The Macanese in Colonial Hong Kong

Strangers in the Land: The Macanese Community in Colonial Hong Kong … 

The article (linked above) is part of a longer manuscript on the social history of the Macanese. It looks at the effects of British colonization on the community in Hong Kong, and the origins of a business and organizational network that connected families throughout Southeast Asia up to the middle of the 20th century.

Readers will notice that it is longer than previous articles, which suggests an attempt to focus more closely on the Macanese community in its most dynamic setting. In many ways, Hong Kong was both a landing spot for the Portuguese from Macau, where their version of Macanese culture was reaffirmed and renewed, and a point of departure for later generations who attempted to keep the culture alive in other settlements. It was also a place where five generations contributed in important ways to the economic growth of the British colony. Even though the history of Luso-Asians, who later identified as Macanese, began many decades earlier in India and Macau, I would argue that their latest development as a distinct ethnic community with a unique culture was ultimately defined during their 156 years in Hong Kong under English rule.