Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U said yesterday that there was a “need” to organise outdoor and large-scale concerts in Macau, adding that a task force will be set up by the government dedicated to vetting, coordinating and managing the required venues.
Ao Ieong told reporters late last month that the government would review the feasibility of holding outdoor gigs at the Olympic Sports Centre Stadium in Taipa, and she pointed out yesterday on the sidelines of the Social Welfare Bureau’s (IAS) Spring Festival luncheon at Macau Fisherman’s Wharf in the Outer Harbour that after an inter-departmental meeting to review and analyse the staging of last month’s concert [by South Korean boy band Seventeen] at the Olympic Sports Centre Stadium, and with reference to the experience reported from other countries and regions, the stadium was considered to be “too limited and unsuitable” for holding large-scale concerts involving low-frequency sound and “not very soft” music.
The policy secretary added that the government has been looking for a suitable venue for hosting concerts with a capacity of at least 20,000 spectators: “The outdoor concerts held at an open space next to Macau Tower in 2022 did not bring much benefit to Macau’s community, while the former greyhound racetrack site also has problems such as inconvenient transportation and being too close to residential areas. None of them are equipped to hold large-scale outdoor concerts.”
The venues for such concerts do not need to be in a large and formal arena, Ao Ieong underlined, adding that the open space next to Macau Tower was still one of the sites being considered for hosting outdoor concerts in the future.
In terms of indoor concert venues, Ao Ieong said that the Macau East Asian Games Dome in Cotai was an ideal indoor venue, but it was currently undergoing drainage and resurfacing works and, therefore, would not be available for events until next year.
Cotai hospital to offer specialist examination to referred SSM patients
Meanwhile, the Islands Healthcare Complex – Macao Medical Centre of Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH), located in south Cotai, started its trial operation on December 20, and Ao Ieong told reporters yesterday that the healthcare facility will cooperate with the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre next month to provide some specialist examination services to patients referred by the Health Bureau (SSM), and gradually launch specialist out-patient services for referred patients in May.
Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U talks to reporters on the sidelines of the Social Welfare Bureau’s (IAS) Spring Festival luncheon at Macau Fisherman’s Wharf in the Outer Harbour yesterday.
– Photo: Yuki Lei
