HISTORY

The term "Macanese" or "Macaenses" commonly refer to the people of or from Macau, the former Portuguese colony 40 miles southwest of Hong Kong in Southeast Asia. It is here that many of us have our roots.

The history behind the Portuguese colonization in Macau is long and varied. The Links provided in this website will provide a far better overview of events and milestones than we can on this page.  The historic Handover of Macau back to China on December 20th, 1999 is chronicled in a  separate section in this website.

Over the years, many of our people left Macau for other places such as Shanghai, Hong Kong, Australia, United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Brazil etc. Those of us here in Vancouver, Canada, with roots/ties to Macau, decided to form a social "non-profit" club in order to carry on our traditions, culture, customs and heritage for the betterment and benefit of our younger generation.  There is another club here in Vancouver, and to which most of us had belonged to as members, however they focused their attention, then and now, on the older generation and we respect them for that. However, we felt strongly that the future of our people, our customs, culture, heritage and traditions lay with our youth! We wanted a club that would cater to "ALL" generations: our seniors - out of respect and acknowledgment for their wisdom and guidance, and to our youth - for they are our future and our hope.

Casa de Macau in Vancouver was officially registered under the Societies Act of British Columbia, Canada on April 3rd, 1995 and now boasts a membership of over 200 Filho-Macau's (Sons of Macau). The Fundação Oriente (a heritage foundation created to sustain the Macanese heritage worldwide), has generously agreed to partially assist with the funding of certain of our cultural programs and activities (including our website and newsletter) -  we are grateful for their generosity and we thank them.

On December 20th, 1999, Macau was handed back to China in accordance with the  agreement between the Governments of Portugal and China.  This website contains a special pictorial section of that historic event.