Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U said yesterday that the government will continue to organise large-scale “brand-promotion events” (品牌活動), strengthen the social and economic benefits of local events, and promote the development of local cultural and sports undertakings and industries, adding she hoped that, for example, the recent performance of the “Unforgettable Melodies at the Ruins of St. Paul’s”, which attracted many young tourists to Macau, could be formed as a brand to highlight the “charm” of Macau’s cultural events.
Ao Ieong made the remarks during a one-day Q&A session in the legislature’s hemicycle about her portfolio’s policy guidelines for the development of cultural and sports industries for next year.
Ao Ieong said that the sports industry was similar to the cultural industry as it relies on branding. She noted that it had been “relatively easy” for Macau to host sports events in recent years, which attracted many fans of ball games or cars to Macau.
Consequently, Ao Ieong said, the government will link sports and cultural activities in the future, adding that the city-wide linking of events such as the Grand Prix and Macau Food Festival, coupled with cultural and creative products, had proved to be effective.
Ao Ieong also said she believed that more brand-promotion events will be taking place in Macau’s large-scale resorts, where cultural and sports activities will also be held next year.
According to Ao Ieong, the government is actively developing an entertainment and sports events, culture and art projects, community tourism and other non-gaming projects, so as to enhance Macau’s cultural image and inject a more powerful force into the setting up of “One Base”.
According to the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA) announced by the central government in February 2019, Macau, in addition to “One Centre” and “One Platform”, will also aim to become “One Base” to promote cultural exchanges and cooperation with Chinese culture as the mainstream.
“One Platform” refers to Macau’s role as a platform for economic, trade and cultural ties between China and Portuguese-speaking countries (PSCs), while “One Centre” refers to the central government’s directive to develop Macau into a World Centre for Tourism and Leisure.
Moreover, a subsidy scheme will be launched by the Cultural Development Fund next year for the revitalisation and maintenance of historically important buildings, Ao Ieong noted, adding that the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) was conducting research in conjunction with other government entities on how to attract tourists to Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro (San Ma Lo) and its surrounding areas.
Govt to ‘vigorously’ promote reading
Meanwhile, the government “will vigorously promote” reading next year, and the Cultural Affairs Bureau will continue to optimise its online reading platform for the whole population and purchase online reading platforms from the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan to give the public more reading choices, Ao Ieong noted, adding that the “Infant Reading Courtesy Programme” will also be launched by the bureau, which will include the setting-up of parent-child reading spaces in public libraries.
In order to foster students’ reading habits, Ao Ieong said, a reading reward scheme will be jointly launched by the Cultural Affairs Bureau and the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) to reward students by combining their library and school reading data.
This handout photo provided by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) shows an orchestra performing during Saturday’s “Unforgettable Melodies at the Ruins of St. Paul’s”.
