News

This year the University of Macau (UM) will confer honorary doctorates on four distinguished individuals, namely Dr. Arden Lee Bement, Jr., Master Hsing Yun, Dr. Ambrose So Shu Fai and Prof. Andrew Chi-Chih Yao, in recognition of their outstanding contributions in the areas of research, culture and education. The conferment ceremony will be held at UM's Cultural Centre on 14 November, Wednesday. Higher degrees will also be awarded at the ceremony. Dr. Chui Sai On, chief executive of Macao SAR and chancellor of UM, will preside over the ceremony. Dr. Arden Lee Bement, Jr. will be the recipient of the Degree of Doctor of Science honoris causa. Dr. Bement has made outstanding contributions in his many important leadership roles in industry, academia, and government agencies. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. He conducted materials research in support of advanced engineering conversion technologies. He successively served as professor of nuclear materials at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), member of the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Bilateral Exchange Program in MHD, and head of the MIT Fusion Technology Program. Of his prominent leadership roles in U.S. government agencies, three stand out prominently: Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and Director of the National Science Foundation. Under his directorship, the National Science Foundation opened its office in Beijing, China, showing his initiative in promoting science and technology collaboration between China and the U.S. Master Hsing Yun will be the recipient of the Degree of Doctor of Humanities honoris causa. Master Hsing Yun is the founder of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order. He has established himself as an influential world religious and philanthropic figure, with a large following worldwide. He has built more than two hundred temples all over the world. he dedicates his whole life to the study of the philosophy of religion. He is well-read and prolific in writing. He is committed to the advancement of philanthropic, educational and cultural causes. He has founded a large number of educational institutions both at home and abroad, including fine art galleries, twenty-six libraries and publishers, twelve bookstores, over fifty Chinese schools, and sixteenTsung Lin Buddhist colleges. Master Hsing Yun has received numerous honours. In 1978, he became the first Buddhist monk to receive an honorary doctorate from the Eastern University in the U.S. In 1992, he was elected honorary president of the World Fellowship of Buddhists. In 1995, he received the Buddhist Treasure Prize from the Indian Buddhist Congregation. Dr. Ambrose So Shu Fai will be the recipient of the Degree of Doctor of Social Sciences honoris causa. Dr So is CEO of SJM Holdings Limited, Director of Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, S.A., member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Honorary Consul of Portugal in the Hong Kong SAR, member of the Economic Development Council and of the Cultural Consultative Council of the Macao SAR government, and President of the board of directors of the Macau Military Club. Through his various capacities, Dr. So has made significant contributions to the economic and cultural exchange and cooperation among Macao, Hong Kong, China and Portugal, especially in the fostering of Macao's role as a platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries. Dr. So has over 35 years of experience in Macao's gaming and tourism industry, during which he has made relentless efforts for the professionalism, regulation and diversification of Macao's gaming industry. A devoted artist in Chinese calligraphy, his work has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions. In 2009 he was awarded the Medal of Cultural Merit by the Macao SAR government. Prof. Andrew Chi-Chih Yao will be the recipient of the Degree of Doctor of Science honoris causa. A renowned computer scientist, Prof. Yao is recognized as one of the world's leading scholars in computation theory. Prof. Yao has made significant and original contributions to the niche scientific areas of data organization, the complexity-based theory of pseudorandom number generation, cryptography, communication complexity, quantum teleportation as well as computation. Prof. Yao is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. He has published nearly one hundred academic papers which covered almost every aspect of the computation complexity theory. He was awarded the Turing Award in 2000 by the world's leading Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), which made him the first and the only overseas Chinese computer scientist to date to have won this award since its founding. Before he received the Turing Award, he had already earned many prestigious awards, including the Polya Prize by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, and the first Donald E. Knuth Prize which is named after Knuth, the master of the analysis of algorithms. Prof. Yao has taught at a number of prestigious universities in the United States. He is currently teaching at Tsinghua University in Beijing and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that there were 95 hotels and guest-houses operating in 2011, an increase of 4 year-on-year, including 63 hotels and 32 guest-houses. Upon opening of several large-scale hotels, number of persons engaged reached 33,052, up by 24% from 2010, with 26,024 working in 5-star hotels (79% of total); meanwhile, the 32 guest-houses had 168 workers, up by 7% year-on-year. Subsequent to continuous increase in hotel guests, receipts of the hotel sector soared by 32% year-on-year to MOP 18.83 billion in 2011. Analysed by item, receipts from Room Sales (MOP 8.46 billion), Food & Beverages (MOP 4.06 billion) and Rental of Space (MOP 3.05 billion) increased by 29%, 31% and 37% respectively year-on-year. Expenditure of the hotel sector amounted to MOP 15.48 billion, up by 35% year-on-year. Analysed by item, Operating Expenses (MOP 7.25 billion) and Compensation of Employees (MOP 5.83 billion) increased by 32% and 39% respectively. Gross Value Added that measures the sectoral contribution to the economy reached MOP 9.33 billion, up by 31% from 2010. With successive completion of large-scale hotels, Gross Fixed Capital Formation surged by 240% year-on-year to MOP 16.59 billion.
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The Institute for Tourism Studies' Bachelor Degree Programme emphasises on the balance between theory and practice. Students are required to complete certain hours of practical tasks related to their specialisations every year. One of the tasks given to the Tourism Business Management students is to provide free guided tour to tourists and local residents. The activity, with the theme of "Tour around Macao with IFT Students", is organised by year two students of Tourism Business Management Degree Programme. With the assistance from the instructors, five different itineraries have been designed and each lasts about one hour and thirty minutes. This free guided tour service will be provided to all tourists and local residents on Saturday and Sunday, from 13 October – 3 November. The main objectives of the activity: I. It allows the students to put what they have learnt about tourism into practice. The whole project, from itinerary design to time control to the actual tour guiding, is planned by the students themselves with assistance from instructors. By coordinating the activity, their communication skills can also be enhanced. II. To promote Macao to the tourists by offering the free guiding service at the city centre and tourist attractions. Residents will also be made aware of the importance of tourism to Macao. IFT is the only public higher education institution in Macao that cultivates talents for tourism and service industry. It endeavours to promote Macao through various activities and to leave a good impression to everyone who visits the place.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that Value of Industrial Production & Other Receipts of Macao increased by 4.4% year-on-year to MOP9.31 billion in 2011, the first rebound since 2006, mainly spurred by the impetus of Manufacture of Food Products & Beverages and Manufacture of Other Non-metallic Mineral Products. Intermediate Consumption (MOP6.14 billion) rose by 4.6% year-on-year; Gross Value Added that measures the sectoral contribution to the economy (MOP3.17 billion) increased by 3.9%, while Gross Fixed Capital Formation (MOP482 million) dropped by 43.8%. In 2011, there were 900 establishments operating in industrial production, a decrease of 11 over 2010, of which 894 were Manufacturing establishments. Total number of persons engaged decreased by 852 year-on-year to 13,828, with Compensation of Employees (MOP1.71 billion) rising by 6.0%. Analysed by industry, Value of Production of the Manufacturing sector (MOP6.29 billion) increased by 9.5% over 2010, with that of Manufacture of Food Products & Beverages (MOP1.07 billion) rising by 18.9% upon continuous rise in visitor arrivals. Due to notable increase in cement and concrete production, Value of Production of Manufacture of Other Non-metallic Mineral Products (MOP775 million) surged by 1.5 times year-on-year. On the other hand, sluggish demand from the European and US markets drove the Value of Production of Manufacture of Wearing Apparel (MOP1.40 billion), an export-oriented industry, down further by 18.6% year-on-year. Meanwhile, Intermediate Consumption (MOP4.83 billion) and Gross Value Added (MOP1.53 billion) of the Manufacturing sector increased by 11.2% and 4.4% respectively year-on-year, with Gross Value Added of Manufacture of Food Products & Beverages and Manufacture of Wearing Apparel were MOP424 and MOP270 million. On account of reduced electricity generation in 2011, Value of Production (MOP2.90 billion) and Intermediate Consumption (MOP1.29 billion) of the Electricity, Gas & Water Supply sector decreased by 6.2% and 14.7% respectively year-on-year, whereas Gross Value Added (MOP1.63 billion) went up by 2.9%. In 2011, the Industrial Survey covered all establishments engaging in activities under Manufacturing, Mining & Quarrying, and Electricity, Gas & Water Supply.
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Members of the public can again visit the front block and gardens of Government Headquarters at the Open Day, on 20 and 21 October between 9 am and 6 pm. The Public Security Police Band and students from the School of Music and School of Dance of the Macao Conservatory will perform for visitors during the two-day opening. There will also be guided tours of the first floor of the Headquarters and a photo exhibition of old Macao in the multi-purpose conference room. For more details, please browse www2.gcs.gov.mo/openday or www.gov.mo.
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In order to strengthen the role of Macao SAR as an economic and financial platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, the Monetary Authority of Macao (AMCM) has invited the central bank governors of various Portuguese-speaking countries to Macao for a Financial Forum with the theme: "Exploit the Platform Function of Macao in Promoting Economic and Financial Development between China and Portuguese Speaking Countries". The Forum will allow extensive communications about the theme. Meanwhile, to further reinforce Macao's role as a bridge, AMCM has also invited representatives from the Financial Services Offices of Shanghai and the Guangdong Provinces to the Forum for introducing the current developments and financial market conditions in those regions. The Forum will also introduce the economic and financial developments of participating countries. Central bank governors from Portugal, Mozambique, Cape Verde and East Timor, as well as the heads of the Financial Services Offices in Shanghai and Guangdong Provinces have signed up for the Forum. The above-mentioned Forum will be held on 10 October 2012 (Wednesday), from 2:00pm to 6:00pm at the Conference Center on the 2nd floor of Hotel Mandarin Oriental. Ms. Gao Yan, Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao SAR and Mr. Feng Tie, Deputy Commissioner of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China in the Macao SAR will be the officiating guests of the Forum. More than 120 participants including representatives of local financial institutions, consuls or honorary consuls of Portuguese-speaking countries in Macao and representatives of relevant departments of the MSAR Government will also be present.
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With the aim of strengthening the knowledge of all practitioners in the legal field on fundamental rights issues, the Legal and Judicial Training Centre (CFJJ) is going to organise a seminar under the theme "The System of Fundamental Rights". This initiative will take place on October 15th in the Auditorium of the CFJJ, Rua Dr. Pedro José Lobo, n.° 1-3, Banco Luso Internacional building, 18th floor, between 5 pm and 7 pm. Integrated as part of the 2nd EU-Macao Co-operation Programme in the Legal Field, the seminar will feature as its keynote speaker Professor José Alberto de Melo Alexandrino, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon, Portugal. This event will be conducted in Portuguese with simultaneous translation to Cantonese. During the five daily sessions, which will take place until October 19th, the following topics will be discussed: 1. Introduction: the concept, value and function of the fundamental rights • Constitutional nations' concept of fundamental rights;
• The multidimensional value of fundamental rights;
• The function of fundamental rights;
• The requirements and overall provisions of fundamental rights;
• The definition of the subjects of the study. 2. Fundamental Rights System under the Macao Basic Law: specificities and approximation in a comparative legal context • The characteristics of the Macao's legal order;
• The distinctiveness of the Macao's legal order;
• The Basic Law as a Constitution in the functional sense;
• The uniqueness of the fundamental rights affirmed in Macao;
• The status and provisions of the fundamental rights and freedoms in the Basic Law. 3. The defining elements in Macao's System of Fundamental Rights • The fundamental options made by the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law;
• Joint Declaration as a baseline standard and reference for the Fundamental Rights System;
• Systematisation of the fundamental rights and freedoms in the Basic Law:  The statutes of fundamental rights and the statutes involving fundamental rights;
 Listed and disseminated rights in the Basic Law;
 The principal content of the listed rights in the Basic Law;
• The openness of the Fundamental Rights System;
• The nature and function of the principle of inviolability of human dignity;
• Any unified system for fundamental rights?
• Elements for the composition of the Fundamental Rights System. 4. Definition and scope of the Fundamental Rights System • The principle of universality;
• The principle of equality;
• The principle of appropriateness;
• The principle of the protection of expectations;
• The principle of access to law and effective judicial oversight;
• The principle of direct applicability of the statutes of fundamental rights;
• The principle of constraint of public entities; • The principle of legal reservations;
• Amendment of the Basic Law to safeguard fundamental rights and freedom;
• Prohibition of restrictive "Ex post facto" laws. 5. The feasibility and complications of the protection of fundamental rights • The importance of the protection mechanism that existed until December 19, 1999;
• The protection function of the Joint Declaration;
• The protection function of the statutes of the international human rights law;
• Judicial protection;
• Non-judicial defensive mechanism. The 2nd EU-Macao Co-operation Programme in the Legal Field, which incorporates this workshop, has as its main objective the "Consolidation of the Macao Legal System" and will take place until December 2013. The execution of this Programme is coordinated by the Law Reform and International Law Bureau, with the participation of several other MSAR's entities and public departments, namely the Legal and Judicial Training Centre, the Legal Affairs Bureau, the Economic Services, the Financial Services Bureau and the Institute of European Studies of Macao.
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Consumer Council conducted a price check on 12 brands of beverages from 24 retail outlets earlier. Survey result showed that price difference of up to 200 percent was recorded for the same product sold in different retail outlets. Survey data has been uploaded to the Council's 'Specific Product Price Platform' website and is also available in the Council's 'Supermarket Price Information Platform' iPhone and Android apps. The Council collected prices of 12 brands of beverages from 24 supermarkets and convenience stores on 4th October. Surveyed items include soft drinks, bottled water, beer and other kinds of beverages. The current survey revealed that 4 of the surveyed beverage brands, namely 'Cool Distilled Water/750ml', 'Bonaqua Mineralized Water/770ml', 'Watsons Water Pure Distilled/430ml' and 'Aquarius Isotonic Rehydration Drink/500ml', recorded significant price differences. 'Aquarius Isotonic Rehydration Drink/500ml', which recorded a price difference of 63 percent last time, now differed for about 109 percent in different outlets (from $5.5 to $11.5). Price differences of about 23 percent to 75 percent were also recorded in other beverage brands. In comparison with the data collected in last survey, both price increases and decreases were recorded in most of the surveyed items. Consumers are advised to check with the data provided by the Council on its website (www.consumer.gov.mo) and its 'Supermarket price platform' apps to make price comparisons. The specific price survey on beverages is now available on the Council's website (www.consumer.gov.mo). For enquiry, please call 8988 9315.
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Owing to the flooding in Thailand, Macao Post announced that mail delivery services (including Correspondence, Printed Matters, Small Packet, Parcel and EMS) from Macao to Thailand, particularly for the areas with postal codes bearing the prefixes below are subject to delay until further notice. Postal Code Prefixes
13, 25, 26, 60, 65, 66 Thank you for your kind attention.
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The Macau Grand Prix Committee invited current Extrication Consultant Dr. Jean Jacques Issermann and FIA Medical Delegate Dr. Jacques Tropenat to conduct a two-day training course for the local Rescue Team on October 6th and 7th. The Doctors provided professional instruction, shared their experiences, and gave practical demonstrations. Both Doctors are highly-experienced in the field and have taken part in rescue situations during FIA races. Extrication plays a crucial role during motorsports events, and the training and experience of the Rescue Team is a key factor during the races. Team leaders and members must react professionally and calmly, while the reactions of Track Marshals and other staff must be fast and accurate, working closely to execute rescue exercises in the most efficient and effective way possible. A total of 40 doctors and 48 firemen took part in three sessions, which covered the various features and important elements of motorsport rescue: equipment operation; instantaneous problem-solving in the event of an incident; an introduction to the equipment and skills required for rapid intervention medical rescue; and communication with race control during a rescue situation. In addition, the Rescue Team also carried out simulated incident exercises and completed practical procedures, during which their skills were evaluated. All members of the Macau Grand Prix Rescue Team received certification from the FIA. This confirms that the local Rescue Team has attained an international standard, and also ensures each team member is equipped with the required knowledge and ability to carry out medical, extrication and rapid intercept rescue procedures.
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