News

The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac, said the Government would soon introduce internal guidelines to improve monitoring of the gaming industry, in an effort to promote a healthy development of the sector. The guidelines are intended to increase transparency and strengthen regulation of the sector, he said. The new guidelines might include requirements for gaming promoters to disclose more information, including the names of its administrators, shareholders, principal employees and a list of its collaborators. Speaking to reporters after the plenary session of the city’s Economic Development Council on 22 September, Mr Leong said that if the guidelines prove to be effective, the Government would consider turning them into administrative regulations or laws. The Secretary added that the Government is also considering defining staff in charge of financial operations of gaming promoters as principal employees; as a way to ensure that such positions are held by qualified professionals. Commenting on the case of an alleged fraud involving a gaming promoter, Mr Leong said the Government is highly concerned about the incident. He also stressed that existing legislation clearly states which institutions are authorised to accept deposits from the public. The healthy development of gaming promoters’ activities is important to the overall evolution of the city’s gaming industry, the official said. In view of the rapid development of the gaming industry in recent years, it is necessary to review and optimise the existing regulation, he added. At the plenary session of the Economic Development Council, members addressed several subjects, including Macao’s current economic situation and prospects, the investment of the financial reserve and the establishment of a task group to study the economic development of the city’s traditional neighbourhoods.
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The Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, said today the Government respected judiciary independence to enforce the court’s ruling in the lawsuit of Macau Cable TV. Speaking to reporters after a plenary session of the Economic Development Council, Mr Chui said he had already told the Secretary for Transport and Public Works Mr Raimundo do Rosário, whose profile includes telecommunication, to review the proceeding of the case. Mr Chui said the previous governance team did not want to terminate television signal, as the Macau Cable TV was a legal service provider while public antenna companies started operating and providing television signal to the people years ago. The Government had seized every opportunity to express its opinion, but the Court of Second Instance rejected the Government’s appeal against the arbitrator’s decision which ruled the Government had to pay compensation of 200 million patacas to Macau Cable TV. Macau Cable TV, has been broadcasting since July 2000, lost its concession contract, which signed with the former Portuguese administration, on April 2014.
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Giant panda “Shuxiang” would be sent back to the mainland for a national breeding program in November, the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Chan Hoi Fan, said today. But the departure date would be confirmed with the mainland departments, Ms Chan said to reporters after today’s meeting on health, animal and plant quarantine and food safety with representatives from Guangdong, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Zhuhai. The Government would organise a farewell ceremony for the male panda which has been living in Macao since 2010. Before leaving for the mainland, “Shuxiang” would be kept apart for 30-day quarantine, the Secretary added. On co-operation of legal assistance, Ms Chan said it had reached consensus with Hong Kong that the co-operation was based on the principle of “One country, two systems”, adding the Government would submit the draft proposal to the Legislative Assembly within this year. When asked, she said the Government would take into consideration of the economic situation for adjusting salary of civil servant, and expected the result would be announced next month.
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The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac, has exchanged views with gaming operators on how to maintain economic vitality, enhance Macao’s competitiveness, stable job market and strengthen social responsibility of the sector. Mr Leong said the Government has always concerned with healthy development of the sector and employment opportunities of local people, stressing the principle of non-resident workers were only to serve shortfalls of local human resources. In a meeting with the representatives of six gaming concessionaires on 18 September, the Secretary urged the operators to continuously provide more on-the-job training to the workers to improve their upward mobility while the Government would make more efforts in job matching and career changing. As one of the pillars of local economy, healthy development of gaming industry had profound impact on Macao, he said. The Government would optimise legislations to strengthen regulation on concessionaires and junket operators, and would encourage more contributions of non-gaming elements to further expedite adequate diversification of economy and enhance the sector’s competiveness in worldwide. Representatives of gaming concessionaires said they would follow the Government’s policy direction to propel development of non-gaming features and support locally made products, and hoped for more support during the consolidation period and more quality visitors to accommodate the tourism.
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Cinematheque．Passion (hereafter referred to as “Cinematheque”) will host a Digital Screening Workshop on Saturday, 3 October, at 2:30 p.m., now open for applications. Seats are limited but representatives from local film companies, film associations and film practitioners will be given priority. The workshop is free of charge; apply now. In order to actively promote Macao’s film culture and provide a more diversified choice of movies, the Cinematheque．Passion, under the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), opened on 14 September on an experimental basis. During the experimental period, apart from launching the “Temporary Venue Booking Programme” (hereafter referred to as “Venue Booking Programme”), which is open to application by local film groups and individuals, IC will launch a series of public activities at the Cinematheque starting from October. The first activity—Digital Screening Workshop—will be conducted by Wong Po Luen, founder of East Technology (Asia) Limited. It is hoped that participants can familiarize themselves with the operation of digital projectors and the principle of film screening and demonstration of the operation of the projector on site. Mr. Wong has been engaged in the inspection and maintenance of projection equipment for more than three decades and is hence knowledgeable and experienced in operating film projectors and audio equipment. During the experimental opening, the venue will temporarily not be open to the public, except for specific activities organized by IC and for the “Venue Booking Programme”. The “Venue Booking Programme” makes the ticket lobby and screening room available for bookings by local film groups and individuals to hold non-profit activities related to art films, individual films or the production of Macao films. The Cinematheque is now doing preparatory work on other facilities including the film information room. Representatives from local film companies, film associations, film practitioners and residents who are interested in the aforementioned workshop are welcome. All interested parties may apply for the workshop through email (info.dpicc@icm.gov.mo) by providing the following information: (1) Name of the film company, film association or individual; (2) Name of the attendee; (3) Name of the film-related activity participated previously and the position held in those activities. For any enquiry regarding the Cinematheque, please contact Mr. Leong, staff of IC, through tel. (853) 2892 4040 during office hours. For details, please visit the Cultural Affairs Bureau website (www.icm.gov.mo) or the Macao Cultural and Creative Industries website (www.macaucci.com).
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“The 2015 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Film Production Investment and Trade Fair” (hereinafter referred to as “Fair”) is jointly hosted by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, the Hong Kong Film Development Council and the Guangdong Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. This year’s Fair, includes a seminar on the subject “Distribution and Promotion in New Media Market” will be held on Thursday, 24 September 2015, from 5:30pm to 6:45pm, at 4/F, Dunhuang Ballroom of the Conrad Macao at Sands Cotai Central. All interested parties are welcome to attend. Mr. Fung Wing Assistant Head of Create HK, has been invited to host the seminar, Terence P.T., Wong, Head of the Department of Communication Design and Digital Media at the Hong Kong Design Institute and Zheng Dawei, Secretary-general of the Guangdong Motion Picture Industry Association will join to discuss the “Distribution and Promotion in New Media Market”. They will talk about the opportunities uncovered by the development of new media, and discuss the similarities and differences of the promotion and distribution methods under the traditional market and the new media market. This seminar is anticipated to give further insight on the application of new media in the film industry. Following the first Fair held last year in Macao, this year’s event will take place from 23 to 24 September 2015 at 4/F, Conrad Macao at Sands Cotai Central. Invited industry practitioners and investors from the three regions of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao will attend various activities, including the opening ceremony, networking meal, presentation of film projects, producer-to-investor meetings and seminar, etc. The seminar “Distribution and Promotion in New Media Market” is open to the public. Registration is free and there will be Chinese to Portuguese simultaneous interpretation services available onsite. All parties interested in film distribution and promotion and the study of new media are welcome. For details of this seminar, please call Mr. Leong or Mr. Chong, staff members of the Cultural Affairs Bureau through tel. no. 2892 4040 during office hours.
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In order to encourage local talents and prepare the stars of the future, the Cultural Affairs Bureau organizes, as a part of the 29th Macao International Music Festival, two concerts titled “Bravo Macau”, to be held on 25 and 26 September (Friday and Saturday), at the Dom Pedro V Theatre. The concerts feature performances by local young musicians, namely violinist Sophia Feinga Su, saxophonist Hugo Loi, pianist Ray Long and violist Katy Ho. These four musicians have been winning awards from a young age and have been admitted to top-notch institutions where they have honed their skills, unleashing their natural talent. 14-year old Sophia Feinga Su currently attends world prestigious The Juilliard School of Music in the U.S.A., and was the youngest ever participant in the Macao Young Musicians Competition to be awarded the Cultural Affairs Bureau Prize, in 2008, which lead the media to proclaim her “Macao’s Violin Prodigy”. Hugo Loi is dedicated to music training, teaching at the Macao Conservatory, the Macau Band Directors Association and several schools in the Territory, becoming, the first representative of the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague to perform abroad solo and conduct exchange sessions with students at the University of Ghana, in Africa in 2013. Ray Long graduated with first class honours at the Royal College of Music in the United Kingdom, and conquered the second prize and the Brighton Fund Prize award at UK’s Springboard – Brighton and Hove Performing Arts Festival as well as the awards for Best Performance and Concerto at the IBLA Grand Prize in Italy, amongst other important awards. Katy Ho also graduated and completed a master’s degree at The Juilliard School of Music in the U.S.A., and was awarded a scholarship by the same school last year and assigned to teach music courses at public schools in New York. Tickets for these concerts are now limited and all interested members of the public are advised to make their purchases as soon as possible. Ticketing hotline: 2855 5555. For more information on these performances, please visit the webpage www.icm.gov.mo/fimm or call IC through tel. 8399 6699, during office hours.
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Macao Post will participate the “China International Collection Expo (2nd Edition)”, located at Beijing, China during 25th to 28th September, 2015. To commemorate this Exhibition, Macao Post issues the commemorative envelopes and provides the commemorative postmark cancellation service on site of the exhibition. For the convenience of the philatelist, the commemorative envelope with stamp priced at MOP4.50 will also be available for sale at the Philatelic Shop of Macao Post Headquarters starting from 25th September. You may send your mail of this cancelled commemorative envelope at the following locations *: Philatelic Shop at Macao Post Headquarters: 25th September 9:00 – 17:30 Post Offices: 25th to 28th September Office Hours to Public * No commemorative postmark cancellation service will be provided in Macao.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the Composite CPI for August 2015 increased by 4.64% year-on-year to 106.34. The CPI growth eased continuously since May 2015, with the rate for August dropping further by 0.12 percentage points from July (+4.76%). The increment in August was attributable to higher rentals for dwellings and rising charges for eating out; meanwhile, receding prices of gasoline and Liquefied Petroleum Gas, as well as lower charges for package tours, slowed the pace of growth. In comparison with August 2014, notable increase was observed in the price index of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+36.62%); Housing & Fuels (+7.10%) and Health (+6.45%) on account of an increase in tobacco tax, rising rentals for dwellings and higher charges for out-patient services. On the contrary, price index of Communication decreased by 0.86%. The CPI-A (106.55) and CPI-B (104.56) increased by 4.97% and 3.60% respectively year-on-year. The Composite CPI for August 2015 increased by 0.19% month-to-month. Dearer prices of tobacco and higher wages of domestic helpers drove up the price index of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco and Household Goods & Furnishings by 6.68% and 0.95%. Moreover, price index of Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages increased by 0.34% owing to higher charges for eating out and dearer prices of fresh pork and vegetables, while lower prices of fresh fish and seafood tapered off the increase. On the other hand, price index of Clothing & Footwear decreased by 1.98% due to seasonal sale of summer clothing and footwear. The CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 0.20% and 0.16% respectively month-to-month. For the 12 months ended August 2015, the average Composite CPI increased by 5.21% from the previous period. Price index of Housing & Fuels (+10.43%); Health (+5.47%); Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (+5.38%) and Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco (+5.32%) showed marked increase. The average CPI-A and CPI-B rose by 5.67% and 4.56% respectively over the previous period. The average Composite CPI for the first eight months of 2015 increased by 4.86% year-on-year, with the price index of Housing & Fuels; Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco and Health rising by 9.68%, 7.39% and 5.81% respectively. The average CPI-A and CPI-B increased by 5.28% and 4.01% respectively. The Composite CPI reflects the impact of price changes on the general households. The CPI-A relates to about 50% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP10,000 to MOP29,999. The CPI-B relates to about 30% of the households, which have an average monthly expenditure of MOP30,000 to MOP54,999.
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The culture of the streets of Macao is diversified and rich, with intertwining streets and alleys that developed at different periods in time, loaded with the cultural of its residents and witness the history of integration and harmonious coexistence of Western and Chinese culture in Macao. Macao Post will issue a thematic pack under the theme “Streets of Macao” on 22nd September 2015. The cover is presented with the painting of the Church of St. Lazarus Slope, where is full of Portuguese architecture style and as a gathering place for Macao artists. This pack comprises 4 series of stamps issued with the topics of Streets of Macao, which includes: the “Streets of Macao” issued in 2006, “Streets of Macao II” issued in 2013, the label stamps and definitive stamps of “Old Streets and Alleys” issued in 2015. This pack will be available for sale at the Philatelic Shop of Macao Post Headquarters, “Rua do Campo” Post Office, Maritime Ferry Terminal Post Office, Airport Post Office, and the Communications Museum. The selling price is MOP150.00 each, it is certainly an excellent product, either as a collectable or as an elegant gift.
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