In only a few brief days thirty-five members from our Casa will be winging their way across the Pacific to represent us at the 3rd Encontro das Comunidades Macaenses, the final Encontro to be held on Macau soil. Robert da Roza and his Encontro committee have worked so efficiently that by early February they had ironed out all the details to make this a memorable trip for our delegation. Those of us who remain behind will be with them in spirit, and despite our absence we will feel that we, too, are sharing in all that they will be experiencing.

An memorable program of events awaits—receptions, lunches, Cha Gordos, fireworks, tours, theatre, dances and the Governor’s Reception in the fairy-tale splendor of the Praia Grande Palace! The mind boggles! However, the historical significance of the occasion is the real focus. Also scheduled are discussions on topics such as culture, tourism, education, economy, etc. As well, several publications, including "The Portuguese in the Orient" by Professor Oliver Marques (edited by the Fundação Oriente) will be launched. Other cultural presentations to be anticipated include the Macau Artists Exhibition and performances by the Tuna Macaenses, Os Veteranos and José Amante, as well as the opera, "The Flying Dutchman".

The religious highlight, will, of course, be the procession from the Ruins of St. Paul, when our banner, along with all the banners of the various delegations will proudly be borne, culminating with the solemn and moving celebration of High Mass at the Cathedral.

Those participants fortunate enough to be going on to Hong Kong will be kept busy on Sunday, March 28. Ten o’clock Mass will celebrated by none other than Father Marciano Baptista, (who was mentioned in our last newsletter), and in the evening, they will be the invited guests of the Club Lusitano at the elegant reception to be held at the Club de Recreio.

For those who will be going to reconnect with old friends and relatives, separated too long by time and distance, we wish the pleasure of reminiscence, and for those of the younger generation whose new exposure to the place and culture of their heritage is finally a reality, we wish the enrichment of identity.

Whether we attend or not, we all stand to benefit from the Encontro, for, on their return, our participants, having revived the ties that bind us all, will, no doubt, contribute a measure of renewed enthusiasm to our Casa. Boa Viagem!  

Our Club’s elections are now over and the following individuals will be serving the club in their respective positions effective April 1,1999.

President: Mike Guterres
Senior Vice President: Francis da Costa
Vice President: Margie Rozario
Secretary: Monica de Carvalho
Treasurer: Charles Curry

Since incorporation in 1995, our Casa has grown by leaps and bounds and in the last fifteen months, our Casa has travelled at turbo speed on the growth and development highway, reaching out to the world. Having served for two consecutive fiscal years as your humble president, it is now time for me to day good-bye.

It has certainly been a pleasure and honour for me to have served as President of our flourishing Casa, and I wish to thank each and every member of our Casa for allowing me to have this unique learning experience and for showing up and participating in our Casa’s meetings and activities.

I especially wish to thank all members of our various committees who have indeed done a fine job in their respective areas, especially Lyce Rozario (Head of our Social Committee and sole member of our Fund-Raising Committee), Mariazinha Duguay(Head of our Cultural Committee), Rowena Tan (Administrator - Membership), Cathy Fung (Head of our Phoning Committee), Michael Guterres (Web master), Patricia Adams (Editor), Robert da Roza (Head of our Encontro Committee), Anne-Marie da Costa (Head of our Bursary Committee), Aleixa Haslam (Parliamentarian), Flavia Greubel (Honorary Vice President, State of Washington), and Vilma Sequeira ( Honorary Vice President, Vancouver Island) and most of all, members of the current Executive Committee: to Rick Rozario (Senior Vice President) for being my right hand man, to Francis da Costa (Second Vice President) for his active input in spite of a busy work schedule, to Jacqueline Pereira (Treasurer) for constantly keeping me informed of our Casa’s financial status, and last but certainly not least, to Grace Johnson (Secretary) for being my friend — Grace, I shall miss those midnight snacks at Knight and Day!

I wish to take this opportunity to thank my mother, Alicia Noronha, my husband, Humphrey Ho, and my children, Brian and Michelle, for their patience in supporting me and in putting up with me these last two years, in good times and in bad times. I like roller coasters, but even the most exciting roller coaster will never match the thrills and spills I experienced during my term of office as President!

Someone once said to me that holding office is not at all about character and would not involve nor interfere with a person’s personal or business life - that it is all about being objective and impersonal, that it is only a job. But, you know, I have since found out that holding office is all about character and commitment; that is, being the best one can be at all times, both objectively and personally, in the best interests and well-being of all our members and of our Casa as one organization and knowing where and when to draw the line.

Holding office, any office, is definitely not a competition between past, present and future officers, and should never be construed as such. Holding office is all about what one is ready, willing and able to contribute and commit to, on a personal, yet unbiased, basis and as part of committee, in the best interests and well-being of all our members and of our Casa as one organization.

Having said this, I do hereby extend my personal thanks and appreciation to our new Executive Committee and Sub-Committees for agreeing to take up the challenge and to wish our new Executive Committee and Sub-Committees all the best for another successful year in the healthy and alegré life of our Casa! "Just do it!"

After setting all the items that had accumulated, this was the amount of space left to me. Needless to say, I shall be brief. One: It is tremendously gratifying to have received the grant from the Fundação Oriente for the communication arms of the Casa. Their support sends us a message of approval and credibility. Credit must go to the Cultural Committee and the Executive for approaching the Fundação on this, and thanks must be offered for their positive response.

Two:I am sorry there was no newsletter in November, as had been planned. My husband, Bob, suffered a severe stroke in October, and I was unable to devote the time necessary to get the newsletter out. I truly appreciate the understanding and patience that has been forthcoming from the membership. Steps are being taken to ensure that there is backup for the newsletter in case difficulties such as these arise again.

I wish to express my appreciation to our ’phoning committee members: Angelina Rozario, Lyce Rozario, Marie Cecile Guterres, Monica De Carvalho and past member Betty Sousae for their hard work, patience and perseverance. Without their help in making countless phone calls to our members, the various activities of our Casa would not have been successful. It is sometimes frustrating when the phoning committee is unable to contact each member and when there is no response after messages have been left in answering machines. I wish the next phoning committee every success in their endeavors in reaching out to our Casa members.

How time flies when one is having fun!! It’s hard to believe that it has been almost a year now when a couple of eager beavers flocked to the sheet on the table to put down our names to serve the club for yet another year in the Social Committee. We were well aware of the tremendous task that lay ahead of us, having done it the year before, yet we did not hesitate to commit ourselves one more time.

As Head of the Social Committee, it is a pleasure for me to report to the membership on how our committee did in 1998 in implementing the goals we set for ourselves to provide an "attractive", affordable and fun loving program for them.

The group met at my house to discuss the program for the year. We knew that we had to set up the room at Metro Town for our General Meetings for at least six times that year. That meant carting up boxes and boxes of supplies, coffee urns and goodies, etc. for the members who attend these meetings, for they usually stay behind to socialize over a cup of tea, coffee and a tableful of mouthwatering delights. We were also aware that we were responsible for making sure that the room was left sparkling clean before we left.

We had our first festa "April in Portugal", on Sat. April 25, 1998. It was a tremendous success with the highest member turn out ever. South Arm Community Centre looked like a room in Portugal with Portuguese decor and many members dressed up in Portuguese attire. The menu that evening consisted mainly of Portuguese dishes and desserts.

On Sat. June 20, 1998, we had our San Juan Picnic at Queen’s Park. Yes, we had much more than just hot dogs and hamburgers!!! We have curry meat balls, friend rice, fried noodles, etc. etc. Need I say more?

Our Fall Fest ’98 on Sat. October 17, with a multicultural theme, was a tremendous success with a full house, once again, and nobody went home hungry. In fact, some members had to loosen their belts a notch after that huge meal!

Our New Year’ Eve Dinner Dance at the Richmond Inn, proved to be yet another popular and very successful event.

Our Social Committee made sure that there was always an abundance of top quality food at all of our social events and General Meetings. We were able to keep the prices low for all our Club events by prudent, responsible shopping and planning, always keeping our eyes open for food sales. As of December 31, 1998, I am proud and pleased to report that our Committee made a total profit of $760.00.

In 1998, in addition to our planned events, the Social Committee gave a helping hand when our Casa hosted two Char Gordos for the California UMA Club members who stopped over in Vancouver before boarding on their Alaska bound cruises. One took place at the River Club in Richmond and the other was held at our General Meeting location at Metro Town.

As Head of the Social Committee, I was very fortunate to have had a fantastic team working with me. I sincerely wish to thank my wonderful co-anchor, Rowena Tan, her mom Clotilde Waites, Betty Baptista and Humphrey Ho, all of whom worked truly hard in this Committee to ensure the success of each and every event for our Casa the past year. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the members who rallied around the Social Committee, supported its 1998 program, and helped with the cooking, baking, etc., especially the entire Delgado family and Brian Ho who were always there to lend a hand when needed.

This year’s Fund Raising Committee (incidentally, I am it) had its annual Garage Sale on Saturday, July 18,1998 at my house in Richmond. Over 50 members from our Club attended and supported this event. Rowena Tan donated a very lovely ceramic pig as prize for a special donation. Diana Pires displayed her considerable handicraft skills by making and donating numerous extremely beautiful dolls and farm animals which went on sale after the pot luck dinner which followed the garage sale.

Then the real fun began with the line and Hawaiian dancing until past 1:00 a.m. The event was a success because it was fun with lots of laughs, lots to eat and everyone went home happy.

Our Casa made $640.00 on the Fund Raising Event,$500.00 of which went towards our Bursary Fund.

At the conclusion of this term, I would like to say a few words to my fellow committee members, Angelina Rosario, Betty Sousae and Cathy (Xavier) Fung for all the time and energy they dedicated into making our "Macanese Cooking & Conversation Classes" such a tremendous success.

Querida Angelina, Betty e Cathy:
Muito obridgadas por ajuda cozinha, insina corno con versa Macista, cozer ropas de moda Portugues, telefona membros por attende classe. Eu divera sorti tem arnigas assim amochai, capaz, tem jeto e alegre. Eu tem muito amizade por vos-to do.

And to those who have so enthusiastically supported our cultural activities:

Muito obrigados por todo membros que ja vem attende nossa "Classes de Cozinhação e Chalaça Macista"; specialmente vôce que ja ajuda insina cozinha. Nos ja apprende cozinha una grande variasung de comidas Macista: salgado e doce, cherozo e fede (balichão). Tamem, agora nos pode papia Macista mas born.... chapado-chapado. Diveras (nung e mintira), nossa classes tem tanto chiste. Deus abençoa todo membros de nossa Casa de Macau con born saúde e felicidade.

The 29th of August was the red letter day for the Seniors of our Casa. It was a bright and sunny day most conducive for our gathering which was held at Philip Seth’s gorgeous mansion.

Forty-three members, both old and young, attended. We had a full program. There was plenty of food - all generously donated by those who came to enjoy themselves in the beautiful surroundings.

Everybody was surprised when the activities began with Tombola, typical of the good old days in Hongkong at Club Recreio and Lusitano. There were also two tables of mahjong and you could have been once more at the Ladies’ Room of Club Recreio where you could hear the banging and shuffling of the mahjong tiles.

We had line dancing too. This was followed by a "Patois" skit which was put on by our Cultural Committee. Betty Sousae was the producer as well as the narrator. Fernanda, our president, was the principal actress, Philip Seth her lover, Lyce her other lover and Angelina her hen-pecked husband. It was a scream! We laughed and clapped heartily. The whole skit was done in patois.Then the members went out to the lawn to play games. There were 4 stalls - fun games as well as games testing one’s l.Q. The cultural group set up a stall displaying the Portuguese Costumes they had made for the April in Portugal Festival. There were also tapes of Fados, Portuguese books, photos and posters as well as the Patois books written by Jose dos Santos Ferreira. Cha Gordo was served at four. A feast of homemade goodies were served. Yummy! Everything was donated by the members who came. Obrigada!

For the finale we had a Roaring Twenties Fashion show. The guests were divided into 4 groups. Each group had to make crepe paper costumes and dress 2 of its members in the costumes they had made. There was plenty of laughter, oohs and ahhs, clapping of hands as each group presented its models. The first prize was won by Angelina’s group, the second by Edwina’s, the third by Betty Sousae’s and the fourth by Diana’s.

A good time was had by all - thanks to Philip Seth’s generosity and hospitality. In the end only a small profit of $16.00 was made for our Casa, but never mind, we all had a wonderful time.

 Fall Fest ‘98: A Multicultural Success!
by Rick Rozario

Richmond’s South Arm Community Centre Hall selected as the logical site to host our ’98 Fall Fest (with a multicultural theme).

Richmond,having the largest and ever increasing immigrant population in the lower mainland, is a multicultural, cosmopolitan city similar to Hong Kong and 25% of our Casa members reside there.

195 members and their guests showed’ up for this eagerly awaited event. The hall was colourfully decorated with flags, banners and posters of numerous countries.The walls on the hallways were adorned with multi-coloured paper cut-outs of children holding hands and dancing, simulating Disney World’s theme of children worldwide living in peace and harmony. Such an appropriate concept for a night like this.

U.N. dolls in ethnic costumes were made and displayed especially for this particular Festa, by Diana Pires, our talented handicraft Casa member. Some of her other dolls were also made and donated by her and given out as raffle prizes.

Our Casa had sent out an official formal invitation to our sister Macanese club here in Vancouver, the MCA, inviting their Executive Council and their members to this function. We were deeply gratified that, for the first time, a party of their membership attended this Festa under their own Club’s banner. Additional members of MCA also attended upon personal invitation by some of our own Club members.

The new Portuguese Consul in Vancouver, Mr. Pedro de Sampaio, with his lovely wife and two children graced the occasion by attending this function. Mrs. Hirondina Ghouri, husband Abdul, and family also attended this event. Our Casa is very pleased and appreciative of the recognition and support given by the V.l.P.s from the Portuguese Consulate here in Vancouver.

Fernanda de Pinna Ho, our President, did the honours of singing the two National anthems (O Canada and Hino National) after which she introduced the Consulate VIPs and the other honoured guests of our club (members from the MCA) and our own Club members’ guests from out of town. The MCA official party was officially recognized by our President in her introduction.

A superb dinner was then spread out. The food and dishes in their individual chaffers (8) looked almost too good to eat. But eat they did, with great relish and enjoyment. A second table displayed food of different varieties.

Our Casa’s cooks really outdid themselves this time - simply super! Ethnic Macanese dishes and dishes from other countries were offered and desserts (sobremesas) were spread out on two long tables so that guests could help themselves all evening.

The night’s menu consisted of Seafood Newberg, Rabo de Boi, African Chicken, Lombo (Pork Chops), curry brisket of beef, sweet and sour pork, various kinds of Chinese vegetables stir fried, chow-mein, salads, etc.

Brian Ho got the show rolling by putting on a truly spirited, high kicking "Karate" Exhibition that really appealed to our Casa’s youth (Junior members) and to the audience. This awesome display of athletic skill and power was followed by Hercia Delgado, dressed in a pretty Hawaiian dress, doing a graceful "Hula" dance number. It was very well received by the audience, judging by the applause.

Our Casa’s dance troupe (the Casa Dancers) did a line dance in perfect unison. What a performance! This same troupe along with a couple other members then took to the floor and did the "Vi Vira". They also invited other volunteers to join in. The Portuguese Consul, Mr. Sampaio, Mrs. Ghouri and several others graciously obliged and participated in the dancing, much to.the delight of the audience. A big round of applause was given to them for being such good sports. Bravo!

Four of our Casa’s vocalists, Michelle Ho, Grace Johnson, Michael Remedios and Alex Tan, finally took centre stage and performed various ethnic songs which received great response and applause from the audience.

The number that brought the house down was when the Casa Dancers with members and guests took to the floor and danced in a great big circle to the tune of Walt Disney’s "It’s a Small World". It was truly a night of magic. Edwina Shuster, our M.C. for the evening in a very chick "cheong sam", did a great job. Everything went like clockwork.

The night continued with more line dancing, always very popular, a few slow numbers for our seniors and a variety of other kinds of music. Everyone went home happy.

Our Casa made a modest profit of $171.34, a truly multicultural success for our Casa. New friends were made, old friendships renewed. A big "thank you" goes to Lyce Rosario, our Social Committee Head (who worked her magic once again), Rowena Tan (Lyce’s co-anchor) and the rest of her hardworking Committee -Clotilde Waites, Betty Baptista and Humphrey (who did a superb job as the DJ for the evening). Muito, muito obrigado. Well done!

Portuguese Language and Dancing Program

The Cultural Committee’s new program started in early January with Portuguese language lessons taught by Mrs. Julietta Catão. Mrs. Catão has many years experience teaching Portuguese to students in Canada, and was referred to us by the Portuguese Consulate. After a couple of lessons, we can now introduce ourselves and ask/answer basic questions.

Also ongoing are Portuguese dancing lessons taught by Miss Fatima Tomás (also referred by the Portuguese Consulate), instructor of the Rancho Folclorico Cruz de Cristo. This dance group has delighted us with their performance at two of our festas. Miss Tomás’ enthusiastic approach is quite contagious. It is difficult not to get excited about learning the dance steps and keeping time to the music. Shall we dance?

For more information on these classes, please phone :
Cathy at 263-0180, Angelina at 261-5776, or Mariazinha D. at 439-9676.

We Shared; We Enjoyed; We Graduated
by Fernanda A.de Pinna Ho

Thanks and appreciation are certainly due to our Cultural Committee (Maria Duguay, Angelina Rozario, Cathy Fung and Betty Sousae) for a job well done in organizing the Macanese Cooking and Conversation Classes this fiscal year.

Throughout our Macanese cooking sessions, our very talented cooks doubled as our instructors, and they joined others as our very good students, so that now we are cooking and eating abundantly and happily ever after, Macanese style.

And because of this unique Macanese cooking program, our Casa saw its first "graduation ceremony" in Macanese Cooking on Saturday, November 28, 1998 at the Eaton Centre Community Room.

Each member chose to prepare a Macanese delicacy learned during the sessions, and the result was an array of lovingly and meticulously prepared delicious Macanese food. However, the real test came when it was time to "spreminta e pitisca". The stamp of approval and success came from those members who had attended a meeting regarding III Encontro earlier in the day and who had stayed or for the "grad-graduation ceremony". Certificates were presented to all participants, instructors and students alike. Parabens to all!

Another milestone was crossed when Humberto Pires, our most senior member, turned 98 in the month of November 1998 and we celebrated his birthday with candles, cake and all good wishes to him. "Uncle may be our oldest member in age, but those who know him will assure you that he is still very, very young at heart". Parabens, Uncle Pires!

And to top things off, we were treated to a hilarious Macanese skit wherein Betty Sousae played the part of "Cha-Cha" and Angelina Rozario, Maria Duguay and Margie Rozario took turns in playing the grandchildren talking to Cha-cha over the phone. The "grand old lady" from Sunshine Hills in Delta had indeed visited us! Muito obrigada, Cha-cha!

Mr. Paulo Simao of Macau-TV and his technician, Wong Wing Keong (who our Cultural Committee quickly nicknamed "Hercules") were on the scene to capture all the special moments of our "graduation ceremony".

Prior to our Macanese Cooking Classes, I was only able to dream of the Macanese foods I used to enjoy. I am truly indebted to our Cultural Committee who has helped me to finally realize my dream. Muito obrigada!

Be it known that in the department of Macanese conversation, we continue to "Papia Cristam", and in order that we may continue to polish our "lingua chapado" (gente fala..."mais chapado, mais bom") and as well, in order that we may learn to speak "Oxford" Portuguese, our Cultural Committee continues to educate us (not to mention that our Cultural Committee has also arranged to educate us in Portuguese folk dancing.)

Keep up the good work, Cultural Committee - we love you!

 Catching Up on Cooking and Conversation
Because there was no newsletter in November, these summaries of the September and October sessions of the Cooking and Conversation Classes are included in this issue. — Ed.

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September Cooking and Conversation Class
by Mariazinha King

It was a feast! The Casa culinary experts outdid themselves in variety and the entire exercise passed without any mall security interruptions.

The dishes were divine! First, there was Madene Pereira’s tasty and visually pleasing Prawn Pullao. Then Angelina Rozario and Margie Rozario demonstrated Apabico - practically everyone had a "hand or two" in assembly-line fashion and devoured all of it with the smacking of lips and eyelids at half-mast.

Oohs...and...aahs followed the consumption of Monica de Carvalho’s specialty, Gummy Cake when conversation momentarily stopped to better savour the sweetness and inhale the still warm from the oven aroma.

Catherine Guterres gave us a very informative presentation on the history of the Macanese Patua, which has its roots from the Portuguese, English and Chinese language. It would appear that our forefathers, in their need to communicate at the basic level to all cultures, devised the most simplistic yet colourful means of communication, which we still enjoy today. Thank you, Catherine.

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October Cooking and Conversation Class
by Aleixa (Basto) Haslam

The Cooking Class on October 24 was held at the home of Philip Seth and Peter Eastwood. Philip is from our Macanese community, and has a beautiful heritage home which has won several awards, and which is also opened to bed and breakfast guests. When we walked into his magnificently equipped kitchen, there were "oohs and aahs" all round! All the latest "mod cons" were available, with plenty of counter space and easy-to-clean stainless steel surfaces everywhere. It was indeed a cook’s delight!

We had a busy agenda, with four dishes demonstrated. We started off with a Batatada courtesy of Mariazinha (Rozario) Duguay. This was followed by a Porco Bafá Assá’ (Bafaça) demonstrated by Aleixa (Basto) Haslam. Then Betty Baptista took us through the intricacies of a perfectly made Tacho, instructing us how to layer each ingredient. With the compliments of our host, Philip Seth showed us how to make a Smoked Salmon Pickle. The finishing touch was graciously provided by Peter Eastwood, in the form of a decadent Trifle, made according to his mother’s old English recipe.

Mandy Boursicot also gave a 20-minute video presentation on the Portuguese Voyages of Discovery, based on this theme at Expo 98 held in Lisbon. We saw a few ancient maps from the 16th century as well as engravings and paintings of the most important trading posts of that time: Goa, Malacca, Macau and Nagasaki. Mandy included some depiction of Macau done by George Chinnery and other artists from the Netherlands, France, Germany and America. Lastly, we looked at the restoration of historic buildings and sites in Macau which are happening today in order to preserve our heritage.

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BIRTHS

A girl, Danielle Katrina, to Tom and Anita Adams on September 8,1998. Proud grandparents are Pat and Bob Adams. Delighted great-grandparents are Cissy and Tom Butler.

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Mariazinha Duguay was struck down by a car on February 13,1999 and had to undergo emergency surgery to her leg. She is recovering at home after being discharged from Burnaby General Hospital.

Rudy Diaz suffered a stroke before Christmas and is recovering at home and thanks all for their prayers and well wishes.

Gilly Marshall has recovered after her surgery in October last year and thanks everyone for their concern and prayers.

Bob Adams suffered a stroke in October,1998 and is recovering at home after being discharged from the hospital in mid-February. We wish to thank everyone for their kind concern and prayers during our difficult time.

Lyce Rozario has recovered after her surgery in September last year and is being treated for other illness. She thanks everyone for their concern and prayers.

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Kimi McGrann, mother of W. Dennis McGrann, in September 1998, in San Francisco, California