Made in Macao | A change in long weekend culture

Jenny Lao-Phillips

With the Cheng Ming Festival falling on a Friday this year, we are blessed with another long weekend in Macao. As I was thinking about how to use this gift of “no need to go to work for three days”, I started pondering our “long weekend culture” in Macao. I noticed that we seem to have gone through some changes over the last two decades.

I do not know when the change happened, but enjoying long weekends has changed from spending quality time with family and friends, to travelling, to individual peace and wellbeing. One and a half or two decades ago, whenever there was a long weekend or even a weekend without work, we would plan for meals with family and relatives, or shopping or karaoke with friends. Between 10 to 12 years ago, our long weekend family and friends gathering rituals changed.

Around the time when Macao’s economy started skyrocketing, instead of hanging out with family and friends, we went to Thailand for the beaches, or for street food in Taiwan, or to Japan for shopping. The last 10 years or so have witnessed lots of travelling by people in Macao. Almost always when there was a long weekend, we got out of Macao. The increase in spending power was one reason, the other was to escape the crowded town. So, on long weekends when tourists from nearby cities came rushing into Macao, we “Macaoians” rushed out. However, I have noticed this long weekend culture of travelling is starting to change too.

Lately, whenever the topic of what to do during public holidays, especially long weekends, has been discussed, most people seemed to voice a preference for staying in Macao. But instead of returning to our original custom of going out with friends and family for lunches or dinners, we seem to have moved towards having more ‘me’ time, or quiet time. More often than not, we (mostly ladies) filled up our long weekends with spa, facial, mani-pedi, and hairdressing appointments. The next most popular activity after beautifying is exercise. Some may sign up for a dancing or yoga classes in advance, some may have plans for jogging or hiking. I even know someone who has scheduled time for meditation in their calendar. Why is there a sudden change in how we spend our holidays?

One reason is perhaps that we are tired of travelling. In the last decade, I believe a lot of people have travelled to almost every popular place close to Macao. Short three-day trips do not seem much fun now, so I guess we are saving up, both time and energy, to travel further during longer holidays. Another reason is a change of priority. People in Macao are focusing more on personal fitness and wellbeing instead of socializing. While small food and beverage businesses seem to be suffering and closing down one by one these years, more beauty parlors, spas and yoga or dance studios seem to be opening up. Areas for running are also getting more crowded. Rather than for keeping fit and beautified, I notice most people exercise and go to the spa to relieve their stress and enjoy the quiet.

So, probably, the main cause for the change in our long weekend culture is that life is becoming too “noisy”. Our lives are so filled with meetings, networking, and celebratory activities of one kind or another. Even when we are alone, there are tons of emails and messages to read and reply to. Sometimes, we seem to just not want to be surrounded by people. So, when we see long weekends now, we see an opportunity for peace and quiet. Well, except for those who have small children at home; peace is still yet to come for them.