Sports Bureau (ID) President Pun Weng Kun said yesterday that in the first 10 months of this year, 110,000 people participated in public sports activities organised by the bureau, adding that more than five million times the bureau’s sports facilities are estimated to have been used by members of the public this year.
Pun made the remarks during a one-day Q&A session in the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) hemicycle yesterday about his portfolio’s policy guidelines for next year. He said the numbers showed that the government’s efforts in implementing mass sports over the years have yielded remarkable results.
During yesterday’s plenary session, some lawmakers expressed concern about the bureau’s preparations for co-hosting the 15th National Games in 2025 with Hong Kong and Guangdong.
Pun said his bureau sent staff to Hangzhou for the 2022 Asian Games and Xi’an for the 14th National Games, where they learnt a lot about event management, media relations and hospitality, adding he believed that Macau has been making adequate preparations for the upcoming National Games.
Meanwhile, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U underlined that the government will review its Training Subsidy Programme for Elite Athletes, including whether the scope of the training scheme for elite athletes could be expanded and the subsidy increased.
Ao Ieong also said that most of Macau’s top athletes who receive funding for post-athletic retirement education are pursuing master’s degrees, suggesting that they are academically qualified.
In addition, the Macau Cultural Centre’s Black Box Theatre has staged 19 plays and a total of 100 performances since its opening in July, with more than 3,500 audience members having attended the theatre as of mid-November, Ao Ieong said.
Sports Bureau (ID) President Pun Weng Kun speaks during yesterday’s Q&A session about his portfolio’s 2024 policy guidelines in the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) hemicycle. – Photo courtesy of TDM
