Project Support by Conselho das Comunidades Macaenses

The Conselho das Comunidades Macaenses (CCM), of which all the Casas de Macau form a part, associated itself recently with other institutions to accomplish diverse projects, such as the candidacy of Patuá as worldwide intangible heritage, the creation of a Fraternity of Macanese Gastronomy, and Youth Centers, projects that António Amante considers very valid because, as he stressed, they “permit community unity around common objectives.”

But, in the context of actuality, the President of Casa de Macau of Vancouver does not foresee any facilities.  “All these plans are important, but probably require some time for them to materialize,” he said, exemplifying the case of Patuá. “The original people who know how to speak Patuá are now not many.  And the younger generation who almost don’t even speak Portuguese,” how are they going to learn Patuá?” he questioned.  “It’s a very good idea to promote it, but it is not easy because very few are the people who speak the dialect.  Nevertheless we have to wait and see how the project progresses,” he said.

One of the problems which Casa de Macau of Vancouver continues to contend with is the dearth of young people, an issue shared by the remaining clubs.  “Many young people do not wish to participate in our activities, except if we did something special,” commented the leader, identifying the lack of funds as one of the principal difficulties.  According to António Amante, projects developed in the sporting area could be the solution to bringing in the young people and guaranteeing the future of the club.

(Free translation of an editorial in part dated October 31, 2006, in the Jornal Tribuna de Macau – Ed.)

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Casa de Macau Vancouver Interviewed on Clubhouse Funds

Despite the President of Casa de Macau in Vancouver, António Amante, having reported a slight rapprochement between the two Vancouver clubs in the sixth most populous city in Canada, the truth is that the two Casas de Macau have not arrived at a basic agreement on the application of the 7 million Macau patacas [about US$1 million] presently in the custody of the Fundação Macau [for the purchase of a clubhouse].  Without an agreement, the decision should be to divide the funds, a solution that even so would probably please neither “Greeks nor Trojans.” So opined Pedro Manuel Ribeiro and Tiago Azevedo in an editorial in the Jornal Tribuna de Macau dated October 31, 2006.

António Amante

The seven million patacas were made available at the time of Governor Rocha Vieira, but never left Macau due to a lack of consensus between the two Casas.  According to António Amante, whenever the clubs attempted to reach agreement on the use of the funds – which was for the acquisition of a clubhouse in common– the negotiations “always failed.”  “They wanted 70 percent of the funds, leaving us only 30 percent,” added Amante, who is also the President of the Associação de Empresários Macaenses do Canadá (Association of Macanese Businessmen of Canada), stressing that that was a discriminatory attitude because Macau recognized both clubs.”

At this moment, and because the deadline for releasing the funds – fixed for November – is fast approaching, Casa de Macau Vancouver says it had reached an agreement with Fundação Macau for half of the frozen funds.  “As soon as the final details are worked out we will receive 3.5 million patacas, which corresponds to half of the funds in the custody of Fundação Macau,” António Amante said to Jornal Tribuna de Macau, adding that the agreement was reached with the President himself, Victor Ng.

That way, there will be no common clubhouse for the two associations, because their executive managements did not arrive at an accord.  Nevertheless, António Amante gives his assurance that the funds will not be lost.  “It is clear that I accepted the suggestion of Victor Ng on the division of the funds, promising that I would acquire a site for the new club, which cannot be sold, he emphasized.  However, the position of the executive committee of the Macau Cultural Association of Western Canada is not known, António Amante affirming that possibly they would disagree with the division.

On the fact that this measure might divide the Macanese community in Vancouver, the President of Casa de Macau refutes any negative scenario, saying that, despite the existence of two Casas in Vancouver, which even have different forms of activities, the truth is that there are Macaenses who are members of both clubs, and if there exists any divisiveness it is between the managements of the two Casas and not in the hearts of the members of the community.

(Free translation of an editorial dated October 31, 2006, in the Jornal Tribuna de Macau – Ed.)