News

For the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June, Consumer Council collects prices of fresh pork and vegetables from wet markets and supermarkets for consumers’ reference. The mentioned data collected during 20 July to 26 July are used for comparing the selling prices of the same products from Hong Kong. The relevant data has been uploaded to the Council’s website for consumers’ reference. The specific price surveys on fresh pork and vegetables are now available on the Council’s website (www.consumer.gov.mo), iPhone & Android ‘Supermarket Price Information Platform’ app, and the Council’s WeChat Account page. The relevant surveys include selling prices of local fresh pork and vegetables, and comparison on the respective selling prices rom HK and Macao. For enquiry, please call 8988 9315.
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Macao Post will participate the “32nd Asian International Stamp Exhibition”, located in Bangkok, Thailand, during 10th to 15th August, 2016. 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 MOP5.00 will also be available for sale at the Philatelic Shop of Macao Post Headquarters starting from 10th August. You may send your mail of this cancelled commemorative envelope at the following locations *: Philatelic Shop at Macao Post Headquarters: 10th August, 9:00 – 17:45. Post Offices: 10th to 15th August, Office Hours to Public. * No commemorative postmark cancellation service will be provided in Macao.
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To facilitate the public and philatelists for ordering new philatelic products, please note the followings: (please find the attached file)
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With the approach of “The 31st Summer Olympics” to be held at Rio de Janeiro of Brazil and “The 2nd Macao Citizen Sports Day”, Macao Post will launch the stamp issue “2016 Games” on 29th July and will organize the “Philatelic Exhibition of Major Sports Events”, making the entire Macao public into the upsurge of games in 2016. The “Philatelic Exhibition of Major Sports Events”, organized by Macao Post and co-organized by the Hong Kong Science & Arts Exchange Centre, will be held from 29th July (Friday) to 7th August (Sunday), at the Macao Post Headquarters, Largo do Senado, Macao. Over 10 days, the commemorative stamps of three major sporting events - the Olympic Games, Asian Games and National Games of the People's Republic of China will be exposed. And the "Olympics" series, issued by Macao Post will be included. Let philatelic collectors and sports enthusiasts to enjoy the rare collection stamps.
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Macao Post and the Macau Water Supply Company Limited jointly organized promotional activity for receiving Electronic Water Bill through SEPBox from 1st May 2015 to 30th April 2016. The applicants were able to enjoy a rebate of MOP $20 on water charge and were eligible for three rounds of lucky draws during the above mentioned period. The third round lucky draw prize presentation ceremony was conducted on 27th July 2016, Director of Macao Post Ms. Derby LAU and Executive Director of the Macau Water Supply Company Limited Ms. Nacky KUAN jointly presented a special prize of “Macao Philatelic Album” (One set of all stamps and souvenir sheets issued by Macao Post from the establishment of Macao Special Administrative Region to 2014 are collected in a prestige stamp album.) to Ms. Lo Wai Heng, while another winner Ms. Lei Kit Man won an “ Annual Album 2014”. In order to encourage the use of Electronic Water Bill through SEPBox, a rebate of MOP $20 on water charge is continuously offering to the successful applicants of the service until 30th April 2017. For more information about the promotional activity, please visit our website at http://seps.macaupost.gov.mo/waterbill. For enquiry, please contact us at Tel:28720029 or email us at: support@seps.macaupost.gov.mo
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Macao’s newborn giant panda cub twins have made their first public appearance at a celebration to mark their one-month anniversary. The pair of male cubs is in good condition: “Dabao” (nickname of the elder cub) now weighs 1,010.5 grams compared to 135 grams at birth; “Xiaobao” now weighs 753.6 grams, compared to 53.8 grams at birth. The twins’ black and white fur has also grown. The Secretary for Administration and Justice, Ms Chan Hoi Fan, on Tuesday (26 July) paid a visit to the month-old cubs. She was given an update on their health and progress by the team looking after them. To mark the cubs’ one-month anniversary, the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau on Tuesday organised a number of activities. They included inviting a group of kindergarten children and a group of media representatives to the Macao Giant Panda Pavilion. The twins’ mother “Xin Xin” gave birth to the twins on 26 June at the Macao Giant Panda Pavilion. “Xin Xin” and the father of the cubs, a male giant panda named “Kai Kai”, are housed at the Macao Giant Panda Pavilion. A pair of giant pandas was given by the Central Government to Macao as a gift for the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Macao Special Administrative Region.
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The Cultural Affairs Bureau will carry out renovation/conservation works at the Taipa Houses-Museum, located at Avenida da Praia, Taipa, from Thursday, 28 July. The works include the partial digging of the surrounding ground of the houses in order to place electrical wires and install lighting equipment, so as to improve the outdoor lighting system, as well as the renovation of the façades of the Macanese House, the House of the Islands and the House of the Portugal Regions. Bamboo scaffolding will be set up to allow for the painting of the walls. The Taipa Houses-Museum will not be affected by the abovementioned works and it will remain open to the public. The works are estimated to be completed in September. For enquiries, please call IC through tel. no. 2836 6866, during office hours.
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The European Union Academic Programme in Macao (EUAP-M) recently organised an annual study trip to Europe for a group of 20 university students and faculty members Most of them are students from the University of Macau (UM). The trip provided an opportunity for the students to learn more about the culture of Belgium and Ireland and to acquaint themselves with the European Union’s (EU) main functions and institutions. Highlights of the trip included meetings in Brussels, one with a representative of the European Commission (EC) on the role, functions and legislative process of the EU, and the other with officials of the European External Action Service (EEAS) on its role and functions as well as EU-China and EU-Macao relations. In Brussels, the group visited the Parlamentarium (the European Parliament’s Visitors’ Centre), where the students learned how decisions are made between the European Council and the European Parliament and how they influence the lives of European citizens. The group also visited the Macao Economic and Trade Office to the EU. During the trip, the students participated in a workshop at the Free University of Brussels (ULB), titled ‘EU-China Research and Teaching Co-operation’, which was co-organised by the Institute for European Studies, ULB, and the Institute of European Studies of Macau (IEEM). The students also visited the Trinity College in Dublin, the oldest university in Ireland, where they attended a master class on the EU-Ireland relations given by two professors from the college’s Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. Students discussed the possible impact of Brexit on the EU, Ireland, and the Sino-European relations with the professors. The delegation also visited the library of the Trinity College, where the Book of Kells is housed. The group also visited Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and met with researchers from the Institute of International and European Affairs in Dublin. Established in 2012, the EUAP-M is a partnership between UM and IEEM, co-financed by the EU. It aims to help the general public in Macao, especially students at all levels, to understand more about the EU.
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Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) is ready to launch a tracking study on family hostel. Starting from tomorrow (28 July) until 29 August, the Office will conduct a questionnaire survey to solicit public opinion and learn more about residents’ latest stance towards opening of family hostels in Macao. The survey includes online questionnaire and street interview to be held concurrently. Residents are welcome to voice their opinions. Residents can fill in the questionnaire (Chinese/Portuguese/English) on the website of Macao Tourism Industry Net: http://industry.macaotourism.gov.mo during the period between 28 July and 29 August. For street survey, arranged personnel will interview residents in different districts throughout Macao during the aforementioned period, targeting residents who are at age of 18 or above and have lived in Macao for the past 12 months. MGTO had carried out a feasibility study on family hostel in 2014 and collected a total of 2,243 samples through street survey and online questionnaire. Over 60% of the surveyed residents supported the idea of family hostel provided that a range of conditions are met including the criteria for development of family hostels, as well as overall planning and effective regulation of the Government. However, not a high proportion of interviewees were in favor of family hostel operation in their own community districts, while in general they expressed concerns about public security, hygienic conditions, traffic, housing prices and other issues. In short, the society had not reached a general consensus on this widely-discussed topic for development of family hostels at the time. This press release is available at: http://industry.macautourism.gov.mo/en/pressroom/
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that both the unemployment rate (1.9%) and the underemployment rate (0.5%) for April-June 2016 remained stable as in March-May 2016. Total labour force was 397,800 and the labour force participation rate stood at 72.3%. Total employment increased by 1,800 from March-May, at 390,400. Number of the unemployed was 7,400, down by 200; fresh labour force entrants searching for their first job accounted for 9.0% of the total unemployed, up by 3.9 percentage points. In the second quarter of 2016, the general unemployment rate (1.9%) remained unchanged as in the previous quarter, while the unemployment rate of local residents (2.6%) decreased by 0.1 percentage point. Total employment increased by 1,400 quarter-to-quarter, with those aged 35-44 rising by 1,200. Analysed by industry, employment in Gaming & Junket Activities (83,600) rose by 3,000, while that in Restaurants & Similar Activities (26,200) dropped by 1,500. Median monthly employment earnings of the employed held stable as in the previous quarter, at MOP15,000 in the second quarter, with those engaging in Gaming & Junket Activities and Construction earning MOP19,000 and MOP15,000 respectively. Moreover, median earnings of the employed residents stayed unchanged from the previous quarter, at MOP18,000.
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