The government has listed 12 more items of Macau’s intangible cultural heritage as statutorily protected ones.
The 12 newly classified items are listed in an executive order by Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Wallis O Lam published in the Official Gazette (BO) yesterday.
This came after the government first classified 12 items in its statutory protection list of intangible cultural heritage in 2019 since the Cultural Heritage Protection Law took effect in 2014.
According to yesterday’s executive order, the 12 newly classified items of intangible cultural heritage comprise Tou Tei (“Earth God”) Beliefs and Customs, Dragon Dance, Lion Dance, Portuguese Folk Dance, Spring Festival, Tung Ng (“Double Fifth” – Dragon Boat Festival), Dragon Boat Races, Tai Chi (“Supreme Ultimate”) Martial Arts, Confection of Portuguese-style Egg Tarts, Confection of Almond Cookies, Confection of Traditional Chinese Wedding Cakes, and Preparation of Jook-Sing (“Bamboo Rise”) Noodles.
The Cultural Heritage Protection Law defines cultural heritage as comprising intangible cultural heritage and tangible cultural heritage that consists of classified immovable properties, i.e., cultural heritage construction structures, and movable properties.
According to the law, which came into force in March 2014, the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) is required to draw up an inventory of intangible cultural heritage with the aim of ensuring the protection of Macau’s various items of intangible cultural heritage, as well as to update the inventory, i.e., adding items, in compliance with the findings of its latest surveys and research studies.
According to its website, the bureau first put 15 items of intangible cultural heritage into the inventory in 2017, before adding 55 more in 2020, because of which the inventory currently comprises 70 items.
In addition, according to the law, the government is required to decide whether to classify certain intangible cultural heritage items that are already in the Cultural Affairs Bureau’s inventory as statutorily protected ones, officially known as List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
However, according to the law, the government is required to consult the public about its proposal to list certain intangible cultural heritage items as statutorily protected ones.
In addition to consulting members of the public, the government is also required to consult the Cultural Heritage Council before deciding whether to list the respective items as statutorily protected ones.
After a public consultation process, the government, for the first time, classified 12 items in its List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in December 2019.
Items newly classified in the statutorily protected List of Intangible Cultural Heritage must be published in an executive order signed by the secretary for social affairs and culture in the Official Gazette (BO) to take legal effect.
The government launched a public consultation late last year on its proposal to list 12 more items of intangible cultural heritage as statutorily protected ones. After consulting the public and the government-appointed Cultural Heritage Council, the government decided to list all of them as statutorily protected items, i.e., the 12 items gazetted yesterday.
After its promulgation in the gazette yesterday, O’s executive order takes effect today.
Consequently, Macau now has 24 statutorily protected items of intangible cultural heritage, comprising 12 items listed in December 2019 and 12 items listed yesterday.
Macau’s first 12 statutorily protected items of intangible cultural heritage include Cantonese Opera, Patuá Theatre, A-Ma Beliefs and Customs, Na Tcha Beliefs and Customs, and Herbal Tea Brewing.
Details in English about all 70 items listed in the government’s Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage can be checked on: https://www.culturalheritage.mo/en/detail/102318.
This undated handout photo downloaded from the Cultural Affairs Bureau’s (IC) cultural heritage website yesterday shows almond cookies being made in a kitchen.
