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Abstract
It has been taken for granted that a very unique Macao identity has been evolving after more than 450 years of Portuguese rule and cultural influence. Quantitative research, however, shows that in fact the majority of the Macao people identify themselves as Chinese. This paper analyzes the evolution of Macao's identity along the lines of the ethno-cultural versus civic identity theoretical framework. A pilot study among some Macao students provides preliminary insights into the question of what constitutes Macao's cultural identity. The structural difficulties of the development of the Macao identity and the possibility of an emerging civic identity are examined.
Notes
1 The original Chinese who resided in the area were mostly fishermen from Fujian Province. When Portuguese trade prospered between 1570 and 1650, Chinese labour was brought in from the neighbouring Guangdong Province, many of them became traders and businessmen themselves and the Cantonese became the main part of the population (Zepp, Citation1991, pp. 154–155).
2 Recent estimates put the number of inhabitants at 549,000 with 96 per cent Chinese, about 10,000 Filipinos, around 8,000 Macanese — Eurasians of mixed blood, and 1,800 Portuguese (Statistics and Census Service, Citation2008).
3 The Portuguese term “Macaense” describes the Portuguese-based community of Macao and is the origin for the English term “Macanese.” The local born decedents of mixed marriages are called “Filhos da terra” (sons of the earth) and in Chinese, turen (local person), and more recently, tushengren (local-born person) or tushengzai (local-born boy) (Berlie, Citation1999, p. 23).
4 For alternative definitions of the term Macanese, see also Teixeira Citation(1965) and de Pina-Cabral & Lourenço Citation(1993).
5 The Cantonese population largely comes from the areas in close proximity to the SAR, like Zhongshan and Shunde, less from Taishan and Guangzhou. A large group of Chinese speaks different Min-dialects from their home province Fujian. There are also factions of Shanghainese, Chaozhou and Hakka people in the territory (Berlie, Citation2002, pp. 69–70).
6 Interview with Rufino Ramos on October 6, 2009, Macao.
7 Interview with Herbert Yee on October 6, 2009, Macao.
8 Interview with José Carlos Matias dos Santos on October 6, 2009, Macao.
9 Interview with Herbert Yee on October 6, 2009, Macao.
10 About 50 per cent of the pupils study at Catholic schools of the Macao Christian Schools Association (MCSA) (Hook & Neves, Citation2002, p. 117). The other dominant organization on the local education market is the pro-PRC Macau Chinese Education Association (CEA) (Lo, Citation2005, p. 169).
11 Interview with Herbert Yee on October 6, 2009, Macao; and interview with Rufino Ramos on October 6, 2009, Macao.
12 A good example is the textbook created by the Pui Ching School.
13 Interview with Rufino Ramos on October 6, 2009, Macao.
14 In autumn 1997, the government announced that most secondary schools were advised to use Chinese (spoken Cantonese and written traditional Chinese characters) as a medium of instruction.
15 Author's personal observation of decoration and activities celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the PRC on Largo do Senado in Macao on October 8, 2009.
16 Interview with José Carlos Matias dos Santos on October 6, 2009, Macao.
17 Interview with José Carlos Matias dos Santos on October 6, 2009, Macao.
18 Interview with José Carlos Matias dos Santos on October 6, 2009, Macao.
19 The total number of legislators increased from 17 in the 1980s to 23 during the 1990s, and to 27 in the early and 29 in the late 2000s. At the same time the number of directly elected members was increased from 6 to 12 in 2005 and 2009. The current composition of the Macao Legislative Assembly includes 12 directly elected members via territory wide lists, 10 members are indirectly elected through functional constituencies and 7 are appointed by the Chief Executive (Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region, Citation2009a)
20 Personal observation during the 2009 Macao Legislative Assembly elections on September 20, 2009.
21 Interview with Eilo Yu Wing-yat on September 20, 2009, Macao.
22 Interview with José Carlos Matias dos Santos on October 6, 2009, Macao.
23 On the twentieth anniversary of the Tiananmen Incident in 2009, 150,000 people attended the event in Hong Kong (Leung & Wu, Citation2009), while in Macao only about 50 to 300 were present (Interview with Carlos Matias dos Santos; Interview with Herbert Yee).
24 Interview with Rufino Ramos on October 6, 2009, Macao.
25 Interview with José Carlos Matias dos Santos on October 6, 2009, Macao.
26 For an analysis of Chinese nationalism and the understanding of national identity see M. H. Chang Citation(2001).
27 The mixed categories provide a choice for the respondents who view Chinese and Hong Kong identities as inclusive categories (Lee & Chan, Citation2005, p. 4). The respondents choosing “Chinese Hong Kong citizen” view themselves primarily as Hong Kong citizens and as Chinese citizens only later, while “Hong Kong Chinese citizen” feel they are first Chinese citizens and second Hong Kong citizens. These categories of mixed identities were chosen by 24.8 per cent and 20.1 per cent respectively of the respondents in 1997. In 2009, 37.6 per cent chose the “Hong Kong citizen” category while the percentage of those identifying as “Chinese citizen” went up to 24.2 per cent; 23.9 per cent chose “Chinese Hong Kong citizen” and 13.1 per cent “Hong Kong Chinese citizen.”
28 The age of the respondents was 18–20 years and the female–male ratio 53 to 47 per cent.
29 The pilot study was conducted at the University of Macao on October 12–15, 2009 with the help of political scientists Dr Eilo Yu and Dr Bryan Ho. The sample of 59 students included 28 males and 31 females.
30 The usage of Mandarin and simplified Chinese characters is encouraged by education institutes and the media (Yee, Citation2009).
31 The Tiananmen massacre has become a taboo topic (Yee, Citation2009) and there were virtually no protests against the controversial security law introduced which in Hong Kong had triggered mass protests (S. S. Lo, Citation2009, p. 35).