Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
cau would become a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China. On 20 December
1999, 442 years of Portuguese rule officially ended. Like Hong Kong, the Macau SAR is
supposed to enjoy a 'high degree of autonomy' for 50 years in all matters except defence
and foreign affairs, under the slogan 'one country, two systems'.
Macau has directly elected some of the members of its Legislative Assembly since the as-
sembly's founding in 1976 but, unlike Hong Kong, it did not rush through last-minute pro-
posals to widen the franchise or speed up democratisation. The existing legislature contin-
ued to serve throughout the handover, unlike in the British territory.
Macau after 1999
The most significant change for Macau since 1999 has been the liberalisation of casino li-
cences in 2001. This led to an influx of mostly American casinos, and in 2006 Macau sup-
planted Las Vegas as the world's gambling capital, bringing about a drastic socio-economic
shift. While the casino industry has become the primary driver of economic growth, it has
also increased Macau's dependence on gambling as well as income inequality. The ever-ex-
panding industry has also caused a labour shortage, as its high-paying jobs requiring little or
no professional skills have lured many young people into giving up their studies. The labour
shortage also led to an influx of illegal migrant workers and has become a rallying cause of
labour protests in Macau.
Culture
While traditional culture among the Chinese of Macau is similar to that of Hong Kong, the
Macanese community - a tiny community of the descendents of intermarriages between
Portuguese and Asians - has a vastly different culture that has evolved through the centur-
ies. It is very distinct and exists almost solely in Macau. The Macanese have a unique
cuisine, festivals and traditions, and even their own dialect called Patuá
,
a Creole language
derived mainly from Malay, Sinhalese, Cantonese and Portuguese. José dos Santos Ferreira
(1919-93), aka Adé, was a poet who wrote in Patuá.
Macau has far greater linguistic complexity than its postcolonial neighbour, Hong Kong.
Cantonese, English, Portuguese, Mandarin and Patuá are all spoken in Macau, not to men-
tion the minorities speaking Thai, Tetun, Indonesian, Filipino, Burmese and languages from
the Indian subcontinent.
Today, however, English is used and understood more widely than Portuguese. Some Ma-
cau residents are worried that the growing influence of English and Mandarin will dilute the
Mediterrasian character of Macau, to the detriment of its culture.
