Why was the statue of João Maria Ferreira do Amaral removed in Macau?

Answer 1

Governor João Maria Ferreira do Amaral was assassinated on the 22nd of August, 1849. He died of a violent murder most foul while serving his country Portugal as Governor of Macau. Governor Amaral was notable in that he made significant reforms in Macau that is still in use today in the former Portuguese province / colony. Part of those reforms were to assert Portugal's sovereignty over Macau, something Governors before him did not have the courage to do, and would rather resign themselves to living under Chinese intimidation, domination and influence, i.e. Chinese bullying (sound familiar today?). But not Governor Amaral. One of the things he did that significantly irked the Chinese at the time was to stop paying them "gratuity" or "rent" money to justify the ongoing Portuguese presence since 1557 in Macau and to send the money receivers, the Chinese Customs House packing and out of Macau. Do you think that the Chinese being Chinese will not do anything about this loss of face? Of course the Chinese would hire assassins (who were actually fishermen), led by a villager named Shen Zhiliang, to stab him to death, then cut his head off (as well as his remaining arm) and leave him there to rot (minus said head and arm) at the present day "Istmo de Ferreira do Amaral" at or near the Lin Fong Temple in Macau where the assassins hid in waiting for the Governor to arrive on his daily scout around Macau on his horse. In essence, the Chinese has stubbornly deemed Governor Amaral as the icon of unacceptable Portuguese colonialism in Macau since that time, unacceptable, that is to say, to the Chinese. Hence, the direct answer to the posted question was that the beautiful equestrian statue in memory and in recognition of the late Governor's ultimate sacrifice (his very own life), sculptured patriotically and unveiled by Maximileão Alves in 1940, was dismantled and removed from Macau at the direct request of the Chinese government in 1993 in light of the Chinese dictated impending transfer of sovereignty AND administration of Macau in 1999. The request was made acerbically on 28th June 1990 by the then Vice-Director of the People's Republic of China State Council's Office for Hong Kong and Macau affairs, Lu Ping. On this issue, Chinese education and Chinese commentary in Macau today are obliged to add or twist certain facts by way of Propaganda to give the Chinese more face, as is always typical with the Chinese in historical and political matters. Obviously, there is much more to this issue but for the purposes of answering the posted question relevantly, this discussion will now be limited.

Maximileão Alves also designed and built a fitting pedestal support of Portuguese patriotism for the statue itself to rest on. The support consisted of a thick quadrangular table that the statue had rested. This table was supported at its four corners by substantial cylindrical columns. Affixed to the base of these columns were two shields carved with Portuguese royal arms in bas-relief, and two marble tablets carrying Portuguese inscriptions that read in Portuguese: "Homenagem da Colónia ao Governador João Maria Ferreira do Amaral. 22 de Agosto de 1849. Este monumento foi eregido por subscrição pública e auxílio do Governo da Colónia. Foi inaugurado em 24 de Junho de 1940 por ocasião das Festas do Duplo Centenário da Fundação e Restauração de Portugal. Oferta do Leal Senado." English translation: "Homage to the Governor of the Colony João Maria Ferreira do Amaral. 22 August, 1849. This monument was erected by public subscription and support of the Government of the Colony. It was inaugurated on 24 June, 1940 on the occasion of the Centenary Celebrations of the Double Foundation and Restoration of Portugal. Offering of the Leal Senado." The pedestal support was about 50 feet high and the equestrian statue itself is 15 feet high. The total height of the statue cum pedestal support was about 65 feet high and was positioned at the southern corner of what was then the new reclamation overlooking Macau's Outer Harbour, at the elbow end of Avenida da Amizade. The view from that point was appropriately commanding for the memorial. It was Macau's most eloquent statue.

The statue itself no longer possesses the former glorious appearance that the sculptor Alves had intended. It is now situated just outside Lisbon aeroport at the top of a road in the Bairro da Encarnação without the original 50 feet pedestal support that the statue had rested on in Macau.

Historical fact behind the statue: The Chinese communist sympathizers came out in their thousands to protest against the Portuguese authorities for quite rightly so refusing them the "tea money" to build the communist school Escola dos Moradores de Macau. So they rioted, smashed the windows of the Leal Senado building, torched priceless and irreplaceable books in the Leal Senado library and tried to pull down the firm and tall statue during the chaos and unrest they created that is known as the "1-2-3 incident" of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of December 1966. When the Chinese communist rioters failed, the went to Largo do Senado instead to pull down the other beautiful Alves statue also unveiled in 1940 in memory of the courageous Macanese Colonel, Vicente Nicolau de Mesquita that was situated in front of the Leal Senado building in Senado Square where the present fountain and large Portuguese armillary sphere is located. They dumped Mesquita's statue outside the public lavatory next to the Macau Central post office with a sign in Chinese that said "this is where you belong". Badly damaged, Colonel Mesquita's statue was sent back to Portugal in 1986, and is still in the process of repairs for eventual public display again on safer, calmer and stabler grounds, in Portugal.

Historical fact: On the 25th of August, 1849, Coronel Mesquita, with about 36 soldiers, defended Portuguese Macau by defeating an overwhelming and much greater Chinese invasion force intent on taking Macau three days after Governor Amaral's assassination. Colonel Mesquita attacked and occupied the Passaleão Fortress on the other side of the border in Chinese territory thus saving Portuguese Macau. Colonel Mesquita was thus an outstanding figure in the history of the former Portuguese colony / province, justly deserving of his memorial monument, a street named after him in Macau called Avenida do Coronel Mesquita and more.

Written and submitted on 12 January, 2013 by a former non-permanent resident of Macau of nearly (but not quite) seven years by reason of refusing to become a permanent resident of Macau under Chinese administration.

Viva A Cidade do Nome de Deus de Macau, Não Há Outra Mais Leal (para Portugal).