By Aries Un
Over the years, the name – Macao has become familiar to most people with its rising profile on the international stage, despite being less known to the world compared to Hong Kong, a neighboring British colony across the sea. Nonetheless, the social networking site Facebook has been using “Ao-men” for its geolocation setting since this feature was introduced, which triggered an outcry among some locals. In February, a campaign waged on Facebook urging its administration team to change the geolocation name from “Ao-men” to “Macau” has spawned enormous sentiment from the locals in favor of the event. Such sentiment which has seldom been demonstrated before suggests a sense of growing native consciousness among locals in recent years.
Sulu Sou Ka Hou, a pro-democracy activist in the New Macao Association.
Irritated by “Ao-men” for the geolocation setting on the social website, Sulu Sou Ka Hou, a pro-democracy activist in the New Macao Association, created the event entitled “This is Macao, not Ao-men” on February 11, 2014 which attracted over 1,500 people in a matter of days. When asked why he chose to take action around this time though the setting has been there for some years, the 22 years-old expressed how he became inspired by constant social participation this year. “Actually I noticed this issue a long time ago and even made a post concerning it on Facebook before. I became so much sensitive after actively engaged in social affairs and that enabled me to take action. There were supportive people, like my friends and other netizens who contributed You Know What? Sulu Sou Ka Hou, a pro-democracy activist in the New Macao Association. a lot in the process in various aspects. For sure, collective efforts speak louder than my own voice.”
Some criticized such a movement stating it was driven by the idea of “resistance to mainlandization” and “nativism”, both of which gradually arose in the city after the handover in 1999. Sou countered: “It’s undeniable that with individual visitors to the city, our economy is so much boosted. However, it also takes a toll on our livelihood. Such a movement was out of neither mainlandization nor nativism but a strong urge I felt to care more about our own city.” He added that ill-manner of some mainland visitors is another reason for a mounting grudge against mainland tourists in the two cities these days.
With the emergence of simplified Chinese characters in many industries apparently to pander to tourists from the mainland, some of us might wonder if traditional Chinese characters are overshadowed. Sou shared his thought. “I’m completely fine with simplified Chinese characters as long as they don’t replace traditional Chinese characters which are always used and favored in Macao. I support learning Mandarin as a way to equip yourself, just as same as learning English. But it can’t be the sole teaching language in lieu of Cantonese in schools. Traditional Chinese characters have their long venerable history that simplified ones can’t compare,” he said firmly. “Nowadays many casinos adopt simplified Chinese characters in a bid to cater to mainland tourists. I think this is inappropriate as Macao has her own unique culture those foreign companies ought to respect. Besides, from a mainland tourist’sm perspective, I visit Macao hoping to experience something different from the mainland. Cantonese and traditional Chinese characters are part of that.”
Sou is confident that Macao locals will safeguard their indigenous culture as always. Nevertheless, he suggested that Macao people should always keep themselves on alert as external influence is not confined to cultural aspects only. Asked if there will be any more plans to enhance native consciousness in the city in the near future, he expressed his interest in focusing on non-tertiary education which he believes is vital in instilling the significance of upholding the indigenous culture.