Macanese became anglicized after early Hong Kong move, author says

[Photo; Ricaela Diputado]

British author Mark O’Neill reveals in his books that when Macanese people moved to Hong Kong for “more economic opportunities” in the early 1840s, they became anglicized and gradually lost the Portuguese language.

The two books the author presented yesterday at a talk held at Casa Garden were titled “Europeans in Hong Kong” and “The Irish in Hong Kong.”

O’Neill shared that the Portuguese aspects mentioned in his books occupy a big chapter, with most of it focused on the Macanese at the time. “Of course, in the European book, we have a big chapter on the Portuguese and most of them are actually Macanese. So, you know, after Hong Kong was set up, many Macau people moved because in Hong Kong there were more economic opportunities.”

He says that the information on the Portuguese in his book comes largely from Macau, but when they were living in Hong Kong, they became somewhat anglicized, which eventually led some of them to forget the Portuguese language, although they are still legally considered Portuguese.

Speaking on the sidelines, the author shared with the Times about his books, stating, “Well, both of them, one is about the Irish in Hong Kong, and one is about Europeans, which includes French, German, Spanish, Italians, and Portuguese. It’s about what they contributed to Hong Kong. Because the orthodox history is that Hong Kong was Chinese enterprise, Chinese hard work, and the British administration.”

He continued, “But actually, the story of Hong Kong is much more complicated. These groups we are speaking about today contributed significantly to Hong Kong – in education, hospitals, religion, social welfare, and all aspects of society.”

In relation to Macau within his books, he said that the faith leaders who were present in the city contributed greatly. “Well, I think the story in Macau is the same. I mean, the greatest people in my book are the missionaries, the nuns, the priests, and the ministers. I think their contribution is the greatest.”

He added, “For example, these nuns you see on the front page (of the book), saved more than 100,000 Chinese children who were abandoned. You know, just a baby left on the street. They took them in, clothed them, fed them, educated them, and gave them a normal life.” Ricaela Diputado