From among its legally assigned duties, the Macau Cultural Institute has 'to encourage the preservation of Portuguese Culture in the Territory as well as to disseminate it in the neighbouring regions' and 'to promote Portuguese language as well as the study of the history of Portugual and its relations with the Far East'.
Since its inception in September 1982, the Macau Cultural Institute has paid special attention to the preservation and appreciation of the cultural and historical heritage. In addition, in order to pave the way for a progressive cultural autonomy in Macau and an artistic and cultural environment specific to Macau, the ICM has been promoting and spreading both the Portuguese and Chinese cultures.
Even though between 1983 and 1987 improvements have been felt in the moneys allocated to culture with an increase from MOP4 million to MOP36 million respectively, budget problems could be still be felt. However, with MOP45 million allocated last year and this year, the said budget problems were finally solved. We could then lease adequate premises and engage qualified and experienced staff in order to organize events within a shorter period of time.
In view of that we were able to introduce a set of events from 1987 of which I would highlight the following:--
- Joint production with Macau TV of a series of documentaries on the Portuguese cultural presence in the Indian and Pacific ocean countries as well as the publication of works on the same subject;
-Releasing more Chinese versions of Portuguese books and vice-versa and whenever possible in bilingual editions. Sending the latter to Portugal, People's Republic of China and Portuguese-speaking countries and Portuguese-descendant communities;
-Re-publishing books of cultural and historical significance;
-Publishing the Review of Culture (published quarterly in Portuguese, Chinese and English);
- Expanding reading programmes for the Chinese population in Macau by purchasing two mobile libraries;
-Financing and coordinating with the support of the Portuguese Culture and Language Institute, of Portuguese Language Centres to be opened in Indian and Pacific universities, namely the 2nd centre in Jinan, Guangzhou, and Pusan, South Korea. Currently there are centres at Beijing University of Foreign Languages, Hankuk University in Seoul, and Malaya University in Kuala Lumpur;
- Granting investigation scholarships concerning anthropological research on the Macau fishing community, a study on the creole language of the Portuguese descendants in Macau, Malacca, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Hawaii. The last major event I would highlight is this 3rd Portuguese Language and Culture Course for Students at Indian and Pacific Universities.
This course has included students of the University of East Asia, Beijing University of Foreign Languages, Jinan University, Guangzhou, Kyoto University, Japan, Santa Barbara University of California, United States of America and staff working in Beijing for the China Reconstructs magazine and the Portuguese Embassy.
Since the purpose of the course has been to transmit a knowledge and appreciation of Portuguese Culture, the course naturally focused on this aspect. This territory is the result of successive generations of Portuguese and Chinese throughout four centuries. In Macau the good and bad features of both cultures met and it is therefore a true melting pot.
You are most probably surprised that few people speak Portuguese in a territory where the most important Portuguese poet of all times, Luís de Camões, is said to have lived. Also buried in Macau is the best writer of Portuguese and European Symbolism, Camilo Pessanha, and yet so few people speak Portuguese.
But the cultural presence of the Portuguese in the Indian and Pacific Oceans region should not be assessed through the scarce influence that the Portuguese language holds nowadays in this region after being the lingua franca in the XⅥth and XⅦth centuries in the very same region. Presently, we can only find some small communities speaking a form of creole or 'patois'.
One should keep in mind that the Portuguese brought to the East several new concepts, such as hospital treatment, the first lighthouse, the first university, the first democratic institution (Leal Senado - City Council) and the first printing house using movable type.
In a movie recently shown on Macau TV concerning the Portuguese presence in Japan, several people of renowned cultural qualifications stated clearly that the progress currently recorded in Japan is due to the contacts with Western culture, brought by the Portuguese. For example, Nagasaki escaped destruction because it was built in the XⅥth century by the Portuguese.
In a way Macau is now the symbol of the values that the Portuguese spread around the world in the name of Humanity. The world that contemporary Humanity inherited is the result of exchange between the different cultures and civilizations of the five corners of the world. The Portuguese voyages in the XⅤth and XⅥth centuries played a very important role in those cultural exchanges.
A wise approach to the history of the Portuguese Discoveries must leave behind its violent aspects and emphasize the peaceful meeting of cultures and the role that Portugal played in shortening the gaps between countries and giving progress to the people.
The forthcoming century will be marked by the consolidation of the cultural renaissance trends which started after the end of World War II.
In the year 2,000, approximately 200 million people will speak Portuguese, placing it among the five most widely spoken languages of the world.
I would like to thank you for taking part in this course. It is a sign of investment, yours and ours, leading to a better and culturally richer world.
start p. 113
end p.