The Clash of Civilization in Macau

Ana Margarida is a Macanese. She is 20 years old. She was born and lives in Macau. Her father works as a civil servant in the post office. Her mother is a businesswoman. As Ana's father is a Portuguese, she learned to speak Portuguese from her father when she was very small already. However, she also knows how to speaks fluent Cantonese in order to communicate well with her mother. But, above all, she says, she is Chinese. "I consider myself not a Chinese although almost all the people surround me are Chinese and I speak Cantonese in most of my time." Ana said she seldom eat Portuguese food. It's mainly because her mother is a Chinese. Actually, Ana said that she was somehow puzzled by her own nationality. "I agree that my lifestyle is like the local Chinese. It is hardly for me to see any Portuguese culture in myself, except the fact that I can speak Portuguese," she says.

ANA IVANOVIC

Ana Fabiola Sutuj Aguilar of Guatemala

English: Macau Politics and Government Pic.

"However, I don't feel and believe that I am Chinese. I think I still have something different from the local Chinese, but of course I don't think that I am superior to them!" The difference between Ana and most local Chinese is their religion. Ana is a Catholic. Ana goes to the church on every Sunday. She also hopes to have her wedding ceremony in the church in the future. Ana's boyfriend, Luis, is also a Macanese. "I will choose Macanese as my boyfriend because I think that he will understand me well because we are in the same situation," she says. "I have never thought of choosing local Chinese as my boyfriend until now." In addition, Ana thinks that she belongs to Macau more than Portugal. She loves the buildings and food of mix-culture in Macau. "I...