Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC), a series of activities have been held from May to December 2009, including the University Students’ Statistical Project Competition, thematic seminar, comic series on statistics “The 18 Changes of Macao” and release of the Commemorative Publication. University Students’ Statistical Project Competition The Competition took place in May and June, which aimed to enhance students’ interest and ability on the application and analysis of official statistics and to get to know Macao better through statistical data and scientific methods. The Competition was well received with participation of about 400 students submitting nearly 100 entries. The assessment of entries took two rounds, with the ten best teams being shortlisted to the final to compete for the prizes on 10 October. On the day of the final, each team was given only fifteen minutes to present a Powerpoint with highlights of the project to the panel of judges. The panel was presided by Prof. Frederick W. H. Ho, ex-Commissioner for Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong SAR and Statistical Advisor to the National Bureau of Statistics of China; other members included Mr. Sou Tim Peng, Director of Macao Economic Services; Ms. Vanessa Kong, Director of DSEC and President of the Consultative Committee on Statistics (CCE); Dr. Benjamin S. S. Chan, Director of Research and Statistics Department of the Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) and Vice-President of CCE; and Ms. Ana Cheng, Deputy Director of DSEC. The judges would select in accordance with the content of the Powerpoint presentation, proper use of statistical data, analysis and logical reasoning, etc., together with questions raised to the contestants on the theme topic presented. After the presentation, Prof. Ho praised the effectiveness of the Competition and the high quality of the entries in his concluding remarks; he highly appreciated the enthusiasm and considerable effort of all the participating teams. Prof. Ho believed that the Competition could encourage proper use of statistics among the students. He added that statistics is just like a “guiding light”, with which students can act consciously and be able to optimize the advantage of statistics. Lastly, Prof. Ho praised DSEC for its continuous effort on the development of the statistical system towards international standards. The Winner of the University Students’ Statistical Project Competition is “Road Traffic” (a cash prize of MOP15,000); the First Runner-up is “Tears Behind the Diamond – A Study on Income Inequality in Macau” (MOP8,000), and the Second Runner-up is “Develop Macau as a Sustainable Tourism Destination in Terms of Hotel Industry” (MOP5,000). Excerpt from the final is available on DSEC website. Thematic Seminar on Statistics In an effort to raise the professional knowledge of its staff, DSEC invited Prof. Frederick Ho to give a thematic seminar on 23 October, the Day of Official Statistics, focusing on implementation of statistical projects, data collection and dissemination, external relation, positioning of the organization, etc. The three-hour interactive discussion looked at the relationship between statistics and media, the partnership of media and effective data dissemination and statistical promotion. DSEC colleagues participated actively in the seminar and Prof. Ho answered each of the questions in details. In view of the effectiveness of the seminar, DSEC is considering to organize more professionals to talk and share their views with its staff, to extend their vision and enhance their professional knowledge. Gala Dinner A gala dinner was held at the Grand Lisboa Hotel in the evening, with the theme “Building on Past Success, Meeting the Future Challenges”. In her welcome remarks, the Director of DSEC emphasized that the Official Statistics must enhance the quality of work to keep pace with the social and economic changes. In addition to the participation of nearly two hundred staff, the invited guests included Commissioner for Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong SAR, Mr. Fung Hing Wang and three Assistant Commissioners; Chief of Cabinet of Secretary for Economy and Finance, Ms. Lok Kit Sim; Director of Macao Economic Services, Mr. Sou Tim Peng; President of the AMCM, Mr. Anselmo Teng; Statistical Advisor to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, Prof. Frederick Ho; and members of the Consultative Committee on Statistics. During the gala dinner, the Award of Appreciation was presented to the senior staff who have been working for DSEC for 25 and 15 years; in addition, the Award was also presented to three senior members of the Consultative Committee on Statistics, Mr. Vong Kok Seng, Mr. Kwok Kai Hin and Mr. Fong Ka Wai, for their valuable contribution to the development of the Official Statistics. Prizes were also awarded to the Winner, the First and Second Runners-up and the Distinguished teams of the University Students’ Statistical Project Competition, as well as Distinguished participants of the 2011 Census slogan competition. “The 18 Changes of Macao” Comic Series From September to December 2009, DSEC publishes a thematic comic series entitled “The 18 Changes of Macao” on the daily or weekly Chinese, English and Portuguese newspapers every Wednesday and Friday, which aims to illustrate the social and economic changes of Macao over the past 25 years, to enable the public to understand that the official statistics is closely related to everybody’s daily life. Commemorative Publication DSEC has prepared a Commemorative Publication in celebration of its Silver Jubilee, a presentation of the enthusiasm for statistical work, to convey the importance of “Statistics Tells”. For a copy of the Commemorative Publication, please contact Ms. Yu at 8399 5332.
