Lawmakers pass bill preventing tourists from getting ‘blue card’

The Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday unanimously passed a government-initiated bill that aims to prevent visitors who come to Macau on tourist visas from seeking a job here during their stay and eventually getting a non-resident work permit, colloquially known as a “blue card”.The bill amends the law on the hiring of non-resident workers, which came into force in 2010.The bill will take effect 90 days after its promulgation in the Official Gazette (BO).The government has indicated

June 24, 2020 | BY admin

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Drunken cabbie nabbed for damaging public property

A taxi driver was arrested for drunk driving in a traffic accident last Friday, Public Security Police (PSP) spokesman Choi Iok Kin said during a regular press conference on Monday. The suspect is a local resident surnamed Wu who is in his thirties.According to Choi, the Public Security Police received a report that a traffic accident occurred at about 4:30 a.m. last Friday in Praça de Ferreira do Amaral. A taxi driven by Wu crashed and damaged public property in the busy square, one of

June 24, 2020 | BY admin

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Couple busted at home for taking, buying drugs online: police

A couple were arrested at home for taking and buying drugs online, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lai Chio Hong said during a regular press conference on Monday.The 29-year-old male suspect is surnamed Leong. His 25-year-old wife is surnamed Lo. Both told the police that they are jobless.According to Lai, the Judiciary Police had obtained a court order to search the couple’s flat in Rua de Cinco de Outubro on Thursday. PJ officers detained the couple and seized drug-taking paraphernalia and

June 24, 2020 | BY admin

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Snapshots of daily life as city tackles COVID-19

Elderly people chill out in Camões Garden yesterday.Pedestrians walk past closed shops in the eerily quiet lane leading up to the Ruins of St Paul’s yesterday afternoon that used to be packed with tourists every day.Photos by Camy Tam and Monica Leong 

June 24, 2020 | BY admin

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CTM says full 5G outdoor coverage at month-end

The installation of a 5G network for full outdoor coverage will be completed at the end of this month and introduce a string of new technologies, CTM Network Services Vice President Declan Leong Pui Hong said yesterday.Leong made the comments after letting reporters experience the superfast speed of its 5G network around the Ruins of Saint Paul’s, a back alley in the city centre and near S. Domingos Church.Leong said that the full outdoor coverage marks the completion of the first phase of

June 24, 2020 | BY admin

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DSAL promotes paid internships for university graduates

The Labour Affairs Bureau (DSAL) said in a statement yesterday that it is promoting a paid internship “career experience” scheme for local university graduates.According to the statement, the government is paying close attention to young  people’s employment prospects, and in order to let university graduates gain some career experience through internships and strengthen their career competitiveness and employment opportunities, the bureau is promoting this scheme.The scheme will

June 24, 2020 | BY admin

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Mainland movie mogul launches ‘Mollywood’ project: report

Mainland Chinese film mogul Wang Haige is determined to transform Macau into “Mollywood,” the Business Wire news service reported this week. According to the report, Wang’s “China Mollywood” project is co-sponsored by hundreds of artists from China’s film and television entertainment industry. The report datelined June 22 from Langfang, a city in Hebei province, said that the project was officially launched at the Xianghe Guohua Film and Television Base in the

June 24, 2020 | BY admin

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The think tank behind anti-China propaganda in Australia

News Analysis      BEIJING – In a yellow three-storey building in the capital Canberra, so inconspicuous that one could easily miss it, dwells an institute behind plenty of anti-China campaigns in Australia.It pumps out a “one-sided, pro-American view of the world,” said Bob Carr, former premier of the New South Wales. “I see it as very much the architect of the China threat theory in Australia,” said ex-ambassador to China Geoff Raby.The two men are referring to the

June 24, 2020 | BY admin

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EU can play vital role in preventing ‘new Cold War’

Commentary by Chen Weihua*      There is growing concern about a possible “new Cold War” between the United States and China with tensions between the two countries rising from the fields of technology, investment and trade to the military, Taiwan and Hong Kong.But in almost all these fields, Washington has been the provoker, waging trade and technology wars, breaking decades of US practice vis-à-vis Taiwan, and launching a full-scale smear campaign against China leading up

June 24, 2020 | BY admin

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2 seniors hit by cars on zebra crossings

Two senior citizens were hit by cars on zebra crossings in separate incidents last night, the Public Security Police (PSP) said.According to the police, the first accident happened at around 7 p.m. near Hou Kong Garden estate in Toi San district, when a car hit a 70-year-old man as he was walking across a zebra crossing.The police said that the 30-year-old driver, who passed a breathalyser test, failed to give way to the man on the zebra crossing.The man, who sustained bruises on his right leg,

June 23, 2020 | BY admin

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Ho orders 10 pct cut in current expenditure for 2021

Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng has ordered a 10 percent decrease in current expenditure in the public administration next year. The instruction was published in the form of an executive order in yesterday’s Official Gazette (BO).In the instruction, Ho urged all bureaus and other government entities to be particularly “cautious and rigorous” in their budget planning for next year. He said that extra “prudence” was required due to the dire economic situation.Ho also urged the public

June 23, 2020 | BY admin

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Cultural Affairs Bureau's performance venues to reopen from Friday

Following the earlier reopening of cultural facilities and rehearsal venues, the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) said in a statement yesterday that it will resume operation of its performance venues from Friday onwards, including the Macau Cultural Centre, Dom Pedro V Theatre, Black Box Theatre in the Old Courthouse, Macau Contemporary Art Centre – Navy Yard No. 2 and the Macau Conservatory Auditorium.The bureau said that it has taken into account the views of the Health Bureau (SSM) and set up

June 23, 2020 | BY admin

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Consumption cards inject 1.46 billion patacas into economy: govt

Some 1.46 billion patacas (US$184 million) from the public coffers have already been injected into local businesses in the first month and a half of the government’s consumption subsidy smartcard scheme, Economic Services Bureau (DSE) Director Tai Kin Ip said yesterday.Tai made the announcement during a press conference at the Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) in Nape, during which the mid-term report about the scheme was presented.The consumption subsidy smartcard scheme –

June 23, 2020 | BY admin

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NAT scheme can cope with rising demand: govt

Addressing yesterday’s press conference about Macau’s novel coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, the Health Bureau’s (SSM) Control of Communicable Diseases and Surveillance of Diseases Department Coordinator Leong Iek Hou said that the local government’s current COVID-19 testing capability of its nucleic acid testing (NAT) scheme will be able to meet the increasing demand for the tests resulting from the new quarantine waiver granted to all Macau non-resident workers living in Zhuhai,

June 23, 2020 | BY admin

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