José Luís de Sales Marques

Published author José Luís de Sales Marques was born and raised in Macau and is fluent in Portuguese, English and Cantonese. He went to Portugal to undertake his university degree in Economics but then returned to Macao and worked extensively with the government starting in 1983. He worked for eight years as president of the City Hall (Leal Senado) and has been the president of the board of directors of the Institute of European Studies of Macau (IEEM) since 2002. He is also the president of the Council of Macanese Communities, a member of the board of the Portuguese School Foundation and vice-president of Macao's Maritime Silk Road Association. Although the Portuguese national's life has taken him down a political path, in his early days he always 'dreamed about becoming a professional photographer'. He may not have done that but he has become a respected local writer and authority on culture and globalisation.