March 8 was International Women’s Day, and this issue we celebrate the contributions of women in Macau by speaking with a few successful and accomplished ladies representing a range of fields, from business and academia,to sport, media and the arts. The overall feeling is that Macau is a good city for women, offering many opportunities and a high degree of equality and freedom. However, there remain some stereotypes and traditional views on the role of women in society, that need to be overcome. And juggling career and family responsibilities is still a real balancing act.
Macau’s population is around 640,000, and women make up around 52 percent. Yet out of 33 members in the current Legislative Assembly, on six are women, so clearly, when it comes to politics there is still significant under-representation. Nonetheless, when we look around the city, it’s not hard to find a number of very successful women in prominent positions within government institutions and departments, the gaming industry, academia, business and the arts. A few names spring to mind immediately, like Angela Leong, Pansy Ho, Linda Chan, Melinda Chan, Fanny Vong, and Helena Senna Fernandes, just to name a few.
“The role of women across different sectors is quiet equally reflected in Macau,” notes Adela Sou, who represented Macau at Miss International 2013 and is now a successful entrepreneur in the F&B industry. “Women in Macau are generally well educated, and can be seen in different positions in business, however the political sphere of Macau is by and large, reserved for men alone. Women constitute more than half the entire population but less than 20% of the legislative council, so I would like to see women more empowered and more gender equality achieved.”
Adela Sou
Having previously worked as a model and actress, Adela founded her F&B franchise in 2017 and has now expanded it to more than 20 restaurants in China.
“In business, it’s actually quite hard for women to build a support network in male-dominated fields. Most of the time you have to behave like a man, to understand and learn about the topics in the their world,” adds Adela. “On the other hand, it has never been easy for women to juggle a thriving career and balance a happy personal life. It’s difficult to make the right decision about when to start a family, and we also have to deal with bouts of stress and guilt about not being able to give equal time to work.”
“It's not hard for women to find the same job as men, as long as the job is not in a leadership position,” comments Agnes Lam, Associate Professor of Communication at the University of Macau and one of six women in the current Legislative Assembly.
Agnes Lam
“We have more or less the same opportunity to access the job market. However, systematic subtle discrimination exists in a lot of places, and it blocks women from upward mobilization to the top positions. The ‘glass ceiling’ exists, as a strong woman or woman in a leadership position is always seen as less feminine and not welcomed by men. In my field of academia the situation is better. People accept women in leadership positions, but women are always stereotyped to take up the ‘care-taking’ tasks for others, like the students, while men are considered to need more time to do research. But the amount of you research you do affects your career.”
Agnes is the author of ten books and worked as a TV journalist in 1990’s. She was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2017.
“A ‘care-taking’ role is almost a must for a ‘good’ woman, so women in Macau are expected to take care of ‘home' while working. It’s very easy for women to blame themselves when their kids are sick or their mother-in-law is unhappy,” she notes.
“Macau is a very comfortable and peaceful town. As a new immigrant to Macau at young age, I found this small town harmonious and friendly to live in, and it was a great place especially for a young family," recalls Patricia Cheong, founder and CEO of PR firm MM Group, which is a marketing and investment firm for cultural, entertainment, luxury brands and realty businesses.
Patricia Cheong
Patricia originally rose to fame in the city when she won the Miss Macau crown in 1986. In 2002, she started working as the director of marketing for Sands Macao as one of the very first team members for Sands Group till the property opened. She continued diversifying business sectors during Macau’s peak time and was awarded the ‘100 Distinguished Entrepreneur Women of the Year in China’.
“I had the privilege of working with Mr. Sheldon Adelson from the pre-opening phase of Sands Macao. It was a great opportunity as a marketing professional in Macau. However, compared with other regions, generally speaking, the career development opportunities are still quite limited here,” she admits.
“Hopefully with the development of the Greater Bay Area and China's economy, women in Macau will be able to explore and seize more opportunities for their careers in the future. I think women need to be courageous for the opportunities outside of Macau too.”
Patricia also acknowledges a lack of female representation in politics and executive level positions.
“According to ‘Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action’, the political involvement of women should be no less than 30 percent. So in Macau, the participation of women in politics needs to be further enhanced. Also, the gaming industry is a male-dominated industry, although I have seen a lot more women have been promoted during the last decade, but I really want to see more brilliant women take on more senior executive roles.”
However, she certainly admits that the current generation of women in Macau have more opportunities than in the past.
“Generally speaking, the older generation of women in Macau experienced many more challenges and difficulties because of lower education levels. The living standards and career choices were hindered by many circumstances. With the economic growth of the city, education, living standards and resources are more abundant now, and life for women may be much easier than before.”
Her advice for young women: “Never stop learning and keep yourself equipped. The demand for knowledge keeps evolving. Find the field that you are passionate about and go for it!”
Creative Careers
Joey Ho is a local artist and curator. In 2013 she founded the local non-profit association Arts Empowering Lab (AEL) with the aim of developing cultural and artistic creation in different areas.
Joey Ho
“I have never felt that women are discriminated against in Macau. We can see women in different jobs, regardless of their level of responsibility. I am happy to see that here, many women are contributing to society with their own perseverance and fighting for their ideals. I find that many of my peers are also women, but usually we have to work several jobs in order to survive in the art scene in Macau,” she notes.
In 2010, Joey’s work was selected to be showcased in the Macau Pavilion of the Shanghai World Expo. In the same year, she took on the role of Executive Director in Albergue SCM Creative Space, organizing over 70 events, talks and exhibitions. Despite having a positive view of the position of women in society, she acknowledges there are challenges.
“As Macau has developed into a modern city of considerable size, it is not uncommon to see women with anxieties typical of urban women, for example, concerns about their appearance, work, health, marriage, etc.” she notes.
Another successful woman in the arts sector is Cristina Mio U Kit, a painter and expert in art restoration and conservation.
Cristina Mio U Kit
“I consider that I have had a complete and fulfilling life in Macau, not adversely impacted by being a woman,” she notes.
Between 1999 and 2006, Cristina directed several restoration and conservation works in Macau to recover and protect paintings and frescoes later included in the UNESCO's World Heritage List. She was Executive Editor of MacauArt.net for a decade and has presented her artwork in numerous exhibitions in Asia and Europe.
“I consider that there are many employment opportunities for women in Macau and many are in positions of prominence. In general, women are not discriminated against in Macau, as there are probably more women in positions of power than in many other places.
“In the field of art, female artists are encouraged to create more, be more creative, and have more opportunities to show! However, women do have to bear all kinds of pressures to be good daughters, wives and mothers,” Cristina admits.
Pressure Points
“There’s a lot of pressure on women these days,” agrees Dr. Sandy Lei, who runs the AOYA Medical Center. “We need to work and look after our families, and from my experience, there are a lot of mental health issues for women and we need to provide more support.
Dr. Sandy Lei
“Quite a few people struggle with depression. As society develops these mental health issues seem to get more common, especially in the post-natal period, and for teenagers and retirees; these three stages are the most common.
“After giving birth, many mothers put all their effort into their families, but neglect their own health. They can start to lose confidence in themselves, so it’s very important to give them support at this time. Teenage girls need attention too, because lots of parents are both working, and study pressure is increasing.”
Dr Lei specialised as an ENT (ear, nose and throat) doctor and worked for over ten years at Kiang Wu hospital before deciding to open her own clinic three years ago. She is married with two sons, aged six and seven.
“I quit my hospital job and started my clinic so I could have more flexibility and time with my kids. But setting up a clinic was also very challenging. I needed to learn lots of things, accounting, management, marketing, staffing,” she admits, while also adding that she and her business partners are also planning to open a second clinic in Nam Wan later this year.
“For women, being a doctor is a challenge. My hospital work was sometimes seven days a week, with 12-hour night shifts, and even on Sundays I had to go and check on my patients sometimes. But when I got pregnant I needed to postpone my career plans. My male colleagues had a chance to move up faster.
“I worked until the day I gave birth, and I was doing all the same shifts. Nothing changed. After I gave birth, I had the chance to do some training outside of Macau, but it meant that I would have to leave Macau for one year. My kids were just 2 years old and 10 months, so I didn’t want to leave them. So I didn’t choose to continue my studies. I didn’t want to miss that time with them because you can’t get those moments back. I had 56 days of maternity leave, but I think maternity leave should be at least 3 months.”
Last year, Dr Lei received the “2020 Outstanding Woman Award” from the – Gong lun Association.
“I felt very lucky to win the award. Actually there are many outstanding women in Macau. We organised some donations of masks, PPE and disinfectant to China during the pandemic. We raised 100,000 dollars in just one week, and ordered these medical supplies to send to Wuhan China.”
Pregnancy and promotions
Helena Kok is a partner in MdME, a law firm based in Macau, with offices in Hong Kong and Lisbon. She remembers the challenges she faced when balancing her career and pregnancy.
Helena Kok
“I took a post-graduate course in Management and a Master’s degree. I sat in the last exam of the Management course 10 days after giving birth to my third child. And when I was writing my Master’s thesis, I was on maternity leave. I used a sling to breast feed my new-born, so that I could free my hands to type,” she recalls.
“I had my three pregnancies within quite short intervals one after another,” says the lawyer and mother of three daughters. “During that period, I was not assigned important tasks, but only trivial and routine ones. I was not given exposure to learn and progress, and meanwhile I saw my male colleagues progressing everyday. I felt that I had been labelled as ‘the pregnant one’. And I did hear some comments as bad as ‘we need to hire older women next time.’”
“Macau is a very capitalist city and the Legislative Assembly is dominated by businessmen. So economic interests often prevail over women’s wellbeing. Public policies to address special needs for women are still lagging behind. So in this sense I think there is discrimination against women,” Helena observes.
“Although maternity leave under the labor law has been increased to 70 days, it still begs the question, why it is less than the 90-day maternity leave that female civil servants are entitled to? I wish to see the breastfeeding early leave policy, currently implemented in the public service sector, extended to the private sector as mandatory. And I still wish to see more encompassing wording in article 164-A of the Macau Penal Code (sexual harassment). Currently, the crime of sexual harassment is only punishable if the criminal act is committed through physical contact. Women know that only a look, that kind of look, can make us feel very ill at ease.”
Fighting stereotypes
Dealing with traditional stereotypes of the role of women in society is certainly a common experience among the women we spoke to.
“I have always had to struggle with some doubtful stereotypes. My family believed that all the good things and best opportunities should be for boys, while expecting me to be a traditional woman, responsible for most of the housework, earning money to support the family, not needing to go to graduate school, asking for nothing and never complaining,” comments Sio San Un, a local writer and poet.
Sio San Un
“I had to work much harder than most of the males growing up around me to earn opportunities for a good education. I keep reminding myself everyday that this kind of stereotype should never be passed to the next generation,” she adds.
“Lots of gender stereotypes actually come from women, and it is even more alarming to hear them from those who are influential. I was once told that the most important ‘job’ for a woman is to find a ‘useful’ husband!”
Sio San has won a number of literary prizes including the Henry Luce Foundation Chinese Poetry Award (U.S.A.), and the China Times Literature Awards (Taiwan). She was also the poet-in-residence at the Vermont Studio Center (U.S.A.) and the Arctic Circle (Norway).
“Other stress comes from the society. People make fun of women’s weight and conduct ‘slut shaming’ all the time. If you are still a single lady in your 30s then you are classified as ‘leftover’, and sexual harassment still happens quite often.”
“Career opportunities are relatively fair for women in Macau nowadays. But I can see many of my girl friends are under lots of pressure to keep a balance between work and home. Many of them have to quit their jobs or give up career opportunities to care for their children.
“Society expects women to be omnipotent superwomen and perfect housewives. Women are able to do anything, but that doesn’t mean women have to do everything.”
Director of Events & Projects at O Media & Inside Asian Gaming, Victoria Man feels that the media is responsible for some of the stereotypes women have to deal with.
Victoria Man
“In my experience, the Chinese communities have a fixed image of women, created by the media, TV series, and some celebrity or local gossip. Once the community establishes their idea of what constitutes a good girl or a bad girl, this becomes dangerous and can limit women’s talents and freedom,” she says.
“For example, in a career, when a woman is ambitious, some people call her a dragon lady, but when a man is ambitious, people call him a smart guy. As women, we usually need to work harder to prove our wisdom and gain respect. When we get a job here, we need to balance between adhering to community perceptions and the true expression of our personality and beliefs.”
Like many of the women we spoke to, Victoria has lived and worked overseas, and also travelled extensively.
“It is quite funny, in my experience the only place where I had people asking me if I am dating a rich guy or if I want to date a rich guy is in Macau. I get a bit tired of people thinking that the winner of the game of life is a pretty lady with a rich husband. I think the media has a huge responsibility for this attitude.
“There is an ancient Chinese saying: ‘A woman who lacks talent is virtuous’, meaning that women should stay at home. There is also the modern equivalent: a dumb-looking woman is more attractive, meaning that some women even ‘dumb’ themselves down to boost men’s egos. So, you can still see the traditional expectations towards women and their image.
“I hope society and men can support women who want to be appreciated for their talents, personalities, wisdom, and strength instead of their face, body shape, or charm. I wouldn’t say women have fewer opportunities in Macau, however, I would say that it is just more difficult to be a woman in any career, in terms of balancing family time and gaining respect from others.”
Ivy Lei is a PhD student at Macau University, working in the field of sports science. From 2003 until last year, she represented Macau in swimming. She currently holds 22 Macau swimming records, was a finalist in the Asian Games, and the first person in the city’s history to win a silver medal in the Asian Swimming Championships. During her career as a swimmer, Ivy admits to also feeling some pressure to conform to stereotypes.
Ivy Lei
“As a student, an athlete, a daughter, in our culture the best characteristics a girl should have are being obedient, docile and soft-spoken. When I was growing up I was always taught to behave in this way and when I did, I was praised by parents, teachers and coaches,” she recalls.
“I haven’t had to experience terrible gender discrimination, but I do feel gender stereotypes exist in Macau. I’ve been told more than a few times that women should stick to nurturing roles rather than decision-making roles, because this is the traditional division of labour. I still remember discussing my academic ambitions and being advised that ‘as a woman you should consider your future role as a housewife’. It made me feel very discouraged and frustrated,” she says.
Ivy is now doing doctoral research into how different exercise protocols can affect athletes physiologically and psychologically. In 2019, she co-authored a research paper into the effects of exercise and short-term severe hypoxia on the cognitive functions of young women.
“There are very few women in leadership roles in my field. The lack of women’s voices in decision making at the table makes a difference when it comes to empowerment and opportunities.”
Winner of the Miss Macau pageant in 2019, Bobo Leong can also relate to the cultural pressures on women to be quiet and gentle.
Bobo Leong
“I think that the pressure on women in Macau is not necessarily about making a living or having children, but more about the pressure put on women not to ‘express themselves’”, notes Bobo, who currently works as an event emcee.
“In Macau, there is a general belief that women do not need, or should not have, too much self-assertion and self-expression, probably due to some traditional thinking passed down from the previous generation. It seems more important for women to ‘protect’ themselves than to ‘present’ themselves. In an ever-changing society, this has undoubtedly created resistance to the development of women in all aspects.”
Bobo also feels that education plays a role in how women view themselves, and in their relations with men.
“In my past schooling and family education, I received little formal and in-depth education on gender, and this led to misconceptions about the opposite sex. This lack of knowledge resulted in the development of more gender stereotypes and inequalities, which I believe is a common problem in modern education.”
Nonetheless, Bobo believes Macau is city that presents a lot of opportunities for women.
“As Macau is a multicultural society, the general respect for women and the concept of gender equality has been well established. I feel respected and included as a woman at work and in my interpersonal relationships. In terms of career opportunities for women, Macau is a very open city and there are basically no jobs that are off-limits to women. In particular, in the fields I am involved in, such as the entertainment industry and the cosmetic industry, women are more welcome to work. I am grateful for the diversity and inclusiveness of Macau’s industries.”
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Leading the Way
Dreaming of a Brighter Future
