Even for a small city, there’s a vast number of Macao-related Instagram accounts out there. Which ones are actually worth your likes and follows? We can’t pretend to have a definitive list, but we know what we like.
We listed five Macao Instagrammers last year and have five more for you this time. Hit that “Follow” button.
The singer: Winnie Lam, @winifai
R&B, soul and jazz are the inspirations for this talented local singer-songwriter, who has covered many Chinese and English songs and started releasing her originals in 2019.
Winnie Lam got her musical start in her school choir, then began performing in singing contests. After university, Lam worked for two years as an English teacher before quitting and focusing on her music career, which she is now doing for a living.
“I live by the quote ‘Work hard in silence and let success be your voice’,” Lam says.
[See more: You can now vote for your favourite Macao pop song]
She’s performed at multiple events like NingNan Jazz Festival 2024 in China, 12th ABU TV Song Festival 2023 in Seoul, Kooltai Macao Musical Festival 2023 and collaborated with local artists like Roberto Madan, Kane Ao Ieong and Karen Acconci.
Of all her songs, Lam said her favourite is the cover of Gareth Tong’s “緊急聯絡人.” The IG post has had 20,963 likes so far.
If you’re a fan of Icelandic-Chinese singer Laufey, you might find similarities in Lam, who is a big fan. Lam also looks up to Walter Kwan. “They are both amazing singer-songwriters,” Lam says.
The barber: Dan Estanislao, @danny.cutz
A student by day and a barber by night. Dan Estanislao started giving free haircuts in his classroom before joining Joker’s Barbershop Macao in 2019.
Among his inspirations is former barber Tim Estrada from 2Legit, who was “passionate” Estanislao says, and made him “fall in love with the culture.” Not long after, Estanislao bought his first clipper and cut his classmate’s hair using a garbage bag as a cutting cape.
Estanislao says the quote “Find a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life” perfectly describes how he feels being a barber. On weekdays, he attends his lectures at the Macau Polytechnic University and tries to fit in clients during his lunch break. Estanislao explained that he started with 20 clients a month and today struggles to fit the same number in two days. On his rest days, he does sports like basketball or boxing.
Follow Estanislao as he showcases his craft, hair inspirations and hair transformations. “I hope to inspire people, whether by encouraging them to experiment with new hairstyles or by motivating them to pursue their passions,” he says.
Estanislao’s go-to haircut is a taper fade. Fun fact: He recently gave an entire football team a mid-taper with a messy fringe.
The football player: Oriana Wong, @oriana_wong12
While women’s soccer has exploded in popularity around the world in recent years, backward attitudes still persist among some men unwilling to embrace change.
“I have experienced it all first hand,” says 19-year-old Oriana Wong, who plays for the Macao SAR team. “I have been told that it will make your legs grow [big], or that playing football makes you short and I should try basketball instead, or ‘you’re going to get tanned’ or ‘you will get hurt.’”
That’s never stopped her though. Wong first played football at Taipa Central Park when she was 11 years old. She became a goalkeeper to be like the protagonist in the Japanese anime Inazuma Eleven. Soon she enrolled at the Escola de Futebol Juvenil de Macau and later joined the International School of Macao football team. “I loved the feeling of recognising improvements within myself,” Wong says.
She quickly saw that there were more opportunities for female football players overseas, where there was a higher level of coaching, better equipment and more fields to train on.
[See more: What’s next for football in Macao?]
“I deeply understand how hard it is to pursue the shared dream of becoming a professional athlete,” Wong says. “Not just in football, but as an athlete in Macao.”
After moving to the UK, Wong joined AFC Bournemouth U21s for two years. Since completing her A Level exams in 2023, she joined Loughborough Lightning in the Women’s National League while progressing towards her Bachelor of Science in sports and exercise at Loughborough University.
Through her social media, she hopes to “get more exposure to the outside world in sports and use it to exchange ideas and learn from others, while showcasing what I have been up to in Macao.”
The photographer: Lai Ion Kun, @lkun_red
Macao and the places he visits on his travels, as well as portraiture, are the main subjects of Lai Ion Kun’s moody, atmospheric photography.
The Macao-born photographer created his Instagram account in 2015, just as tech giant Apple launched its “Shot on iPhone” campaign. The images inspired Kun to explore ways he could take pictures with his iPhone 7 – and he hasn’t looked back, “cultivating passion and exploring the world from various perspectives.”
[See more: See Instagrammer Cássia Schutt’s photos of Macao]
Kun draws his inspiration from cityscapes and landscape photography. “Through these images, I aim to convey the density of Macao,” the 29-year-old says. “Offering viewers, whether locals or those unfamiliar with the SAR, a different perspective.”
Two of his favourite pictures are from his visits to Iceland in 2020 and 2023, where he experienced a volcanic eruption and blizzard. Kun also has an account, @boring_withoutfeeling, dedicated to his film photography.
The graffiti artists: Felipe Wong and Anny Chong, @_aafk_
Husband-and-wife duo Felipe Wong and Anny Chong got into the graffiti world in Hong Kong in 2014 after quitting their corporate jobs. “The excitement of finding a new way to create, made art feel so alive and human,” Chong says.
Although most graffiti is illegal, the couple – who divide their time between Macao and Hong Kong – have found ways to use the art form to create brand projects, for education and community outreach. “It’s never easy,” Wong says. “But we’re doing our best to show people the great value of graffiti art to make people find inspiration through art.”
In June 2023, the duo worked on an interior mural project called City U Rams for City University Hong Kong. The idea was to show the ram (the official mascot of the provincial capital Guangzhou) as a symbol of determination, strength and leadership. “We wanted to create a space for the students where they could feel the calmness and confidence in the eyes of the ram,” Chong says.
[See more: These Macao creatives are changing the way the city views toys]
Another favourite is the mural of a dog in Hong Kong’s To Kwa Wan district, entitled Resilient. The graffiti was done just before parts of the neighbourhood were demolished in October 2019 as part of an urban renewal project. A resident who was saddened by the development told Chong that she loved dogs and asked the couple to paint one as a parting gift.
“The ever-evolving urban landscape sometimes reminds us of the ever-changing movement of street art and graffiti in which nothing is permanent,” Wong says. “This piece reminds us that we all must do the best in our present circumstances.”
