The government should put more effort into educating the public about preserving listed buildings and look into imposing higher fines on property owners of heritage-protectred properties under the Cultural Heritage Protection Law if they do not co-operate with the government in the preservation of the sites, Agnes Lam Iok Fong, assistant dean of the University of Macau’s (UM) Faculty of Social Sciences, said yesterday.
Lam made the remarks after the opening ceremony of the four-day ‘UM CommFest 2017’ campaign, the university’s communication students’ graduation project, on the UM campus on Hengqin Island.Commenting on the preservation of the former Lok Kok tea house building, Lam said the government should put more effort into educating the public about the preservation of listed buildings. Lam said: “[Many of] us [the public] don’t care about our city’s [collective] memories,” adding she thought many owners of listed buildings in the city were not willing to spend money on preserving their properties.
Agnes Lam Iok Fong, assistant dean of the University of Macau’s (UM) Faculty of Social Sciences, speaks to reporters yesterday on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the four-day ‘UM CommFest 2017’ campaign, the university’s communication students’ graduation project, on the UM campus on Hengqin Island. Photo: Debby Seng
