As we look around the world today, there are a great many issues that are a cause for concern, and one issue that particularly makes the headlines regularly is immigration. Whether it’s building a wall or turning back boats, refugee crises or migrant caravans, there’s no shortage of daily news and heated debate on this topic. Of course, discussions about migrant workers and populations of ethnic and cultural minorities are not a new phenomenon, and as we live in an increasingly interconnected global village, this is not a topic that is going away anytime soon.
In our little multicultural corner of the world though, it seems to be an issue that is less controversial. Sure, from time to time there are some vocal expressions about migrant workers and protecting local jobs, but overall, Macau is a remarkably peaceful and harmonious society, especially when you consider just how small it is, and the fact that we have one of the highest population densities in the world (and that’s not even taking into account the impact of over 3 million tourists coming and going every month).
In 1999, the year Macau returned to the People’s Republic of China, the city’s population was around 437,000, with the migrant population only accounting for roughly 4 to 5 percent. Now, 20 years later, Macau is home to around 670,000 people, with non-resident workers making up nearly 30 percent of the total.
Even taking into consideration all the dramatic changes that have taken place in Macau since the Handover, that’s a pretty significant change in the makeup of the city’s population. So it’s impressive that the city continues to be a relatively tolerant and friendly place to live.
This issue, we speak with a variety of people from a number different ethnic backgrounds, all of whom are involved in creative and artistic fields here, and who are all happy to call Macau home. Some have been here a long time, while others arrived more recently, and all shared with us their feelings about living and working as artists in this small but very diverse territory.
A peaceful place
“I think we are very blessed to have so many different immigrants living peacefully in this small city,” says MJ, a Korean sculpture who came here three years ago after marrying her husband, a Macau local. “Macau seems to transcend time in a way. Being surrounded by old architecture, you can travel into the history both western and eastern. At the same time you can enjoy lavish hotels that give you a very futuristic sense.”
Kiyeol Kim is also from South Korea, and arrived here about 18 months ago to play viola for the Macao Orchestra. He too has a very positive view of life here.
“Macau has a very peaceful and generous vibe,” he says. “My wife and I love to go the old street markets on the Macau side, and when we go there, people are so nice. Even if they speak Cantonese, we can still kind of understand what they want to say and can feel that they are warm-hearted.”
His colleague in the orchestra, Vit Polasek agrees. “I actually don’t really feel like I’m an immigrant here in Macau. Even though I’m a Gweilo, from a post-communist, central European country, I really don’t feel like I’m a foreigner. I feel very comfortable here and I’ve never faced any racism.”
Vit, a native of the Czech Republic, has been playing violin in the orchestra for 16 years. His wife is from Macau and his two children go to school here.
“My first impression when I arrived here was that it was exotic – the food, the smells – and I still feel like that today,” he says. “It has a certain vibration, different from Hong Kong. Here, there is a Macau way, and I feel quite proud to be here and to see the city developing. Of course the traffic and air pollution are a problem, but it’s still kind of picturesque.”
“One thing I really like is that I feel safe,” Vit continues. “Especially with two kids, I’m not really worried about them. You don’t have to worry about drugs, and even if people get drunk, they are not violent. Street fighting is not common here, almost doesn’t exist.”
Kiyeol concurs: “No one is really aggressive. Sometimes in Korea you can experience some tense situations, but here everyone is very chilled.”
Celebrating his 40th anniversary of arriving in Macau, Frenchman Guy Lesquoy, an old hand in the entertainment industry, still remembers how he felt when he first arrived.
“The whole thing about being a migrant never really occurred to me. I arrived here in 1979 and it had a very Mediterranean influence. People loved football, they loved good food and good wine, and most of the Portuguese at that time could speak French, so I was immediately taken under the wings of the old timers in Macau,” recalls Guy.
Having been here for 11 years working as a Bollywood dance instructor, Victor Kumar is another familiar face in the community.
“Macau people are pretty calm and friendly in general. I do have great supporters from the local community and the international community, so that’s what makes me feel loved and peaceful to stay here and continue what I’m doing,” notes Victor, who runs V Studio Ltd. – Indian Culture Association of Macau.
“It may be related to the small size of the city, people are relatively close, and they are used to living in peace and not interfering with others’ lives, but at the same time, they are not very curious about things they don’t know,” observes Noah Ng, a full-time curator at the Macau Art Museum for more than two decades. Noah migrated with his family from Zhejiang province in 1984 when China was just beginning to become more open to the outside world.
Cantonese Quandaries
Of course, the immigrant experience is never completely smooth sailing, and it’s natural to face challenges when adjusting to a new life in a new place.
“As a new immigrant, I was laughed at by some people because my Cantonese was not good enough, but I don’t think it was a big deal. It didn’t hurt much,” remembers Noah Ng.
“When I first came to Macau, I was not familiar with this place. I thought it was just about casinos. It seemed that it had nothing to do with the things I liked,” recalls Yolanda Kog, a native of Taiyuan city, Shanxi province. A freelance artist and art educator, she moved here in 2009 with her husband who is from Macau, but it wasn’t an easy transition. “At first, I didn’t like this place. I felt it was very small. I walked around for a week and I wanted to leave, but I felt that I couldn’t walk away.”
MJ, our Korean sculptor, also followed her local Macau husband here, and found the adjustment difficult initially.
“It was very challenging because I had to reconstruct my foundations from scratch, learning the language, new family and friend relationships, my career… but luckily I’ve met lots of good people in Macau and it has brought me lots of joy,” she comments. “But sometimes I still feel isolated because I don’t speak either Chinese or Portuguese.”
Cantonese has a reputation for being a tough language to learn, and for most of the people we spoke to, the most common challenge was indeed communication.
“Working in a restaurant, some customers looked down at me, because I couldn’t speak Cantonese in the beginning, but the situation improved after I memorized more and more Chinese characters and could communicate better,” says Dyla Siti Fadilah, who came here from Indonesia four years ago. Dyla first worked as a domestic helper and now works as a waitress in a local restaurant. Along the way however, she earned certification as a make-up artist and became a performer and dancer in the Peduli Indonesian Migrant Workers Concern Group.
“I still don’t understand what people are saying,” says Vit Polasek. “My wife is Chinese and sometimes she expects that I do understand. But it’s not about the language necessarily, it’s that certain meanings are very implied, not said.”
“The language is a really big challenge. I can’t speak Chinese so communication is pretty difficult,” admits Victor Kumar. “I just keep on learning some Cantonese so that as least I can communicate for basic needs like ordering food, greeting people and buying foods in wet market. Other times I basically just smile and nod my head.”
Nikki Gabion is the daughter of Filipino immigrants but was actually born here, so her experience has been a little different. Nonetheless, even she struggles with the language.
“Honestly, it’s kind of weird because I was born here, but I don’t speak Cantonese because I went to an English school and then graduated from the Institute of Tourism Studies. I know basic Cantonese words to survive, like names of places I go to and my favourite Macanese dishes,” says the 24-year-old, who is a singer and member of local band Ari Clan, and also works as a lighting operator at Elekron at Studio City. “Sometimes it’s hard not knowing the language in a place you call home, but I get by. Fortunately I’m in the entertainment industry, so there’s always something for non-Chinese speaking people.”
Not everyone we spoke to had quite so much trouble picking up the local lingo though.
“I have a degree in languages so after about six months I was fluent in Portuguese, and then I started to learn Cantonese,” says Guy Lesquoy, who originally came to Macau bringing with him the now famous Crazy Paris Show. “I was playing football with local Chinese people every week, so I learned quite quickly. Now I’m studying Mandarin.”
Artistic Opportunities
One thing all our interviewees have in common is a passion for artistic and creative pursuits, and most of them agree that Macau has allowed them both freedom and opportunities to pursue their dreams.
“I think the impact of being in Macau has been very positive on my work,” says artist Yolanda Kog. “The environment in Macau is relatively relaxed and free. As long as you have an idea and someone who knows and appreciates your work, you can hold an exhibition. Coupled with a lot of funding from Macau, a lot of exhibitions have been created.”
“Macau still has a lot of opportunities for artistic creativity,” she adds. “I have been doing art-related work for the past ten years and I am very lucky. In fact, Macau people do art very purely, there are not so many commercial constraints.”
“I began my artistic career in Macau,” notes Noah Ng, who also serves as the chair of the General Assembly of Ox Warehouse, a private and non-profit art association. “In 1989, the Macao Cultural Bureau opened a visual arts academy and I enrolled in most of the courses. I felt immediately that this was what I wanted to pursue. Art and my life have become inseparable.”
Korean sculptor MJ, also feels being in Macau has been a positive thing in terms of her artwork. “The Macau art scene is quite small and very intimate, so it is very good to get to know people. This year I want to make more small events to interact with people. It’s always fun to communicate with people from different backgrounds, so it’s good to connect with artists from Macau, Hongkong ,China and Portugal. It inspires me a lot.”
“Another thing is the festivals,” MJ adds. “Macau has lots of festivals you can enjoy. I really adored the Macau Literature Festival this year! It brought lots of creative energy and I felt an intimate connection with people who share the same values, which is a good thing about being in a small city.”
Vit Polasek acknowledges that playing in the Macao Orchestra has broadened his horizons. “We have 30-40 different nationalities,” he comments, “so everybody brings something new. As well as the orchestra, we are playing chamber music, so sometimes you work with different people, maybe one from Japan, one from Italy, one from China. So that’s definitely improving my ability.”
“Teaching is part of my work here too and it makes me really happy. I have the chance to shape and guide my students,” he adds.
“I came here by luck, but now I’d say it was a perfect decision,” notes Korean violist Kiyeol Kim. “Actually before I came here I was worried about starting a family and having children, because of financial and job security, but I will be a father at the end of the August, and the reason I was able to make that decision was definitely because of living in Macau and the security the job provides me.”
Room for improvement
Despite their overall positive experiences living in Macau, all our interviewees had some suggestions for what the city needs to do in the coming years to make improvements.
“I wish Macau had more art education for the public,” says MJ. “I believe education can change the public in a positive way. Another wish is to have more regular debate and discussions between artists, because without any interaction, artists are not able to have a vision.”
“I hope that Macau artists can be pushed to greater heights, so that their work can be truly seen by many people,” adds Yolanda. “I participate in exhibitions almost every year in Macau, and also hold solo exhibitions, but I don’t think the results are particularly good because the audience is a relatively fixed, small group of people. Sometimes I feel a bit surprised. Local artists seem to be very active, with many exhibitions throughout the year, but after the exhibition is finished, it doesn’t have much impact on the artist’s career.”
For Vit, one need is very clear. “We need a real concert hall. We have many music groups and associations but we don’t have a concert hall. When we are touring around China we visit many cities and see so many brand new, world-class concert halls. The Cultural Centre is good, but it doesn’t belong to us. We need to feel like we have a home.”
Noah Ng also observes a lack of experience and skill in the city. “There are not so many professionals in the creative industries. Top-level design requires professionals to implement, but Macau’s overall population is small and there are too few people up to the task.”
Guy Lesquoy agrees: “There is still a need for highly skilled workers, and better knowledge and skills. The immigration policy needs to become more open so that highly skilled people can come here and help to train the locals more.”
“I guess Macau should be more open for non-residents to work in jobs other than the service industry,” adds Nikki Gabion. “And I hope someday the music industry in Macau will be more open to non-Chinese speaking people and that there will continue to be more shows coming to Macau for people like me to learn from.”
Dyla believes the overall conditions for migrant workers need to be improved too.
“We need more protection for non-resident workers. There should be clear contracts with a minimum salary to prevent employers from arbitrarily cutting the salaries of their workers. Currently, some people have to tolerate bad conditions just to make sure they finish their contracts, because if they break their contract, they have only two days to find a new job, or they have to return home.”
Business costs are another challenge for those in the creative industries.
“With the high rents here, it is very tough to run a small business related to art and culture as a foreigner,” notes Victor Kumar. “I have put lot of effort into building and promoting my business, but I still haven’t had the impact that I want to have to introduce my culture here.”
Big Picture
Overall, it’s fair to say that Macau has a good record for welcoming migrants throughout its history – from the very first Portuguese explorers, and the early traders and missionaries from England and Europe, to the refugees from Hong Kong and China during the Second World War. Today, the situation remains quite positive, despite more challenging situations around the world, so it’s important for the city to continue to promote harmony and unity among its many diverse ethnic communities.
“Macau is an immigrant society,” notes Yolanda Kog. “There have always been a lot of non-locals, and now there are more and more. This is a trend, not only in Macau, but around the whole world. It is best that everyone tries to embrace each other, and live in peace and friendship.”
Looking at the circumstances in other countries, MJ observes: “I understand some policies are really needed to protect locals, however it is absolutely wrong to spread hate speech to get more political power by brainwashing naive civilians. We all share the same planet, so we need to have humanity and not be swept up by hatred.”
Victor Kumar concludes: “I believe that we shouldn’t stereotype people by race or religion, because it can take away from something that we can express from our souls as humans. No matter what colour your skin, or what religion you believe in, each one of us should be treated fairly.”