Recent News and 2019 in Review

Each year we like to highlight changes on the horizon and to review the past year to see how far we’ve come.

Let’s start with some house cleaning

Beginning in late January 2020, Far East Currents, the official name of this site, will no longer be accessible from FarEastCurrents.com.

Nothing else will change. All searches for “Far East Currents” will still direct you to the main web address (domain name) of the project: www.macstudies.net. You can continue to access articles, images, connections, and other information about Luso-Asians and Macanese from around the world at that location.

Give it a Try: Click on Far East Currents Searches.

2019 Highlights

Watch the project Video: “The Macanese Chronicles”
Early last year we produced a short video to highlight our work. This is a good way to get a quick outline of the Portuguese and Macanese Studies Project at U.C. Berkeley.

Take the Far East Currents Macanese Survey  – See the Early Results of the Survey

In 2019 we also introduced a new survey, then published some early results. The bottom line is a new estimate of 1.6 million Macanese in 35 countries globally. We also learned that 65% are working professionals who want to share their family histories and are interested in reconnecting through business and cultural travel.

Interesting Stories from Macanese History

History is often the Story of Real People. Many readers send in documents and stories about their parents, grandparents, and earlier ancestors. Some of those stories were gathered and posted with additional historical information. Here are some highlights from 2019.

The Trial of Jesuina Xavier in 1930 Hong Kong

In 1930s Hong Kong, as news of war in China continued, cases involving the “habitually slighted” Macanese sometimes captured the public imagination in the press, especially when they involved race, sex, and violence. Such was the case in the shooting of Alfred Joseph Manton, an English tram inspector, by Jesuina Maria Xavier, the Macanese owner of a Wan Chi boarding house, in December 1930.

The Sum of All Fears in 1940 Hong Kong

London’s response in June 1940 to fears of a Japanese invasion resulted in a mandatory evacuation of British government and military dependents to Australia. Here’s the story of a disastrous plan in Hong Kong that undermined public trust just as the war in Asia was about to begin.

Young Refugees in Macau during WW II

Macau offered the only haven from the Japanese Imperial Army for almost one million refugees from China and other European outposts in Southeast Asia. There is another side to the refugee experience however. This is the story of some young students on one fateful day in January 1945.

Panic on Whitfield Road: The Beginning of Post-WW II Migrations

Protests in Hong Kong are not new. Soon after the war mass movements of people leaving China increased Hong Kong’s population to unprecedented levels. The impact on different communities, including the Macanese, are now coming to light.

More Stories from Earlier Periods

More detailed articles, with source citations, are also included on my academic site:

Descriptions of Daily Life in Macau: June – December 1637

Hong Kong and the Introduction of “Social Distance”: 1841-1900

J.P. Braga and the “Rights of Aliens” in Colonial Hong Kong: 1895

Death at the Races: The 1918 Fire Happy Valley Racecourse

Other Significant Projects

In addition to the articles and work listed above, there are a number of other projects we’re completing that might be of interest:

Working with the Hong Kong Museum of History on the new Portuguese Gallery, scheduled to open in 2021.

Our project director, Dr. Roy Eric Xavier, has been hired to write a history of Portuguese printing in Canton, Macau, and Hong Kong. The first part focuses on the origins of printing under Italian, English, and American missionaries and the commercial firms that supported them. The second part looks at two Macanese printing firms, Noronha & Co. founded by Delfino Noronha and the Hong Printing Press founded by Lisbello J. Xavier, his early protégé. Both were instrumental not only in expanding the industry, but in developing early forms of information technology that spurred newspapers, journalism, publishing, postal and tax stamping, product labels, and banking through the introduction of paper currency. Each helped expand the China Trade in Southeast Asia, Europe, and the United States, and led to the next stage of the Global Economy.

A New Book on Luso-Asians and their Roles in the Global Economy

This unprecedented new study, The Macanese Chronicles: A Social History of Luso-Asians and their Roles in the Global Economy, is the first attempt to analyze the history of mixed-race Portuguese, many who traded in Macau and helped settle it from 1557 through 1999. Part I discusses the origins of this diverse group in 16^th century Goa, and their migrations to Indonesia, Malacca, Indonesia, Siam, Macau, Hong Kong and Shanghai as the Portuguese Overseas Empire deteriorated and fell. Part II focuses on those who worked for the British in Hong Kong following the Opium Wars (1839-1860) after developing a unique culture in Macau for almost 500 years. In a series of case studies dating from 1895, 1918, 1930, 1940, and through World War II (1941-1945), the stories of several individuals are discussed against the backdrop of deteriorating confidence in the colonial government as Britain’s position as a world power declined.

This new book will be available shortly on Amazon. Look for notices here and on several Social Media platforms.

Last but not least, Far East Currents has added Consulting and Commercial Services

After several years of connecting and documenting Luso-Asians and Portuguese cultural communities in over 35 countries, we have launched AIM, (the Alianca Internacional Macaense (the International Macanese Alliance). AIM is a consulting business designed to create commercial, cultural, and government partnerships between the global Macanese Diaspora and Portuguese organizations with Macau, Hong Kong, and mainland China. Since identifying over 1.6 million Luso-Asians and Macanese world-wide, and strengthening their cultural links to another 2 million Portuguese expatriates in the United States and the Azores where many originated, AIM is in unique position to join cultural and commercial organizations in the next few months.

Please visit AIM’s social media site using the link above and forward any inquiries to us.

2019 has been a very eventful year.

Stay tuned for much more from Far East Currents, and the Portuguese and Macanese Studies Project, at the University of California, Berkeley.