Macau-based journalist Nelson Moura has released a new book, Let’s All Persevere — Covid, Gaming and Other Macau Oddities, offering a humorous take on the city’s pandemic years. The collection of 75 chronicles captures the absurdities, solidarity, and dark humor that defined this period.
Originally published as opinion columns in Macau News Agency and Macau Business, the pieces document the profound disruption caused by the pandemic in a city heavily reliant on tourism and gambling. The book also explores broader economic, social, and political changes in Macau during this time.
Preserving the Absurdity of Macau’s Pandemic Years
Moura, a contributing editor at Macau Business and former editor-in-chief of Macau News Agency, began the project after revisiting an old column. He realized Macau’s pandemic experience had generated little public discussion or published reflection. “I thought it would be interesting to collect these articles and publish them as a kind of historical record,” he said.
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The book, published by the International Institute of Macau in partnership with Macau Business and supported by the Macau Foundation, features a cover by Portuguese illustrator Afonso Castro. It was launched at the Rui Cunha Foundation, with Moura and José Carlos Matias, director of Macau Business and MNA, in attendance.
A Mix of Humor and Reflection
Moura’s work highlights the unique blend of casino wealth, small-town familiarity, political and social sensitivities, and occasional eccentricity that make Macau fertile ground for the unusual. He shares a story of a casino junket agent arrested for selling counterfeit almond biscuits hidden in the boot of a Grand Prix car, illustrating the city’s eccentricities.
The title, Let’s All Persevere, borrows from a Macau government slogan used during the pandemic, deployed with irony by Moura. He uses humor and satire to examine official policies and social behavior, making a grim period more digestible. “Macau is a ridiculous place, with lots of ridiculous things happening all the time, which provides great content for humour,” he said.
Lessons from the Pandemic
The pandemic reshaped Moura’s understanding of the balance between public safety and individual rights. He observed how quickly civic freedoms could be restricted in the name of collective welfare, with limited scope for residents to challenge these measures.
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Yet, the period also reinforced a personal lesson: people retain control over how they respond to circumstances they cannot change. “We all saw how people across the city tried to make the best of it [during the Covid period],” he said. “I took that lesson [from the pandemic], and I still use it today.”
The book is available from the International Institute of Macau, with further distribution through bookshops to be announced. Moura hopes the humor and time’s distance will make revisiting the pandemic experience easier. “Hopefully, it won’t make it worse,” he added.
Capturing Macau’s Unique Pandemic Experience
Moura aimed to preserve the humorous and fun parts of Macau’s pandemic era, so future readers could laugh again at those memories. He also wanted to highlight the positive, such as acts of empathy and solidarity, alongside the anxiety and disruption. The book’s subtitle, “Covid, Gaming and Other Macau Oddities,” reflects this intention.
