Made in Macao | You light up my town

Jenny Lao-Phillips

One of the biggest buzz among citizens of Macau during this Christmas Break is undoubtedly the Macao  Light Festival 2015. The Tinkerbell-like Butterfly Fairy has met with enormous success, as proven by the numerous pictures and discussions on Facebook, blogs and other social media. To my surprise, the Macao  Light Festival 2015 has been featured in quite a number of Taiwanese and Hong Kong backpackers’ blogs, who recommend that their fellows visit Macau this month to enjoy the amazing exhibit. Whether it was guerilla marketing or genuine word-of-mouth recommendation, this event seems to have effectively drawn attention away from the newly opened casino-resorts and to the beauty of this little town. As an event to attract overnight visitors to Macau, and to promote visits to the cultural heritage sites, this festival has succeeded in spreading wanderlust even to local residents.
Through the Light Festival, I came to realize that some local citizens have never visited any of the cultural heritage sites, despite having lived in Macau all their lives; nor have they tasted any of the famous almond cakes and beef jerky. For them, these locations and delicacies are for tourists. According to my brief survey of couch-potatoes and locals who follow the same day-to-day routes (merely to and from work and avoiding downtown), they went out of the way to see the 3D mapping shows because their friends had posted pictures online. Even non-Facebook users claimed that the “lights” were what everyone was talking about, so they had to go out and see what the show was, and most of them were amazed by Macau’s beauty under the light installations. One citizen even exclaimed, “It’s been a long time since I thought of Macau as a beautiful town.”
I ventured down to the Ruins of Saint Paul at the peak hour of the light show, and noticed that I wasn’t surrounded by the tourists who usually frequent the area. I honestly couldn’t have counted the number of people watching the show, but from the conversations I overheard, many of the audience members were local. What’s more – maybe it was the festive atmosphere – many of them were snacking on almond cakes, ginger candies and peanut crunches, which are usually considered souvenirs for tourists. When in Rome, one might as well do as they do. I soon stopped by one of the many shops for some “Macau snacks” to really get into the mood.
After the show, while strolling away from the Ruins, I heard my fellow Macanese commenting on the splendor of the light show and making plans to visit other local shows and exhibitions. Ironically, in a city famous for its entertainment industry, there has arguably been a dearth of entertainment for local citizens. There are various local shows during the Music Festival or the Art Festival, but those shows often require one to purchase tickets in advance. In a small place like Macau, local youth are used to going anywhere on an ad hoc basis and do not like committing to planned entertainment. I have often overheard students discussing upcoming shows, unable to make up their minds as they might have other things to do that month or week. This Light Festival, spread out at different locations across the city, appeals to the desire for excitement and novelty, and the ease of not having to plan in advance. Most importantly, it really lights up this “City of the Holy Name of God.” Jenny Lao-Phillips