Interview by William Chan

        In an exclusive interview with The Macau Post Daily, Caspar Chan Ka Yin, a local researcher and former music student, shared his experience in moving from working as a musician to the life of an academic scholar, as well as about his research and participation in the Annual Conference of Macao Studies 2022, and the importance of searching for Macau’s identity.

The interview was conducted at ORA Coffee Tap Seac last week.

Chan is a Research Master’s graduate (cum laude) of the University of Groningen in the northern Netherlands. Currently working as an independent researcher, he is collaborating with the Heritage Society of Macau on several projects. He has also published various essays about arts, politics and history on both academic and general platforms.

The Centre for Macau Studies (CMS) of the University of Macau (UM), which hosted the annual conference, was established with a mission to “anchor and pursue research on society for the development of Macau”. Aiming to promote interdisciplinary research in Macau, the centre hosted an annual conference on September 28 and 29, presenting over 40 papers from scholars around the world

Musician, scholar

Chan obtained a biochemistry bachelor’s degree at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) in 2016. “The end of my bachelor’s degree, unfortunately, also marked the end of my interest in biochemistry. Even some of my friends agreed – career development was somewhat disregarded in high school. I think that I chose biochemistry merely because I was in the science class.

“On the other hand, though not playing the piano regularly during my time at the CUHK, I have still retained my passion for music. Therefore, I decided to study music at the Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) and was inspired to become a conductor,” Chan said. Nevertheless, also acknowledging that further studying at a prestigious music academy in Europe would be strenuous and notoriously competitive, he eventually turned to musicology, aiming for a career in the music industry.

The COVID-19 pandemic then struck in 2019 and again hindered Chan’s plans. “Without many musical performance chances, I adapted to the situation again and focused on researching music when everything was closed. My writing habits, the friends I met on my journey and my science background all led me to my path to finally become an academic researcher,” Chan noted.

CMS conference

Initially, Chan decided to research local music because he is interested in cultural identities. “As in any forms of research, questions always lead to more questions, and soon I was completely drawn into the field.

“I was then offered a chance earlier this year to participate in the annual conference of the Centre of Macau Studies, where I presented the paper ‘Narrating and Contesting Cultural Identities in Music: The Case of (Post-)colonial Macao’, which was adapted from my thesis I submitted for my musicology master’s degree” Chan said.

Chan presented four songs written in Portuguese and Mandarin at the conference. “The four pieces all featured a motherhood theme. I find it interesting that not only did they present a sort of motherhood towards Macau differently to each other, but it can also be said that both Macanese and Chinese locals all exhibited a sense of entitlement to a Macau identity,” Chan noted.

Importance of identity

The conclusion of the paper is that the Macau identity can only be a hybrid one, with different narratives always competing with each other, according to Chan. “Indeed, there is no answer to the question of identity. Identity is a name tag that tells something about ourselves which depends on events to which we give significance. Since it is narratable and can change over time, different and contradictory narratives often occur.

“However, should we just ignore searching for identity if it is uncertain and always changing? Just like music, our cultural identity cannot feed us or shield us from the cold. Nonetheless, the subtle and abrupt question of ‘Who are we?’ always strikes us, and we never know when! Perhaps it’s in the middle of the night or in the middle of your work, pushing us to yield a meaning for our own life,” Chan said, adding that looking for identity satisfies the existential needs of every human being.

Caspar Chan Ka Yin conducts at the Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) in 2018. - Photos provided by Chan

This screenshot of a website shows Chan’s publication in autumn 2022 in the International Institute of Asian Studies (IIAS).

Chan looks on during last week’s interview at ORA Coffee Tap Seac.
– Photo: William Chan

Chan presents his paper at the online annual conference hosted by the Centre of Macau Studies (CMS) last Tuesday.