News

The Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) and the Government of Grenada have concluded the mutual visa exemption agreement. Holders of the Macao SAR Passport and Travel Permit are entitled to enter Grenada without a visa for a maximum stay of 90 days starting from 27 April 2013. At present, a total of 105 countries and territories have agreed to grant visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to the Macao SAR passport holders, while 10 countries have agreed to grant the visa-free access to the Macao SAR Travel Permit holders.
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The 2013 Science Express Camp – A Kickoff of Biomedical Engineering, organized by Macau Society of Biomedical Engineering and IEEE-EMB Hong Kong - Macau Joint Chapter and Communications Museum, co-organized by Biomedical Engineering Laboratory of University of Macau, wraps up this year's series of summer activities. Its objective is to inform students on the development and prospects of Biomedical Engineering in order to broaden their visions of what may prove beneficial to their future studies. The summer camp is targeted to students promoting to Form 3 or above. Grasp this great opportunity and come to register. Date: A Group: 24-27/07/2013, B Group: 07-10/08/2013, 30 persons per group
Audience: Form 3 students of above, MOP 600.00 per person
Registration: From now till 10/07/2013, at Reception of Communications Museum
Itinerary: 4 days (Fees include transportation, meals, insurance and materials for experiments)
- Day 1: Communications Museum: Science demonstration and workshops
- Day 2~3: Hong Kong Polytechnic University / Hong Kong Chinese University: Visit and workshops; Hong Kong Chinese University: BBQ at night and accommodation.
- Day 4: Communications Museum or University of Macao: Seminars and workshops.
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Communications Museum will organize a series of interesting activities for the 2013 summer vacation. Participants will enjoy and develop their potential through these interactive, explorative and experimental workshops. Come join the programs! Registration is open from now till July 19 at the Museum's reception. Have a happy summer in the Museum!
- Light and Colors: Class A: 02-03/08/2013, Class B: 09-10/08/2013, for Primary 4 to Form 1 students, MOP 30 per person.
- Component Commando: Class A: 16-17/08/2013, for Primary 4-Form 1 students, MOP 30.00 per person.
- Communication Camp-Communication Decoding
Class A: 30-31/07/2013, Class B: 20-21/08/2013, for Primary 4 to Form 1 students, MOP 60 per person (All participants of Class A & B will go to visit Radio Macao and the Transport Bureau on 22/08/2013)
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Starting May, a series of seminars on the close relationship between the development of science and technology and our daily life will be organized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers of Macau and the Communications Museum. In addition to the 5 seminars held in the Communications Museum, all seminar topics will be open for selection by schools of Macao and selected seminars can be held at the schools. Participants of the seminars held between now and end of July will be entitled to the lucky draw of joining a Tour at Hong Kong Museums on August 22, 2013, free of charge. For more information and registration of the seminars, please feel free to visit the Museum website: http://macau.communications.museum
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To celebrate the World Telecommunications and Information Society Day and International Museum Day, visitors can enjoy free entrance at the Communications Museum from May 17 to 19 (Friday to Sunday). Seminars of International Museum Day, Macao 2013
Museums (Memory + Creativity) = Social Change is the theme of the International Museum Day 2013, given by the International Council of Museums (ICOM). Communications Museums will organize the "Seminars of International Museum Day 2013" on May 2 and 3, at the auditorium of the museum as the prelude to celebrate the International Museum Day of the year. In addition to the first seminar for museum professionals, the second seminar will be free of charge for the general public, educators and secondary students. The open seminar is co-organized with the Education & Youth Bureau and it is recognized as a Training Program for Educators. Museum professionals and scholars from Hong Kong, Beijing and Singapore are invited to share their views on hot topics of museums with the audience. In the first seminar for museum professionals on May 2, Ms. LAU Lesley, Ph.D., Chief Curator of the Art Promotion Office in Hong Kong and Ms. HUI Jeremy, Curator of the Hong Kong Heritage Museum will talk about The new Oil Street Artspace of Hong Kong and Bruce Lee Exhibition: Cross boundaries' interpretation and presentation respectively. For the public seminar held in the afternoon of May 3, Mr. LIM Tit Meng, Ph.D., Chief Executive of the Science Centre Singapore will talk about Science centres and museums inspire future creativity through past and present innovations, Mr. WANG Yusheng, Ph.D., Vice Chairman of the Beijing Association for Science and Technology will talk about Science – Yesterday, today and tomorrow, and Mr. AN Laishun, Ph.D., Member of the Executive Council of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) will talk about Museums: Cultural institutes coming downstairs from their ivory towers. Macao International Museum Day Fair, 2013
Communications Museum is going to participate in the Macao International Museum Day Fair at the Tap Seac Square on May 5 (Sunday). During the event, visitors can play the interactive games "Standing Wave" as well as join the workshops "Fragrant Stamps" and "The Fun of Sound & Wind Music". Family participants are welcome to join these two workshops which are free of charge and will be held in rotation every 30 minutes. You can make your unique products and also win free coupons of the Museum. International Museum Day Postcard Macao Post will issue a commemorative postcard with circulation from May 2 to 18, and provide commemorative cancellation service for stamp collectors at the same period. Service timetable and location:
- 02-18/05/2013 (Tuesday to Sunday), 9:00am - 5:30pm, at Communications Museum;
- 05/05/2013 May 5 (Sunday), 9:00am - 12:30am at Communications Museum, 2:00pm - 6:00pm at Tap Seac Square.
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The 9th China International Cultural Industries Fair (ICIF) will be held from 17 to 20 May at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Centre. This year the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao S.A.R. (CAB) was invited once again to present a Macao Pavilion featuring local cultural and creative brands. The Macao Pavilion, with an area of 285 square metres, will be set up in the Cultural Industries Hall of the ICIF venue. This year's Pavilion, designed to reflect a theme of Macao World Heritage, showcases cultural and creative products related to this theme. By connecting the products with World Heritage, the CAB intends to use the Pavilion to promote Macao to the fullest, facilitating the exchange between members of Macao's cultural and creative industries and local and foreign visitors to explore further possibilities for co-operation on joint projects. The Macao Pavilion has been designed as a three-dimensional structure in the primary colours of magenta, yellow and cyan. Various geometries are combined in the Pavilion, and the primary colours blend into many hues, symbolising Macao as a vibrant, diverse, creative and culturally rich city while relating each element within it to the region's World Heritage. This year's participating entities include Macau Creations, Soda Panda Product Design, Lines Lab, the Creative Industries Promotion Association of St. Lazarus Church District, MOD Design Store, San Seng Fung, Ribs, Macao Heritage Ambassadors Association, Macao Daily News and Review Culture Company Limited, all of which will showcase creative products themed on Macao's World Heritage. Under the theme of this year's Fair, "Exhibition and Exchange", the 9th ICIF will focus on creative design, copyright law and intangible cultural heritage, among other issues, highlighting the binomials "culture + technology", "culture + creativity", "culture + tourism", "culture + finance" and "culture + trade". The ICIF aims to become China's main platform for cultural products and projects, promoting and driving the development of the cultural industries and actively launching Chinese cultural products into the global market. The CAB has been organising local industries' participation in the ICIF since 2006, and in 2010 the Macao S.A.R. Government committed to a policy of developing the city's cultural and creative industries. In each edition of the ICIF, the Macao Pavilion has attracted numerous visitors, and the featured brands have successfully presented their products and have registered good sales. In addition, Macao's participation in the ICIF has been widely covered by the Mainland Chinese media, indicating that the S.A.R.'s cultural and creative products are being well received in the Greater China market.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitor arrivals totalled 2,387,281 in March 2013, up slightly by 1.6% year-on-year; same-day visitors accounted for 51.0% of the total, at 1,216,775. In March 2013, visitors from Mainland China decreased by 1.1% year-on-year to 1,431,810, mainly coming from Guangdong Province (633,040) and Fujian Province (61,490); Mainland visitors travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) totalled 582,774. Moreover, visitors from Taiwan, China (80,651) and Japan (28,719) dropped by 0.3% and 27.2% year-on-year, while those from Hong Kong (612,367) and the Republic of Korea (36,786) increased by 9.0% and 8.3%. Long-haul visitors from the US (16,119), Australia (10,028), and the UK (5,652) grew by 1.3%, 0.3% and 9.2% year-on-year; however, those from Canada (6,514) decreased by 9.5%. The average length of stay of visitors stood at 1.0 day in March 2013, up by 0.1 day year-on-year. Overnight and same-day visitors had an average stay of 1.8 days and 0.2 day respectively. In the first quarter of 2013, visitor arrivals edged up by 1.9% to 7,076,442 year-on-year; same-day visitors accounted for 51.9% of the total. Visitors from Mainland China (4,414,194), Hong Kong (1,724,330), the Republic of Korea (128,834) and Thailand (60,792) recorded year-on-year increase in the first quarter, while those from Taiwan, China (238,588), Japan (76,610) and Malaysia (64,883) decreased. As regards major long-haul markets, visitors from the US (42,854), Australia (28,802) and Canada (17,742) all registered declines year-on-year.
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According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, new approvals of residential mortgage loans (RMLs) declined whereas those of commercial real estate loans (CRELs) grew in February 2013. With regard to outstanding balance, RMLs and CRELs both witnessed increases. New Lending Approved In February 2013, new RMLs approved by Macao banks dropped 31.3% month-to-month to MOP2.0 billion; of which, 96.1% was extended to residents. In terms of value, new RMLs to residents and non-residents decreased 31.9% and 15.2% respectively. When compared with the same period of 2012, new approvals of RMLs witnessed growth of 29.0%. New RMLs collateralised by uncompleted units (i.e. equitable mortgage) dropped 30.1% month-to-month to MOP80.8 million. The equitable mortgage extended to residents, which accounted for 95.5% of the total, decreased 27.9% while the amount to non-residents also went down by 57.7%. When compared with the same period of 2012, this type of bank mortgage expanded significantly by 167.8% New CRELs rose 96.2% month-to-month to MOP7.4 billion; of which, 95.9% was granted to residents. In terms of value, new CRELs to residents increased markedly by 124.7% whereas the amount to non-residents declined 50.7%. On an annual basis, new approvals of CRELs expanded significantly by 599.2%. Outstanding Balances As at end-February 2013, the outstanding value of RMLs reached MOP99.0 billion, an increase of 0.8% from one month earlier or 28.8% from a year ago. The resident component made up 93.1% of the total. Compared to end-January 2013, outstanding RMLs to residents grew 0.9% whereas the amount to non-residents dropped 0.7%. Concurrently, the outstanding value of CRELs went up by 3.2% from end-January 2013 or 17.6% from end-February 2012 to MOP72.9 billion. Residents accounted for 91.3% of the loans. Compared with one month earlier, outstanding CRELs to residents and non-residents grew 3.5% and 0.5% respectively. Delinquency Ratios At the end of February 2013, the delinquency ratio for RMLs stood at 0.06%, which was largely unchanged from one month earlier but down 0.02 percentage points from a year ago. The ratio for CRELs went down 0.01 percentage point from end-January 2013 but up 0.07 percentage points from end-February 2012 to 0.16%.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, convened an inter-departmental meeting today to evaluate surveillance measures taken to prevent the spread of the H7N9 avian influenza virus from the Mainland, and to detail prevention and control plans.
The meeting was attended by the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Florinda Chan, the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Mr Cheong U, the Director-General of the Macao Customs, Mr Choi Lai Hang, and heads of other bureaux including Government Information, Civic and Municipal Affairs, Public Security Police Force, Fire Services, Health, Macau Government Tourist Office, and Environment Protection.
Mr Chui listened to reports from various departments and evaluated the chances of the virus passing into Macao, after taking into consideration the latest information from the National Health and Family Planning Commission, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the World Health Organization and the neighboring regions.
He vowed that prevention of the virus and protecting the lives and properties of people of Macao is top of the Government's agenda. Since Macao has a high density population, the Government will raise the level of prevention and control plan once the first case of H7N9 is reported in Macao or in the neighboring regions.
If this happened, the Government might sacrifice short-term economic interests to achieve its goal. The Government will also release information in a timely manner to the public.
He said the Government would continue to collect information from different channels with the Mainland and Hong Kong, and he called on the public to remain calm as the Government has sufficient medicines to fight the virus.
So far no H7N9 avian influenza virus case has been reported in Macao.
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After learning about the tragic news of the earthquake in Ya'an, Sichuan province, University of Macau (UM) students lost no time in organising a series of activities to help the earthquake victims. They prayed on the various social networking websites for people affected by the earthquake, and kicked off a one-week fundraising campaign today (22 April). In addition to the fundraising campaign, UM students will also organise a candlelight vigil, a charity ice cream sale, and a "blessing card" activity. They plan to put more donation boxes on campus to try to raise as much money as possible. UM also plans to provide full scholarships to three students from the earthquake-affected area to encourage them to continue with their studies and to stay positive in the face of the tragic disaster. A counselling team has been established to provide help to UM students who need assistance or emotional support. The donation boxes can be found at the East Asia College (EAC), the Pearl Jubilee College (PJC), the Honours College (HC), the ninth floor of the East Asia Hall, and the Student Centre. All donations received will be delivered to the Macau SAR Red Cross. The disaster relief activities have received great support from UM staff and students. The following UM units have been involved in the organisation of the activities—the China Mainland Students Association, the Postgraduate Association, the Students' Union, the Student Affairs Office, the Communications Office, the Academic Affairs Office, the Alumni and Development Office, the Global Affairs Office, HC, EAC, and PJC.
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