The Face of Culture

by
Ung Vai Meng was a name I quickly came to learn when I first arrived in Macau in 2010. I stepped foot for the very first time in this city in January that year, and one month later Ung Vai Meng was taking the wheel of the Macau Cultural Affairs Bureau. I remember the front pages of newspapers with his face, positive comments from local artists and art management people, and the general enthusiasm surrounding him and his nomination.
 
Seven years later, Ung Vai Meng is about to step down, to retire and return to his paintings and study of arts – two things he’s very passionate about. CLOSER took this opportunity to have a sit down with him and talk about his term in office, the way he looks at the city and also his own artistic work – an interview worth reading in these pages.
 
For me, and I believe for many, Ung Vai Meng has been the face of culture in Macau for the past few years. That, of course, comes with a high responsibility, in a land where everyone is trying to do something ‘creative’ or to start a ‘project’; in a land that needs to know how to distribute its resources fairly, what to support and what to let go, where to invest and where to cut. 
 
Overall, it’s fair to say that Ung Vai Meng did a good job as the president of the Cultural Affairs Bureau. He gave a greater dynamic to the sector, created new programmes to support artists and organizations, opened new exhibition spaces and libraries, kept publishing or supporting the publication of some printed works, and, above all, set an example to other artists – the example that one doesn’t necessarily need to be involved in politics, but that if one wants to do it and feels he or she can make an important contribution, one should step forward.
 
It’s impossible not to feel a sense of mission in the seven years Ung Vai Meng spent at the Cultural Affairs Bureau. “I chose this”, he says. “It wasn’t a sacrifice.” Simple yet powerful statements he makes in this interview with CLOSER, to explain why he did it, and why he decided to put his artistic career on hold to devote himself to public service.
 
Now, his Bureau has big challenges ahead. If there are many positive aspects and projects to point out during Ung Vai Meng’s years, it’s also important to address the problems that remain. The Central Library project, the House of Literature project, the transition of a number of departments formally under the Civil and Municipal Affairs Bureau to the Cultural Affairs Bureau; and the constant and aggressive pressure of urban development on Macau’s world heritage sites are just some of the projects and areas in need of extreme attention in the years to come.
 
It’s certainly not going to be easy to replace Ung Vai Meng. Yet, people are always far more transient than the institutions, governments or societies they live in. Macau’s culture has a lot to thank Ung Vai Meng for, and even more to achieve from now on, having his legacy as a base.
 
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