Group photo of Gold Pin Winners and honouable guests
The 2016 “Macao Occupational Skills Recognition System” (MORS) Gold Pin Competition Award Presentation Ceremony was held today at the Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT). Ms. Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Director of Macao Government Tourist Office (MGTO), Mr. Chan Un Tong, Acting Director of Labour Affairs Bureau, Mr. Samuel Yeung, General Manager of Grand Lisboa Hotel, Mr. Chan Chak Mo, President of the United Association of Food and Beverage Merchants of Macao and Mr. Lei Pou Loi, President of Macao Hotelier Association present awards to the winners. This year, there are 10 sessions of competitions and 281 participants from 33 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 28 and 30 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, MOP8,000 cash award and a scholarship of MOP2,000 for THS training courses. Launched in 2001, 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 Floral Designer 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) Western Pastry and Bakery Chef To reward and demonstrate outstanding MORS recognised professionals, IFT has been organising the Gold Pin Competition since 2002. Gold Pin Competition final round contests examine contestants on their practical skills and details are as follows: Assistant Cook (Western Kitchen) Contestants are to be given a ‘black box’ of assorted ingredients and other general ingredients during the competition. Contestants will have 2 hours to produce a soup and a main course dish with the given ingredients. They have to present 2 identical dishes for each – one for judging and one for display. Each contestant may only bring maximum 3 ingredients (not garnishes) which must be shown to the jury prior to the start of competition. Contestants will be given 10 minutes upon receiving the “black box” to think about what dishes they will prepare. The theme this year will be “seafood”. A final recipe of the contestants chosen dish will also be required. The jury team will assess the contestants on creativity, technical skills, organisational skills, hygiene, degree of wastage, preparation, taste, dish presentation and consistency. Bartender Within a time frame, contestants had to set up a functional bar with the theme of a movie character or one of a well-known celebrity and to create a cocktail for 2 persons with the theme corresponding to the theme of their functional bar. 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) Within 90 minutes, contestants brought in their own ingredients to prepare 2 dishes, one dish with designated vegetables and another dish selected from the menu of the Le Guide Michelin restaurant of Macao. Jury team assessed the contestants on technical skills, creativity, organisational skills, hygiene, taste, presentation and consistency. Chinese Cook – Dim Sum (Intermediate level) Contestants brought in their own ingredients to prepare 3 types of dim sum, include one type of dumping, one self-selected dim sum and one dim sum assigned 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 presentation are used to determine the potential highest scorers. For the presentation performance, we would like to hear how the contestants introduce the “Safety and security measures within the hotel while s/he is escort the guest up to the room”. Each contestant is given 3 minutes to talk about this topic in front of all the audiences. 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 and a presentation are used to determine the potential highest scorers. For the presentation performance, contestants have to draw one of the below topics and introduce the topic drawn within 3 minutes of time. The topics are gaming/casino, entertainment, special events/activities, hotels, cultural heritage, food and beverage and shopping. 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. Room Attendant Contestants were tested about the techniques of bed making competition in a single elimination tournament. In Round one competition, 8 contestants are to be randomly drawn into 4 groups. They are asked to make up a twin bed within 6 minutes. 4 champions in this round will proceed to round two. In round two, 4 contestants are to be randomly drawn again into 2 groups. They are asked to make up a king bed within 8 minutes. Judges will base on their skills and total efficiency to score the contestants. Defeated competitors are eliminated from the game and eventually the final 2 champions are the Gold Pin winners. Security Officer for Tourism and Gaming Industry There will be 3 rounds in the competition. The first round, contestants will compete with each other in the Q&A and Quiz Bee on Security Officer and Customer Service knowledge. The second and third rounds are task activity and assignment competition. Judges will base on skills, attitude, speed and procedure to score the contestants. Waiter / Waitress (Chinese Restaurant Service) Within 20 minutes of time, contestants have to complete two parts. In part one, the judges will pick up one famous Chinese cuisine based on 8 major world famous culinary cuisines in China and contestants have to answer the question particular on that cuisine. In part two, contestants should go through a food serving process. For the first part, judges will base on varies criteria such as product knowledge; communication skills; presentation skills and listening skill etc. to score this part. For the second part, judges will base on the correctness of using proper tools, workflow, techniques, hygiene, speed, quality of work. Waiter / Waitress (Western Restaurant Service) The final contest title is: Buffet Table Set-up. The competition will be divided into 2 parts. Part 1: Placing all the required standard utensils and equipment on the buffet table. Speed, hygiene and tidiness will be the key marking criterions of this part. Part 2: Placing all the theme items and decorative props/materials on the buffet table. Theme creativity, appearance and attractiveness will be the key marking criterions of this part. 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 101 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 now 8 bachelor degree programmes with the Certification. Currently, the Institute has the most number of 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 2016 – Gold Pin Winners *Annex Table