On October 25 and November 1, 2017, the first and second year students enrolled in the International Business Cohort were given a personalized tour of some of Macao’s most historic sites by Mr. Jason Wordie.  Mr. Wordie, a well known historian, has lived in Hong Kong and Macao since the 1990s. The students were accompanied by Prof. Priscilla Roberts, Coordinator of the International Business Cohort programme.  

A History graduate from the University of Hong Kong Jason was a Council Member of the Royal Asiatic Society, Hong Kong Branch for some years. He also served in the Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers) from 1990-1992. A keen recreational hiker, and an enthusiastic gardener, Jason is an active member of the Hong Kong Gardening Society.

He has written several books on Hong Kong’s history, as well as the massive book Macao—People and Places, Past and Present (2013), a volume that took him six years to write, and that brings together 25 years of his studies of Macao.

Mr. Wordie began in the historic Senado Central Square of Macao.  As we went, he showed the students old photographs and paintings of Macao, so that they could see how these places had looked in the past, and told them many interesting stories about them.

Mr. Wordie began by showing the students the Leal Senado Building, including the beautiful old library upstairs. They also went inside several historic churches, including St. Joseph’s Seminary and Church, and St. Augustine’s Church, as well as the Dom Pedro V Theater.  Other stops on the tour included the Lou Kau Mansion, several small temples, and some of the restored buildings that are now used by restaurants, bars, and small businesses. 

Towards the end of the tour, the students went to St. Lawrence’s Church and St. Augustine’s Church.  They were taken to the ruins of St. Paul’s and the Monte Fortress, where they were shown how cannons worked, and how the fort was defended.  They were also shown the surviving pieces of the City walls.  They finished by seeing the Protestant Cemetery, the headquarters of the East India Company, and the Camoes Gardens. 

Although the students had visited St. Paul’s and the Monte fort, most of them had not seen the other sites to which Mr. Wordie took them.  For most, it was a revelation of just how much of the past one can still see in Macao, and how interesting and complex the city’s history has been.