The general public in Macau has probably not heard of the Bahai religion. Little do they know there are 2,000 Bahais living in Macau - about the same number as the remaining Portuguese, and similar to the Bahai population of Hong Kong.
Bahai community officials from Macau and Hong Kong recently returned from a week's trip to Beijing and Shanghai, where they had been invited by the central government's State Administration of Religious Affairs. It was only their second official visit to Beijing; the first was in 1993.
'The last time, we felt like they were trying to tell us what we're allowed to do and what we are not,' said Kong Siew-huat, president of the Macau Spiritual Assembly of Local Bahais.
'But this time we felt more welcome. They were exploring what contribution we can make to the future of China.' Central government officials are apparently curious to see what solutions religions can provide to solve the nation's social problems.
Because official Bahai organisations cannot be set up in mainland China, no statistics are available on the number of Bahais that live there. But to their delight, Macau and Hong Kong Bahai leaders discovered a Centre of Bahai Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
'The last time we visited, we were basically told that there are five recognised religions in China and you are not one of them,' said Professor Kong, who teaches business at the University of Macau. 'This time, it was quite different.' Instead of simply focusing on converting the general public, Bahais in Macau emphasise providing community services and education to non-Bahais.