Part 3 – Population Survey: Where do we go from here?

This is the last of a three part series on the history of the post-war Macanese community. Readers will recall that Part 1 looked at the recovery of Hong Kong and Macau and their designation by China as “Special Administrative Regions”. In Part 2 the Macanese Diaspora was declared “institutionalized” after local Macanese associations began using large government subsidies to utilize nostalgic contacts with Casa de Macau organizations in several countries. We concluded by warning that the inability of the Macanese to learn their own history, which is not encouraged by these associations or taught in Macau’s schools and universities, and an inability to involve new generations through cultural tourism and professional connections, may lead to their marginalization in China and around the world. The lack of action and a plan to reach new generations by Macanese associations in Macau, it was argued, begs the question: Where do we go from here?  

In Part 3, I propose that such a strategy should begin with better information about Macanese who now live in over 35 countries. A survey to gather this data is currently being conducted by my research group at the University of California, Berkeley. This will bring the discussion up to date by providing a current statistical profile of the international Macanese community, and a focus for using social media to capitalize on clear interest in business exchanges and historical research by members who responded.

The Survey

The vehicle for gathering this data is named the “Far East Currents Macanese Survey”. The purpose is to represent within statistical parameters the current status of the Portuguese from Macau, including those who live in and outside Asia. Due to the nature of their migrations, an effort was made to gather responses from many countries and across several digital media platforms. The 2019 edition also is based on other surveys distributed in 2012, 2013, and 2017, which were conducted with the assistance of ten “Casa de Macau” organizations in different countries that provided access to their membership lists. The latest survey utilizes social media more extensively and is refined into 10 key questions to gather demographic information (age, location, family size), evidence of cultural identity, and determine family ties to specific locations based on past research. The new survey also asks about methods of staying connected using digital media, the interest of respondents in international business and cultural travel, and their willingness to share personal histories with researchers.

Who are they?

Past research based on interviews and e-mail contact found that many Portuguese descendants from Asia are working professionals in business, technology, medicine, finance, law, bio-medical research, venture capital, and education. Other respondents in the generation born after WWII are now retired, while many of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren are students in higher education. In contrast to the 2012 and 2013 surveys, however, the 2019 survey found over 65% are working age adults (19-64), as compared to 70% of respondents in previous years who were retired (65 or older). This may be related to the distribution of previous surveys by e-mail, while the latest survey used both e-mail and social media, the latter of which was not widely used by Macanese before. The recent results may also mean that younger generations are becoming more aware of their cultural and familial ties to Macau. The chart below illustrates the generational divide.

Where are they now?

Another recent finding is that while almost 66% live in the United States, over 24% live in Canada, Australia, and Europe (mostly Portugal), and 9% live in Southeast Asia, including Japan, the Philippines, Macau, and Hong Kong. As the map below illustrates, the dispersion of descendants suggests that the “Macanese Diaspora” remains truly global.

How do they identify themselves culturally?

The cultural identity of this community seems to be predominantly Macanese and Eurasian, that is, a racially mixed culture of Portuguese, Macanese, and mixed Europeans. When asked the question: “To Which Cultural Group do You Identify Most?” choosing only one response, 61% answered “Macanese”, 20% stated “Eurasian”, 17% responded “Portuguese”, while an equal number of respondents answered “Chinese” (7%) and “European” (7%). One explanation for the wide dispersal of identities may be that while many respondents identify with the culture of Macau, a significant group also acknowledge present adopted nationalities. This may be an admission of multi-culturalism that exists in many families, which closely follows the historic openness of Macau to many ethnic groups, some who arrived as traders, clerics, and merchants in its earliest days, while others were servants, soldiers, escaped slaves, and domestics in later years. Despite being second, third, and in a few cases fourth generation expatriates, the strong identification as Macanese from Macau seems to have been transferred to a majority of the community despite their migration to over 35 countries around the world.

Where have they been, in terms of their family’s migratory history?

A related question about the countries and regions from which ancestors originated was asked to determine the migratory paths of individual families. Based on the results, 73% stated they had family ties to Macau, 63% were linked to Hong Kong, 54% had ancestors from Portugal, and 34% had family from Shanghai. Significantly, 27% also had ancestors from Goa, Canton, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Timor. These results suggest that a majority have ancestors that followed distinct migratory routes, which corroborates past research that the Portuguese from Asia traveled over a 500 year period from Portugal and settled in western India, Southeast Asia, and most recently in western countries. 

How many are they?

This is a key question of the survey. Rather than simply ask for the total number of people in a household, based on past research we theorized that family size and extended connections are important features of this culture. So, we asked: “How many living relatives do you estimate are in your immediate and extended family?” This question allows us to estimate the total population of the Portuguese from Macau based on Genealogist Jorge Forjaz’s 1996 and 2017 studies of 60,000 Macanese divided among 500 families.[1]  We thus sought to determine the size of family groups in order to estimate the total population of the global community by blending the survey data with Forjaz’s research from several archives in Portugal, Macau, Goa, Malaysia, and Timor.

Again, we found some surprising results. The average size of family groups from the survey is 56.5 people, while 14% of families counted more than 150 relatives in which they were in contact. We then adjusted for the statistical deviation and controlled for multiple responses from the same family. Joining the survey with the genealogical data resulted in an estimate of 1.687 million Portuguese from Macau in the “Macanese Diaspora”. While this is only an estimate, it follows other population estimates from multi-generational populations, including the descendants of 17^th century Mayflower settlers (1620) in the United States.[2]

How do they remain in contact today?

Another question is how such a far-flung population not only continues to share a common culture, but asked about the methods they use to stay connected. This is another development that contrasts with responses from surveys in 2012 and 2013 when social media was not widely used. In the early studies, the means of contact were through e-mail, visits to websites, telephone, and in-person meetings. In the 2019 survey nearly all respondents used social media, many on multiple platforms for different purposes. For example, 89% use Facebook accounts for personal connections. More than 68% also use digital messaging services such as WeChat, WhatsApp, and Viber, and 34% have LinkedIn accounts for professional and personal communications. 60% also use Snap, Instagram, and Twitter for leisure and entertainment.

The importance of social media usage by this community cannot be overstated. Due to the ubiquity of smartphones and other mobile internet devices, social media connections have proliferated over the last decade. Among Portuguese descendants from Asia, a number of Facebook sites, for example, are dedicated to different cultural elements, such as food, history, language, social commentary, nostalgic photographs, personal family histories, religion, music, and popular theatre. The number social media sites dedicated to the Portuguese from Asia increased from three (3) in 2013 to twenty-five (25) 2019. Many have a few hundred members, while some have a few thousand.

The actual number social media connections can be lost if not fully understood. Following current industry measures, if a member on any one social site “likes” or “shares” any single post, the original post will appear on the timelines of each of that member’s “friends” or contacts. According to recent studies, the average Facebook user has 338 contacts.[3] The number of connections increases exponentially each time any of these users “likes”, “shares”, comments, or otherwise responds to a post, increasing the number of connections by the second or third tier into the millions.While this is probably a generational phenomenon for younger respondents, the use of social media among a majority of working adults (19-64) to stay culturally connected to relatives and friends may be a major reason why descendants of Portuguese from Asia can remain in close contact across national borders.

Interest in international contact and sharing personal histories

We also asked about the interest of respondents in international relations and cultural travel. We learned that 37% had relatives who work in companies that do business with China. In a follow up question below, however, 59% expressed an interest in learning about international business opportunities and cultural travel related to Macau. This may be suggestive of how working adults (19-64) in the community now view their roles, by seeking opportunities to learn and interact with other cultures. Their responses also suggest that younger generations may have adopted a global perspective on their current and past relations with Asia given their family histories. This is in contrast to responses of earlier generations who expressed much less interest in these forms of contact.

The survey concluded by asking respondents their interest in contributing materials and documentation to the present research study conducted at U.C. Berkeley. A majority (54%) not only expressed interest in contributing family documents and materials, but many added their e-mail addresses for future contact. This is no doubt an important step in insuring that others in their families, given the trend toward large connected groups, will contribute their personal stories, materials, and data in the future.

Notes

[1] Jorge Forjaz, Familias Macaenses, Fundacao Oriente, Macau, 1996, revised 2017.

[2] The Mayflower Society of the United States claims over 35 million descendants based on 102 pilgrims who landed in Plymouth Massachusetts in 1620, sixty-three years after Macau was founded. Based on discussions with other scholars studying the Portuguese in Asia, including Jorge Forjaz in 2016, our most recent estimate may actually be low.

[3] “53 Incredible Facebook Statistics and Facts”, Kit Smith, Brandwatch.com, June 1, 2019. https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/facebook-statistics/