News

The Secretary for Security, Mr Wong Sio Chak, said maintaining public safety was the top priority of the police, while at the same time safeguarding public order and satisfying the public’s right to information. Mr Wong commented today on a recent incident involving reports that a bomb had been placed in a local hotel. He said 60 percent to 70 percent of reports related to perceived risk to public safety were in fact false alarms. The police needed to ensure public safety and verify supplied information before sharing it with the media. He noted that the mechanism by which the security forces communicated with the media had continual scope for enhancement. The Secretary stated the police were not selective in terms of which incidents were reported to the public and the media. He added he hoped members of the public and the media could understand the need to protect public safety, public order and the general interests of the public. In addition, Mr Wong said he hoped the Government would hold in November a visit to the nuclear power plant in Taishan, Guangdong Province. It was proposed that the visit would include community members. The Government had been discussing the matter with the Central Government. Detailed work was needed in order to further the consultation process between the Government and the mainland authorities.
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The Government will host tomorrow (1 October) a series of activities, including a flag raising ceremony, a reception, a variety show, and firework display, to celebrate the 67th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. At 8am on National Day, there will be a flag-raising ceremony held at Golden Lotus Square. The ceremony is to be attended by the Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On; and representatives from, respectively, the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR; the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Macao SAR; and the Macao Garrison of the People’s Liberation Army; as well as by heads of the Macao legislature and judiciary; principal officials; and people from across the community. The flag-raising ceremony will be broadcast live on television channels of public broadcaster Teledifusão de Macau (TDM). The Chief Executive will then attend the National Day reception held at the Macau Tower Convention and Entertainment Centre at 9.30am. Later in the day, Mr Chui will preside at the start of a running event to commemorate National Day, and later present awards to participants. A number of Government departments will hold events to celebrate the anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. They include: a variety show – organised by the Sports Bureau – at the Macao East Asian Games Dome, starting at 2pm; and an acrobatic performance called “The Legendary Swordsman” to be staged at the Macao Forum at 8pm tonight and again on Saturday night. Pyrotechnic displays for the 28th Macau International Fireworks Display Contest – by a team from Romania and a team from China – will take place on the waterfront near the Macau Tower at, respectively, 9pm and 9.40pm tomorrow. Macao Post will offer commemorative stamp covers for sale to mark National Day. A stamping service will be available at its headquarters building from 9am to 5.30pm on Saturday.
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On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Macao International Music Festival, the Cultural Affairs Bureau hosted the “Macao International Music Festival Forum” themed “Music and Arts Festival as Drivers of a City’s Cultural Development” from 30 September to 1 October at the Macao Cultural Centre Conference Room, to explore how international arts festivals and events contribute to the sustainable development of a city. Various renowned guests from cultural sectors from both overseas and the nearby regions discussed and explored the influence between music and arts festivals and the urban cultural development in various regions. The two-day “Macao International Music Festival Forum” features a number of sessions covering a wide range of themes, from city branding, programming, audience development, cultural tourism and Internet marketing, to study how a long-term development strategy and elements such as arts and local history and culture, heritage buildings, geographic environment, boosting the international image and profile of the cities while driving the development in fields such as the economy, society and culture. Several prominent practitioners from overseas and nearby regions were invited to conduct the talks in the Forum, including the Managing Director of the Barbican Centre, Sir Nicholas Kenyon; the Founder and Executive Director of the Verbier Festival, Martin Engstroem; the CEO of Arts House Limited, Singapore, Lee Chor Lin; the Executive Director of the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Tisa Ho; the Co-founder and Artistic Director of Clockenflap, Hong Kong’s Music and Arts Festival, Jay Forster; the Digital Strategist of Clockenflap, Hong Kong’s Music and Arts Festival, Simon Bratt; the Dean of the School of Music of Shanghai University, Wang Yong; the Director of the Shanghai Culture Square, Zhang Jie; and the General Manager of Wu Promotions, Wu Jiatong, among others, in an effort to facilitate exchange between Macao and other places and together explore new approaches to the development of arts festivals in cities. The “Macao International Music Festival Forum” was attended by the President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Ung Vai Meng, and several speakers of the talks; the Vice President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Leung Hio Ming; the EMA Co-Programme Leader and Adjunct Professor of the Hong Kong Institute of Education, Tseng Sun-man; the experienced writer of South China Morning Post, Oliver Chou; the Hong Kong classical music composer and critic, Dennis Wu; the members of the Art Advisory Group of the Macao International Music Festival, Lü Jia, Cao Yi Ji and Yang Yan Di; the Head of the Department of Cultural Events of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Kent Ieong Chi Kin; and the Head of the Division of Performing Arts of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Paula Lei.
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As 1 October is approaching, consumption by citizens are expected to increase, so are the number of inbound tourists. The Consumer Council held a meeting earlier with Economic Services Bureau (DSE), Macao Government Tourist Office (DST), Transport Bureau (DSAT), Judiciary Police (PJ), Public Security Police Force (PSP), Macao Custom Service, Civic and Municipal Affairs Council (IACM), Health Bureau (SS), and Bureau of Telecommunications Regulation (DSRT) to discuss on the protection of consumer rights for local citizens as well as inbound tourists. Consumer Council reminds consumers and tourists that if anyone finds his or her consumer rights being infringed, he or she should file a complaint with the Council or other departments and provide all necessary detailed information. The Council will also assign its staff to provide services to consumers through its hotline during 0900 to 1800 from 1 to 4 October. Consumer Council hotline: 8988 9315.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitors on package tours increased by 8.2% month-to-month to 728,000 in August 2016, with the year-on-year decline slowing to 20.6%. Package tour visitors from Mainland China (593,000) and Taiwan (42,000) decreased by 24.9% and 11.1% respectively year-on-year, while those from the Republic of Korea (32,000) surged by 146.3%. In the first eight months of 2016, visitors on package tours totalled 4,831,000, down by 28.5% year-on-year. Outbound residents using services of travel agencies totalled 109,000 in August 2016, up by 1.5% month-to-month and down by 17.3% year-on-year. Residents travelling on package tours decreased by 27.7% year-on-year to 41,000, owing to a 37.0% decrease in residents travelling to Mainland China (28,000); those travelling to Taiwan (2,700) also dropped by 14.0%. On the other hand, residents travelling to the Republic of Korea on package tours (3,900) soared by 580.4% year-on-year. In the first eight months of 2016, outbound residents using services of travel agencies totalled 816,000, down by 17.4% year-on-year. There were 105 hotels & guesthouses operating at the end of August 2016, up by 3 year-on-year and 1 month-to-month. Number of guest rooms totalled 33,000, up by 3,400 (+11.5%) year-on-year; 5-star (22,000) and 4-star hotel rooms (7,700) increased by 9.5% and 28.4% respectively. A total of 1,076,000 guests checked into hotels & guesthouses in August 2016, up by 3.3% month-to-month and 7.7% year-on-year. Guests from Mainland China (688,000), Hong Kong (178,000) and Taiwan (40,000) increased by 5.5%, 14.3% and 11.8% respectively year-on-year; concurrently, those from the Republic of Korea (28,000) surged by 40.3%. The average length of stay of guests held stable as in August 2015, at 1.4 nights. The average occupancy rate of hotels & guesthouses reached 90.3% in August 2016, the highest record since February 2014, up by 4.1 percentage points year-on-year and 3.5 percentage points month-to-month. The rate of 4-star hotels took the lead at 92.3%, up notably by 7.3 percentage points year-on-year, and that of 5-star hotels stood at 91.1%. In the first eight months of 2016, guests of hotels & guesthouses totalled 7,560,000, up by 12.0% year-on-year. The average occupancy rate of hotels & guesthouses stood at 81.1%, up slightly by 0.9 percentage points; the average length of stay of guests was 1.4 nights, down by 0.1 night year-on-year. Visitor-guests accounted for 70.6% of the total overnight visitors, up by 2.6 percentage points year-on-year.
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The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) released, for the first time, the results of the Business Climate Survey on Restaurants & Similar Establishments and Retail Trade. The Survey has been conducted since the beginning of 2016, which aims to provide a timely overview of the business performance of the surveyed industries. In accordance with the results, the business performance of Restaurants & Similar Establishments improved in July as compared to the previous months of 2016. The proportion of interviewed restaurants that posted a year-on-year growth in receipts increased to 34%, a record high for the first seven months of this year. Meanwhile, the proportion that recorded decline shrank to 43%. Among the various types of restaurants & similar establishments, 47% of the Chinese Restaurants reported a year-on-year increase in receipts in July; yet, 81% of the Japanese & Korean Restaurants saw a decrease. Business performance of Retail Trade showed a rebound in July as compared to the first half year of 2016, with 26% of the interviewed retailers posting a year-on-year growth in sales. Among the various types of retailers, 80% of the Leather Goods Retailers and 67% of the Supermarkets recorded a year-on-year increase in sales in July, with 33% of the interviewed Supermarkets reporting a growth of 20% or more. However, all of the interviewed Motor Vehicle Retailers and 78% of the Department Stores registered a decline in sales. With respect to business prospects, 15% of the interviewed restaurants anticipated a year-on-year growth in receipts in August 2016 while 44% expected their receipts to remain stable. In particular, 20% of the Chinese Restaurants anticipated a year-on-year rise in receipts in August while 47% expected steady sales. On the contrary, the Japanese & Korean Restaurants were generally less confident about their business prospects, with 69% anticipating a year-on-year sales drop in August. Retailers expected a minor improvement in their business prospects; 15% of the interviewed retailers anticipated a year-on-year growth in sales in August while 28% expected their sales to remain stable. Among them, 67% of the interviewed Supermarkets and 40% of the Leather Goods Retailers expected a year-on-year sales increase. On the other hand, 57% of the interviewed retailers anticipated a year-on-year decrease in sales in August, down marginally by 2 percentage points from June, of which 89% of the Motor Vehicle Retailers, 78% of the Department Stores and 74% of the Clocks, Watches & Jewellery Retailers predicted a sales decline. The sample of the Business Climate Survey on Restaurants & Similar Establishments and Retail Trade was selected based on the receipts of the establishments, comprising 167 restaurants (accounting for 53% of the industry’s receipts) and 135 retailers (accounting for 70% of the industry’s receipts). The Survey results reflect only the business performance and the expectation of the sample restaurants and retailers, where no extrapolation of results has been conducted. Results of the Business Climate Survey will be released on a monthly basis.
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Data collection for the 2016 Population By-census has been successfully concluded. As a token of appreciation from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC), all households who completed the By-census questionnaire have been automatically entered into the Cooperating Households Lucky Draw, and those who completed the e-Questionnaire have got an extra entry into the E-Questionnaire Lucky Draw. The draws, presided over by Ieong Meng Chao, Director of DSEC, Cheng I Wan and Mak Hang Chan, Deputy Directors, and Choi Ka I, Chief of Division, took place on 29 September. A total of 38 winning households were announced as follows: The First Prize of the Cooperating Households Lucky Draw, MOP10,000 electrical goods vouchers, went to household reference number 202510482; the Second Prize, MOP6,000 electrical goods vouchers, to household reference number 506320113; the Third Prize, MOP3,000 electrical goods vouchers, to household reference number 103410492; and 30 Incentive Prizes, MOP1,000 electrical goods vouchers, to 103310427, 104410495, 108210307, 202210215, 202510219, 203210026, 204410169, 205420414, 205510017, 208520552, 301410225, 302320429, 303210158, 306110537, 307210486, 307510210, 406210510, 503320486, 505110313, 508120168, 509320120, 601520497, 605410109, 606220566, 607210098, 607420311, 608520311, 703420275, 920530018 and 920750017. The five winning households of the E-Questionnaire Lucky Draw, each will receive an iPhone 6s, were household reference numbers 101220070, 408510529, 507320170, 701420521 and 702520328. All winning households will be notified in writing by DSEC. The winners of the First, Second and Third Prizes of the Cooperating Households Lucky Draw and the five winners of E-Questionnaire Lucky Draw will be invited to the prize presentation ceremony. Meanwhile, the 30 winning households of the Incentive Prize shall collect their prize in person at DSEC (Alameda Dr. Carlos d'Assumpção, No. 411-417, Dynasty Plaza, 17th floor) between 5 October and 30 December 2016 by presenting the prize notification letter, their identity card and a proof (e.g. water, electricity or phone bill, etc.) containing their name and the address of the housing unit. In addition, the 50 winners of the 2016 Population By-census Quiz Game were also announced. The winners will be notified by DSEC via SMS message. Meanwhile, the list of winners and prize collection details were posted on the DSEC website (www.dsec.gov.mo/Intercensos2016).
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The Chinese, Portuguese and English CD ROM special editions of Macao Yearbook 2016, an annual publication compiled by the Government Information Bureau (GCS) of the Macao SAR, will be released tomorrow (30 September). The Macao Yearbook is a comprehensive chronicle. It outlines major events, details of progress achieved, and changes made in the course of Macao’s political, economic, social and cultural development, with the aim of promoting Macao and providing detailed information and data for all who wish to study and understand Macao. Starting from 2016, the Chinese, Portuguese and English editions of the Macao Yearbook will no longer be available in print versions in response to the growing popularity of online reading and the need for environmental protection. The yearbook will now be available in digital version only, enriched with more photos and videos to meet changing needs. For this purpose, a new website and a new App for mobile devices for Macao Yearbook is launched to facilitate online browsing. The CD ROM special edition of Macao Yearbook includes a CD ROM containing the PDF version of the yearbook and a sleekly designed coaster. Published annually since 2002, the Macao Yearbook is available in Chinese, Portuguese and English. It is divided into four sections: Administrative Priorities of the MSAR Government; Calendar of Events; Review of the MSAR in 2015 and Appendices. This year’s Chinese edition comprises 536 pages with about 218,000 words, Portuguese edition 661 pages, and English edition 610 pages; the yearbook is enriched by 248 photographs. Consisting of 16 chapters, the Review of the MSAR presents information on the political and administrative system; legal and judicial system; external relations; economy; gaming industry; tourism; public order; education; culture and sport; health and social welfare; media, communications and information technology; land, infrastructure, housing and public utilities; transport; geography, environment and population; religion and customs; and history. To illustrate various aspects of the latest developments in the MSAR in a visual way, the Government Information Bureau jointly organised with eight local photography organisations and four news media organisations a photographic competition entitled “Precious Moments in Macao” in early 2016. The yearbook has been enhanced by 62 of the winning entries. The CD ROM special edition of Macao Yearbook can be purchased at the following places at 60 patacas per copy: major local bookstores; the Government Public Information Centre at Rua do Campo; and the Macao Post Office (Macao Post)’s Philatelic Division, Rua do Campo Branch, Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal Branch, Macau International Airport Branch, and Nova Taipa Branch. During the promotional period lasting until 31 March 2017, a 20 percent discount will be offered to any purchase of Macao Yearbook 2016.
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In order to optimize one of the main tourist attractions Taipa Houses-Museum, the Cultural Affairs Bureau carried out renovation and conservation works since the end of this August, including painting the exterior walls, repairing windows and door frame, and installation of lighting in the surrounding areas of the buildings. The works have been completed and three of the houses are open to the public starting from this Saturday, 1 October, with free admission. Five Portuguese buildings of Taipa Houses-Museum were built in 1921, which had been the residences for high superior civil servants and Macanese families. In 1992, the five buildings were recognized as buildings with architectural value. After restoration, the Government transformed them into museums, under the name of “Taipa Houses-Museum”, which were opened to the public in 1999. In order to optimize the surrounding environment of the Taipa Houses-Museum, in the preservation of the original characteristics of the buildings, the Government proceeded further integration of five buildings, creating a multicultural leisure area and building a platform for showcasing the culture of Portuguese-speaking countries and international cultural exchange. The Taipa Houses-Museum are open to the public from 10am to 7pm (no admission after 6:30pm; closed on Mondays). For more information, please contact IC through tel. no. 8988 4000, during office hours.
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Consumer Council establishes the ‘Code of Practice’ for food and beverage services to further enhance the sense of food safety of ‘Certified Shops’, and the prerequisite to label price further safeguard consumers’ rights to information and choose when making consumption. Consumer Council establishes ‘Codes of Practice’ for different industries to safeguard consumers’ access to safe and high-quality products and services. ‘Code of Practice’ for F&B services takes effect on 1 October Macao is now an international tourism city, local food and beverage businesses should make themselves up-to-date and satisfy both local citizens’ and international tourists’ requests regarding food services. Consumer Council, therefore, consulted Food Safety Centre of IACM, consultants of Consumer Arbitration Centre, and ‘Certified Shops’ from the relevant businesses and established the ‘Code of Practice’ for food and beverage services, and the Code will take effect on 1 October. Strict regulations on many aspects The ‘Code of Practice’ for food & beverage services requires ‘Certified Shops’ of the concerned industry to comply with the local regulation to strictly following the execution of food safety and measurements. Other requirements include: ‘Certified Shops’ must let consumers know about the measured weights or volume, retail prices of food or beverage products and other charges must be listed explicitly, description of ingredients should match the food sold to consumers, and ‘Certified Shops’ should support the sustainable development of the environment in terms of operations. Different Codes to be set for various industries The Council states that the ‘Code of Practice’ for F&B services safeguards consumers in areas such as food safety and information transparency, the said Code is currently the seventeenth Code set for industries under the ‘Certified Shop’ mechanism. The Council will continue to establish different Codes to raise the overall standard of ‘Certified Shops’. ‘Code of Practice’ regulates rights and obligations of both consumers and traders There are currently about 120 shops under the ‘Certified Shop’ mechanism, all shops are called on to abide by the Code, and the Council welcomes other shops to adopt the new Code for the improvement of local food and beverage service industry. The ‘Code of Practice’ for food and beverage services is now available on the Council’s website (www.consumer.gov.mo) and will be available at different public locations. For inquiry, please call 8988 9315.
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