News

The Macao Museum of Art (MAM) under the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao S.A.R. Government, in collaboration with the Consulate General of France in Hong Kong and Macao and the Alliance Française de Macao, hold, the exhibition “Auguste Borget: A Painter-Traveller on the South China Coast”, as part of Le French May 2016, which will be inaugurated on Wednesday, 29 June, at 6:30pm, at the Gallery of Special Exhibitions located on the 2nd floor of the Museum. On the inauguration day, the exhibition will be open to the public until 8pm. The exhibition “Auguste Borget: A Painter-Traveller on the South China Coast” allows visitors to have a glimpse of the folk customs of Macao and its surrounding areas in those days through the objective and delicate perspective and concise drawing style of Borget’s documentary works. The exhibition showcases over 120 exhibits collected by cultural entities from Macao, Hong Kong, France and the United Kingdom as well as private collectors, including sketches, watercolours, oil paintings, prints and antique books. French painter and traveller Auguste Borget (1808 - 1877) embarked in October 1836 on a four-year long voyage around the world. In July 1838, Borget arrived in China, visiting Macao, Hong Kong, Guangdong and Fujian provinces. During his stay in China, Borget observed the local customs and documented all he saw and heard with illustrations and text. In an age before photography, his works serve as a precious historical record of the South China coast. The exhibition “Auguste Borget: A Painter-Traveller on the South China Coast” will be held from 30 June to 9 October. All residents and visitors are welcome to witness this example of Sino-French cultural and artistic exchange. The Macao Museum of Art, located at Av. Xian Xing Hai, is open daily from 10am to 7pm (no admittance after 6:30pm; closed on Mondays). Admission fee is MOP5 and is free on Sundays and public holidays. For enquiry, please call MAM through tel. no. 8791 9814 during office hours, or visit www.MAM.gov.mo.
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The Macao Orchestra of the Cultural Affairs Bureau cooperates for the first time with the Macao Science Centre to present the concert “Science and Music Make Trouble” on 3 July (Sunday), in two sessions to be held at 2pm and 3pm. The concert fuses music and science, revealing the wonders of music through interesting scientific theories, allowing younger children to experience, listen and even see music up close. The public will be invited to attend the concerts for free with the ticket of the Macao Science Centre Exhibition Centre, and the concert is open to younger children and to the respective accompanying family members. This initiative is coupled with the Science Centre’s special exhibition “Living Dinosaurs” and includes the performance of several fun melodies in the Macao Science Centre Exhibition Centre’s numerous themed galleries, such as the Space Science Gallery, the Science Express Gallery and the Robotic Gallery, among others. The concerts start from a scientific perspective to introduce the string and wind instruments of a symphonic orchestra, also including informative and fun interactive segments, allowing the public to experience and explore firsthand the joys of science and music. The two concerts will be held at 2pm and 3pm on 3 July, at the Macao Science Centre Exhibition Centre. Admission is free with entrance ticket, which can be purchased at the ticket office of the Macao Science Centre Exhibition Centre. For more information on this concert and the respective programme, please access the webpage www.icm.gov.mo/om or follow the “Macao Orchestra” WeChat account.
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Sales in Macao of live poultry have been halted after a test sample yesterday showed avian influenza virus was detected in a local market. The ban on sales of live poultry will last at least three days, i.e., from Thursday to Saturday inclusive. To protect public safety and minimise the risk of the virus spreading, the Government has culled more than 9,000 birds at the wholesale market in Macao; a place where birds imported from the mainland are kept before going to local wet markets. The action was carried out shortly after an environmental sample from a live poultry stall at the Iao Hon Market tested positive for the virus; an H7 subtype. A public health contingency system was immediately activated once the virus was detected. Measures taken included: suspending until further notice imports from the farm on the mainland suspected as being linked on this occasion to the virus; and a thorough cleaning and sterilisation of Macao’s wholesale market for poultry, and of all stalls in local wet markets that offer live poultry for sale. The Government had informed the mainland authorities about the case and would work closely with the mainland authorities to trace the source of the virus, said a representative of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau in a press conference held yesterday evening. In addition, the seven people who manage the stall where the infection was detected have been placed under medical observation at the Conde S. Januário Hospital, for a period of 10 days. Anyone that visited the Iao Hon Market yesterday – and in particular the stall where the infection was detected – and subsequently develops symptoms such as fever and cough, should contact the Health Bureau or call the enquiry hotline on (853) 2870 0800. Once it has reviewed information from the relevant authorities, the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau will announce whether sales of live poultry can resume on Sunday.
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The Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey (CPIS), jointly conducted by the Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) and the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) since 2002 in compliance with the International Monetary Fund’s statistical methodology, is aimed at collecting information on Macao residents’ investment in securities issued by unrelated non-residents, in terms of market value and geographical distribution. The results as at end-2015 are summarised as follows: On 31 December 2015, investment of Macao residents (including individuals, the government and other legal entities but excluding Macao’s foreign exchange reserves) in securities issued by unrelated non-residents reached MOP438.8 billion at current market value, which remained virtually unchanged from end-June 2015 yet increased by 10.0% year-on-year. Among various instruments of portfolio investment, equity securities, long-term debt securities and short-term debt securities were valued at MOP170.1 billion, MOP247.3 billion and MOP21.5 billion respectively. In comparison with end-2014, investment in equity securities, of which mutual funds and investment trust units amounted to MOP41.8 billion, increased by 10.0%. Investment in long-term debt securities and short-term debt securities grew by 8.0% and 40.9% respectively. By geographical distribution, the Asian region continued to make up the largest share of Macao residents’ external portfolio investment, at 63.5%. The rest was mainly placed in the North Atlantic and Caribbean (12.2%), Europe (10.5%), North America (10.0%) and Oceania (3.2%). Investment in securities issued by Mainland Chinese entities, including those securities listed on non-Mainland exchanges, continued to assume the leading position, occupying 46.7% of local residents’ portfolio investment outside Macao. Its market value reached MOP205.1 billion, registering an increase of 6.4% from end-2014. The investment consisted of MOP51.5 billion in equity securities, MOP140.5 billion in long-term debt securities and MOP13.0 billion in short-term debt securities, constituting 30.3%, 56.8% and 60.8% of the respective total. On the other hand, the share of investment in securities issued by Hong Kong entities fell from 18.3% at end-2014 to 13.2%, with the corresponding market value decreasing by 20.8% to MOP57.9 billion, of which equity securities and long-term debt securities amounted to MOP37.8 billion and MOP15.1 billion respectively. Macao residents’ portfolio investment in the North Atlantic and Caribbean continued to increase. The market value of investment in this region rose by 29.6% from end-2014 to MOP53.4 billion, with its share in the total investment abroad rising from 10.3% to 12.2%. In particular, the market value of portfolio investment in the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands and Bermuda grew by 8.1%, 86.8% and 27.1% year-on-year to MOP27.0 billion, MOP18.1 billion and MOP8.2 billion respectively. Although the share of investment in European securities dipped by 0.1 percentage point from end-2014 to 10.5%, the corresponding market value increased by 9.4% to MOP46.2 billion. Among European countries, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Ireland represented larger portions with market values of MOP11.7 billion, MOP11.3 billion, MOP5.2 billion and MOP5.1 billion respectively. The bulk of investment in North America was placed in the United States. The market value of Macao residents’ investment in US securities soared considerably by 81.4% from end-2014 to MOP41.0 billion, pushing the corresponding share in the total portfolio investment abroad up from 5.7% to 9.3%. Of which, the market value of investment in mutual funds and investment trust units surged by 184.0% to MOP10.7 billion, representing the largest share in the corresponding category. As at end-2015, Macao residents’ investment in securities issued by Australian entities increased by 55.8% year-on-year to MOP14.1 billion at market value, lifting the share of portfolio investment in Oceania from 2.3% to 3.2%.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitor arrivals totalled 2,477,591 in May 2016, up slightly by 0.3% month-to-month and yet down by 2.8% year-on-year. Same-day visitors dropped by 8.3% year-on-year to 1,272,242, whereas overnight visitors rose by 3.8% to 1,205,349. The average length of stay of visitors increased by 0.1 day year-on-year to 1.2 days; the average stay of same-day visitors and overnight visitors was 0.2 day and 2.2 days respectively. Visitors from Mainland China decreased by 3.5% year-on-year to 1,631,164 in May 2016, of which those travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme dropped by 4.6% to 718,680. Overnight Mainland visitors (780,408) increased by 4.7%. Mainland visitors came mainly from Guangdong Province (727,443), Hunan Province (70,514) and Fujian Province (64,950). Visitors from the Republic of Korea (48,109) and Hong Kong (500,973) decreased by 8.0% and 4.1% respectively year-on-year, while those from Taiwan (81,404) increased by 6.5%. Long-haul visitors from the United States (15,519) and the United Kingdom (5,000) decreased year-on-year; however, those from Australia (7,971) and Canada (6,498) increased. Analyzed by mode of transport, visitor arrivals by land increased by 3.8% year-on-year to 1,436,616; those arriving through the Border Gate (1,266,803) and the Checkpoint of Cotai (167,928) rose by 3.8% and 4.1% respectively. Visitor arrivals by sea decreased by 14.1% year-on-year to 851,903; those disembarking at the Outer Harbour (511,674) and the Provisional Ferry Terminal in Taipa (340,229) fell by 16.5% and 3.1% respectively. Visitor arrivals by air increased by 9.3% year-on-year to 189,072, with 188,286 arriving at the airport. In the first five months of 2016, visitor arrivals totalled 12,405,950, down marginally by 0.8% year-on-year; same-day visitors dropped by 7.2% to 6,467,867 while overnight visitors rose by 7.2% to 5,938,083. Visitors from Mainland China (8,224,795) and Hong Kong (2,546,624) decreased by 1.5% and 3.2% year-on-year, whereas those from the Republic of Korea (265,691) and Taiwan (424,419) increased by 1.3% and 10.2% respectively. Moreover, long-haul visitors from the United States, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom registered year-on-year increase.
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Consumer Council conducted its fourth ‘Supermarket price survey’ in June on 22 June for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June. Surveyed locations included 14 supermarkets in Toi San, Ilha Verde and Fai Chi Kei areas in N. Sra. de Fátima Parish. The latest ‘Supermarket Price Survey’ is now available on Consumer Council’s website (www.consumer.gov.mo), ‘Supermarket Price Information Platform’ iPhone and Android apps, and on the Council’s WeChat account page. The survey is also available free of charge at the offices of Consumer Council, IACM’s Iao Hon and S. Domingos Markets, bookstores and libraries. With reference to the local seven parishes and the number of supermarkets in each parish, the Council has divided around 100 supermarkets into 8 areas for price collection. The Council collects prices from these supermarkets for the provision of a more comprehensive database for consumers to check price discrepancies and make price comparisons according to their desired locations. For inquiry, please call 8988 9315.
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The Government respects and welcomes a decision made today by the Court of Final Appeal: the rulling reaffirms the Government decision to declare null and void a land concession – relating to five plots – that had previously been granted to a firm called Moon Ocean Ltd. The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, has directed the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Mr Raimundo do Rosário, to initiate the relevant processes that will allow for the reallocation and reuse of the five plots of land. The plots are located in the area of Avenida Wai Long and Estrada da Ponta da Cabrita, in Taipa. The Land Law, the Urban Planning Law and other existing regulations will be the basis for the processes leading to such reallocation and reuse. The Government intends to use the five plots for the benefit of the public. The Government’s preferred choice is to use the land to build public housing. According to a construction proposal by the former concessionaire, Moon Ocean, the plots covered a construction area of 537,151.705 square metres, and had been earmarked for 4,000 housing units. This information would serve as a reference point when the Government seeks to develop public housing units there. The Government, as always, pays great attention to the needs of local people with regard to public housing. The Government is committed to allocating more land resources in order to satisfy the public’s needs with regard to such matters. As an example of this commitment, the Government has proposed building 28,000 units of public housing in the new urban zone known as Area A, a reclamation site. The Government has additionally pledged that public housing would be a priority consideration for development of any so-called ‘idle plots’, i.e., cases where leaseholders failed to develop a land concession according to the timetable and terms attached to the concession, and the land had, as a consequence, reverted to the Government. The Court of Final Appeal today upheld an Executive Order – issued on 8 August, 2012 – regarding the decision to declare null and void the concession contracts for the five plots located in the area of Avenida Wai Long and Estrada da Ponta da Cabrita in Taipa. The Court’s decision was on the basis that no “flaws” were found to exist in the Executive Order of 8 August, 2012. The Court of Second Instance had rejected, on 18 June, 2015, an appeal made by Moon Ocean, asking the court to nullify that Executive Order.
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Organised by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, the “Roaming Vision + Digital: Exhibition of Ink Paintings by Leung Kui Ting” is now open at the IACM Temporary Exhibitions Gallery. In conjunction with the exhibition, a talk entitled “Roaming Vision + Digital: Talk about the Ink Paintings by Leung Kui Ting” was held at the Macao Museum of Art on 12 June, where Leung Kui Ting was invited to introduce the concept and the structure of ink landscape paintings. The talk attracted 55 attendees in total, with Mr. Leung engaging in a passionate interaction and exchange with the participants. In the talk, Leung KuiTing mainly elaborated on creating an art compositions from the ideal landscape in one’s inner mind, sharing his artistic process of composing traditional landscape paintings with digital elements, in particular, the use of dotted lines, the combination of curved and straight lines to form various shapes, as well as the dissection of image as a puzzle to present the contrast between positive and negative space. Seeing things from a non-intuitive angle, Leung’ work embodies a concept that transcends dimensions of time and space, and the talk has helped the participants to get a deeper impression and feeling about the artists’ creations. Leung Kui Ting studied painting under renowned artist Lui Shou-kwan and design with Wucius Wong in his early years. He founded the Hong Kong Changing Institute of Visual Arts in 1980 and worked as a part-time lecturer at the Hong Kong Polytechnic Institute from 1974 to 1990. Currently, he is an art expert adviser of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of Hong Kong S.A.R. Government. A total of 28 exhibits by Leung Kui Ting are displayed in the exhibition. He emphasises feeling the external world with the heart in order to achieve the unity of mind and objects, so as to observe all things in the universe in the form of the objects themselves. Based on the transformation and exploration of Chinese traditional painting, his landscape ink paintings come from his heart and are abstracted from concrete appearance, instead of being mere reflections of reality. He invented a digital landscape painting technique which superimposes digital lines and dots on the outlines of mountains and rocks drawn in a traditional way, which make his contemporary art ink works truly unique. The exhibition is now open until 10 July at the IACM Temporary Exhibitions Gallery, from 9 am to 9 pm, including on public holidays. Docent services in Cantonese are available from 3 pm to 4 pm on Saturdays and Sundays during the exhibition period. Groups and schools are advised to make a reservation. For enquiries and reservations, please call IC through telephone no. 8988 4100, during office hours.
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Three University of Macau (UM) students from the Department of Electromechanical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, received the Best Paper Award at the annual symposium of the Control, Automation and Instrumentation Division of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, for their paper titled ‘Advanced Car Seat Design for Extendable Barrier Free Service’. The award-winning paper is co-authored by PhD student Lin Bin and master’s students Luo Zicong and Cong Yufang, and supervised by Dr Wong Seng Fat. It proposes a new barrier-free car seat design for people with disabilities based on human factors engineering, which is controlled by mobile applications and can optimise the posture in which people with disabilities enter and exit the car. The design’s potential for industrialisation was also an important contributor to its winning the award. Held at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the event attracted more than 200 experts and scholars from around the world, including experts from the Royal Academy of Engineering and Leeds Beckett University in the United Kingdom as well as engineers from Hong Kong. Participants discussed the future trends in the field of control, automation and instrumentation.
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Consumer Council conducted its latest ‘Supermarket price survey’ in June on 21 June for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June. Surveyed locations included supermarkets near Iao Hon Market and the Border Gate area (Portas do Cerco ) in N. Sra. de Fátima Parish. The latest ‘Supermarket Price Survey’ is now available on Consumer Council’s website (www.consumer.gov.mo), ‘Supermarket Price Information Platform’ iPhone and Android apps, and on the Council’s WeChat account page. The survey is also available free of charge at the offices of Consumer Council, IACM’s Iao Hon and S. Domingos Markets, bookstores and libraries. With reference to the local seven parishes and the number of supermarkets in each parish, the Council has divided around 100 supermarkets into 8 areas for price collection. The Council collects prices from these supermarkets for the provision of a more comprehensive database for consumers to check price discrepancies and make price comparisons according to their desired locations. For inquiry, please call 8988 9315.
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