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Co-organized by Dr. Sun Yat-sen Museum, under the Leisure and Culture Services Department of the Hong Kong S.A.R. Government, the Macao Museum under the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao S.A.R. Government, the Shenzhen Museum, the Guangdong Museum of Revolutionary History, and Dr. Sun Yat-sen Museum, “Fleeting Life – Exhibition of Relics of Sun Wan, Sun Yat-sen’s Daughter, and Her Husband Dai Ensai” was inaugurated earlier on 23 April, at Dr. Sun Yat-sen Museum, in Hong Kong. The exhibition, which will run until 26 August, presents Sun Wan and Dai Ensai, as well as Sun Yat-sen’s daily life scenes. This itinerant exhibition is a result of cooperation between museums of three regions: Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macao. It has already been presented in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, is currently being shown in Hong Kong, and is set to arrive in Macao in September. On the other hand, in order to maintain the appeal and interest of the exhibition, its content will vary from location to location and will be adjusted according to each venue’s characteristics and each museum’s collection resources. The exhibition’s main subjects are Sun Wan, Sun Yat-sen’s second daughter, and her husband Dai Ensai. Sun Wan, raised and nurtured by her mother Lu Muzhen, moved abroad with her as a child, in order to study in the United States, not being able to see her father for five years, who was busy then with the revolution, she later moved to Macao with her husband Dai Ensai. Dai Ensai, following a period of studies in the United States, returned to his country to take a Government position, creating therefore a very close connection between the couple and Sun Yat-sen. In the wake of Dai Ensai and Sun Wan’s death, their valuable belongings were scattered among collections of several museum institutions within the three regions. This exhibition includes precious relics hailing from five Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macao museums, allowing visitors to further understand Sun Yat-sen and his family. “Fleeting Life – Exhibition of Relics of Sun Wan, Sun Yat-sen’s Daughter, and Her Husband Dai Ensai” can be seen at Hong Kong’s Dr. Sun Yat-sen Museum, located at no. 7 Castle Road, Central, Hong Kong, until 26 August, from 10am to 6pm from Monday to Wednesday and Fridays, and from 10am to 7pm on weekends and public holidays.
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Published by the Cultural Affairs Bureau and the 100 Plus Cultural Creative Development Ltd., the May issue of the magazine C2 launches its latest issue on 4 May. More than a thousand performances are put on each year in Macao, of which the variety and scale of production succeeds in attracting a wide and diverse range of audiences. The feature story of this latest issue discusses the survival of performing art groups in Macao. Topics such as the fight for survival of different performing art groups in Macao, and the difficulty in reaching diverse audiences are discussed in the feature story. At the same time, box office results and the taste of the public are determining factors in analysing the success or failure of a performing arts group. “Extravaganza” invites the Vice-director of the Macau Literary Festival, Hélder Beja, to take stock of the 4th edition of the festival, which is an important platform for exchange between both Chinese and Portuguese writers. “Chit Chat” has invited Lawrence Lei, one of the founding members of the theater circles in Macao, to share his experience in artistic creation and his observations of the development of the performing arts in Macao. “Infographics” analyses the GDP statistics of places all over Asia in the field of cultural and creative industries. In the “Blogger” section, the seven columnists, Joe Lei, Leong Sin U, Wilson Lam, Ho Ka Cheng, Ling Lui, Yap Seow Choong and Ron Lam share valuable and multi-dimensional information of the cultural industry from different aspects. C2 is a trilingual magazine (Chinese, Portuguese and English), published on the first Monday of each month online. Readers are welcome to browse or download the magazine at www.c2magazine.mo. To receive the latest updates, please find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/c2magazine.macau, or on WeChat by going to “add friend” and inputting “c2magazine” in the ID column. For enquiries, please email us at c2magazine.macau@gmail.com.
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The opening ceremony of the 26th Macao Arts Festival (MAF), organised by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, will be held on 1 May at 7.40pm at the lobby of the Macao Cultural Centre. The 26th MAF kicks off with the Asian premiere of Lied Ballet by the Centre choreógraphique national de Tours – Direction Thomas Lebrun, from France, presented in two consecutive nights. On the opening night, the choreographer of Lied Ballet Thomas Lebrun will dance with the public after the show at the Solo What You Want? and Bal party to be held at the Macao Cultural Centre Art Square where public participation is welcome. The 26th MAF features 30 extraordinary shows and exhibitions and over 100 activities including the Festival Outreach Programme. Amongst them is the spectacular Lied Ballet, created specially by Lebrun for the 2014 Avignon Festival (France). The harmony and complementariness of the dance’s elegant movements and live music create an enchanting and brilliant dance piece. The 26th MAF proceeds with a series of heavyweight shows including the musical Dream of Journey to the West, which combines traditional Chinese music and theatre. Incorporating elements from opera, musical, theatre and Chinese opera, this show introduces the musical genre to traditional Chinese music through the exquisite interpretation of the Macao Chinese Orchestra and the detailed portrayal of its singers highlighting the unique style of Chinese music; the performance Kun Opera Excerpts brings together classics like The Peony Pavilion performed by the Jiangsu Performing Arts Group Kun Opera Theatre, with their truly exceptional touching and smooth singing; the commissioned work Aerodynamics choreographed by Taiwan’s “super dancer” Lin Wen-Chung, who used the principle of aerodynamics from aeronautical science to transform the body vocabulary of east and west in a competition between muscles and gravity, gives the audience unlimited room for imagination. Resulting from the dual representativeness and the flux between dialogue and dance, the closing show, Trust, is jointly performed by actors from the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz theatre and dancers from the Anouk van Dijk dance company and tells the story of the collapse of human relationships brought about by the distrust that resulted from the financial crash. The programme information of the 26th Macao Arts Festival is available at www.icm.gov.mo/fam and ticket reservations can be made through tel. no. 28555555.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitors on package tours totalled 887,000 in March 2015, up by 8.3% year-on-year. Visitors arriving on package tours accounted for 82.2% of the total, at 730,000, up by 7.1% year-on-year; those joining local tours increased by 14.1% to 158,000 (17.8% of total). Package tour visitors from Mainland China increased by 14.5% year-on-year to 724,000, with 311,000 coming from Guangdong Province. Visitors from the Republic of Korea (35,000) and Japan (17,000) increased by 1.4% and 6.3% respectively year-on-year, whereas those from Taiwan (50,000) and Hong Kong (23,000) decreased by 18.5% and 15.7%. In the first quarter of 2015, visitors on package tours reached 2,710,000, up by 9.2% year-on-year; those arriving on package tours grew by 11.4% to 2,097,000. Outbound residents using services of travel agencies were 136,000 in March 2015, a year-on-year increase of 16.9%; those travelling on package tours surged by 42.9% to 65,000, and the main destinations were Mainland China (84.5% of total), Taiwan (4.3%) and Hong Kong (3.1%). In the first quarter of 2015, outbound residents using services of travel agencies totalled 381,000, up by 7.6% year-on-year. There were 99 hotels and guesthouses operating at the end of March 2015, providing 28,000 guest rooms, up by 1.8% year-on-year; 5-star hotels accounted for 64.8% of the total supply, with 18,000 rooms. A total of 797,000 guests checked into hotels and guesthouses in March 2015, down by 16.1% year-on-year. Guests from Mainland China (505,000), Hong Kong (100,000) and Taiwan (26,000) decreased by 18.6%, 13.1% and 15.9% respectively, while those from the Republic of Korea (18,000) increased by 5.9%. The average length of stay of guests was 1.4 nights, up by 0.1 night year-on-year. The average occupancy rate of hotels and guesthouses dropped notably by 10.9 percentage points year-on-year to 77.3%; the rate of 2-star hotels (58.6%) tumbled by 20.1 percentage points and that of 5-star hotels (79.0%) decreased by 9.2 percentage points. In the first quarter of 2015, hotel guests totalled 2,356,000, down by 11.5% year-on-year; the average occupancy rate stood at 78.9%, a decrease of 7.8 percentage points. Visitor-guests accounted for 68.4% of the total overnight visitors, a drop of 1.3 percentage points year-on-year.
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The University of Macau (UM) has been ranked No 39 in the Times Higher Education (THE) 100 Under 50 Universities 2014/2015 released today. This is the first time UM has been ranked among the world’s 100 best young universities. Earlier UM was ranked among the top 300 universities in the world in the THE World University Rankings. The THE rankings are recognised as one of the most influential university rankings in the world. The 100 Under 50 university rankings employ 13 performance indicators grouped into five areas, namely teaching, research, citations, industry income, and international outlook. UM scored high in several areas, including citations and international outlook. Founded in 1981, UM has made impressive progress in teaching, research and community service over the past 34 years. In recent years the university has entered a phase of rapid development. It has stepped up efforts in internationally recruiting outstanding scholars. It has also established world-class state key laboratories, with research outcomes gaining increasing recognition at the international level. UM is very pleased with the ranking, saying it’s a great encouragement and will work harder in the future to improve its teaching and research and pursue excellence in both areas. Other Asian universities that made the 100 Under 50 list include Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; Pohang University of Science and Technology, South Korea; and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Visit http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2015/one-hundred-under-fifty for detailed rankings.
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Consumer Council conducted its eighth ‘Supermarket price survey’ in April on 29 April for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June. Surveyed locations included 13 supermarkets in Taipa and Coloane area. The latest ‘Supermarket Price Survey’ is now available on Consumer Council’s website (www.consumer.gov.mo), and the ‘Supermarket Price Information Platform’ iPhone and Android apps. The survey is also available free of charge at the offices of Consumer Council, IACM’s Iao Hon and S. Domingos Markets, bookstores and libraries. Consumers may also access the resources through WAP channels on their mobile phones. With reference to the local six parishes and the number of supermarkets in each parish, the Council has divided around 100 supermarkets into 8 areas for price collection. The Council collects prices from these supermarkets for the provision of a more comprehensive database for consumers to check price discrepancies and make price comparisons according to their desired locations. For inquiry, please call 8988 9315.
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In response to the International Museum Day, 18 Macao museums co-organize the “2015 International Museum Day Festival”, which opening ceremony will be held on Sunday, 17 May, 3 pm, in the square in front of A-Má Temple. One of the festival’s main activities, entitled “Mobile Museum – Talks in the A-Má Bamboo Theatre”, features thematic exhibitions, stage performances, workshops and lectures, covering a wide range of topics. It is also one of the activities celebrating 10 years of the recognition of Macao’s world heritage. All citizens are welcome to attend. The thematic exhibition “Talks in the A-Má Bamboo Theatre” showcases festivities, beliefs and crafts of Macao’s fishermen such as the setting up of bamboo scaffolding and the making of decorative flowers plaques, the community’s bonds, opera for deities, among many others, combining elements such as opera aesthetics, the structure of the construction, acoustics, while also introducing local customs. It will allow the public to get to know and understand multiple aspects about the structures built for opera performance as well as perceive the essence of local culture and traditions. “Mobile Museum – Talks in the A-Má Bamboo Theatre” is opened for public from 17 May to 21 May, 10 am to 6 pm. Activities for students will also be held, allowing the younger generations to experience firsthand these long handed down cultural traditions, through exhibitions, performances and interactive workshops, thereby promoting their participation in culture preservation, and enforcing this year’s International Museum Day theme, “Museums for a Sustainable Society”. Schools can enrol through tel. no. 8394 1217, during office hours. The opening ceremony of the “2015 International Museum Day Festival” will be held on Sunday, 17 May, from 3pm to 6pm, at the A-Má Bamboo Theatre, placed in front of the temple dedicated to the goddess. 29 cultural entities from the Province of Guangzhou and 19 museums under the Hong Kong Home Affairs Bureau, among others, have been invited to participate in these activities. Additionally, the organization holds the 3rd Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Museums’ Professionals Forum as well as Seminars of the 2015 International Museum Day, on 14 and 15 May, inviting museum and academic leaders of the region to conduct talks and exchanges in four topics, namely collections, exhibitions, education and promotion, discussing museum related matters. The “2015 International Museum Day Festival” is jointly organised by 18 museums, namely the Natural and Agrarian Museum, the Grand Prix Museum, the Tung Sin Tong Historical Archive Exhibition Hall, the Heritage Exhibition of a Traditional Pawnshop Business, the Fire Services Museum, the Maritime Museum, the Communications Museum of Macau, the Museum of the History of Taipa and Coloane, the Handover Gifts Museum of Macao, the Lin Zexu Memorial Museum of Macau, the Macao Science Centre, the Macao Tea Culture House, the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Memorial House in Macau, the Commemorative Gallery of the Macao Basic Law, the Macao Museum, the Macau Museum of Art, the Wine Museum and the Taipa Houses-Museum. Each museum also holds other commemorative activities and exhibitions and has free admission days. For more information, please visit www.museums.gov.mo or each museum’s website.
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The Government has assured the public there would be no cuts in basic services such as social benefits, the Wealth Partaking Scheme and salaries of civil servants, despite a drop in revenue from gaming. But the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Leong Vai Tac, hinted that there could be reduced spending in other services, but the rate of reduction would depend on the revenue. The Chief Executive, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau and his team were closely monitoring the situation, he said. Speaking to reporters on 28 April, Mr Leong said he expected a surplus of 10 billion patacas in the fiscal year 2015 if the monthly gaming revenue reached 20 billion patacas. But if it dropped to an average of 18 billion patacas or less, the Government could experience difficulties in maintaining the budget estimates for this year. But if April’s revenue reached 18.5 billion, it would take the average for the first four months of this year to 20 billion. If this happened, he could not foresee any need to introduce any austerity measure. He said the drop in gaming revenue had affected a number of government departments, but he would not rule out that some autonomous bodies could report surpluses in the fiscal year 2014. The Government should carry out research on balancing the budget proposal for the fiscal year 2015 in view of the current situation. He said the policy is to maintain the level of social welfare and public services, but the Government should look for more opportunities in its investments, and to look at its development plans.
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As Labour Day holiday 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 at 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 1100 to 1800 during Labour Day holidays (1 to 3 May). Consumer Council hotline: 8988 9315.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that total merchandise export for March 2015 amounted to MOP1.05 billion, up by 27.9% year-on-year; value of re-exports expanded by 32.4% to MOP870 million, of which re-exports of Diamond & diamond jewellery soared by 152.9%; value of domestic exports grew by 10.1% to MOP185 million, of which domestic exports of Tobacco increased by 78.9%. Total merchandise import rose by 1.8% year-on-year to MOP7.18 billion. Merchandise trade deficit amounted to MOP6.13 billion. In the first quarter of 2015, total value of merchandise export increased by 9.2% year-on-year to MOP2.70 billion, of which value of re-exports (MOP2.20 billion) and domestic exports (MOP500 million) grew by 9.4% and 8.2% respectively. Total value of merchandise import rose by 3.1% to MOP22.25 billion. Merchandise trade deficit widened to MOP19.55 billion for the first quarter of 2015. Analysed by destination, merchandise export to Hong Kong (MOP1.69 billion) and Mainland China (MOP383 million) in the first quarter of 2015 increased by 10.2% and 25.4% year-on-year, while export to the USA (MOP58 million) and the EU (MOP54 million) decreased by 29.4% and 37.1% respectively. Exports of Non-textiles increased by 9.8% year-on-year to MOP2.50 billion, of which value of Clocks & watches (MOP364 million) and Tobacco (MOP136 million) went up by 30.3% and 93.8% respectively, but that of Machines, apparatus & parts (MOP346 million) dropped by 16.6%. Exports of Textiles & garments totalled MOP197 million, up by 1.4%. By country of origin, merchandise import from Mainland China (MOP7.47 billion) increased by 8.0% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2015, and that from the USA (MOP2.00 billion) surged by 94.6%; meanwhile, import from the EU (MOP5.35 billion) fell by 2.1%. Imports of Consumer goods declined by 5.3% to MOP13.18 billion, with imports of Gold jewellery (MOP1.93 billion) decreasing by 30.2%, but that of Food & beverages (MOP3.18 billion) increasing by 17.0%. Moreover, imports of Mobile phones (MOP2.70 billion) grew by 52.1%. External merchandise trade reached MOP24.95 billion in the first quarter of 2015, up by 3.7% compared with MOP24.05 billion a year earlier.
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