Vignettes of the World
In this two-day trip in Macau, I visited a host of significant historic heritage in the Macau Peninsula area. The following is an itinerary for those two days. There are relatively less historical sites in the Taipa area, and that is for another occasion. Macau …
Right across from the St. Augustine’s Church is the Dom Pedro V Theatre, built in an exceptionally beautiful style of neoclassical architecture. Its elegance, being distinctly cultural in character, is a nice change of scenery from the multitude of churches that I saw in Macau. …
Not far from the St. Joseph’s Seminary and Church is the St. Augustine’s Church and the St. Augustine’s Square. Following the footsteps of the first Catholic missionaries, the Jesuits, the Augustinians also made their way to Macau in the 1580s. Other Catholic missionaries that came around the same time were the Dominicans and the Franciscans.
Unlike the first Jesuits that arrived in Macau with the specific goal of ministering the Portuguese population there, the first Augustinian priests in Macau were of Spanish origin. They were the fathers from Manila in the Philippines, who were looking to do missions in China.
Before the rise of Hong Kong as a British colony in the 1840s, Macau was deemed the doorway to China. But even then, Macau as the entry point to the establishment of Catholic Augustinian missions in China was considered a last resort to the Spanish Augustinians.
Back in Europe, the period between 1581 and 1640 was a dual monarchy, where the Spanish kings ruled both Portugal and Spain under the name of Iberian Union. It was during this time that the Spaniards sought to actively expand their influence, in matters of trade, colonial dominion and religion, in Asia. As a colonial power, Spain entered Asia later than the Portuguese did. It managed to secure control over the Philippines, and the Augustinians had its mission base in Manila.
Like the Portuguese, the naval power of the Spanish fleets overwhelmed that of some of the more difficult pirates. It was with the defeat of Chinese pirate Ly Ma Hon in 1574 at Luzon that the Spaniards thought presented the opportunity for them to extend their ecclesiastical reach into China. However, they failed miserably in approaching the official authorities for the approval to set up their missionary bases in China. When the Chinese resolutely refused their requests, the Spanish Augustinians returned to Manila. They handed over the administration of their mission in Macau to the Portuguese Augustinians.
Despite sharing the same faith and under the unified jurisdiction of Rome, real divisions existed between different Catholic orders along the lines of creed and nationality, often resulting in political battles within the Church that had significant impact in the faith community in Macau.
One controversy that had ecclesiastical ramifications was the issue of Chinese rites (ancestral worship). Although Rome had the directive of banning followers in engaging in these rites, the Augustinian missionaries in China supported a liberal position, held also by Father Matthew Ricci S.J. As a result, they were expulsed from Macau in 1712.
The very first St. Augustine’s Church was established by the Spanish Augustinians in 1591. At the time, the church building was very modest. Its roof being reinforced with Chinese fan-palm, it often wavered in the wind like the whiskers of a dragon, as such the Chinese people called it “Temple of the Long-Whiskered Dragon (long song miu).”
The current Augustine’s Church is a structure of 1814. At the time, the Portuguese Augustinians had long taken over the Spanish Augustinians in the administration of the mission in Macau.
In terms of its appearance, the St. Augustine’s Church features neoclassical elements of architecture, with just a tiled and gabled roof, no dome, and one tower. Overall, its style reflects the spirit of the Renaissance. Its façade features prominently two pairs of Doric granite columns with a triangular pediment at the top. Its interior is designed in the basilica style. The beauty of the St. Augustine’s Church is in the simplicity itself, its chief significance being of historic, cultural and ecclesiastical in nature.
The St. Augustine’s Church is most known for two aspects of historical significance. Firstly, it was the first English mass held in Macau. Still, today, the St. Augustine Church offers masses in Portuguese, English, Cantonese and Tagalog.
Secondly, it organizes a two-day procession “Way of the Cross,” one symbol of which is “Jesus on the Cross” as brought from the St. Augustine’s Church to the Cathedral of Macau (and returned) during Lent.
Descriptions on site at the St. Augustine’s Church.
Augnet, 4847 Macau.
Macaotourism.gov, St. Augustine’s Church.
Macau World Heritage, St. Augustine’s Church.
Michael Hugo-Brunt, The Church and Former Monastery of St. Augustine, 19 J. of the Society of Architectural Historians 69 (1960).
Visit Our China, St. Augustine’s – Macau’s First Church for English Mass.
Its name Igreja e Seminário de São José in Portuguese, St. Joseph’s Seminary and Church was a church of the Jesuits. The seminary was founded in 1728, while the construction of the church building completed in 1758. As with the St. Lawrence’s Church, St. Joseph’s …
A historic tour of Macau would not be complete without learning about the heritage of the Christian faith in this small city. Perhaps it is fortunate that with the ills of western colonialism also came the light of the Christian faith. Different catholic orders have …
Ask me if there is any kind of print that still widely circulates in Hong Kong, and I say it would be the horseracing newspapers, in Cantonese, literally “horseracing bibles,” which is the North Star for the loyal betters of the games.
It is my view that, given the opportunity, all tourists that want to get a true sense of local life in Hong Kong should visit the Happy Valley Racecourse. There are two racecourses in Hong Kong that run regularly, one is the Happy Valley Racecourse, and the other one is the Shatin Racecourse.
The Happy Valley Racecourse is traditionally more of a fanfare than the one in Shatin. There are “halftime shows” and a whole lot of beer girls on site at the Happy Valley Racecourse, whereas in Shatin, the vibe is that of a serious gambling business instead.
On this early October evening, my friends and I went to the Happy Valley Racecourse for beer and catch up. It happened to be the kickoff of the Oktober Fest and the Happy Valley Racecourse was teeming with a party spirit. The German Ambassador happened to be there to officiate the beginning of the Oktober Fest as well.
Be it Oktober Fest or not, the Happy Vally Racecourse as always been known for its festive atmosphere at every racing day.
Lying between the tracks and the spectators’ grandstand are a stretch of businesses that supply the party food for the evening. Food choices are never lacking, although all food are priced at a premium, even for the McDonald’s there.
Horseracing as a game and a wager has long been a British specialty. It was introduced into Hong Kong as early as the 1840s, when Hong Kong has just been taken over by Great Britain. It has since sunk deep roots into Hong Kong culture.
The first horseracing began in Hong Kong in 1846 at Wong Nai Chung (now Happy Valley). The British enthusiasts in horseracing thought a swamp area was suitable for their games. They reclaimed the swamp and slowly the area evolved into the Happy Valley Horseracing tracks that is today. The Shatin Racecourse was opened in 1978 over reclaimed land at the Tolo Harbour.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club was established in 1884 as one of the oldest institutions in Hong Kong. It was in 1914 with Sir Catchick Paul Chater’s leadership that the Jockey Club turned into a charitable organization. At first, its profits would be committed to the relief efforts of WWI. Then its charitable purpose extended to all kinds of social causes in the local society. The Jockey Club remains the most significant charitable organization in Hong Kong to this day.
As it is a legacy of British culture, horseracing also comes with all the manifestation of class divisions. Horseracing in Hong Kong is no exception. In both the Happy Valley Racecourse and the Shatin Racecourse, there are special spectator boxes reserved for the privileged. A lot of the Jockey Club’s club facilities still require membership today as well.
In 1929, Sir Catchick Paul Chater also proposed the inclusion of Chinese people into the membership of the Jockey Club. Ho Kom Tong, who was a prominent man in his times as a businessman and philanthropist, would become the first ever Chinese horse owner in the history of Hong Kong, itself much of an honor.
Both the jockeys and the horses are somewhat heroes in the Hong Kong society. For example, Golden Sixty, known as “the pride of Hong Kong,” has retired in 2023. He will be in a farm in Hokkaido for permanent retirement. At his retirement ceremony, the whole team, including the owner, the jockey, the trainer and the carer was celebrated.
Horseracing is the only legal gambling in Hong Kong. Surely, one may still see the mahjong schools in the Yau Ma Tei area here and there, but the licenses for legal mahjong playing venues have undergone a long process of being phased out by the government. There will be one day that the mahjong licenses are no longer available. It was a decision made during the 1960s or so that the Hong Kong Government would not allow legal gambling in Hong Kong.
Horseracing as a wager is a very serious business. The “horseracing bibles” that are still widely read in print attest to that aspect of Hong Kong culture. Our horse betters are very serious in their “study” of the odds. Experienced wagers in the game usually look at (perhaps rather obviously) two decisive factors: the jockey and the horse. Much of the wins are a matter of their reputation, collectively as a team. The determination of who likely wins a certain race is about figuring out the combination of factors that will favor one jockey and his horse over the other. Such factors include their performances in the past (lots of statistics) and the commentaries in the “horseracing bibles,” usually written by retired jockeys.
Photo: Whether you place bets or not, the race itself is full of excitement and the cheers and the boos infuse the whole racecourse with a keen spirit of competitiveness.
Then at the racecourse one would take a moment to observe their condition before the race before placing the bets. The jockey usually rides on the horse for an easy gait around the tracks before they get behind the starting gate. I have seen horses that really show their warring spirit. They came out and looked like they would win.
If you do not have a betting account with the Hong Kong Jockey Club, there are hundreds of betting machines on site. The betting sounds complicated to me, but my friends certainly plunge right into the bets at every game that they attend. In the 2024/2025 season, the wagering turnover reached HK$138.85 billion.
See here for the current racing schedule. Usually, the Happy Valley Racecourse runs races on Wednesday evenings during racing seasons. The Shatin Racecourse runs races on Wednesday evenings, and the afternoons of Saturdays and Sundays. There is an entrance fee of HK $10 to enter the Happy Valley Racecourse.
Hong Kong Memory: 150 Years of Happy Valley (Chin).
SBC Eurasia, Hong Kong Horse Racing Betting Turnover Reaches HK$138.85 Billion.
Hong Kong Chronicles Institutes, Sir Chater’s Influence on Horseracing in Hong Kong (Chin).
The Sporting Post, Hong Kong Champion Retires to Japan.
The Wikipedia on Majong Schools.
Once you have drunk the water of Lilau Square, you would never be able to forget Macau. Throughout Macau, a main urban feature is the squares. Lying at every significant junction in the local neighborhoods are these squares that carves out a concentrated space, usually …
On this day I spent most of the day walking the heritage trail of UNESCO-designated historic Macau. From the HZMB Macau Port, I arrived at Sei Kee Café, hoping to get the famous pork chop buns at the restaurant. However, I learned that this …
Since I would like to study the heritage of Macau, I figured that a good book on Macau’s history, which is probably not widely known, is in the order. I found an exceedingly pleasant book called A Macao Narrative by Austin Coates in the library. In the last three and this entry, I summarize the key points that I took from his book as an overall introduction of Macau’s fascinating history.
In Portuguese Asia (1), I said that Macau’s experience as a colony was oddly pacific. There were simply no wars or atrocities that gave rise to its status as a colony. But the formalization of the Portuguese sovereignty over Macau was a result of a buildup of significant events. These events led to a decisive battle raged at the Chinese at Pak Shan Lan, a sagacious turn for Macau’s status as a Portuguese colony.
For centuries, the Chinese engaged in an approach on Macau that was somewhat akin to a carrot and stick policy.
Since Macau’s founding in 1557, the Portuguese had gained their legal rights to reside in Macau. As they were enriched by the Japan trade, they entrusted all the relatively menial tasks to the Chinese. From shipbuilding to food and agriculture, the Portuguese relied on Chinese labor for even the most basic aspects of living.
In the beginning, the Chinese had to get all their work done in the day. Then at night they all had to return to Canton through the barrier point, which served as a marker for a rough boundary between Canton and Macau. Eventually, however, the Chinese community did settle down between Macau’s city walls and the barrier point to Canton.
The carrot in the Chinese policy on Macau was the right for the Portuguese to conduct their trade undisrupted. The stick came in the various demands to which the Chinese authorities felt entitled, including the charging of customs by running customs posts, the charging of ground rent, and the ability to “call all the Chinese workers back to Canton” at their whim. On a day-to-day basis, it was the Chinese watch force that maintained law and order in Macau.
For centuries, neither the Chinese nor the Portuguese had any doubts about their respective sovereignty over Macau. When the British successfully wrestled with the Chinese to secure the Treaty of Nanking, which ceded Hong Kong in 1840, the Portuguese sensed the urgency to formalize their claim of sovereignty over Macau.
The prelude to the Portuguese’s act to assert its sovereignty over Macau was the gruesome assassination of the one-armed Governor Captain João Maria Ferreira do Amaral by the Chinese in 1849. As the Portuguese crown tasked him with the assertion of Portuguese sovereignty over Macau, Governor Captain Amaral introduced a number of tough measures that angered both the Senate and the Chinese residents of Macau.
One example was the suggestion of clearing out the shacks of the Chinese that lied between the city walls and the barrier gate to Canton. He knew it would agitate the Chinese because such measure would result in moving the graves in that area. In a series of other events leading up to the 1849 closure of the main Chinese customs office in Macau, Governor Captain Amaral effectively imposed martial law in Macau that year.
The Chinese attackers of Amaral beheaded him and took the head and his only arm as their ransom to claim the rewards as promised by the Chinese government. The Macanese were horrified, as this was clearly the Chinese government’s act of terror against Macau. The Macanese were quite ready to strike back. Meanwhile, Chinese forces were gathering around the fort of Pak Shan Lan, a bit farther into Canton than the barrier point.
Lieutenant Vicente Nicolau de Mesquita was the very hero that would take the offensive against China. With a small troop of 16 men, Lieutenant Mesquita took with him the only howitzer of Macau and approached the Fort of Pak Shan Lan. The Chinese troops were shooting at them as they approached. Like Father Rho in the Battle of Macau during the Dutch invasion, Mesquita fired just one critical shot from the howitzer and hit the center of the fort. This effectively demoralized the Chinese forces there.
Mesquita went back to the Macau side and asked for reinforcement. With 36 men he advanced again, through the rice fields. The whole maneuver was a spectacle for all sides involved. The foreign representatives lined up the monte fort to watch as Mesquita led the charge. 2,000 local Chinese, in addition to those who were already at the Pak Shan Lan fort, were also witnessing the battle from the Chinese side.
As the procession were firing at the fort, they took down Chinese soldiers, and miraculously had not lost one man. By the time they reached the fort, the whole garrison of Chinese soldiers fled. In an act of symbolism, the troop severed the head and the arm of a Chinese officer at the fort, in revenge of Governor Captain Amaral’s gruesome death. They then blew up the fort in a fantastic show of victory.
With this decisive victory at Pak Shan Lan, the foreign troops, including the British, American, Spanish and French troops and warships, came around to support Portugal’s defense of Macau, including fortifying various defensive positions. The Portuguese assumed de facto sovereignty over Macau. What remained to be done was to reach formal agreements with Peking.
In 1862, Governor Captain Isidoro Francisco Guimarãres (1851-1863) traveled to Tientsin (Tianjin) to conclude the Sino-Portuguese Treaty with the Chinese, in hopes to formalize Macau as a Portuguese colony. Two years later, his successor Governor José Rodrigues Cohelho do Amaral (1863-6) wished to bring together the ratified treaty. But the Chinese tried to introduce modifications. To this, Governor Amaral declined. Thus, the Sino-Portuguese Treaty never took effect properly.
When Governor Amaral succeeded Governor Guimarãres, he improved the cityscape of Macau significantly. Meanwhile, France at the heyday of its colonial power was edging to become the greatest foreign presence in China. The British did not wish for France to rise. After the Second Sino-British War, Sir Robert Hart took up the role as the representative of the Chinese Customs. He attempted to control the import of opium into China. He was making an agreement with Hong Kong to adopt control measures similar to those in force in the Treaty Ports.
Hong Kong agreed to cooperate only if Macau would accede to the same terms. Otherwise, Macau would have an incredible advantage in the opium trade. Owing to this delicate situation, Macau’s status as a Portuguese colony was formalized. Sir Robert Hart drew up a protocol, which provided for China to conclude a treaty of amity and commerce with Portugal, as China has done so with other European nations. It was also by this treaty that China would confirm “the perpetual occupation and government of Macao and its dependencies by Portugal, as any other Portuguese possession.” Macao would then control the opium trade on the same terms as Hong Kong’s. To benefit the British (as against the rise of France), Portugal should undertake “never to alienate Macao and its dependencies without agreement with China.”
The treaty was signed in Tientsin in 1887 and ratified in 1888. Fast forward to 1974, the Portuguese revolution resulted in Portugal divesting all of its colonies. But again, Macau stood at this historical juncture as an anomaly. New China, at that point, wished for Macau to remained as it was. Portuguese troops were withdrawn anyway, and Macau reverted to the state of affairs like its very earliest times – an undefended territory in China where a mix of European, Asian and Macanese lived and did business.
Macau’s gambling establishments were set up under the administration of Governor Guimarãres. He was the only successive governor of Macau after Governor Captain Amaral that managed to do anything of significance in the 1850s. In his tenure he concluded the Sino-Portuguese treaty, as well as setting up legal gambling as a business venture for Macau.
Originally, his intention of setting up licensed gambling establishments in Macau was to bring in the revenue required to administer other Portuguese colonies in the region – by then, only Portuguese Timor was left. The gambling dens were replaced by licensed operators, with immense initial success in serving their purpose.
Surprisingly, the gambling setup managed to put the city in order. When there was a wanted criminal, the small Macau police force simply approached the gambling “farmer’s” organization. Nobody could hide in the dark from the similarly dark force of the city.
As such, Macau rose again as the Monte Carlo of Asia, at some point even more glamorous than Las Vegas.
Austin Coates, A Macao Narrative (1978, 2009)
Since I would like to study the heritage of Macau, I figured that a good book on Macau’s history, which is probably not widely known, is in the order. I found an exceedingly pleasant book called A Macao Narrative by Austin Coates in the library. …