News

The Centre of Languages of the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau is offering an Elementary Mandarin Course with English as the medium of instruction.
This course is designed for non-Chinese speaking Macao residents who are 15 years of age or above. This course will be conducted every Monday and Wednesday from 18:30 to 20:30, between February 18th and April 10th, 2013. There will be 30 contact hours and the class will be held on the 3rd Floor of the Centre of Languages at Rua Formosa No. 31.
Interested individuals may enroll for the course from January 29th to February 6th, 2013 during weekdays from 9:00 to 21:00 and on Saturdays either from 9:30 to 13:00 or 14:00 to 18:30. Applicants please present original ID card together with a copy and MOP100.00 during enrollment. For further enquiries, please call 28400211.
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Short-term measures to ensure Macao residents of an adequate supply of infant formula have been announced due to recent changes in supply on the market, according to the Office of the Chief Executive. The announcement was made today after the Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, convened an inter-departmental meeting at the Government Headquarters where the Secretary for Economic and Finance Mr Tam Pak Yuen, and the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Mr Cheong U's, reported the latest development and the actions taken. Since a shortage of milk powder could affect babies' health, which is considered as a public health emergency, Mr Chui stressed that the Government has to implement stabilising measures to assist local residents in buying powdered milk for their personal use. The Chief Executive also instructed the related department to closely monitor its supply and marketing and to keep in touch with suppliers. At the same time more frequent inspections would be carried out and Macao Customs would continue to closely monitor people leaving Macao. The new measures call for residents who need infant formula to register with the authorities on a voluntary basis: distributors would then ensure they can buy an adequate quantity. Details will be announced by the Health Bureau and the Macao Consumer Council. The meeting today was also attend by the Chief of the Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Ms Cheong So Mui, Director of the Government Information Bureau, Mr Chan Chi Ping, acting Director of the Macao Economic Services, Mr Tai Kin Ip, President of Executive Committee, Mr Wong Hon Neng, Director of the Health Bureau, Mr Lei Chin Ion and other health officials.
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Consumer Council conducted its specific product price survey on eggs earlier. Survey result showed that prices of eggs were stable and the greatest price difference of the same egg brand sold at different retail outlets recorded was 27.55 percent. The Council conducted a price check on 9 brands of eggs from 13 supermarkets on 24th January. Survey result showed that egg prices remained stable, those which recorded price differences of over 20 percent included 'Fresh eggs (Hubei Jinsheng)/8 pcs', which was sold at $9.8 to $12.5, with a price difference of 27.55 percent; 'Fred Meyer Grade AA Extra Large Eggs/12 pcs', which was sold at $18.8 to $22.8, with a price difference of 21.28 percent; 'Surewin Egg/8pcs', which was sold at $12.0 to $14.5, with a difference of 20.83 percent. In comparison with November's survey result, the current survey showed that prices of eggs were stable as 7 of the 9 surveyed brands recorded no change in price this time. Consumer Council indicates that its specific price survey aims at helping consumers make price comparison for the same product, consumers are therefore advised to check with the 'Specific product price information platform' prior to making purchase. The specific price survey on eggs is now available on the Council's website (www.consumer.gov.mo) and the Council's 'Supermarket Price Information Platform' iPhone and Android apps. For enquiry, please call 8988 9315.
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Consumer Council released its latest specific price survey on over-the-counter drugs. 2 new brands had been added to this month's survey and the highest price difference recorded this time amounted to over 50 percent. Consumer Council collected prices of 8 over-the-counter drugs from 28 drugstores on 22nd January, surveyed drugs included remedies for cold and flu, cough syrup, and stomachache medicine, etc.. 'Panadol cold & flu/20 capsules', which was sold at $40.8 to $62.0, differed for 51.96 percent. 'Pei Pa Koa/300ml', which was sold at $31.5 to $46.0, differed for 46.03%. The specific price survey on over-the-counter drugs showed that two surveyed drug brands recorded no change in price, other brands recorded less than 10 percent of price increases and decreases. Consumer Council indicates that its specific price survey aims at helping consumer make price comparison for the same product, consumers are therefore advised to check with the 'Specific product price information platform' prior to making purchase. The specific price survey on over-the-counter drugs is now available on the Council's website (www.consumer.gov.mo) and in the Council's 'Supermarket Price Information Platform' iPhone and Android apps. For inquiry, please call 8988 9315.
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Consumer Council released its first 'Supermarket Price Survey' of this year dated 17th January. In comparison with last time's survey, prices of around 60 percent of the surveyed products, mainly beverages, cleansing and hygienic products, had been decreased and recorded no change in price. Around 40 percent of the surveyed products recorded minimal increases in price. In the current survey, prices of 108 products, or 31 percent of the total number, had dropped, they included beverages, cleansing and hygienic products. Prices of around 27 percent of products remained unchanged. Shampoos and shower gels recorded minimal to about 4 percent of decreases in price while rice, canned foods and cereal products recorded no change in price. About 40 percent of products, mainly cooking oil, seasonings and dairy products, recorded minimal changes of less than 1 percent increase in price. Meanwhile, price increases recorded in seasonings ranged from 2 to 6 percent. Price increases were also observed in frozen food in which average prices of 7 of the 9 surveyed products had been raised slightly to up to over 16 percent. Among the 11 fixed choices of supermarkets surveyed by the Council, Tai Fung supermarket in Taipa recorded the highest percentage of on-shelf lowest price items, which meant that around 60 percent of over 250 items sold at Taipa Tai Fung recorded the lowest price among all surveyed supermarkets in the current survey. Park'n Shop at R. Areia Preta came next, with 24 percent of its over 180 on-shelf items having the lowest price. 20 percent of the over 260 items sold at Lee Fong supermarket at Almirante Costa Cabral also recorded the lowest price. Consumer Council reminds consumers that among the various supermarket chain stores surveyed, selling prices were found to vary in different branches in different regions. In this month's survey, price discrepancies were observed mainly in branches of San Miu supermarket in which about one third of the surveyed products sold at its R. dos Mercadores branch and Millennium Court branch were found to have different selling prices, price differences ranged from 5 to 10 percent were observed and found mainly in cereal products and canned foods. Prices of 10 products were also found to differ up to 60 percent in different branches of both Royal Supermarket and Park'n Shop. Consumers are advised to check with the information available on the 'Supermarket Price Information Platform', especially the function of 'Top Ten Price Differences' for the surveyed products. Consumers can also download the 'Supermarket Price Information Platform' iPhone and Android apps to make price comparisons. 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. For enquiry, please call 8988 9315.
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Owing to the snow and icy conditions of the whole country in United Kingdom, Macao Post announced that mail delivery services (including Correspondence, Printed Matters, Small Packet, Parcel and EMS) from Macao to United Kingdom are subject to delay until further notice.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitor arrivals decreased by 2.0% year-on-year to 2,495,851 in December 2012, and same-day visitors (1,243,291) accounted for 49.8% of the total. The average length of stay of visitors stood at 1.0 day, up by 0.1 day year-on-year. Visitors from Mainland China increased slightly by 0.9% from December 2011 to 1,495,316, coming mostly from Guangdong Province (613,392) and Fujian Province (67,444); Mainland visitors travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) increased by 5.4% to 603,904. Visitor arrivals from Taiwan, China (88,814) and the Republic of Korea (44,150) increased by 3.6% and 14.7% respectively; however, those coming from Hong Kong (611,826) and Malaysia (37,778) both decreased by 7.0%. Long-haul visitors from Europe (22,828) increased by 5.9%, while those from the Americas (26,070) and Oceania (12,436) decreased by 6.8% and 4.5% respectively. For the whole year of 2012, visitor arrivals increased by 0.3% year-on-year to 28,082,292; same-day visitors (14,504,994) accounted for 51.7% of the total. The average length of stay of visitors stood at 1.0 day, similar to that of 2011. Analysed by place of residents, visitors from Mainland China increased by 4.6% year-on-year to 16,902,499 in 2012, of which 7,131,904 travelled to Macao under the IVS, up by 8.2%; those from the Republic of Korea (444,773) and Thailand (231,295) increased by 11.5% and 17.8% respectively. However, visitor arrivals from Hong Kong (7,081,153) and Taiwan, China (1,072,052) decreased by 6.6% and 11.8% respectively. Long-haul visitors from Europe (262,692) and Oceania (129,165) increased by 4.3% and 0.9% respectively, while those from the Americas (306,521) decreased by 1.3%.
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According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, new approvals of residential mortgage loans (RMLs) and commercial real estate loans (CRELs) dropped in November 2012. With regard to outstanding balance, both RMLs and CRELs continued to grow. New Lending Approved In November 2012, new RMLs approved by Macao banks dropped 15.7% month-to-month to MOP3.6 billion; of which, 95.7% was extended to residents. In terms of value, new RMLs to residents and non-residents decreased 11.9% and 57.5% respectively. New RMLs collateralised by uncompleted units (i.e. equitable mortgage) rose markedly by 171.8% month-to-month to MOP0.2 billion. The equitable mortgage extended to residents, which accounted for 96.3% of the total, rose 173.1% while the amount to non-residents also went up by 142.7%. New CRELs contracted 7.0% month-to-month to MOP4.7 billion; of which, 96.7% was granted to residents. In terms of value, new CRELs to residents dropped 9.3% whereas the amount to non-residents witnessed significant growth of 253.1% compared with the previous month. Outstanding Balances As at end-November 2012, the outstanding value of RMLs reached MOP95.9 billion, an increase of 2.1% from one month earlier. The resident component, which made up 93.0% of the total, grew 2.7% whereas outstanding RMLs to non-residents shrank 5.9%. Concurrently, the outstanding value of CRELs edged up 1.4% from end-October to MOP67.6 billion. Residents accounted for 90.6% of the loans. Compared with one month earlier, outstanding CRELs to residents grew by 2.4% whereas those to non-residents slid 6.7%. Delinquency Ratios At the end of November 2012, the delinquency ratio for RMLs stood at 0.06%, up 0.01 percentage point from one month earlier. The ratio for CRELs saw little change at 0.13%.
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Owing to the flooding in Indonesia, Macao Post announced that mail delivery services (including Correspondence, Printed Matters, Small Packet, Parcel and EMS) from Macao to Indonesia are subject to delay until further notice.
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Four Central Government ministries and commissions have responded positively to the proposed new Macao-Zhuhai pedestrian crossing and water works to prevent floods in the inner harbour zone. This was disclosed by the Chief Executive, Mr Chui Sai On, in Beijing today as he concluded his visit to the capital with his official delegation, which included the Secretary for Transportation and Public Works, Mr Lao Si Io, and the Director-General of the Macao Customs Service, Mr Choi Lai Hang. Mr Chui said Macao had been studying and co-ordinating with Guangdong and ministries and commissions of the Central Government on building a new passageway between Macao and Zhuhai to ease the pressure on the Bordergate terminal. He said that during the meetings with the Ministry of Land and Resources and the State Oceanic Administration, they discussed the usage of water, and the damages and sufferings in the inner harbour zone brought about by floods. He said the Macao SAR Government wanted to submit plans to the Central Government to tackle this issue, which involved the usage of water. Mr Chui said he had also spoken with representatives of the four ministries and commissions about the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the development of Hengqin and round-the-clock operation of checkpoints, as well as the management of one-off entry of small vehicles between Guangdong and Macao, which he described as an issue with no urgency and priority. Mr Chu and his delegation visited the General Administration of Customs, the Ministry of Public Security, the State Oceanic Administration, and the Ministry of Land and Resources. Other delegation members also included the Chief-of-Cabinet of the Office of the Chief Executive, Mr Tam Chon Weng, the Director of the Government Information Bureau, Mr Chan Chi Ping, and the Director of the Protocol, Public Relations and External Affairs Office, Mr Fong Sio Weng
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