News

Consumer Council conducted its seventh 'Supermarket price survey' in June on 23 June for the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June. Surveyed locations included 11 supermarkets in Sé Parish. 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 view of the restructuring of our postal distribution routes in Taipa, please be informed that with effect from 1st July 2014, "Posta Restante" service in the Carmo Post Office will be limited to those residents and stores located in the Taipa old urban area, and the Nova Taipa Post Office will resume that service for the remaining residents. Upon receipt of the arrival advice, please be reminded that citizens should pick up the mail according to the designated post office and date. For further information, please contact the Carmo Post Office (Tel: 2882 7010) or the Nova Taipa Post Office (Tel: 28844038) during office hours.
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Macao Post and Thailand Post will jointly issue a new stamp theme of "General Post Office Building" on 1st November 2014, to promote friendship through cultural exchanges between Macao and Thailand.
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Macao Post announced that the stamp theme "Science and Technology – Mathematics Topics" to be issued on 9th October, 2014 will be changed to "Science and Technology – Magic Squares I".
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To celebrate the Science and Technology Week 2014, Macao Post announced that a Temporary Post Counter will be set up at the Macau Fisherman's Wharf Hall and our Philatelic Shop located at Macao Post Headquarters during 4th to 8th July 2014 providing the commemorative cancellation service for the "Science and Technology Week 2014". Opening hours as follow: 04/07 Main Hall of Macau Fisherman's Wharf: 14:30 – 18:00
Philatelic Shop of Macao Post Headquarters:14:30 – 18:00 05-08/07 Main Hall of Macau Fisherman's Wharf: 10:00 – 20:00 A commemorative envelope will be distributed to public, and various philatelic products will also be available for sale during the above activity. Welcome to visit and collect Macao Stamps.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitor arrivals totalled 2,525,026 in May 2014, up by 8% year-on-year; same-day visitors accounted for 54% of the total, at 1,351,799. Attributable to the long Labour Day holidays, visitors from Mainland China increased by 14% year-on-year to 1,699,778, coming primarily from Guangdong Province (713,949), Fujian Province (73,083) and Hunan Province (60,808); Mainland visitors travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme rose substantially by 21%, at 727,356. Visitors from Taiwan (76,026), the Republic of Korea (39,798) and Japan (26,588) increased by 23%, 20% and 18% respectively year-on-year, while those from Hong Kong (497,244) decreased by 8%. Long-haul visitors from the United States (15,504) and France (3,946) registered year-on-year increase; on the contrary, visitors from Australia (7,906), Canada (6,450) and the United Kingdom (4,663) marked decrease. The average length of stay of visitors remained unchanged from a year earlier, at 1.0 day in May 2014; overnight and same-day visitors stayed an average of 2.0 days and 0.2 day respectively. In the first five months of 2014, visitor arrivals reached 12,851,806, up by 9% year-on-year, and same-day visitors accounted for 54% of the total. Analysed by place of residence, visitors from Mainland China (+16%), the Republic of Korea (+17%) and Japan (+7%) increased year-on-year, while those from Hong Kong (-5%) and Taiwan (-1%) decreased. Besides, long-haul visitors from the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom posted year-on-year increase; however, those from Canada registered decline.
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Today (21 June), at 4:00pm, the University of Macau (UM) held the annual congregation on the new campus. More than 2,500 people, including graduates, parents, teachers and guests, attended the ceremony. As soon as the solemn ceremony began, a student suddenly held up a poster that read, "支持學者發聲 Please Stop Persecution of Scholars" written in both Chinese and English, which disrupted the proceedings of the ceremony. Another member in the audience, who claimed to be a journalist of the Macau Concealers, stood in the aisle, which interfered with the comings and goings of others attending the ceremony. After repeated attempts to reason with him, he still refused to cooperate, and continued to engage in behaviours that disrupted the order at the event venue. To make sure the graduates and their parents can enjoy their right to participate in the graduation ceremony, UM's security staff had to take measures to make the two leave the event venue. It is regrettable that there was some bodily contact between the security staff and the journalist in the process. UM says that for the students and their parents, the congregation is a very important ceremony, and therefore UM wanted to make sure that the ceremony proceeded in a joyous and solemn manner. In response to this incident, UM had to take appropriate measures to ensure that the ceremony could proceed smoothly. UM always respects academic freedom and freedom of speech, and also upholds academic excellence. This is UM's educational philosophy.
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The University of Macau (UM) today (21 June) held the Congregation 2014, which was attended by more than 1,000 graduates. Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of Macao SAR Cheong U, who was attending the congregation on behalf of the chief executive and UM's chancellor, noted in his speech, "As an important university in Macao, UM plays a pivotal role in the advancement of local higher education." He added: "the government of the Macao SAR will, as always, support UM– which is now progressing along the right track – to scale new heights." The congregation was held in the Sports Complex on UM's new campus. More than 1,400 graduating students received bachelor's degrees at the ceremony, among them 37 outstanding graduates from different faculties also received the Certificate of the Honours College. "The Macao government attaches great importance to the development and enhancement of higher education in Macao," said Secretary Cheong. "Thanks to strong support from the central government, the new campus of the University of Macau is finally completed and now in full operation. On the other hand, the university is undergoing educational and governance reforms. All these measures – hardware building and optimizations in different aspects – are putting the university in a much better position to achieve its objective of becoming a first-class university and nurturing talented people for Macao." Secretary Cheong stressed, "We are aware that if we want to boost Macao's competitiveness, speed up its economic diversification and make our community thrive, we have to do more in education and the talent nurturing business. For these purposes, it is important that we institute a long-term and effective mechanism. And for these purposes, we need to refine the education system of Macao structurally and gradually, especially that of higher education. As an important university in Macao, the University of Macau plays a pivotal role in the advancement of local higher education. Therefore, the government of the Macao SAR will, as always, support the University of Macau – which is now progressing along the right track – to scale new heights." Towards the end of his speech, he offered words of encouragement to the graduates, "I'm sure that you will always cherish in your memory the wonderful times you had with UM, the support from our society and the care that your family gave you. Use UM's motto of 'humanity, integrity, propriety, wisdom and sincerity' to guide yourself in your future life journey no matter where you will be and what you will be doing. Keep learning and learn to be committed. In doing so, you'll certainly make your family, your society and your Alma Mater proud of you!"
UM Rector Wei Zhao noted, "Now that we have firm footing on our way to a first-rate infrastructure, it is time for us to focus our efforts to further elevate the university. To that end, the university, under the leadership of the SAR government, is carrying out its governance reform. The purpose of the reform is twofold: On the one hand, through this reform, the university will be able to better meet the expectations and requirements set by the SAR government and local community in alignment with the public interest and in observation of the principle of academic integrity and justice." He added that UM will also strive to increase its competitiveness, pursue excellence in "academic, research and the provision of community services", and become a "more responsible, accountable, cost-effective and accomplished institution". Rector Wei Zhao also offered words of encouragement to the graduates, "Embrace your future with passionate curiosity, overcome any fear of failures you may face, and never pass up any challenge or learning opportunity that presents itself."
Student representative Chu Ka Sin expressed gratitude to UM for the "4-in-1" model of education, for the good learning environment, and for the various exchange opportunities, all of which well prepared her and her fellow students for future challenges. "Once upon a time, we were a rye seed sown on the fertile farm of UM," she said. "Thereupon we sprouted, we grew, we thrived with our teachers as farmers cultivating us." The Graduation Committee of this year and the Student Affairs Office organised a sale of the 2014 commemorative T-shirts as well as a fundraiser. The proceeds will be used to make a sculpture for the university as a token of the graduates' gratitude to their alma mater. This will be the first sculpture made by UM graduates, and it will stand on the new campus to witness the university's future development. Other guests at the congregation included government officials, members of UM's University Assembly and University Council, donors, scholarship sponsors, representatives from the education sector, prominent figures of the community, graduates' parents, alumni, and UM staff.
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Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) held its Annual Marketing Meeting (AMM) 2014 in Macau on 16 – 21 June. MGTO's market representatives came to Macau to report their achievements at work and discuss future marketing strategies. The Office also had a meeting with Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) on 21 June to discuss opportunities of enhancing their cooperation and promoting multi-destination tours. 52 MGTO's market representatives and personnel on behalf of Macau Special Administrative Region Delegations joined MGTO's Annual Marketing Meeting in Macau for six consecutive days. On the first day of the meeting, MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes updated the representatives on Macau's latest tourism trends, a line-up of events in the next half of the year as well as important projects in MGTO. She also gave them directions in terms of marketing strategies so that they can carry out promotion in line with Macau's tourism development and its goal to develop into a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure. During the meeting, the representatives evaluated the results of their work over the past year, reported their current work progress and discussed potential plans for next year. To keep pace with the rise of e-marketing as a main trend nowadays, MGTO has adopted e-marketing on top of its existing marketing strategies, seeking to connect with more communities and expand the tourist market for Macau. During AMM, MGTO also held a networking session for the representatives to meet local trade partners for an exchange of the latest information. During their time in Macau, 52 market representatives explored the four walking tour routes for a better way to promote the routes in their markets in the future. During the occasion, MGTO and HKTB co-hosted their annual marketing exchange meeting as well, where Director Senna Fernandes, Deputy Directors Cecilia Tse and Cheng Wai Tong along with the market representatives discussed ways to enhance cooperation in tourism and promote multi-destination tours with HKTB Executive Director Anthony Lau and HKTB's worldwide representatives. The two parties exchanged their perspectives on marketing strategies including e-marketing. They also took the opportunity to explore possibilities of carrying out more joint projects to promote both destinations in various markets while sharing successful cases in terms of marketing.
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Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) unveils stamp collection fun for "Step Out, Experience Macau's Communities" tomorrow (21 June) to encourage more visitors and citizens to explore the four walking tour routes during summer. MGTO is inviting citizens and visitors to take part in the fun activity of stamp collection for "Step Out, Experience Macau's Communities" during 21 June – 20 September. Citizens and visitors can have their collection cards stamped at designated spots along the four routes. With three stamps collected along one route, they will receive a souvenir; while a special souvenir is ready for those who have collected all twelve stamps along the four routes. If certain designated spots/tourist attractions for stamp collection are closed, participants can still obtain a souvenir by collecting stamps at other available spots on the other routes on the day. Stamp collection cards can be obtained at MGTO's Tourist Information counters, designated locations for stamp collection and hotels. Please see the attachment for locations and opening hours for souvenir collection. For more details, please visit MGTO's website: http://en.macautourism.gov.mo/index.php. MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, Deputy Directors Cecilia Tse and Cheng Wai Tong (TBC) walked through part of the route "A Tour of Historical Trails" together with MGTO's overseas representatives today (20 June). In the morning, the overseas representatives, divided into four groups, explored the four routes again which will help them better promote the routes in their markets. Since the launch of the "Step Out, Experience Macau's Communities" walking tour routes last September, MGTO has carried out an array of promotion strategies. Up to date, MGTO has published 980,000 copies of promotional leaflets in (traditional and simplified) Chinese version and 480,000 copies in English and Portuguese version. Other promotional channels include newspaper, magazines, television, website (14 languages) and social network, etc. The Office hopes to promote the four tour routes through a variety of channels and ways, inspiring visitors to stroll around Macau leisurely not only for a better understanding of local history and culture but also to experience the city's aroma. In the long run, MGTO aspires to balance visitor trends around town and boost community tourism development. The first four walking tours include: "A Tour of Historical Trails", setting off from Avenida da Praia Grande to Praça de Ponte e Horta; "A Tour of Nature and Creativity", a walk from Kun Iam Tong to St. Lazarus Church; "A Tour of East Meets West", which starts from Senado Square until Maritime Museum; and "A Tour of Arts and Culture" from Macau Fisherman's Wharf to A-Ma Temple. Last month, MGTO started an opinion poll regarding additional walking tour routes. After analyzing and summarizing the suggestions, the Office will write a report about the results of the poll, which MGTO will take into consideration when launching new routes and optimizing current routes in the future. This press release is available at: http://industry.macautourism.gov.mo
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