Bahá'í Faith in Macau

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The Bahá'í Faith in Macao (also spelled Macau) was established much later than in China due, most likely, to the unique conditions of Macau being a Portuguese colony until 1999 and it being somewhat in the shadow of Hong Kong and larger centers in mainland China like Shanghai. The Bahá'í Faith arrived in Shanghai in 1862 and Hong Kong in 1870 but not in Macau until 1953.

Macau Special Administrative Region of China

Macau or Macao, officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, is a special administrative region on the western side of the Pearl River estuary in southern China. With a population of 653,100 in an area of 32.9 km2 (12.7 sq mi), it is the most densely populated region in the world.

Baháí Faith Monotheistic religion founded in 1863 by Baháulláh in the Middle East; promotes the unity of mankind; sees major religions as unified in purpose; faces persecution in Iran

The Bahá'í Faith is a religion teaching the essential worth of all religions, and the unity and equality of all people. Established by Bahá'u'lláh in 1863, it initially grew in Iran and parts of the Middle East, where it has faced ongoing persecution since its inception. It is estimated to have between 5 and 8 million adherents, known as Bahá'ís, spread out into most of the world's countries and territories.

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Beginnings and community growth

In 1953, along with other remaining parts of the globe where no Bahá'ís resided, Macau became a particular goal for expatriate Baha'is to locate. On October 20, 1953, Mrs. Frances Heller, a Bahá'í from California moved there to reside.

By 1954 there were four Bahá'ís in Macau – all expatriates – but they formed a cohesive group and became designated as a Bahá'í Group.

On July 15, 1954 the first resident of Macau declared his belief in Bahá'u'lláh after studying this system of belief for five months—Mr. Harry P.F. Yim (Yen Pei-feng or Yim Pui Fung), a small-business proprietor from Canton (Guangzhou), China. In October 1954 the second Macanese, Mr. Paul Kao became a Bahá'í. In that year, Mr. Manuel Ferreira, became the first Portuguese to become a Bahá'í in Macau. [1]

Baháulláh Founder of the Baháí Faith

Bahá'u'lláh, was a Persian religious leader, prophet and the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, which advocates universal peace and unity among all races, nations, and religions.

By April 21, 1958 there were enough Baha’is so that Macau could elect its first Local Spiritual Assembly. In 1960 the first all-Chinese Local Spiritual Assembly was elected. [1]

Spiritual Assembly is a term given by `Abdu'l-Bahá to refer to elected councils that govern the Bahá'í Faith. Because the Bahá'í Faith has no clergy, they carry out the affairs of the community. In addition to existing at the local level, there are national Spiritual Assemblies.

In the 1970s more pioneers arrived to continue to lay the foundation of the Bahá'í community in Macau and to expand its presence to the nearby islands of Taipa and Coloane. By 1973, there were eighteen believers spread out in three localities, the Macau Peninsula, Taipa and Coloane. Later the membership climbed to 32.

Macau Peninsula the most populous and historic part of Macau, with an area of 8.5 km²; geographically connected to Guangdong province at the northeast through an isthmus 200 m wide

Macau Peninsula is the most populous and historic part of Macau. It has an area of 8.5 square kilometres (3.3 sq mi) and is geographically connected to Guangdong province, at the northeast, through an isthmus 200 metres (660 ft) wide. The peninsula, together with the city centre of Zhuhai, sits on an island separated from the continent by distributaries of the Pearl River. The Border Gate was built on the northern isthmus. At the south, the peninsula is connected to Taipa Island by three bridges, the Friendship Bridge ; the Macau-Taipa Bridge ; and the Sai Van Bridge . The longest axis extends 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the Border Gate to the southwestern edge, Barra (媽閣嘴). There is a western Inner Harbor (內港), and an eastern Outer Harbor (外港). The 93 metres (305 ft) Guia Hill (松山) is the highest point on the peninsula, which is, on an average, 50 to 75 metres. Many coastal places are reclaimed from sea. The Historic Centre of Macau, which is entirely in the Macau Peninsula, became a World Heritage Site in 2005.

Taipa Freguesia in Municipality of das Ilhas, Macau

Taipa is an island in Macau, presently united by an artificial landfill to the island of Coloane. Administratively, Taipa constitutes a freguesia named Freguesia de Nossa Senhora do Carmo.

Coloane Freguesia in Macau

Coloane, officially Freguesia de São Francisco Xavier, is one of the parishes of Macau. It is located at the southern part of Macau.

In March 1974, mainly due to teaching efforts of several pioneers and travel teachers from places such as Malaysia, the Bahá'í membership climbed to 36 adults with eleven youth. A few months later reports showed 47 adult Bahá'ís and twelve youth in the three areas of Macau. A later statistical report, indicated there were 68 Bahá'ís, including nineteen youth. [1]

In the years since the formation of the National Spiritual Assembly of Macau in 1989, the Macau Bahá'í community continued to expand, and in the 2009 Macau Yearbook their numbers are listed as 2,500, with three Local Spiritual Assemblies. [2]

Administration

Administratively, in the early 1950s Macau was under the jurisdiction of the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, but after the National Spiritual Assembly of North East Asia was elected in 1957 they were administered by that body. [1]

In April 1974 the National Spiritual Assembly of Hong Kong was elected with Macau included in its jurisdiction. Two residents of Macau were elected to the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Hong Kong. [1]

In 1982 the Local Spiritual Assembly of Macau (peninsular) was granted certification by the government which was equivalent to its recognition as an incorporated charitable body. [1]

In 1989 the number of Bahá'ís in Macau was such that, together with its status as a distinct territory, The Universal House of Justice gave permission for Macau to elect its own National Spiritual Assembly. It was the third National Spiritual Assembly in Chinese territory. Taiwan was the first, in 1967, with Hong Kong the second. [1]

Modern community

Despite the agreement to transfer the sovereignty of Macau to the People's Republic of China in 1999 and its designation as a special administrative region (SAR) of China, the position of the Bahá'í Faith in Macau - its administration, membership and communities - in the context of local laws has remained unchanged. The "National" Spiritual Assembly is now referred to as the “Spiritual Assembly” or “Main Spiritual Assembly” in Chinese and still retains jurisdiction over the Local Spiritual Assemblies in Macau.

The Local Spiritual Assemblies of the Macau Peninsula, Taipa and Coloane are elected respectively once a year. The nine members of each Local Spiritual Assembly are elected from the generality of Bahá'í residents of the community through secret votes in a form of non-partisan democracy. Electioneering of any sort, candidacy and other tactics common in most political elections is prohibited.

The [Main] Spiritual Assembly of Macau is elected in a two-stage process. In the first stage, the entire Bahá'í population is divided into 19 electoral units, and each unit elects a delegate from the adult Bahá'ís residing within its electoral unit. The 19 delegates elect the nine members of the [Main] Spiritual Assembly at the annual National Convention.

Like numerous communities around the world, the Macau Bahá'í Community is heavily engaged in community-building activities in Macau: “meetings that strengthen the devotional character of the community; classes that nurture the tender hearts and minds of children; groups that channel the surging energies of junior youth; circles of study, open to all, that enable people of varied backgrounds to advance on equal footing and explore the application of the teachings to their individual and collective lives. “ [ Ref: Universal House of Justice, “To the Bahá'ís of the World” Ridvan 2010)

Bahá’ís all around the world as well as in Macau have adopted an education and training program which caters to the spiritual needs of its participants and is arranged for different age groups as follows: Ages 5 – 7: Children’s spiritual education classes Grade 1; Ages 8 – 11: Children’s spiritual education classes Grade 2; Ages 12 – 14: Junior youth spiritual empowerment program; Ages 15 and onwards: A sequence of 8 courses

The above systematic sequence of training courses is able to develop in participants a meaningful spiritual life and enable them, in various ways, to serve society. The above programs are usually delivered in the participants’ homes in small groups. An individual need not be a Bahá’í to take these courses.

In public articles and briefings the Bahá'í Faith is recognized as one of the five major religions of the Macau SAR and was included in religious delegations to mainland China. [3]

Community relations initiatives

In 1988, the School of the Nations - a Bahá'í-inspired school in Taipa - was established. It is owned by the Badi Foundation. As an international school, it provides an internationally oriented English-medium educational program to meet the needs of both expatriate and local families. Like many other initiatives around the world, both the Badi Foundation and the School of the Nations’ efforts are examples of endeavors to translate some of the ideals and concepts of the Bahá'í Faith into actions that are of benefit to society at large.

In recent years, New Millennium Publications, based in Macau, was established and makes more and more literature on the Bahá’í Faith in Chinese available to Chinese readers.

Relations with the People's Republic of China

Since there is no administrative structure for the Bahá'í Faith in mainland China at present, the Macau Bahá'í Community, together with the Hong Kong Bahá'í Community, frequently act as liaison and contact points with the relevant government agencies of the People's Republic of China.

The Macau Bahá'í Community has been involved with exchanges, conferences and events with government, academics, and non-governmental organizations that explore and share the application of the Bahá'í teachings to the advancement of society.

The following is a non-exhaustive timeline of some of the recent activities of the Macau Bahá'í Community involving various institutions and government agencies of the People's Republic of China.

1993
The China’s State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA) invited a delegation of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Macau to visit various government agencies in Beijing. This was the first time a Bahá’í institution carried out a formal exchange with the Chinese government in recent times.
February 2005
The Director General of SARA, Mr. Ye Xiao Wen, led a delegation from SARA to visit the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Macau. In April the same year, he led another delegation to Israel, which included a visit to the Bahá'í World Centre.
October 2005
A delegation of the Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá’ís of Macau and Hong Kong visited Beijing and Shanghai at the invitation of SARA.
August 2006
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Macau and SARA organized an inter-religious seminar on ‘Building An Harmonious Society – Exploring the Roles of Religion’.
October 2006
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Macau and the Center for the Study of the Bahá’í Faith at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of World Religions held a seminar on ‘A New Educational Model Guided by Spiritual Perspective’.
May 2007
The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Macau, The Institute for Global Civilization, The Shandong University Bahá’í Studies Institute, the Center for the Study of the Bahá’í Faith at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of World Religions and Qingdao University organized a seminar on ‘Seeking Inner Harmony’.
August 2007
The Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Macau made an exchange visit to the provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu. Their hosts were the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee of these two provinces and exchanges were made with the Women Federation, Poverty Alleviation Department, and different religious groups.
September 2007
The Center for the Study of the Bahá’í Faith at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of World Religions, the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of Religious Studies, The Institute of Global Civilization, and the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Macau held an international academic seminar on ‘Science, Religion, and Social and Economic Development: Reflection on the Contribution by the Bahá’í Faith Towards an Harmonious Society’.
August 2008
The Chairman of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Macau was invited, together with leaders from the other major religious groups in Macau, to attend the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
October 2009
The Chairman of the Spiritual Assembly went to Beijing, together with other religious leaders, to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China.
November 2009
The Director of the Policy and Regulations Department of SARA and the Vice-Chairman of the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Committee of Guangdong Province visited the office of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Macau.
October 2009
The Spiritual Assembly of Macau and SARA jointly organized the Science, Religion and Development Forum. More than two hundred scholars, officials and researchers attended. The Government of Macau sponsored the event.
April 2010
The Bahá’í community and the other four major religions in Macau jointly invited Mr. Wang Zuo’an, the new Director-General of SARA to Macau. He visited the office of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Macau.
November 2010
Mr Zhang Lebin, the new Deputy Director-General of SARA also visited the Office of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Macau. SARA's Director for External Affairs accompanied Mr. Wang and Mr. Zhang on their visits.

Related Research Articles

Religion in Macau religion in Macau

Religion in Macau is represented predominantly by Chinese folk religions and Buddhism. During the period in which the city was under Portuguese rule (1557–1999) the Catholic Church became one of the dominant faiths, but nowadays it has greatly declined.

The introduction of the Bahá'í Faith in Vietnam first occurred in the 1920s, not long after French Indochina was mentioned by `Abdu'l-Bahá as a potential destination for Bahá'í teachers. After a number of brief visits from travelling teachers throughout the first half of the 20th century, the first Bahá'i group in Vietnam was established in Saigon in 1954, with the arrival of Shirin Fozdar, a Bahá'í teacher from India. The 1950s and 1960s were marked by periods of rapid growth, mainly in South Vietnam; despite the ongoing war affecting the country, the Bahá'í population surged to around 200,000 adherents by 1975. After the end of the war, Vietnam was reunified under a communist government, who proscribed the practice of the religion from 1975 to 1992, leading to a sharp drop in community numbers. Relations with the government gradually improved, however, and in 2007 the Bahá'í Faith was officially registered, followed by its full legal recognition a year later. As of 2012, it was reported that the Bahá'í community comprised about 8,000 followers.

The Bahá'í Faith in Kazakhstan began during the policy of oppression of religion in the former Soviet Union. Before that time, Kazakhstan, as part of the Russian Empire, had indirect contact with the Bahá'í Faith as far back as 1847. Following the arrival of pioneers the community grew to be the largest religious community after Islam and Christianity, although only a minor percent of the national whole. By 1994 the National Spiritual Assembly of Kazakhstan was elected and the community had begun to multiply its efforts across various interests. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated some 6,400 Bahá'ís in 2005.

The Bahá'í Faith in Turkmenistan begins before Russian advances into the region when the area was under the influence of Persia. By 1887 a community of Bahá'í refugees from religious violence in Persia had made a religious center in Ashgabat. Shortly afterwards — by 1894 — Russia made Turkmenistan part of the Russian Empire. While the Bahá'í Faith spread across the Russian Empire and attracted the attention of scholars and artists, the Bahá'í community in Ashgabat built the first Bahá'í House of Worship, elected one of the first Bahá'í local administrative institutions and was a center of scholarship. During the Soviet period religious persecution made the Bahá'í community almost disappear — however, Bahá'ís who moved into the regions in the 1950s did identify individuals still adhering to the religion. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in late 1991, Bahá'í communities and their administrative bodies started to develop across the nations of the former Soviet Union; In 1994 Turkmenistan elected its own National Spiritual Assembly however, laws passed in 1995 in Turkmenistan required 500 adult religious adherents in each locality for registration and no Bahá'í community in Turkmenistan could meet this requirement. As of 2007 the religion had still failed to reach the minimum number of adherents to register and individuals have had their homes raided for Bahá'í literature.

The Bahá'í Faith in the Philippines is a community of Filipinos, who like their fellow Bahá'ís living in other parts of the world, view the world's major religions as a part of a single, progressive process through which God reveals His will to humanity. They recognize Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'i Faith, as the most recent in a line of Divine Messengers that includes Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Zoroaster, Christ and Muhammad. It is composed of Filipinos from various ethnic and religious background. The religion first reached the country in 1921 with a Bahá'í first visiting the Philippines that year. By 1944 the first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly in the country was established in Solano, Nueva Vizcaya. In the early 1960s, during a period of accelerated growth, the community grew from 200 in 1960 to 1000 by 1962 and 2000 by 1963. In 1964 the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the Philippines was elected and by 1980 there were 64000 Bahá'ís and 45 local assemblies. The Bahá'ís have been active in multi/inter-faith developments. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimates the Bahá'í population of the Philippines at about 272600.

The Bahá'í Faith in Taiwan began after the religion entered areas of China and nearby Japan. The first Bahá'ís arrived in Taiwan in 1949 and the first of these to have become a Bahá'í was Jerome Chu in 1945 while visiting the United States. By May 1955 there were eighteen Bahá'ís in six localities across Taiwan. The first Local Spiritual Assembly in Taiwan was elected in Tainan in 1956. The National Spiritual Assembly was first elected in 1967 when there were local assemblies in Taipei, Tainan, Hualien, and Pingtung. Circa 2006 the Bahá'ís showed up in the national census with 16,000 members and 13 assemblies.

Baháí Faith in Scotland

The Bahá'í Faith in Scotland is a minority religion. According to the 2001 Census in Scotland, roughly four hundred people living there declared themselves to be Bahá'ís, compared to a 2004 figure of approximately 5,000 Bahá'ís in the United Kingdom.

The Bahá'í Faith in Laos begins after a brief mention by `Abdu'l-Bahá in 1916 and the first Bahá'í enters Laos in about 1955. The first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly is known to be first elected by 1958 in Vientiane and eventually Laos' own National Spiritual Assembly is first elected in 1967. The current community is approximately eight thousand adherents and four centers: Vientiane, Vientiane Province, Kaysone Phomvihane, Pakxe and smaller populations in other provinces. While well established and able to function as communities in these cities, Bahá'ís have a harder time in other provinces and cannot print their own religious materials. The Association of Religion Data Archives estimated almost 14000 Bahá'ís in 2005.

The Bahá'í Faith in Japan begins after a few mentions of the country by `Abdu'l-Bahá first in 1875. Japanese contact with the religion came from the West when Kanichi Yamamoto (山本寛一) was living in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1902 converted; the second being Saichiro Fujita (藤田左弌郎).

The Bahá'í Faith is a diverse and widespread religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in the 19th century in Iran. Bahá'í sources usually estimate the worldwide Bahá'í population to be above 5 million. Most encyclopedias and similar sources estimate between 5 and 6 million Bahá'ís in the world in the early 21st century.

The Bahá'í Faith in Pakistan begins previous to its independence when it was part of India. The roots of the Bahá'í Faith in the region go back to the first days of the Bábí religion in 1844, with Shaykh Sa'id Hindi who was from Multan. During Bahá'u'lláh's lifetime, as founder of the religion, he encouraged some of his followers to move to the area that is current-day Pakistan.

The Bahá'í Faith in Uzbekistan began in the lifetime of Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the religion. Circa 1918 there were an estimated 1900 Bahá'ís in Tashkent. By the period of the policy of oppression of religion in the former Soviet Union the communities shrank away - by 1963 in the entire USSR there were about 200 Bahá'ís. Little is known until the 1980s when the Bahá'í Faith started to grow across the Soviet Union again. In 1991 a Bahá'í National Spiritual Assembly of the Soviet Union was elected but was quickly split among its former members. In 1992, a regional National Spiritual Assembly for the whole of Central Asia was formed with its seat in Ashgabat. In 1994 the National Spiritual Assembly of Uzbekistan was elected. In 2008 eight Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assemblies or smaller groups had registered with the government though more recently there were also raids and expulsions.

The Bahá'í Faith in Portugal comes after the first mention of Portugal in Bahá'í literature when `Abdu'l-Bahá mentioned it as a place to take the religion to in 1916. The first Bahá'í visitor to Portugal was in 1926. Its first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly was elected in Lisbon in 1946. In 1962 the Portuguese Bahá'ís elected their first National Spiritual Assembly. In 1963 there were nine assemblies. According to recent counts there are close to some 2000 members of the Bahá'í Faith in 2005 according to the Association of Religion Data Archives.

The Bahá'í Faith in Hong Kong began during the lifetime of the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, Bahá'u'lláh.

The Bahá'í Faith was first introduced in China during the lifetime of its founder, Bahá'u'lláh (1817–1892).

The Bahá'í Faith is a diverse and widespread religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in the 19th century in Iran. Bahá'í sources usually estimate the worldwide Bahá'í population to be above 5 million. Most encyclopedias and similar sources estimate between 5 and 6 million Bahá'ís in the world in the early 21st century. The religion is almost entirely contained in a single, organized, hierarchical community, but the Bahá'í population is spread out into almost every country and ethnicity in the world, being recognized as the second-most geographically widespread religion after Christianity. See Bahá'í statistics.

The Bahá'í Faith is a diverse and widespread religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in the 19th century in Iran. Bahá'í sources usually estimate the worldwide Bahá'í population to be above 5 million. Most encyclopedias and similar sources estimate between 5 and 6 million Bahá'ís in the world in the early 21st century. The religion is almost entirely contained in a single, organized, hierarchical community, but the Bahá'í population is spread out into almost every country and ethnicity in the world, being recognized as the second-most geographically widespread religion after Christianity. See Bahá'í statistics.

Baháí Faith in Europe

The Bahá'í Faith is a diverse and widespread religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in the 19th century in Iran. Bahá'í sources usually estimate the worldwide Bahá'í population to be above 5 million. Most encyclopedias and similar sources estimate between 5 and 6 million Bahá'ís in the world in the early 21st century. The religion is almost entirely contained in a single, organized, hierarchical community, but the Bahá'í population is spread out into almost every country and ethnicity in the world, being recognized as the second-most geographically widespread religion after Christianity. See Bahá'í statistics.

The Bahá'í Faith in Algeria began about 1952. In 1954 the first Bahá'í Local Spiritual Assembly of Algiers was elected. In 1963 a survey of the community counted 2 assemblies, 2 organized groups of Bahá'ís and hosted a regional National Spiritual Assembly for Algeria and Tunisia in 1967 however pioneers were expelled in late 1968 during the period of the independence of Algeria when the country adopted Islamic practices in rejection of colonial influences. However more recently the Association of Religion Data Archives and Wolfram Alpha estimated 3.3–3.8 thousand Bahá'ís in 2005 and 2010.

The Bahá'í Faith in Tunisia begins circa 1910 when the first Bahá'í arrives, possibly from Egypt. In 1956 at Ridván, a marked holy day of the religion and a day on which major elections are held, three new Regional Spiritual Assemblies were established including that of North-West Africa with the chairmanship of Enoch Olinga In 1963 a survey of the community counted 1 assembly and 18 organized groups of Bahá'ís in Tunisia. US State Department 2001 estimates mention the Bahá'í community at about 150 persons. However Association of Religion Data Archives and several other sources point to over 1000 Bahá'ís in the country.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Sims, Barbara R. (1991) “The Macau Bahá'í Community in the Early Years”, http://bahai-library.com/east-asia/macau/
  2. ↑ Macau Yearbook 2009. Government Information Bureau of the Macau Special Administrative Region, December 2009 http://yearbook.gcs.gov.mo/
  3. ↑ See Chinese Articles: 1. ycwb.com/xkb/2006-09/21/content_1221043.htm 2. www.jxmzj.gov.cn/2006-12/20061218115701.htm
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