Miguel de Senna Fernandes | President of the Association for Macanese Education (APIM): ‘There isn’t just one Macanese community but several’

Renowned lawyer Miguel de Senna Fernandes is an avid supporter of Macanese culture and identity. He is president of the board of the Macanese Association (ADM) and is one of the faces of the Patuá dialect revival through his membership of the theater group “Dóci Papiaçám di Macau”, which holds annual stage performances for each edition of the Macau Arts Festival (FAM).
On December 18, he was elected President of the Association for Macanese Education (APIM), an association that is almost 150 years old. He discussed his new position in an interview with the Times.

Macau Daily Times – What do you will think will be your biggest challenge in the leadership of APIM?
Miguel de Senna Fernandes – Well, first of all I would say that to assume APIM [presidency] is already a challenge. Regarding the goals of the association for the next year or so, it is not easy since I’m at this moment officially taking office in the presidency, and I need some time to understand how things have been done and what the possibilities are for the coming times.
APIM is involved in several projects and institutions, like the D. José da Costa Nunes Kindergarten and, although indirectly, the management of Macau Portuguese School (EPM). It is necessary to first understand exactly what has been done so we can draft our policy address for the near future, namely this year.

MDT – But what would you say are the main goals that you intend to achieve?
MSF – Those are simpler to define. The first is to improve the management of the institutions under our responsibility, and more specifically the kindergarten Costa Nunes. That is the most important thing at this moment, I would say. Secondly, we need to focus on education, as we are an association that has a natural vocation for education. That is our central axis and we need to mark that line well.
The new administration of APIM wants it to become a truly valued and reputed association in the field of education for the Macanese and Portuguese communities.
What we want is to continue developing this association, and the future will let us know if we need to change anything on our current course to achieve those goals. For now we will need time and perseverance.

MDT – Besides the APIM, you were recently involved in the organization of the “III Conference on Macanese Identity”. Can you tell us more about the conference?
MSF – This conference had, as many times before, the purpose of being a little “call to action” that we truly hope works. We discussed a lot of topics and ideas that now need to be digested. The main point was to focus on the younger generation, to call for their participation and ideas. We cannot limit ourselves to the idea of “Macanese” as being old-fashioned or all traditional stuff.
The presentation of the results of the questionnaire conducted by the ADM was an important point. Although it was originally intended to be answered more at the local level, we had many replies from Macanese overseas, so it gave us different perspectives of different communities – because there isn’t just one Macanese community but several, each with its specificities, depending on the cultures they are involved with.

‘a sense of purpose’

In a ceremony on Friday, Miguel de Senna Fernandes officially took over presidency of the APIM, replacing José Manuel Rodrigues, the association’s leader for more than sixteen years. At his inauguration, the newly elected president told Radio Macau: “It’s a challenge that I accept, and the whole team accepts too. APIM is a traditional structure, it has history and it is important to Macau, and in particular to the Portuguese community. It is with a sense of purpose that I assume these functions.”