? What Do We Call Ourselves? How Many Are We? Our Patois Hong Kong Macao Shanghai Diaspora EARLY HISTORY Perhaps it would be an exaggeration to say that it all started with Prince Henry the Navigator, and then again perhaps it would not. But there is little doubt that we as a distinct community owe our origins to a chain of historic events that started in the 15th Century. This Century and the early part of the 16th Century were the historical heydeys of the Portuguese. With the encouragement and enterprise of the celibate half English but all Portuguese Prince Henry the Navigator, the Portuguese helped to introduce Europe to the world. Bartholomeo Diaz rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1487. Pedro Cabral discovered Brazil in 1500. Vasco da Gama pioneered the sea route to the Orient in 1498 when he rounded Africa and reached the subcontinent of India. Portuguese seamen under Jorge Alvares reached China by sea in 1513. These discoveries were chronicled in the poetic language of Portugal’s foremost son who personally participated in the early voyages. Luiz de Camoes, poet, scholar, soldier and author of the historical epic “Os Lusiadas” glorified the adventures of the Portuguese seafarers. One of the earliest historical references to Macao can be founded in a 1555 letter from Fernao Mendes Pinto to Jesuit friends in Goa. This letter confirmed the establishment of a new Portuguese settlement at Macao. This was some 300 years before Hong Kong became a British Colony. It is always worth remembering that whilst Hong Kong has a history of 137 years, from 1841 to today, Macao goes back much earlier. Macao has had its share of ups and downs since then, reflecting the fortunes of both China and Portugal. Trading and living conditions in that small part of the South China coast have also had a great effect. As continental Portugal’s influence waned with the passage of time, it was perhaps fortunate that her long standing alliance with England stood her in good stead. It was in Portugal’s interest to be tied in friendship to rising English sea power and the blossoming of the British Empire. This did not prevent covetous incursions on the part of other European nations. The Dutch attempted to invade Macao but were repulsed. A relic of these battles is a carved granite statue in the Macao Senate Building which purports to be a sculptured image of a Dutch sailor in captivity in Macao. A turning point in the invasion was attributed to a Jesuit gunner who, from the battlements of Monte Fort, directed a cannonball into the ammunition carriage of the Dutch who had just landed. The coincidence surrounding this skirmish was that the Jesuit gunner was an Italian, Fr. Rho, who was attached to the Portuguese Mission and who just happened to be stopping over in Macao on his way to Peking. Relations with China were another constant problem. The vast regions of China were loosely ruled by a weak government from the Northern Capital. Attempts were made from time to time by the Chinese to force the Portuguese to submit to their authority. Communication with their central governments, for both the resident Portuguese as well as the South China Mandarins, were slow and unreliable. In most cases it was left to the man on the spot to make decisions. Numerous Chinese attempts were made to isolate and starve the city. Skirmishes and sieges were frequent and from these, two Portuguese individuals stood out. One was the one-armed Governor Amaral of Macao who held fast during the turmoil and was assassinated. The other was Mesquita, the local Macao Portuguese military hero. When Macao was under siege with the threat of Chinese soldiers gathered just outside her border, Lt. Vicente Nicolau de Mesquita led a band of 36 soldiers on a daring raid. Against seemingly overwhelming odds, he routed the enemy to save the city. In the yet older history of Macao, the Portuguese also managed to withstand the danger from within. In 1580 Portugal practically ceased to exist as a nation for 60 years. This was because the ruling King Sebastian died without an heir and neighbouring Spain, ever ready to reclaim what had originally been one of her vassal states, occupied and annexed Portugal. Macao, however, remained Portuguese. This was because the Spaniards were greatly pre-occupied elsewhere and the difficulty of communicating half way around the globe hampered their authority. When the Portuguese prevailed again in 1640 and overthrew Spanish rule, Macao was honoured for remaining steadfastedly Portuguese. The Macao Senate was henceforth to bear the title “Leal Senado”, the Loyal Senate. In the early days of Colonialism, one of the primary functions of a Colony was trade. Portugal was no different. Macao was established as the extreme Eastern headquarters of trade with the surrounding areas. China, of course, was the main trading partner, but Portuguese trading vessels ranged far beyond the China seas. A very lucrative China/Japan/Europe trade was done with Macao as the warehouse and middleman. Manila also was an occasional trading partner. From Manila the Spaniards traded with Acapulco and from there went overland by mule pack through Mexido to Vera Cruz and across the Atlantic to Spain. From Malacca, Formosa and Nagasaki Portuguese trading vessels called Naus sailed. In later years, around the early 1800’s, the Portuguese developed and manned swift and well armed escort vessels of about 100 tons called lorchas, and these were used as a deterrent to pirates who infested the area. Bumper trading years gave rise to fabulous fortunes and mansions for the Macao Portuguese. Depressed and stagnant times follows. The latter became more and more comon with the diminishing power and influence of Portugal in subsequent years. Between the years 1700 and 1841 the fortunes of both Portugal and China were at an ebb and easily eclipsed by Britain, the then major sea power of the world. French, Dutch and American power was also on the rise. These were the years of the Canton factories where Chinese and Far Eastern trade was now concentrated in new hands. Chinese law then forbade free trade and entry into her Empire. All trade was restricted to Canton and there too only for six months of the year on a narrow waterfront band of homes, offices and warehouses called factories. European women were banned from these factories. All business on the Chinese side was restricted to a group of Chinese monopolist merchants called the Co-hong, some of whom amassed fortunes as a result. Curiously enough, business flourished even under these circumstances. In time, these restrictions and petty harassments were too much to bear for a British nation at the height of her Empire and naval strength. This was further complicated by the official Chinese re-affirmation of the prohibition of the importation of opium in a trade which by now had assumed enormous proportions. The British retaliated by opening hostilities in the “Opium War” resulting in a British victory that served to open up not only Canton but other Chinese ports to free and unfettered trade. This Opium War also resulted in the ceding in perpetuity to Britain in 1841 of the rocky and barren island of Hong Kong. The role of Macao in these Canton factories years was one of biased neutrality. Portugal and Macao by then had retreated from the forefront of the world’s stage. Relations with China were the weak dealing with the weak. Macao was always vulnerable and could hardly look to help from overseas. It was a process of not antagonizing China and helping, where it could, its old British ally. During the years the Canton Factories were in operation Macao remained the quiet and peaceful retreat to which merchants could retire after the brief trading season. The Portuguese themselves existed on the fringes of the trade, providing personnel for translating and trading. They also provided housing during the off trading season and the hand of friendship when it was needed. The latter especially rose in importance as Chinese and English clashed repeatedly just prior to the outbreak of the Opium War and a place of refuge was needed in Macao. The Opium War then, marked the forced opening of China to the West. It marked the establishment and rapid growth of Hong Kong. It also marked the economic decline of Macao. For the Filho Macao, it was also a historical milestone and the first branching out from home. They participated in Hong Kong’s earliest days and played a significant role in the band of pioneers. WHO ARE WE? Racially, most of us are Eurasians. It is an anthropological fact. Some can trace back to a Portuguese ancestor, especially those who are, or have recently come from, Macao. Some can also trade direct Chinese ancestry. But for the majority it has been a case of mixed blood and subsequently a mixture of mixtures. For most, the percentage of European Portuguese blood and Oriental blood cannot be determined. This has been even further clouded by more intermarrying with other national groups. Though Portuguese and Chinese strains obviously dominate, other forebears appear as well. Goans are a traceable strain. There is Japanese blood too. Malays from Malacca and Filipinos are part of the mix. Siam and the Moluccas were Portuguese trading partners that more likely than not contributed to the racial strain. There was also evidence of Burmese contact through the Arakans, a province of Burma. English and French ancestry is also common. These combinations have to do with Portuguese mariners travelling, settling and intermarrying and also with the diverse national elements that found their way to Hong Kong, Macao and the coast of China. In time, all who intermarried settled down to become Sons of Macao. A son of Macao is not so much a description of a racial type as a frame of mind. One belongs to the community because one wants to belong, and in turn the community accepts, with no barriers other than a willingness to belong. There are two reasons why we exist in this distinct and identifiable Eurasian community today. Firstly, it was historical Portuguese policy to intermarry and Christianize. Portuguese sailors, soldiers and merchants were encouraged to form families and settlements wherever Portuguese colonies were established. It was in the interests of Portugal that loyal Catholic communities be founded. Secondly, the Portuguese are noted for having less racial prejudice than other nations. Offspring of mixed racial marriages were accepted with favour and equality. Odd as it may seem, some of us are embarrassed by this blending as if a pure racial strain, preferably a European strain, were somehow superior. However, this attitude was not all that surprising in view of unfortunate economic limitations and restrictions that were imposed on natives at the height of the colonial empires. Enlightened times have buried most, if not all, this kind of prejudice. The New World revels in its racial diversity. The Filho Macao, being the heir of diverse cultures, can have the best of many worlds. In him the “twain” has met, both individually and as part of a respected and respectable group. Not only are there the basic Portuguese and Chinese influences, but there is also strong exposure to English and American ways. This is because Filho Macaos from Hong Kong and Shanghai have had an English education and worked with British institutions. With English as a basic language we were at the same time exposed to British and American thought and traditions. Freedom of thought and speech, free enterprise, impartial laws and impartial enforcement of laws are part of a democratic background we have been used to. WHAT DO WE CALL OURSELVES? It should be appreciated that it takes more than one word for a Son of Macao to explain his roots. In Hong Kong we refer to ourselves as Portuguese or as Macanese. We have always been an integral part of the Hong Kong scene. The word Macanese – of Macao – only made sense to people of that narrow geographic region and really told no more than which city one was originally from. Though “Portuguese” is the word mostly used, it does not tell the full story and complications arise. “Portuguese from the Orient” is a colourful expression, but not a clear one. We do not call ourselves “Portuguese Eurasians” though it comes closest to the mark. Among ourselves, we dub each other “Filhos de Macao” or “Filho Macao”. This is probably the most descriptive name. Certainly it is the most acceptable. It says simply that we are the “Sons of Macao”. In this study the words “Portuguese” and “Filho Macao” are both used and have the same meaning. In jest we may refer to ourselves as “Balichaos” which was originally a Malay word for the shrimp sauce which is a common ingredient in the preparation of some of our food and for which, it is commonly believed, we have an abnormal craving. HOW MANY ARE WE? No one seems to be able to say with any certainty. Estimates can range from 5,000 to 30,000 with the best estimate probably somewhere in between at, say, 11,000. A knowledgeable source in 1977 said there were just over 1,000 in Hong Kong, 3,000 in Macao, 2,000 in Northern California, 2,000 in Southern California and 1,000 altogether in Portugal, Canada, Australia and Brazil. There are few records to go by, though a list made in 1955 showed that 2,200 Portuguese citizens, mainly from Shanghai, had left the Far East through Hong Kong. Filhos de Macao followed in the immediate wake of the British colonizing of Hong Kong, and as such were among the founders of the city. There was a quick flow of Portuguese from Macao to Hong Kong soon after the British took over in the 1840’s. The move was primarily economic as jobs and opportunities were more easily obtainable in the new Colony. The next move to Shanghai took place some time later, around the year 1860, when Shanghai started to rise in economic prominence with the establishment there of European traders. There was a constant demand for Portuguese manpower in the new trading centres. Clerks and translators, bookkeepers and warehousemen were all needed to service the traders and banks that where quick to establish along the coast of newly opened China. It is said that Hong Kong was the good marriage of two trading nations, Britain and China, both with a particular bent for business and profit. If so, then the early Portuguese were the original witnesses and bridesmaids who sealed the marriage which has lasted to today. Before World War II the Filho Macaos were located in Macao, Hong Kong and Shanghai. The largest number of us were probably in Hong Kong, say about 8,000 to 10,000. There was never a census taken, especially as the Hong Kong Filho Macaos carried both Portuguese and British citizenship with rougly half in each category. This was because anyone born in Hong Kong was automatically entitled to British citizenship and many took it. On the other hand, if one were Hong Kong born, in order to retain Portuguese citizenship into a new generation, it was necessary to register births with the Portuguese Consulate. It was estimated that between 3,000 and 4,000 individuals were so registered. For all practical purposes it made little difference what citizenship a Filho Macao carried. All were Hong Kong born and permanent Hong Kong residents. It was only during the Second World War that differences in citizenship made for different treatment. When the Filho Macaos went to Macao as refugees, Portuguese citizens were fed and housed by the Macao Government, whilst British citizens looked to the British Consulate for a cash subsidy. Shanghai had a stable Filho Macao group. Nearly all were Portuguese citizens and before the Second World War they enjoyed extraterritorial status. This meant that though they were in Chinese territory they were not subject to Chinese law enforcement, but could be arrested and tried for crimes only with the consent of the Portuguese Consulate. All foreign nationals in China then had this privilege which essentially was demeaning to China and foisted on her by foreign powers. There were about 3,000 Filho Macaos in Shanghai then. In Macao there was the second largest Filho Macao community. It was the most “Portuguese” of all, because they spoke Portuguese and were educated in the Portuguese school system. As an overseas Portuguese Province this was where there was relatively close contact with Portugal. Perhaps about 6,000 Filho Macaos lived there, nearly all of whom were Portuguese citizens. OUR PATOIS If there is one thing that sets the Filho Macao apart from others it is his secret tongue – the patois of the Sons of Macao. He has this unique ability to communicate verbally with another of the tribe in language which perhaps fewer than 10,000 other people in the whole world can understand. The word “shibboleth” is defined as “a word or custom or principle regarded as testing a person’s nationality or social class”. Among other things, the patois is a badge of this community. It has been our enduring shibboleth. Filho Macao patois evolved. It is not, as is generally thought, peculiar to Macao, though no doubt it reached its culmination there, both geographically as the Portuguese travelled East and in terms of its development. It was also known as “papiamento”, and those who spoke it were said to “papia Christao” (Christian jabbering). It originated as a sort of pidgin Portuguese and grew in the outposts and settlements as Portuguese explorers, and later traders, developed simple basic communication with natives sufficient for their needs. As the Portuguese moved down the settlements on the West African coast and across the Indian Ocean to India, Ceylon, Malacca and beyond, the langugage travelled and developed and was enriched along the way with a larger vocabulary. Native words were added for newly found Eastern products and processes that could not readily be described otherwise. Though the Portuguese language accounts for a significant part of the patois, it was by no means a one way street because the patois in its turn fed back into Portuguese. Both the Portuguese and English languages have been enriched by native words through the patois. Words like sampan, typhoon, bamboo, catty, amah, coolie and garoupa are among the many words that came from the patois. Basic vocabulary was mainly Portuguese, and it is interesting to find words that are now being used in this patois that are from an earlier age and have since ceased to be used in Portugal. The word “azinha”, meaning “hurry” is one of these. However, the basic difference this patois bears from Portuguese is in the simplification of the somewhat complex grammatical system inherent in a Romance language. The careful conjugation of verbs in their tenses in relation to their pronouns has been done away with by the addition of some basic qualifier just as in Chinese. There are shades and degrees within the patois. These range from what could be called the broad basics of :Filho Macao chapado” to more refined efforts that tend to gravitate closer to the original Portuguese. Within this background one can appreciate that the patois lends itself to humour, especially ethnic humour in a close community such as this. The diverse origins and social history of the Filho Macaos uncover more than a share of restraints and prejudice which a sense of humour can deflate and bring down to earth through the patois. The patois is not a written language, though it could conceivably be. Its flowering can best be appreciated in the noisy and packed quarters of a Filho Macao party. The patois is dying. There is no reversing the trend and a generation or two will find only isolated pockets of the tongue. In a small Portuguese settlement in Malacca an understandable version of this patois is still spoken. In Hong Kong newer generations speak English at home. In Macao there are many who still speak it and fortunately there are scholarly efforts to record and preserve this tongue. However, there is also a tendency for youth there to revert to Metropolitan Portuguese. In California, Canada and other countries where there has been immigration, the prospects are practically nil of the tongue outlasting the generation. OUR FOOD Filho Macaos may not be the most intelligent people on the globe. They may also not be the best looking, nor even the most talented. However, when it comes to food and cooking, they pride themselves that few other people ever set a better table. This is a somewhat biased outlook but nevertheless it does have the ring of gastronomic truth. There is supreme self-confidence and pride in this regard. This confidence is bolstered by an early reference to this unique cuisine on the part of a group of Englishmen who visited Macao in 1637! The “comida de Filho Macao” is an art form that deserves more credit than it has received. The preparation and consumption of this totally ethnic food are rituals that call out to be prepared and broadcast over a wider scene. This food is generally quite unlike that of Portugal, though it has similarities in many dishes. It is also dissimilar to Chinese food, but here too there is much common ground. The success of Filho Macao cooking is that it never claimed to be the purist but that it evolved. Two rather unfamiliar words, “eclectic” and “syncretic”, can most fittingly describe it. Eclectic is the drawing from many sources and ideas and being catholic in taste, and syncretic is the blending and union of diverse schools. The evolution probably started from the moment Portuguese explorers left their homes and settled around the coast of Africa and on towards India, Malaya and China. It was a process that took over four hundred years and I would like to think that Macao cooking was the distillation from these travels combined liberally with some of the best of what the Chinese had to offer. Experimentation and modification has been the theme, but the real key was that with the wide travels of the early Portuguese there was so much to experiment with and hence so much more to modify and enjoy. There are Malayan sambals and Timor lemon pickles. There are Indian spices and the peixe esmargal of Goa. There is pressed rice and tamarind pork. There is the Portuguese cozido spiced up and modified to tacho. There is “the” stew into which nearly all kinds of meats are blended and spiced to merge as “Diabo”. Overall there is minchee, the staple, standard fare of table and home; minchee in dozens of subtly differing forms and ingredients, but all still unmistakably minchee. There is the potent shrimp sauce, balichao, an essential ingredient in many popular dishes and more likely than not an acquired taste. Then there are Filho Macao seasonal dishes, and what other season for Catholics really to celebrate than Christmas. There is the coconut based confection, aluar, said to represent the infant Christ’s mattress; farte, a cookie representing His pillow; delicate flaky cuscarao, representing His blanket. There is game pie, a savoury aspic which has long since done away with its crust, and empada, the spiced fish for days of abstinence. There are cakes and sweets that have been copied and evolved from the original Iberian “Merienda”, rich and laden with sugar and eggs and cream, and guaranteed to cure all cholesterol deficiencies. Batatada and Baji, regusada and chacha, cabelo da noiva and bebinga de leite. This list is endless. Hong Kong - Macao - ShanghaiHONG KONG Hong Kong’s real history started in 1841 and oddly enough this chronologically parallels San Francisco’s history – a city where now so many Portuguese have settled over 130 years later. Before 1841 Hong Kong was a collection of small farming and fishing villages. At that time San Francisco was also a small sleepy Spanish, later Mexican, outpost which really only came into prominence after the Gold Rush of 1849. Once they were established in the new Colony of Hong Kong, life for the Portuguese became completely identified with its fortunes. In trading, boom conditions were followed by depressions. Regional wars and skirmishes were frequent and unsettling as China opened to the West. Typhoons and fires and epidemics were always part of the scene on the South China Coast. The Hong Kong Portuguese were witnesses and participants of Hong Kong’s early history. Yet there were particular institutions that were always closely identified with this small community within the growing city. The Churches and Catholic Schools always had close Portuguese connections. Italian Missionaries of the P.I.M.E. order were sent to Hong Kong to convert the Chinese, but also to serve the growing number of Portuguese Catholics. The Cathedral, Rosary Church, St Teresa’s Church, were centres for the Portuguese faithful. Rosary Church and St Mary’s School were donated to the Mission by a Portuguese family. Part of the land for the Canossian Convent on Hong Kong was also donated by a Portuguese family. St Joseph’s College, the Canossian Convent, La Sale College, St Mary’s School and Maryknoll Convent School could account for nearly all the Portuguese in Hong Kong passing through their hands at some stage. The Christian Brothers and the Italish Canossian nuns always had particularly close Portuguese links. Many trading and banking houses had long and happy Portuguese connections. Jardine Matheson and the other leading hongs (major British trading companies) employed many Portuguese. However, above all others stood “The Bank”, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. Since its inception this Bank has served, employed and shared its fortunes with a significant proportion of the Hong Kong Portuguese. Many Portuguese were among the original shareholders of the Bank. It was and it is a long and happy relationship. Today with the expanding Bank and the shrinking community, ties though close are not quite so apparent as before. The Portuguese in Hong Kong had a tendency to stick close together as regards living arrangements. They initially congregated in a specific area in the mid levels which became the Portuguese neighbourhood. This area was known as “Mato de Moro” (Indian Fields) and was named after the large Moslem Mosque in the area of Mosque Junction. Belilios Terrace, Peel Street, Caine Road and Rednaxela Terrace were all part of these same environs. After the turn of the Century, there was a move to settle in Kowloon. Kowloon then was countryside separating small Chinese villages such as Mongkok, Yaumati and Tsimshatsui. The Portuguese settled at first in Tsimshatsui. They soon became well entrenched in this area and many later became homeowners in the quiet side streets of Kowloon. They were encouraged to remain in this area because of a successful homeowners’ scheme on instalment payments promoted by Mr J.M. Alves. Granville Road, Hart Avenue, Humphreys Avenue, Kimberley Road, Austin Avenue and Cameron Road were among streets that made up the Portuguese residential neighbourhoods of Tsimshatsui. Still later, there were other Portuguese neighbourhoods. Tung Cheong Buildings, just off the main Nathan Road thoroughfare, housed many Portuguese families. Further afield, Homantin and Kowloon Tong beckoned toward a more bucolic setting. Here too a successful scheme for the eventual individual ownership of many homes was promoted by Mr F.X.V. Soares. Of course, Portuguese lived all over the city according to a means and wants, but these areas saw a particularly rapid concentration as they were near the schools and churches Portuguese attended. After the War, the tendency to live together in special areas seemed to dissipate, probably due to high rents and overcrowding in the rehabilitating city. Much of the social life was centred in the Portuguese clubs, the two main ones being the Club Lusitano and the Club de Recreio. Lusitano is the senior Club. It was established in 1865 in Shelley Street and subsequently moved to its present location on Ice House Street. It was a large Colonial type high ceilinged building which was put to good use for many years because of its facilities and perfect location in the heart of the downtown business district. In early 1965 the site was redeveloped to its fullest extent to make the best use of this valuable and central piece of land. In 1967 the building was completed and a multi-storied club and office complex now exists. The Club has the usual facilities including an impressive “Sala de Camoes” ballroom, and at the same time it has some substantial and welcome income from commercial rentals. A heavy bank loan was taken for this redevelopment and it is reported that by 1979 this should have been effectively repaid and surplus income available for Club projects. The Club de Recreio has always been the Kowloon sporting arm of the younger crowd. It has fields and facilities for lawn bowls, badminton, hockey and tennis. Unlike the Lusitano, Club de Recreio does not own its land. As with nearly all other recreational public land in Hong Kong, it is on a temporary but renewable ten-year lease. If enough use and public good is established, then leases of this type are usually renewed. The Club de Recreio has been “internationalised” of late with a healthy mix of various national groups. The Little Flower Club is a ladies’ social and religious club. It is not a national club but was founded and is managed by Portuguese ladies. It has an attractive clubhouse and grounds and caters to many social events. The Victoria Recreation Club is now very international. It has always been associated with sporting activities such as swimming and rowing and was predominantly Portuguese for many years. This was especially so when it had a swimming pool and club-house in the central business area and young Portuguese office workers made good use of its facilities. The Socorro Mutos is, as its name implies, a Portuguese organisation for mutual help. It has provided bursaries and scholarships for many within the community. Another Portuguese institution is the Escola Camoes. This Kindergarten and Primary School was initially established on the Club de Recreio premises shortly after the Pacific War but subsequetly moved to its own schoolhouse building. It was meant to foster a Portuguese identity by the teaching of the Portuguese language and traditions. Enrollment now stands at over 500 children. MACAO Macao is our ancestral home. When we claim our roots we have to return to this sleepy four square mile plot that is our history as well as the history of the initial impact of the West on China. Cobblestone streets lined with old pastel coloured houses meander their way towards early churches. Sleepy tree lined avenues frame an unhurried and quiet setting that seems to belong to another age. The bustle and drive of commerce has been absent for many years and the Portuguese of Macao are heirs to a different heritage. A more courtly and formal Iberian ambience prevails. There are closer ties to Portugal here, and the Portuguese and Chinese languages are spoken. Education and laws are Portuguese. Yet too, there are significant changes now. These changes have been brought on by the revolution in Portugal and the establishment of the People’s Republic in China. These two major political changes affecting Macao have coincided with a tourism boom which, with the granting of the casino monopoly to new and aggressive management, has resulted in a good measure of progress and prosperity. Language is Portuguese for the newer generation and here too, the patois is dying. Customs and manners and attitudes tend to follow Lisbon rather than London. Portugal still posted some of its officials and policemen to Macao. Some of these eventually made Macao their home and settled and intermarried with Chinese and Filho Macaos, and so the Eurasian mix continued and endured as it had for 400 years. For the Macao born Portuguese the making of a living is precarious because of the very limited commercial opportunities. Government service at all levels absorbed the majority. The Utility companies and a small bank aborbed some more. Some new hotels and the tourist trade employed a number. But that about exhausted the roster of employers. With its small population and shallow harbour, Macao does not have the business and trading base to give employment to all. Young Portuguese men from Macao, especially in the 1950’s and 1960’s have done what their compatriots did a hundred years earlier. They went to Hong Kong looking for employment and a future. A few of them have migrated further afield. Some chose to settle in Portugal, and some went to Brazil. California also has its share of Filho Macaos who were born in Macao. Life for the Macao Portuguese has always been at a lower pace. Traffic less dense and the concrete jungle is mercifully absent. The Church is a dominant influence and this very Catholic city has its share of seminaries and churches. The Club de Macao is the premier social club. The Santa Casa da Misericordia, the Holy House of Mercy, was founded in 1569. It is one of the oldest surviving local charitable foundations that has engaged in extensive social welfare for many years. One of Macao’s traditional and enduring gracious traits is its reputation and performance as a place of refuge. Many know Macao only as refugees and ever retain a feeling of gratitude. From early historical days, persecuted Japanese Christians found refuge here. British merchants of old in their stormy dealings with Chinese officials, have had to shelter in Macao from time to time. Upheavals and rebellions in China always brought a massive Chinese influx seeking safety. In the Second World War, Portugal was neutral and Macao remained an undisturbed haven as Hong Kong and China fell to the Japanese. For four years Macao sheltered ten of thousands of Chinese, Portuguese and British in some of the darkest hours of Hong Kong. Shanghai Any adult who lived in Shanghai in its vital pre-war years has memories to last for a lifetime. Here on the mouth of the Yangtze River rose a big, noisy, garish city which existed for business and pleasure. By comparison, Hong Kong was a low, staid and proper British outpost. Shanghai, on the other hand, was an international city, lively and sophisticated. Hong Kong was unmistakably Colonial British. Shanghai was British, French, American, Russian, Japanese and Chinese and practically everything else. Shanghai was a rich financial centre, a trading centre and a cotton manufacturing centre. Here too there was shipping with dockyards and warehouses. Shanghai had the most hectic nightlife to be found east of Suez. Nightclubs never closed, with hostesses from round the world and willing patrons to match. Although Shanghai was always ostensibly a Chinese city, real local power was left in the hands of foreigners who collaborated with each other and the Chinese to govern through a system of “concessions”. Powerful foreign merchants and merchant houses, mainly British, in cooperation with their respective consulates, dominated city politics under a system of city councils within the borders of a national concession. There was a French Concession and an International Settlement, all surrounded by Chinese areas. Foreign gunboats plying the river were always around as back up foreign authority. The experience of the Filho Macao who ventured to Shanghai seems to have been similar to that of the many who made Hong Kong their home. In the middle of the nineteenth century Shanghai, like Hong Kong, was opening up to foreigners. It was the largest of the Treaty Ports on the Chinese mainland ceded by the Manchu emperors to foreigners after the Opium Wars, and it offered to the bold and the adventurous untold opportunity for new experiences, especially in business. One of the main differences between Shanghai and Hong Kong was that, while Hong Kong was a British Colony, Shanghai was “extraterritorial”. This meant that non-Chinese living in the city were not subject to Chinese law but to their own national law as administered by national representatives, Consuls or Charges d’Affaires. Thus, while the Portuguese in Hong Kong lived under British law, those in Shanghai were under the authority of the Portuguese Consul General, and this made for some differences. Depending largely on the personality of the Consul, life for the Portuguese in Shanghai was less regimented, less British-staid, than for those in Hong Kong. The Portuguese Consuls were individualists, it seems. In the early 1900’s, one of them, angered because his “subjects” neglected to register their marriages with him (typically, he considered only the Church ceremony to be important), decided to declare their children illegitimate. Another, a popular and friendly man who mixed freely and without pretensions among the community, was removed when it became known that he was amassing a fortune by selling Portuguese passports to stateless refugees. But perhaps the most popular ever was the one who, with the typical spirit of the great Portuguese heroes, rescued a young Filho Macao from the clutches of an Indian money-lender. The young man had borrowed money at very high interest. The usurer visited him on pay-day every month to collect his interest, which the young man was hard pressed to pay. He never managed to pay back any of the capital, although in time the interest he had paid amounted to more than double the capital. In desperation, he confided in the Consul. The Consul invited the money-lender to his office and asked to see the young man’s I.O.U. When the money-lender handed it over, he tore it up, tossed the pieces into his waste-paper basket, and told the Indian, “Now, if you like, you can go to your Ambassador and sue me.” In the early days the first Portuguese settlers in Shanghai lived mainly in Hongkew, on the north side of the Soochow Creek which bisected the city. Some who prospered bought land and built houses in Hongkew which in later years would appreciate greatly in value. But they did not seem able to retain or built up their fortunes because among the second and third generations of Shanghai Filho Macaos there were no oustandingly wealthy families, although some were considerably better off than others, or at least gave that appearance. In later years there was no tendency, as there was in Hong Kong, for the Portuguese community to live in enclaves. Perhaps this was because, starting with the “troubles” of 1927 when the Kuomintang and the Communists engaged in bloody battles around Shanghai, there was a general move from Hongkew to the International Settlement and the French Concession, south of the Soochow Creek, where security was better than in Hongkew. In this general move, families were obliged to rent new homes where they could, with the result that the community was fairly well spread throughout the city. There was nevertheless, a strong community spirit. Everybody supported the Club Lusitano, the Portuguese Sporting Association (P.S.A.), which was later more or less absorbed into the Club, and the Associacao das Senhoras Portuguesas (A.S.P.). The Portuguese, both men and women, were well known in the sports world, particularly in soccer. During the war, when soccer was very popular in the sadly depleted city, Portuguese players were always sought out to receive real adulation. Portuguese tennis, badminton, softball and swimming stars also made their mark. Club activities for both men and women, at first scattered in various premises in the city, were concentrated in the late 1930’s in a beautiful clubhouse owned by the community in French Town, and every summer in a multi-court tennis area rented from the Municipality in the middle of the race course. The activities included social affairs, extensive charitable work in which the women specialised, and of course the inevitable card games, mainly mahjong, but also poker and some high quality bridge. Few young people married outside the community, and there were large families with plenty of children around, much loved and pampered. Family life in general was close and warm, but for some, rather trying financially. Many loving parents were particularly short-sighted, aspiring only to get their sons into “the Bank”, and their daughters married to young men also safely working in “the Bank” (the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation’s Shanghai branch was as much a haven for the Portuguese seeking work as was the Hong Kong headquarters). Bank salaries were not high. The big attraction seems to have been the pension fund which was thought to assure a comfortable and worry-free old age. Portuguese who did not work in the Bank joined the clerical and accounting staff of trading companies, among them the giants Jardine Matheson, Butterfield & Swire, Andersen Meyer, Dodwell’s. Few in the community had the foresight or the finances to give their children higher education, although there were a number of professional men among the last generation of Filho Macaos born in Shanghai. Catholicism, of course, was strong and universal in the community. Before the flight from Hongkew, the Sacred Heart Church on Nanzing Road was the central gathering place for religious observances. Most of those born in Shanghai in that period have baptismal certificates issued by that Church, signed by old Father van Dosseler and later by Father Jacquinot. In the Settlement and French Town, Portuguese belonged to a number of scattered parishes, and continued to be among the strongest supporters of the Church. In sum, life for the Portuguese in Shanghai was generally pleasant an social within a close and supportive community. The members could be counted on to help each other out with generosity. There were few secrets. In relation to other Shanghai residents, the community, like its Hong Kong counterpart, was somewhat stratified. It was hard for Portuguese to rise significantly in social and financial terms, both because of the well-known Colonial prejudices that existed before the Second World War, and because of a certain clannishness which infected a good part of the community – the reverse side of the same coin which made them such strong and united community members. Unlike Hong Kong and unlike Macao, the Shanghai foreign and Eurasian community is no more. They have scattered and settled elsewhere with the emergence of a new China. Pearl Harbour, The War and Its Aftermath Tranquil Hong Kong lives were shattered with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. As Hawaii was being attacked, Japanese troops began to invade Hong Kong. Fighting was intense as meager British defenses fell back. In a matter of days the New Territories and Kowloon were occupied by the Japanese, and a shelling duel between the Island and Mainland took place. This shelling was a preliminary to the Japanese forces invading the Island and fighting their way towards the centre of the city. On Christmas Day 1941 Hong Kong fell to the invading forces. It was a defense against great odds that was much more than token resistance. It was a brave and honorable effort. The Hong Kong Portuguese played a role in the defense of their home. The Hong Kong Volunteer Defense Corps (HKVDC) also known as “The Volunteers” was a section of the British Army that was made up of civilian part-time soldiers. There were different “volunteer” companies. Englishmen had their units, Eurasians and Portuguese had theirs, Scotsmen and Chinese had their own units. The fighting companies were loosely divided along racial lines as in so many other facets of Hong Kong life then. The Portuguese companies manned the anti-aircraft and machine gun units. They were officered and led by Portuguese. They gave a good account of themselves and many were killed and nearly all were captured at the final surrender. The flower of Hong Kong’s Portuguese manhood was made prisoner of war for four years until the Japanese surrendered. The Shamshuipo and Argyle Street Prisoner of War Camps were names that meant hardship, suffering and sometimes death for many imprisoned soldiers and heartbreak and worry for their waiting wives and families outside. Some POWs were transported to Japan later to work and die in the Japanese coal mines. The Japanese occupiers of Hong Kong saw no cause to imprison civilians unless they were English of American or other enemy nationals. In other words, the British citizenship of many Chinese, Portuguese and other Hong Kong residents were ignored unless they were serving members of the Armed Forces. The Government of Macao generously came to the aid of the Hong Kong Portuguese. Macao was the only neutral city in the midst of the war-torn Orient, and Japanese soldiers were stationed just outside her barrier gates. After the fighting subsided and the Japanese were in control of Hong Kong, the Macao authorities chartered steamers twice in a mass evacuation of Portuguese from Hong Kong to Macao. Two boatloads of families and possessions left this way. In between these boatloads and also after, there were many others who made their own way by steamer and junk. Nearly all eventually had to leave Hong Kong as there was no way to make a living in the food short war-time city. Japanese policy was to run down the city’s population by encouraging the Chinese to return to their ancestral villages and there to live off the land and to allow others to move to Macao. The Macao Government set up centres for refugees. Clubs, schools, hotels and other big buildings were set aside as hostels. In one case, a moored river steamer, the “Tung Hui” served for housing too. Armacao, Bela Vista, Club Macao, Club Sargento, Escola Luso Chineses, Gremio Militar, were names of some of these refugee centres. Despite their lack of resources, the Portuguese authorities had a fair and even handed policy. One could elected to be housed at a refugee centre and be fed communally, or else one had the option of making private housing and food arrangements and receive instead a flat rate of Thirty Macao Dollars per head per month. Conditions for the former were grim with overcrowding and poor food, but it was enough to keep going, though barely. Still, it was much more than could be managed on $30 a head outside. Those who chose to accept this money probably did so because they had some other private means to supplement this subsidy. Jewelry was sold. Many large British and international Hong Kong companies found their way to make regular remittances to support members of their staff who sought refuge in Macao. Medical care was provided by the Portuguese Government. The “British” Portuguese those from Hong Kong who carried British passports, came under the care of the British Consulate at Macao, as did other British citizens of Chinese, Indian and Eurasian ancestry. The British Consulate provided medical care and a system of cash subsidy. This cash subsidy was not a fixed sum for all, but was a varying figure for each individual based, purportedly, on the recipient’s standard of living before the war. It is not known who actually made this ruling but a more ill advised decision cannot be imagined. This system was as unfair in principle as it was uneven in its implementation. Imagine trying arbitrarily to establish the previous living standards of thousands of individuals who were by now nearly all hungry and penniless and unemployed. The importance of this subsidy was not to be denied as it was literally a matter of life or death for all who had to depend on these handouts for a living. Abuses and string pulling and favouritism becamse part of this scene and the shame was that advantage was taken of so many when their defenses were down. For refugees, life in Macao during the war was simple. True, there was sickness and malnutrition and hunger, but for many others not so unfortunate, it was a somewhat carefree life. There was unlimited time to pursue interests and participate in the real excitement of living in a crowded city of intrigue such as Macao was then. Assassinations and rumours and plots were part of daily life in this spy ridden neutral city. For younger refugees there were English schools soon established. One fortunate happenstance was that the Irish Jesuits from Hong Kong schools also ended up seeking refuge in Macao. Ireland was neutral during the war. With the help of Macao officials these Jesuits set up the equivalent of an English high school program for the benefit of hundreds of Portuguese refugee boys. Their war time “Collegio de Sao Luiz Gonzaga” helped many through what would otherwise have been wasted wartime years. Moreover, they stimulated aspirations for subsequent higher education and carrers. Not too surprisingly, the refugee years in Macao were also happy times for many. Most refugees refused to stagnate and amused themselves and each other in simple and inexpensive ways. Time was never a problem. Dances and plays were organised. Concerts, study courses and lectures helped to keep minds alive. Communal living in centres appealed to some of the younger set. War was a great equalizer and the day to day problems of making a competitive livelihood never ever loomed for four years. The fall of Germany in Europe and the advance of General MacArthur in the Pacific signalled the end of Japan. Still, the swiftness of Japan’s surrender after the atom bomb on Hiroshima took refugees by surprise. In no time the British fleet under Admiral Harcourt sailed into Hong Kong waters to reclaim – without bloodshed – the Colony for the Crown. In a matter of days and weeks and months the refugees streamed back home to Hong Kong to try to pick up again the life they were cut off from four years before. Post War As in the rest of the world, the post war period in Hong Kong ushered in a different life. The dismantling of the British Empire eventually left Hong Kong standing lonely as a Colony, an anachronism in the modern age. For the Hong Kong Portuguese too, there were many changes, both in living conditions and in attitudes. Rapid rebuilding of Kowloon and the city centre tried to keep pace with severe overcrowding, now due to a new influx of refugees from unsettled China. Land prices began to rocket and the quiet gardens and homes of Kowloon gave way to high rise concrete flats. Gradually the many Portuguese homeowners sold out and realized enormous sums for their property. For the young, there was a growing tendency for overseas Secondary Education, especially in Australia and England. For many others, slightly older, overseas Colleges and Universities beckoned. There seemed to be ambition now to break out of the old mould by way of higher education or migration or both. A mini exodus from Hong Kong was in the making. At the same time Macao youth stirred along much the same lines. Many of them went to Portugal for higher education. More Macao Portuguese made the short but permanent hop to Hong Kong to work in Banks and trading houses. At one stage the Hong Kong Bank even organised staff recruitment trips to Macao in order to replenish the ranks of Portuguese clerks of Hong Kong origin who by now were leaving the Colony and their bank jobs in ever growing numbers. Some again went directly further afield to migrate to Brazil and California and elsewhere. SHANGHAI A different set of circumstances prevailed in Shanghai when the 1941 war broke out. This was because China and Japan had already been at war for some time and Shanghailanders had become used to a strong Japanese presence in their area. Earlier there had been a succession of military “incidents” in and around Shanghai involving Japanese and Chinese and Westerners as the Japanese probed weaknesses and sought to dominate. When Pearl Harbour was attacked the Japanese in Shanghai simply tool over Chinese interests and assumed control over the foreign concessions. There was no invasion as such, but a quiet surrender to an overwhelming Japanese presence. British and Americans were interned but the neutral Portuguese were left alone. Business and life was disrupted for the Portuguese but not to the extent experienced in Hong Kong. There was no violence and many Portuguese carried on working and living under the Japanese occupation. Some companies employing Portuguese continued to operate. This was especially true of the two large British Banks, the Hong Kong Bank and the Chartered Bank, which carried on operations fairly normally during a prolonged forced liquidation process. Many other trading companies closed down or operated under severe restrictions, causing most Portuguese to lose their regular jobs. However, many managed to exist fairly comfortably as they tried their hand at buying and selling and putting together little deals that managed to provide a livelihood. The city was fast filling with Japanese bureaucrats, businessmen and army officials who required the dealing expertise of brokers with local connections. Apartments changed hands as well as furniture to fill these apartments. Cars were bought and sold. Jewelry and foodstuff were actively traded. It was a question of living on one’s wits and waiting for the war to end. With eventual victory over Japan, Shanghai was once again reoccupied by the Chinese Nationalist forces now in conjunction with an allied American force. The city began to recover. The vitality that had been Shanghai of old was seen again. The port opened to business and the wealth and generosity of the United States fed into the city. Many Portuguese now found employment with the re-establishment of trading houses and Banks and also now with the United States Army and the many United Nations agencies opening in Shanghai. The Chinese civil war between the Nationalist Government in power and the revolution minded Communists continued despite attempts for a compromise and ceasefire. Uneasiness gripped North China as disciplined and dedicated Communist troops started to win victory after victory. Shanghai became a dying city as all signs pointed to an eventual Communist takeover. The exodus was on. European businessmen pulled out to return home or to relocate in Hong Kong. Chinese industrialists moved to Hong Kong and Taiwan with their capital and expertise. The Chinese Nationalist Government made plans to move to Taiwan. By 1948 fully three quarters of the Shanghai Portuguese had left for Hong Kong, Macao and elsewhere. The rest were soon to follow. Shanghai fell to the Chinese Communist Army in 1949. DIASPORA The Jewish people use one word to describe the world-wide scattering of the tribes of Israel. They refer to it as the Disapora. Since the post war year of 1945 to today the Filho Macaos have similarly dispersed in a Filho Macao Diaspora. Without a doubt this has been the most important development affecting the community. The wholesale world-wide relocation of a significant proportion of this once tight and somewhat insular group is a modern and integral part of the history of the Sons of Macao. Even more to their credit, are the quick adjustments made to fit smoothly into new environments. The most complete uprooting was felt by the Portuguese from Shanghai. There it was a forced exodus when the Chinese Communist Army captured Shanghai and the People’s Republic of China was proclaimed in 1949. Nearly the whole foreign community left Shanghai shortly before and also shortly after that time. There was also then a large scale exodus of Northern Chinese industrialists and merchants who settled in Hong Kong. The Portuguese from Shanghai came south to Macao and Hong Kong. Depending on personal circumstances, some chose to remain there and still do, but most migrated further afield and now find themselves settled all over the world, though California seems to be where the majority now make their home. The Shanghai Portuguese could not stay in China under the new Chinese Government and a way of life which would be completely alien to them. For them there was compelling reason to leave and make a new life elsewhere. Fortunately, after the change of Government in China, the United States initiated a special refugee quota for immigration and most Shanghai Portuguese took advantage of this and settled in California. For the Hong Kong Portuguese who left the Far East to settle in other countries it was a different tale. For them it was a matter of choice rather than of necessity. Most Hong Kong Portuguese had to make a conscious decision on what would be in the best long term interests for themselves and their families. Every personal decision and circumstance was somewhat different from the next. In Hong Kong most had jobs and homes and a fairly comfortable existence in a settled way of life. A decision to move had to weigh these conditions against unknown circumstances and adjustments to be made. Many of the Hong Kong Portuguese chose to leave to settle elsewhere and the great majority of them would seem to have had no reason to regret it. There would probably be more who would be willing to leave if they were given a choice as to where they could settle. Since 1965, there have been new immigration regulations and quotas which tend to restrict immigration of Hong Kong born persons into the United States. Before 1965 regulations were on a racial basis and Hong Kong Portuguese qualified under a liberal European quota. Since then the quota is non-racial but based instead on a person’s place of birth with every country given an overall quota. Quota for Colonies like Hong Kong are based on a small percentage of the mother country’s used allotment and are exceedingly meager as a result. China born persons now stand a better chance of migrating than the Hong Kong born. The reasons for wanting to leave, of course, varied from individual to individual and from family to family. Strong family ties tend to hasten this exodus. When younger family members emigrate this is sometimes reason enough for the older generation to follow. There was also a general disenchantment with the Colonial way of life that marked the port cities of China. Class consciousness, racial discrimination and economic restraints are not necessarily characteristics of the Colonial system, but these unpleasant aspects of life have been all too apparent in the Colonies. However, two basis reasons for emigrating have more direct substance and are really the core of the matter. The first is that there was a strong desire to better circumstances for self and family and the generation to follow. For this, sacrifices and adjustments were made. Improved living standards and economic benefits prompted most moves after a careful weighing of living conditions in the Orient against benefits that may lie overseas. The other reason was the deep seated fear that some day political changes may come about affecting Hong Kong’s future and livelihood. In Hong Kong today, it is somehow unseemly even to voice these thoughts, but thinking people cannot ignore them. The days of Colonialism are mercifully over. The incongruity of a blatantly capitalistic British Colony on the coast of a strong and militant Communist China makes for uncertainty. There does not seem to be any indication or call for a change in the status of Hong Kong at the present moment, or even in the forseeable future. The situation as it now stands seems to benefit and please both Britain and China. Still, the longer term has its share of doubt. For the majority of Hong Kong residents, the Hong Kong born and China born Chinese, there is little that can be done to anticipate a political disruption of this sort. Hong Kong is the home – British or Chinese – and there are no alternatives. For the expatriate minority, a change in Hong Kong’s political status will entail not much more than a minor disruption, a return home or a new posting. The quandary really arises for the Filho Macao of Hong Kong and Macao. These places were home and roots and here we belonged, much more than many Chinese and expatriates. For some of us, the option existed, or still exists, for a move away from the Far East and home. For many unable or unwilling to cut ties, it was a heartrending quandary. Many have now left the Orient and settled elsewhere, and there must be regrets as well as rewards. Today there are significant pockets of Filho Macaos living away from the Orient in many parts of the world. In California there are sizeable communities in the San Francisco Bay Area and in the Los Angeles Region. In Canada there are many living in and around Toronto and Vancouver. In Lisbon there is a significant group. In Brazil, Australia and England there are settlers. In many other cities and countries individuals and families have settled. They take with them their unique background and their historical Macao heritage. Saudades. Contributed by F.A. (Jim) Silva (San Francisco California 1979) |
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