Vignettes of the World
I noticed that the Los Angeles mornings were always somewhat hazy. The day was young and the wintriness was gentle. In fact, it felt almost as if California was still easing into the fall. For it was even warmer than Hong Kong at this time …
It has been over a decade since I set foot in the United States, the country that I also consider to be home. There was urgency in returning this time because my driver’s license has expired, and every ten years, the renewal requires an in-person …
Before you head out on the Senado Square, perhaps it is worthwhile to visit the Tak Seng On on Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro. This was the street where many pawnshop businesses set foot during the late Qing dynasty in Macau. The streets of Rua de Camilo Pessanha, Travessa do Matadouro, and Rua de S. Domingos were also key areas of business for the pawnshops of the times.
In its inception during the Qing dynasty, the pawnshops were important “monetary institutions” that provided the liquidity that the local economy needed. Even during the Qing dynasty, the pawn shops had a significant role in all types of money-lending and mortgage operations. Some pawn shops collected rents on properties as well.
The business in general operated in four main types of pawning pledges, namely, “din,” “tong,” “on,” and “ngat.”
The “din” pawn shops have long disappeared in the ties of history, as far back as at the Qing dynasty. In Macau, the pawn business operated in the “tong,” “on,” and “ngat” models.
The main difference between “tong,” “on,” and “ngat” pledges are in the scale of business and the difference in the terms of pawning that it entails. The “tong” business has the largest scale, and that means a given personal effect that has been pawned will give you a loan with the longest term of years, and likely a larger amount of loan as well. It can offer as long as a three-year loan. Each tael of silver required a monthly interest of 3 cents. During the three winter months, one month’s worth of interest was waived.
Next in the business scale is the “on,” of a smaller scale than “dong,” a shorter term of years (typically two years), and no waiver of interest during the winter.
The “ngat” is the business that has survived the times and this is the model for the current-day pawn shops. The term of loan was three months plus a one-month extension. For each tael of silver loaned came a monthly interest of the equivalent of 3.75 grams of silver. That means the monthly interest was 11%.
Both Macau and Hong Kong have relevant laws that regulate the running of the pawn business. As opposed to the practice of modern banking, those owing money to the pawn shops are only held to the value of the items that they pawned. As the lender lost the ownership of their pawned belonging to the pawn shops, the pawn shops may not seek the shortfall of the loan repayment from the patrons when they failed to redeem their pawn.
While pawn shops have existed in Macau during the Qing dynasty, the business reached its heyday during the Sino-Japanese Wars. Perhaps this comes as no surprise, since wars necessitate the need for cash and liquidity for the sake of survival. Another relevant factor was that the economy in Macau declined during those times. The people that frequented the gambling tables, brothels and opium dens had to resort to the pawn business to sustain their lifestyles. For the patrons of those times, the most usual items to pawn off were watches, jewelry and fountain pens. This is perhaps still true today.
Due to its neutrality during WWII, Macau took in an enormous population of refugees both from mainland China and Hong Kong. It is estimated that the influx of refugees caused the population in Macau to rise from 150,000 to 500,000. Supplies were always in shortage, and a lot of people had to pawn off their belongings to survive.
Till the 1970s, the economy of Macau improved significantly, which bought forth the development of modern banking, as well as modern pawn shops. A lot of the traditional pawn shops thus closed down, and Tak Seng On was no exception.
Photo: These photos show that the term of the “on” pledge to be six months with a one-month extension. The interest rate is three dollars per month.
Tak Seng On was the property of wealth merchant Kou Hou Ning initially. Meaning “virtue and success,” the pawn shop established its business in 1917. From its internal setup to the way it conducted the business, Tak Seng On was an exemplary of a pawn shop of the Republican period in every perceivable way.
Perhaps one feature that was quite representative of Chinese culture was the entry space at the front counter that was screened off to protect the privacy of the patron. The Chinese people tend not to want others to know that they are in financial difficulty. Such layout of the pawn shops shielded them from feelings of shame.
Furthermore, the front counter is intentionally raised onto a higher position. This served two purposes. The obvious one is that the teller would be able to observe anything out of the ordinary, if a robbery or theft was afoot. It is for the purpose of vigilance. Another more subtle purpose is so that the lender is being put in an “inferior” position, where they know they were essentially “asking for a favor,” and as such would be more receptive to whatever terms of pawning that was being offered.
The back of the former pawn shop is also open for visits, and that was the storage space for the valuables.
In Macau, the pawnshops still operate on a small scale, mostly around the Hotel Lisboa area. In Hong Kong, modern pawnshops are seen in some of the aged communities.
Be sure that this does not mean that parents are pawning off the babies for the loan, but it was an interesting cultural practice in Hong Kong and Macau. The parents would do a “pawn ceremony” of their newborns in order to bring forth growth in the baby.
The parents choose an auspicious date for the ceremony. At the pawn shop, they hand over the baby on to the teller through the left window. The teller issues the pawn note for the parents, then takes the baby around the deity’s altar within the shop for a prayer of blessing. Auspicious words are both written and stamped onto the baby’s clothes, then the teller will hand the baby back to its parents on the right window. The parents tender a red packet to the teller as the “repayment” to “redeem” the baby.
The address of Tak Seng On Pawnshop Museum is 396 Av. de Almeda Ribeiro, Macao.
Descriptions on site at Tak Seng On.
Joint Publishing, The “Dong” and “Ngat” Industries in the Chinese Community (Chin).
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 …