Gold Pin competition winners took group photos with guests
The 2015 “Macao Occupational Skills Recognition System” (MORS) Gold Pin Competition Award Presentation Ceremony was held today at the Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT). Mr. Lau Wai Meng, Deputy Director of Labour Affairs Bureau, Ms. Betty Fok, Head of Destination Marketing Department of Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO), Mr. Lei Pou Loi, President of Macao Hotelier Association and the representative of Grand Lisboa Hotel will present awards to the winners. This year, there are 10 sessions of competitions and 290 participants from 31 organisations altogether, including Assistant Cook (Western Kitchen), Bartender, Chinese Cook – Cantonese Cuisine (Intermediate level), Chinese Cook - Dim Sum (Intermediate Level), Concierge and Bell Attendant, Front Desk Agent/Customer Relations Officer, Security Officer for Tourism and Gaming Industry, Room Attendant, Waiter/Waitress (Chinese Restaurant Service) and Waiter/Waitress (Western Restaurant Service). The final round of the competitions was held on 23 and 25 November at IFT and Grand Lisboa Hotel respectively. The competition adapted a process of elimination, with 3 rounds of contests for each competition. The first 2 rounds of contests were held in forms of written examination and skill evaluation according to the fundamental knowledge covered in the MORS training manuals. Participants without MORS certificates needed to go through the first round. In order to be admitted to the second round, the contestants must reach a minimum score of 75%, and compete with those who possess the certificate. Contestants with excellent performances in the second round from each competition will be invited to join the final and given the certificates. Contestants aimed at the 2 winning positions in each competition. Juries formed by over 30 respectful executives from the industry observed closely and assessed the contestants for the final winners. Winners would receive a MORS Gold Pin, MOP6,000 cash award and a scholarship of MOP2,000 for THS training courses. Launched in 2001, Macao Occupational Skills Recognition System (MORS) is a joint effort of the Tourism Industry of Macao and IFT with the main objective to upgrade human resources in the industry through the introduction of a certification scheme for a number of professions. At this moment, skills standards are introduced for the following occupations: Assistant Cook (Western Kitchen) Bartender Chinese Cook – Cantonese Cuisine (Elementary) Chinese Cook – Cantonese Cuisine (Intermediate) Chinese Cook – Cantonese Dim Sum (Elementary) Chinese Cook – Cantonese Dim Sum (Intermediate) Concierge and Bell Attendant Customer Relations Officer Front Desk Agent Retail Sales Officer Room Attendant Security Officer for Tourism and Gaming Industry Travel Consultant Waiter / Waitress (Chinese Restaurant Service) Waiter / Waitress (Western Restaurant Service) Floral Designer Western Pastry and Bakery Chef To reward and demonstrate outstanding MORS recognised professionals, IFT has been organising the Gold Pin Competition since 2002. Participants can be Entry-level Professionals sent by each training centre or they can be entering by themselves. Gold Pin Competition final round contests examine contestants on their practical skills and details are as follows: Assistant Cook (Western Kitchen) Within 120 minutes, contestants have to prepare a starter and a main course with the main ingredient of a chicken. They have to present two identical dishes for each –one for judging and one for display. Contestants will be given a whole chicken with the brand LANGUIRU and its weight is approx.1.6 KG(1600 Grams) for cooking the main course. Contestants and dishes will be judged on various criteria from kitchen management skills, hygiene and safety practices, workflows, preparation, technical skills, creativity, dish presentation, degree of wastage and flavor. Bartender Within a time frame, contestants had to create a cocktail for 2 persons with the theme of Winter Lover, followed by a secret cocktail tasting and technical skills test. The jury team assessed the contestants on technical skills including taste, presentation, cocktail name and colour of the cocktail, and creativity, technical skill, showmanship and speed of the contestants. Chinese Cook – Cantonese Cuisine (Intermediate level) Contestants had to prepare 3 dishes and 1 soup for 2 adults and 1 child within 90 minutes. Jury team assessed the contestants on technical skills, creativity, organisational skills, hygiene, taste, presentation and consistency. Chinese Cook – Dim Sum (Intermediate level) Contestants had to prepare 4 types of specific dim sum including one type of traditional dim sum specified by IFT. The time frame for preparation was 2 hours. Jury team assessed the contestants on technical skills, creativity, organisational skills, hygiene, taste, presentation and consistency. Concierge and Bell Attendant A total of 2 rounds of quizzes and a final presentation are used to determine the potential highest scorers. The final part, which is a story telling section, we would like to hear the personal opinions from the finalists about a topic, which is “how are we going to maximize the hotel revenue?” each contestant is given 3 minutes to talk about this topic in front of all the audiences (No Powerpoint slides are needed for the presentation). Judges will then base on various criteria, such as words being used, communication skill, presentation skill, in-depth of the topic, etc. to decide the best contestant. Front Desk Agent/Customer Relations Officer A total of 2 rounds of quizzes are used to determine the potential highest scorers. The final part, which is a storytelling section, we would like to hear from the contestants about their personal opinion in one particular topic, “what have you done to exceed your guest’s expectation”. Each contestant is given 3 minutes to present oneself in front of all the audiences (No Powerpoint slides are needed for the presentation). Judges will then base on various criteria, such as words being used, communication skill, presentation skill, in-depth of the topic, etc. to decide the best contestant. Retail Sales Officer Finalists were asked to do a product presentation/demonstration. Their skills to handle complain were also been assessed. Room Attendant The participants were tested about their techniques of bed making competition (within 15 minutes) and turn down service (within 10 minutes). The theme of turn down service will be “Just Married”. The jury team assessed the contestants on their knowledge, speed and quality of work. Security Officer for Tourism and Gaming Industry Quiz Bee and a fire control technical skills competition was adopted in the final round. Questions were designed to test the contestants’ job knowledge, skill, guest relations, language and listening competence, etc. In the fire control technical skills competition, contestants will be asked to do one of the tasks assigned by IFT and judges will base on skills, speed, procedure, Occupation Safety and Health to score the contestants. Waiter / Waitress (Chinese Restaurant Service) Contestants were asked to present suitable dishes to customers in a particular scenario in 20 minutes for the first part and then go through a food serving process in the second part. Assessment was based on contestants’ s sales techniques; product knowledge; communication skills; presentation skills and listening skill etc to score the first part, and correctness of using proper tools, workflow, techniques, hygiene, speed, quality of work for the second part. Waiter / Waitress (Western Restaurant Service) Contestants were requested to perform a western restaurant table set-up (Rectangular Table, 4 pax) within a certain time frame. Juries based on performance related to the evaluation standard of the contestants’ hygiene standard, western restaurant table set-up skills and their grooming. Established in 1995, the Institute for Tourism Studies, Macao (IFT) offers the most extensive selection of tourism and hospitality related bachelor degree programmes in Macao, and about twenty thousand participants attend its vocational and professional training courses annually. IFT collaborates with 85 universities and tourism organisations around the world, and builds strong links with 500 leading tourism and hospitality corporations to offer internship opportunities to its students. Being the first institution accredited by the UNWTO.TedQual Certification System for tourism education, IFT has the most bachelor degree programmes certified under the System of any tertiary education establishment worldwide. IFT has received the Medal of Merit in Tourism from the Macao SAR Government, and won twice the Gold Award in ‘Education and Training’ from the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA). MORS Gold Pin Competition 2015 – Gold Pin Winners ASSISTANT COOK (WESTERN KITCHEN) BERK BARLAS – GRAND LISBOA HOTEL FONG JUN KEET – SANDS COTAI CENTRAL BARTENDER JINTAMUTTA PANUWAT – GALAXY MACAU WONG KIN SENG – GRAND EMPEROR HOTEL CHINESE COOK – CANTONESE CUISINE (INTERMEDIATE LEVEL) AO KIN SAN – STARWORLD HOTEL KWAN WING FAT – MGM MACAU CHINESE COOK – CANTONESE DIM SUM (INTERMEDIATE LEVEL) WANG BAOAN – GALAXY MACAU WU FALIN – GALAXY MACAU CONCIERGE AND BELL ATTENDANT TAM KAI IN – SHERATON MACAO HOTEL, COTAI CENTRAL XU JINSHEN – GRAND LISBOA HOTEL FRONT DESK AGENT / CUSTOMER RELATIONS OFFICER FENG JIALI – MGM MACAU XUE YINGYING – GALAXY MACAU ROOM ATTENDANT YANG ZHENGCHONG – HOTEL OKURA MACAU ZHANG SHUZHEN – MGM MACAU SECURITY OFFICER FOR TOURISM AND GAMING INDUSTRY LEONG VAI KWONG – MGM MACAU WONG KUOK PONG – GRAND EMPEROR HOTEL WAITER AND WAITRESS (CHINESE RESTAURANT SERVICE) LIN XIAOLU – MGM MACAU XUE YACHANG – GRAND LISBOA HOTEL WAITER AND WAITRESS (WESTERN RESTAURANT SERVICE) LIU CHEN – SHERATON MACAO HOTEL, COTAI CENTRAL WANG MAN – GRAND LISBOA HOTEL