Our Desk | Getting international with our people

Renato Marques

In the aftermath of Covid-19 (if I can say so) there are a lot of lessons we can take from common people and various conversations.
Contrary to popular belief, I advocate that listening to common voices and the “average citizen” is far more productive and closer to reality than hearing only the expert opinions of typical social commentators.
Despite the fact these “vox pop” comments might not sound as eloquent as the ’experts’, they often carry a lot more content and significant information. Call it “purer” if you like, or simply, stripped from the usual grey-toned political correctness and self-oriented interest of the second group.
A couple of days ago, I decided to break the chain that had been keeping me mostly around the house and wander the distant areas of Macau. What I found surprised me.
The landscape had suffered a significant change around Coloane, not geographically, but in terms of the human factor. People look different, and more than that, they talk and act differently.
The influx of just a few hundred Macau residents living abroad, which we had heard a lot about because of their Covid-19-triggered return, had changed the conversations and the activities.
Although the English-speaking nature of these people was a clear sign that these were not your “common locals,” my attention was focused on them long before I even heard them speaking a single word. They just looked different, from their clothes to their attitude.
Later on, while I was having a relaxed meal al fresco in a popular weekend destination restaurant, two of these “different residents” sat right next to my table and started chatting in happy, loud voices that were impossible not to hear. They looked young, but I only realized how young they were when one of them shouted to the other in panic after taking a few sips out of a large Sangria jar.
“This thing has alcohol in it!” she shouted. “Oh my God, I am just 15. If my parents find out about this, they will kill me,” she exclaimed.
On the other side of the table, her friend replied, “Relax! It’s nothing… I am just 16 too anyway.”
After that moment of panic, all returned to normal as slices of pizza were consumed during a seemingly long overdue conversation that brought the pair up to date.
By that time, I bet the Sangria also tasted just like orange juice but that’s not the most important part.
When I was heading home, the good old parking lot also looked different. There were few cars, even fewer motorcycles parked and somewhat more unusually, there was also a group of teens and at least one adult, all skateboarding.
A quick look as I got near and I realized they were longboards, something I remember seeing before a couple of years ago – maybe nearly a decade – in Macau, but which had suddenly disappeared (at least from my perspective).
As I was traveling back to the city, in my mind only had one thought: If this virus was (and still is) responsible for many hassles and negative effects on people, families, and even on the global economy, it has sure turned Macau into a different and, dare I say it, “more international” place. We did not even have to promote the destination abroad, as the destination promoted itself through its people.
Before closing, I would like to note one more thing took me by surprise from that “Sangria-conversation.”
That is that Macau can also represent a new sense of freedom, which can lead to the removal of the inhibitions of those abroad in stating “I am from Macau!”