News

Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) is presenting the “Macao Hunt” prize-redemption game once again on WeChat in Macao from 26 April to 23 May, guiding local residents and visitors to collect “gems” along the eight walking tour routes under the theme “Step Out, Experience Macao’s Communities”, for a chance to win electronic coupons from merchants and enter a great lucky draw. The scale of the game covers a total of eight walking tour routes. In addition, coupons from cultural and creative stores are featured as a new prize to enrich the content of the game. Through launching the “Macao Hunt” activity, the Office aims to enhance the charm of community tourism and encourage visitors to explore different communities in Macao and patronize local businesses, as part of the Office’s continuous efforts to foster community tourism. Eight walking routes are featured with new addition of cultural and creative stores MGTO first launched the month-long prize-redemption game “Macao Hunt” on WeChat this February. The game widely received positive feedback from local residents, visitors and merchants along the routes, while it also encouraged visitors to explore the lesser-known districts and patronize local businesses during Chinese New Year. Drawing on the experience of the first phase, MGTO is ready to roll out the second phase “Macao Hunt” (only in Chinese) on WeChat starting from tomorrow (26 April) and extend its coverage from four designated walking routes to eight in total. Besides accredited merchants in the “Quality Tourism Services Accreditation Scheme” (QTSAS), cultural and creative stores will be featured in the game as well. Residents and visitors are welcome to join The theme of the game “Macao Hunt” is to search for gems. Participants can follow MGTO’s WeChat ID (“mgtoweixin”) and join the game for a chance to enter the lucky draw. The fabulous prizes include digital products such as Macbook, Galaxy S7 and iPhoneSE. Furthermore, 12 virtual gem chests are placed at some of the attractions along the eight walking tour routes. Once participants find the gem chest at designated attractions according to instructions, they can open the chests through the function “Shake” or “Scan” on WeChat, and collect the gems for a chance to win coupons from accredited merchants catering businesses in QTSAS as well as cultural and creative stores nearby. With a total of eight gems collected, participants can win attractive prize. Participants can also increase their chances of winning the lucky-draw prizes by completing a survey or by sharing the game link with friends on WeChat and getting friends’ “click” on the link. For more information about how to play the game, please visit: http://www.macaotourism.gov.mo The eight walking tour routes under the theme “Step Out, Experience Macao’s Communities” include “Footsteps into the Historic Centre”, “The Marriage of East and West in St. Anthony’s Parish”, “A Legacy of Arts and Culture”, “Bygone Days of Taipa Village”, “Crossroads of China and Portugal”, “An Experiment of Creativity”, “Enchanting Stories of Our Lady of Fatima Parish” and “Nostalgia in Coloane”. The press release and photos are available at: http://industry.macaotourism.gov.mo
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Consumer Council conducted its latest ‘Supermarket price survey’ in April on 22 April for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June. Surveyed locations included supermarkets in São Lázaro and São Lourenço Parishes. 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. Consumers may also access the resources through WAP channels on their mobile phones. 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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A public consultation on Macao’s first Five-Year Development Plan will be launched on Tuesday (26 April), said today the Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On. The Government will pay great attention to the opinions of residents regarding this important development blueprint for Macao, which covers a period from 2016 to 2020, he stated. Mr Chui made the comments this afternoon when he attended a plenary session of the Legislative Assembly to answer legislators’ questions on government policies and other social issues. The Government aimed to gather opinion on how to help transform Macao into a world centre of tourism and leisure, and into a commercial and trade cooperation service platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries (collectively known as the “Centre and Platform” policies). The Chief Executive also gave more details regarding work relating to Macao’s maritime area. The Government was drafting a framework law on maritime management and other supplementary regulations. It was expected that the process would be completed before the end of this year. He disclosed the Government would sign an agreement in May with the General Administration of Customs on measures to strengthen security oversight of Macao’s waters and to enhance law enforcement. At present the Government was conducting a series of pieces of research on issues relating to the management of Macao’s waters and their conservation; as well as the sustainability of maritime development. The Government would work closely with mainland authorities in a bid further to strengthen Macao’s management role for its waters; an asset demarcated by the State Council last December. Regarding a question on the planned housing project at Estrada do Campo, Mr Chui reiterated that a permit for construction would still be required for such a project to go ahead. The Environmental Protection Bureau would provide in the near future more details about an environmental impact assessment relating to the project, he added. The Government strives for a balance between development and environmental conservation during the course of Macao’s economic progress. Macao did not have a single, coordinated plan on urban development: the Land Law, the Urban Planning Law, and the Cultural Heritage Protection Law provide the fundamental principles for the city’s development, said Mr Chui. The Chief Executive also gave an update on revisions to legislation relating to public housing. The legislative process concerning legal amendments on social housing – units rented by the Government at lower rents to low income families – would start by the third quarter this year. The revision will include amendments to the application procedure, management of social housing units and the introduction of a mechanism to retrieve flats from higher income families. Meanwhile, it was expected that a review of the Home-Ownership Scheme would be completed in the second quarter, he stated. The Government’s vision on housing policy – “homes for all in a contented society” – remained unchanged, said Mr Chui. The Government would spare no effort in ensuring the needs of the public housing sector did not come second to the development of the private housing market, he added. The Government had started planning work and coordination between its departments for the planned 4,600 public housing flats that had been announced in the Policy Address for the Fiscal Year 2016. The Chief Executive additionally highlighted three principles in public purchasing and outsourcing to the private sector concerning public services. They were: 1) revision of regulations relating to public procurement; 2) the strengthening of education on the rights and duties of leaders of Government departments; and 3) the establishment of a mechanism to evaluate officials’ performance. During the session, Mr Chui gave more details regarding: the application procedure for public housing; the benefits and conditions for civil servants; paternity leave; public administration and cross-departmental cooperation; protection of consumer rights; youth entrepreneurship; development of information technology; support for local small- and medium-sized enterprises; and the cultivation of professionals bilingual in the use of Chinese and Portuguese.
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Macao will in August hold its first Wushu carnival, said the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Mr Tam Chon Weng. The four-day carnival would feature a Wushu competition with practitioners from the mainland and overseas. There will also be martial arts and lion dance performances, Mr Tam said in his remarks on Thursday (21 April). Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the Cultural Industry Council, Mr Tam said the carnival would be aimed at creating a greater number of development opportunities for local businesses, in sectors such as tourism, sports, and cultural and creative industries. He hoped a future edition of such an event could be expanded to cover a whole week, and that eventually it could become an annual festival. Macao had a close connection with Wushu: a bout of the martial art held in 1954 in the premises of the swimming pool at the former Estoril Hotel – between Wu Kung I and Chan Hak Fu, masters of different disciplines of the sport – was an inspiration for a number of Wushu-themed novels, Mr Tam added. Asked by reporters about the redevelopment plan for Estoril Hotel, the Secretary said there were many ways of conserving the historic swimming pool at the former hotel. Renewing its facilities would allow a greater number of residents to enjoy the venue and allow it to extend its daily opening hours. Wushu is derived from traditional Chinese martial arts and can be either an exhibition sport or a full-contact sport.
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Organised by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) and co-organised by PYO Gallery, the exhibiton “Travelogue--works by Park, Seung Hoon”, will be inaugurated on Thursday, 28 April, at 6:30pm, at Gallery of Taipa Houses-Museum. Sixteen photography works by the young Korean artist, Park, Seung Hoon, will be showcased. The exhibition features two series of photography works by Park, Seung Hoon, namely Textus and A Better Explanation. The Textus series is captured on positive 16mm movie film with an 8x10mm camera. Park weaves multiple film strips that he produced across the continents over the years into a single unique photograph to reconstruct a perfect scenario. The latest work of Park, A Better Explanation, is a manifestation of change over time and space through the long-term photography of the riverside scenery of the Arno River, in Florence. With his artistic language, he presents the scene of the moment while depicting the social and historical development of the Arno River. The organiser hopes this exhibition can share the detailed and creative works of the young Korean artist Park, Seung Hoon with the public, for exploring the possibility of artistic creation and inspiring audience to develop their own imagination through his photography works. The exhibition “Travelogue--works by Park, Seung Hoon” will be held from 29 April to 26 June at Gallery of Taipa Houses-Museum. Admission is free. The exhibition is open daily from 10am to 6pm including public holidays (closed on Mondays). For enquiries, please contact IC through tel no. 8988 4000 during office hours.
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The 30th Portuguese Language Summer Programme, organised by the University of Macau (UM) Department of Portuguese, is now open for applications. The deadline for applications is 14 May. The Portuguese Language Summer Programme was launched in 1986. Over the past 30 years, it has trained nearly 6,000 students from around the world, including mainland China, Japan, South Korea, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Timor, Ethiopia, the United States, Hong Kong, and Macao, with one third of the students being from Macao. In addition to Portuguese classes, the course also includes a variety of interesting extracurricular activities, which are designed to give participants an opportunity to experience the unique blend of Chinese and Portuguese cultures in Macao and to increase their understanding of the historical, social, economic, political and cultural aspects of the city. The course will take place between 18 July and 5 August. It is available at five levels: the beginner’s level, the basic level, the intermediate level, the advanced level, and the superior level. Portuguese/Chinese translation classes will also be available for bilingual students. Those who are interested should click on the link below for registration. https://fah.umac.mo/portuguese/summer-course-2016/ For enquiries, please call +853 8822 4634 or email to fahpt_summer@umac.mo.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitor arrivals increased by 4.2% year-on-year to 2,366,941 in March 2016. Overnight visitors rose by 14.1% year-on-year to 1,173,270, whereas same-day visitors dropped by 3.9% to 1,193,671. The average length of stay of visitors increased by 0.3 day year-on-year to 1.2 days; the average stay of same-day visitors (0.2 day) held stable while that of overnight visitors (2.2 days) rose by 0.3 day. Visitors from Mainland China totalled 1,483,813 in March 2016, up by 1.8% year-on-year, yet those travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme dropped by 6.1% to 625,993. Mainland visitors came mainly from Guangdong Province (636,632), Fujian Province (59,348) and Hunan Province (59,348). Visitors from Hong Kong (563,408) and Taiwan (78,458) increased by 10.5% and 6.5% respectively year-on-year, while those from the Republic of Korea (41,675) and Japan (27,814) decreased by 4.4% and 2.3% respectively. Long-haul visitors from the United States (16,019), Australia (8,185), Canada (7,196) and the United Kingdom (5,482) recorded increase. Analyzed by mode of transport, visitor arrivals by land increased by 8.2% year-on-year to 1,347,855; those arriving through the Border Gate (1,194,079) and the Checkpoint of Cotai (151,758) rose by 7.9% and 11.0% respectively. Visitor arrivals by sea dropped by 1.8% year-on-year to 843,797; those disembarking at the Outer Harbour (515,084) fell by 3.2% yet those arriving at the Provisional Ferry Terminal in Taipa (328,713) rose by 7.3%. Visitor arrivals by air increased by 6.0% year-on-year to 175,289, and those arriving at the airport (174,864) accounted for 99.8% of the total. In the first quarter of 2016, visitor arrivals totalled 7,457,106, up marginally by 0.6% year-on-year; overnight visitors rose by 9.0% to 3,508,517 while same-day visitors dropped by 5.8% to 3,948,589. Visitors from Mainland China (4,941,969) decreased by 1.7% year-on-year, whereas those from the Republic of Korea (173,921), Hong Kong (1,559,681) and Taiwan (250,874) increased by 3.1%, 3.6% and 11.6% 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 latest ‘Supermarket price survey’ in April on 21 April for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June. Surveyed locations included 12 supermarkets in Sé 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. Consumers may also access the resources through WAP channels on their mobile phones. 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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Lü Jia, Music Director and Principal Conductor of Macao Orchestra of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, will collaborate with Japanese violinist Sayaka Shoji in the concert Shakespeare’s World –Lü Jia and Sayaka next Friday, 29 April, at 8pm, at the Macao Tower Auditorium, presenting Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2. Tickets are now available through the Macau Ticketing Network. In Gramophone Magazine, Sayaka Shoji is described as “a formidable musician, able to draw on huge reserves of stamina and the unflinching equal of anything thrown at her”. She took the First Prize of the 1999 Paganini Competition at the age of 16, and was the first Japanese musician and the youngest winner of this prize. She is also one of the most internationally renowned violin sensations, she has performed with a number of leading orchestras throughout the world, including the BBC Philharmonic, Wiener Symphoniker, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and NHK Symphony Orchestra, among others. In January 2016, Sayaka Shoji received the prestigious Mainichi Art Award. In this concert, Sayaka Shoji will have the debut performance with the Macao Orchestra to perform Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2, which was created at the same period with Prokofiev’s well-known ballet Romeo and Juliet, a namesake adaptation from Shakespeare’s drama. This concerto mirrors the adaptation in numerous passages. The programme of the concert also features with Berlioz’s King Lear Overture, based on an adaptation from Shakespeare's King Lear, using musical instruments like double bass and obes to play out the tragedy of main character. The concert concludes with Schumann’s Symphony No. 4, which was dedicated to Schumann’s wife Clara as a birthday present. This piece of work can be regarded as a perfect demonstration of romanticism. Tickets for Shakespeare’s World – Lü Jia and Sayaka are priced at MOP200, MOP150 and MOP100, with various discount plans available. Ticketing hotline: 2855 5555. For more details and programme enquiries, please visit the Orchestra webpage at www.icm.gov.mo/om or contact OM through tel no. 2853 0782 during office hours.
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The Macao Museum of Art (MAM), under the Cultural Affairs Bureau, has launched the “Macao Arts Window” since 2012, which aims to encourage creativity and develop the contemporary arts in Macao. The theme of this edition of the “Macao Arts Window” is the exhibition “Encounter – Printmaking by Catherine, Cheong Cheng Wa”, the vernissage was held on Thursday, 21 April, at 6:30pm, on the third floor of MAM. The artist gave a finishing touch to her works by varnishing them. The “Macao Arts Window” aims to provide an open and diverse exhibition spaces and exchange platform, and encourage local artists to explore and express concepts and forms of contemporary art. Catherine, Cheong Cheng Wa obtained a degree in Graphic Design at the Macao Polytechnic Institute in 2003 and then went to France to further her studies. In 2008, she graduated in Visual Arts, specialised in video installations, from the School of Art and Design, Toulon Provence Mediterranean, (l’ésadtpm), in France. Following her return to Macau, she actively participated in different types of art exhibitions. As specialized in printmaking, she has participated in “Macao Stories 2 – Love in the City” and other films as artistic director in film as well as supporting in the organization of art exhibitions. In 2015, she won the first prize in the international competition “The 2nd Macao Printmaking Triennial” with her work “Macao People”. Printmaking in this exhibition portrays the artist’s experiences and perceptions during her four-year stay in France: landlords, tenants and their homes; friends from all over the world, work colleagues, classmates and teachers of languages and arts schools, etc. Through the exchange with friends from different culture, background and customs, the artist realizes that friendship is without language barriers and learns about herself more deeply through the process of perception of human nature, of experiencing good and evil, of building personal values and of attitude towards life. Through her printmaking and engraving works, the artist tries to describe each person whom she met in a kind of portrait where she adds elements which are significant and valuable to herself or themselves, illustrating the story between those people and the artist. The exhibition “Encounter – Printmaking by Catherine, Cheong Cheng Wa” is open until 5 June at the Macao Museum of Art, located in NAPE, Avenida Xian Xing Hai, and 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 enquiries, please call the MAM through tel. 8791 9814 during office hours, or visit the MAM’s webpage at www.MAM.gov.mo.
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